You've Lost that Lovin Feellin

Well, happy Sabbath, everybody! Good to see you all. We, Joan and I, came down from Prescott Valley, and it's been kind of an interesting day. We started out, believe it or not, at what was it, 7 30, and it took us 20 minutes to get out of our neighborhood because it was backed up on I-10. They closed down part of I-10 today. We were smart. We decided to go around it, and we went on the 202. That took a little extra time to get around that. Then we got up to Sunset Point. You know where that is? Everybody knows where Sunset is. There were fires up there, and so the cars were all backed up. I knew it possibly could happen. Actually, Mr. Braiman said you might need to take Bumblebee Road. I've never been on Bumblebee Road. I guess they named those roads because that's where you got Bumblebees out there. Anyway, I didn't have to do that. It was open, but it was smoking. We had a lot of looky-loos. Everybody wanted to look, and it was pretty slow. We made it barely in time for services that Prescott Valley took off right after church, right after the prayer was over, and we just got here. It's been a whirlwind. Like I told the brethren up there, at least we're here. We came to see you, but it's been a good day. And I did want you also to mention, I'm sure that we have our Hawaiian brethren on the other end. We had a wonderful time over in Hawaii with our brethren there, and we met with them on the Sabbath, and also Pentecost. Had really a good Sabbath and Pentecost together with them. And we were able to do a lot of setup for the feast in Maui at the Royal Lahaina. We've got the luau going now. We've got a senior dinner that we're arranging over there. And there's also the picnic that we normally do, that we'll do over there this year as well. So we're looking forward to all of that. And the hotel's really, really very nice if you've never been to it.

The rooms are not like normal rooms that you see in a lot of hotels these days with a lot of plastic.

They have wood. They use real wood, and it's just really gorgeous the way they've done the rooms. So I think the brethren are going to really, really enjoy it and love it. That hotel. And I believe we're going to have a really great feast over there.

Well, you know, how many of you remember the Righteous Brothers? Okay, the singing group.

The reason this came to my mind is, I don't know, this past week I was thinking of Bill Medley. I think he was one of the—wasn't he one that had the really deeper voice or not? I can't remember if it was—he was the one that—but I remember he was one who was a songwriter, a guest in the group. And the song that came to my mind this past week is the song that probably many of you hear, probably remember when you were younger, maybe in your 20s or even teens. You've lost that loving feeling. You remember that song?

Love that song. All of us probably listened to it. It was about a couple that had love for each other at one point. And I guess in the song, you know, Bill Medley is singing, you've lost that loving feeling. It's gone, gone, gone, you know, how the lyrics go. And, you know, it made me think about our relationship with God. You know, have we lost that loving feeling? You know, the feeling we had, the love we had for the tremendous calling that God has given to us. Let's go over to Revelation 2. Well, you know, it happened to the Ephesian church over here in the message that is given to the church at Ephesus. Notice over here in Revelation 2 and verse 1, we'll just read a few of the verses here, but it says, the angel, or as we know the word angel means messenger, of the church of Ephesus, right. Of course, these things are coming from Jesus Christ. The angel was a messenger. These things, as he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden camp lampstands, and of course that's Jesus Christ. He's the one that does that. But he says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear those who are evil, that you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and I found them liars. And you persevered, and you've had patience, you've labored for my namesake, and have not become weary. You know, you read this and you think, boy, I wish I was that way. I wish I was this kind of a person that is described by Ephesus. But there was something that was missing that was there at the very beginning. You know, when the church of God began in 31 A.D., that the church began to lose. That was not there with him. Because let's notice in verse 4, nevertheless, nevertheless the message comes, I have this against you, that you have lost. You have left your first love. You know, they had lost, you might say, their loving feeling for their calling. They had lost whatever it was, that energy, that dynamism that was once there somehow had dissipated. And God was not pleased with it. Jesus Christ was not pleased with it. So the title of the message today is, you've lost that loving feeling.

So, brethren, have we lost that loving feeling for our calling that we once had? When we were initially brought into the church, that God opened our minds and we had that tremendous love for the truth that we were learning on a more or less a daily basis. I remember when I was called, you know, I was going to school part of the time and I was working full-time part of the time.

And usually I had to get up at like five o'clock in the morning and drive over to Fort Smith, Arkansas to go to work. But when I was learning the truth and I was reading booklets and going over them and pouring over the Bible and even went through that the 50 lesson correspondence course, you know, the one where you write it all out?

You write all the answers out? How many of you did that, by the the big lessons? Okay, a lot of you did that. A lot of you cut your teeth on the truth in those years. And anyway, but I would stay up until two in the morning and get up at five and go to work. Of course, couldn't keep that up for forever. But that's how much I wanted to know the truth, how important it was.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one. I've talked to dozens and dozens of people through the year, maybe hundreds of people who had the same feeling, the same desire, and the same hope to have that truth. You know, what comes to your mind again about when you were first called?

About that love that so motivated you in your life that you wanted to be a part of the work of God? That's another thing, too, that really hit me. I'd like to be a part of this. You know, some of you remember back in 1995 when we had all the fireworks that were taking place in a worldwide Church of God or a former association, and there was a departure from the truth during those times. You remember back in those times, in talking to the elders and the deacons and all of that, I don't know if some of you remember, but one of the thoughts that I had in my mind, and I'm sure I conveyed them to Mr.

Morgan and others, is that I don't want to be a part of a church that's just kind of the little church in the veil. You know, they're sort of taking care of themselves. That's about all they're doing. I wanted to be a part of a worldwide work. I want to be a part of an effort to preach the gospel to everybody on the planet, the people from China and Russia and everywhere that the gospel could be preached.

That was what we wanted to do. That's when the United Church of God came into being in that time, and we became a part of that. That was the drive, and still is the drive, of the United Church of God to preach the gospel to the world. So, brethren, that drive should be in us always, and that love and desire to get that gospel out, that truth out, should be in us and never diminish in any way. So, brethren, if we have lost that desire, how can we get that fire back?

How can we get it back? What kept Paul motivated? The Apostle Paul being chased around by people that wanted to kill him all the time, he wasn't discouraged by these. He kept going and going and going. He was like the energizing bunny. He never did stop. You know, how emotionally involved, brethren, are you in the work of God that's going on right now? That is how much are we on fire for the work of God that has to be done, that has to be accomplished.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and you look into the mind of the Apostle Paul and the first century of the church. You know, and Paul had to change gears, as it were. He had been an enemy of the church, and remember the story. So 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 16. But Paul had been an enemy, but he had to switch gears.

He was struck down on the road to Damascus, and he had a change about. And, you know, basically Jesus Christ said, Paul, why are you fighting me? And he told him, look, it's kind of hard when somebody fights back, right? You lost his vision, you don't know all the things that happened to him. And then Paul, after he had a change of heart, he said, well, Lord, what would you have me to do?

And he had no idea what God was going to have him to do, but it was going to be probably the most incredible things that have happened to a human being in their life. And eventually he would have to lose his life for the thing he used to persecute. But notice his attitude that he had. In 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 16 over here, he says, For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me, yes, woe unto me if I do not preach the gospel.

So Paul is saying here that, you know, I've got a part of this. And, brother, I am saying to you that when you went under the water and you were baptized and someone laid hands on you, you have a part in the work of God. You have your part that has to be fulfilled. And it's there whether you want to recognize it or not.

And God's going to hold you accountable for what he has given to you. Because what God is giving us, brother, is so great. It is so wonderful and stupendous, not just to save us, but he's going to make us a part of his family and we will rule with him for eternity.

We're going to have such great responsibilities in the future. So Paul says, look, I've got a part of the gospel. But notice on that he says, woe unto me if I don't do this. And I read into that, brethren, that God would not give him salvation if he doesn't do his part. Then he goes on to say, for if I do this willingly, I have a reward.

Do we get this scripture, brethren? If I do it willingly, in other words, with a good heart, okay, God, you give me this job and I want to do it. I want to do it. I desire to do it.

But he says, I have a reward if I have this attitude, this right kind of an attitude. But he says, but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. In other words, even if I don't have a right attitude, it's still the gauntlet is in my lap.

And I better do something with it. So like it or not, brethren, when we were baptized, all of us, all of us, brethren, we were given a part of the work of God. And for all of us, it may somewhat vary because we're a body. We're a body of believers. And God puts us in the body as it pleases him. And every part of the church is vital. You may not be giving sermons in this lifetime. You will someday. You will, I can promise you, you're going to be giving sermons. You women are going to be giving sermons in the world tomorrow. You're going to be taking heavy responsibility in this regard. Everybody will have that role because we'll be neither male or female in the world tomorrow. And we will go forth to preach the gospel. We will go forth with the law. It's going to proceed out of Zion, as it says. But brethren, when it comes to what Paul is saying, does this speak to how you feel inside? You got a part in the work, in the work of God. I think very, very important. Again, remember your love of God and his truth when you were first converted. Is it still there? And if not, where did it go? Where did it go, brethren? You remember one of the problems that people have oftentimes is they skirt along the edge of the cliff so long in their lives. In other words, they're kind of not as careful about the law of God for so long after what? It didn't bother them to break the law of God. Balaam was the kind of—he was a man of God, but he always was skirting the edge. The Nicolaiatans were basically the same way. You read about it in the book of Revelation. The Nicolaiatans had that attitude, and the early church had to deal with those kinds of attitudes where people were kind of skirting the edge of idolatry, skirting the edge of being involved in a world that had immoral practices, and they did not restrain themselves. And they allowed themselves eventually to slip away, and they had an attitude of compromise of the law of God. You know, begin to compromise here and there in their lives. Again, hope we're not that way. That's the way ancient Israel was. At first, you know, when they were at Sinai, God, everything you've told us, we'll do. We'll do it. That probably lasted just a few days, and they began to slip away. And the story of ancient Israel is them slipping away from God constantly in the wrong direction and having to be shocked or jolted out of their lethargic attitudes and brought back by a judge of Israel to bring them back. And, you know, it can happen to us now, brethren, if we are not on our guard. If we don't keep on our guard in this world that's out here that is so bad, and, you know, it's worse than probably any of us perceive. Much worse. Christ must live in us, brethren, and we have to keep again on guard always. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 2, what Paul says over here. In Hebrews chapter 2, in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1, let's notice this. What Paul says, here he says, therefore we must give the more earnest heed, this is verse 1 of Hebrews 2, we must give the more earnest heed. In other words, we better pay attention to the things we have heard lest we drift away. We drift away. Look around you, brethren. We used to have 150,000 people in the church. Where did they drift to?

Right now, frankly, those that have drifted away and are gone out there, and there are thousands around there in the world, you know, they just slip right back into the world. They forgot all the things that they want to do. Here it says, by the way, in the King James, which I knew King James, I'm reading, I think in the King James, it says, lest it slip away. In the Greek, actually, the Greek word here that is used for drift or slip here, actually, it means to run out as leaking vessels. In other words, you get a little prick or a hole in it, and it sort of leaks out, and pretty soon it's all gone. Maybe the analogy here would be the Holy Spirit is all gone. That it slips away. In other words, where people begin to lose that loving feeling, that enthusiasm for the work of God, doesn't happen all at once. It happens gradually. Compromising and then just slipping into wrong attitudes, slipping into compromising approaches in life. Well, brethren, if we're going to turn it around in our life, if that describes you or me, brethren, if we're going to turn around, we're going to take action. We're going to do something about it. We really do. We're going to be stirred to action as the old speech was in the Spokesman's Club. It's time to move and to do something in our lives. So, brethren, how can we become enthused for God's work? It's a matter, brethren, of channeling your mind and your energy in the right direction. It's a matter of channeling your mind and your energy into progress of the work. Again, the work that's going out that we're doing, that we're preaching, striving to preach to the entire world today. In other words, really yearning for the work to get done. That we're excited about the work of God being done. You know, when Jesus gave the model prayer in Matthew 6, one of the major things he said, I want you to pray this, is a part of your... he was teaching his disciples how to pray, and he gave them an outline, is I want you to pray, thy kingdom come, or your kingdom come. And the last part of that, as well, is your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. You know, what is heaven like? You know, heaven, we know, is a place of perfection. You know, they don't argue in heaven. The angels don't argue. They don't fight. They don't bicker. There's a spirit of cooperation, a spirit of love. Now look at the world that we have today. This is not what we see on the earth.

We're going to have to... this world's going to be transformed, though, and it has to begin with us. I don't know if I've mentioned about this song, Let There Be Peace on Earth, but let it begin with you. Remember the song, Let There Be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me. It's got to start with us, brethren. If this world's going to be transformed, it's going to have to start with you and me. And we're going to be the ones that are going to take the law from Zion to the entire world everywhere. But every day we're supposed to pray, Thy kingdom come, or your kingdom come.

I remember many years ago when I first came into the church and I went off to Ambassador College, there was one phrase that I heard from Mr. Armstrong many, many times. And it went like this.

He said, our spiritual development will be in direct proportion to how much our heart is in God's work. How many of you here remember Mr. Armstrong saying that? Okay, I know a lot of you were not alive in those years, but I want our young people to hear that because it's as true today as it was then when it was said to me as a young student at Ambassador College and to your parents that heard it. If I heard that, I imagine I heard that you know hundreds of times from Mr. Armstrong through the years. Let me say it again. Our spiritual development, maybe another way to put it, your growth spiritually. If you don't have this, you will shrivel up and die, basically. But our spiritual growth and development will be in direct proportion to how much we have our hearts in the work that's going on that is being done.

I'm talking about preaching the gospel through Beyond Today television, through the printed word by what we do here locally in the community all over the world.

Not just that, to how much effort we put into trying to obey God and not compromise His law to be an example of the light to God's way of life. So, brethren, we need that to be stirred up as God's people.

And, brethren, if it's not there, you don't want this church is going to get smaller. It's going to be very small, and the numbers will be very few. And next year, we'll look around and you won't be here. And if I don't have that attitude, you know, I won't be here either. If I don't have that same drive, that same conviction, if you ever lose that, it's just a matter of time. And let me tell you why. Because Satan will take advantage of that. Like I said in the letter to everybody, there are different ways he seeks inroads into our lives, and that's one of them. We start, you know, having a sort of a laissez-faire attitude toward the work that is going on. That's what happened to the brethren of the Ephesus church. They were good in a lot of ways, but God says, you don't have that love and feeling anymore. What happened to it? You don't have that sparkle in the eye about the truth that you're learning. You know, there have been times when I haven't talked as a minister to a new person for quite a while that was really on fire for the truth. You know, we used to have a lot more visits with new people. I remember, in years past, sometimes I'd have 50 visit requests a month to people to go out and visit with. And sometimes you'd go into somebody's home and you'd sit down with them and you'd start telling them about the truth. And I mean, you might be sitting there for three hours and all the time you're there, they're sitting on the edge of the seat. And you walk out and you feel like somebody heard the most fantastic thing they had ever heard in their life. And they had.

I've talked to people that told them the truth and the tears have just come down their cheeks. When I started talking about this up in the Prescott Valley, today, there were those that I could tell their eyes began to water out.

One gentleman, particularly, was very emotional about it all. Because it evokes emotion, doesn't it? Because you're emotionally involved in this work that's going on of preaching the gospel of the world. Rather than forgive me, I get a little bit glandular up here and I raise my voice, but I really believe what I'm saying to you. You may think I'm crazy, but I don't think I am. I think I'm trying to have the attitude and the enthusiasm that we should have for the work of God. It's that important, so very important. Because our spiritual development is going to grow in direct proportion to how much we have our hearts in the work of God, in the work the church is doing. So how can we, brethren, have our heart in the work? I only have two points to give to you today. You probably wonder, well, why did it take so long to get to those two points? Well, I had to set it up a little bit for you. The first point I have for you, very easy, is place your treasure in the work.

Place your treasure in the work. You know, Jesus Christ himself told his disciples this. He said, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Or the antithesis of that is true as well. Where your heart is, that's where your treasure's going to be. So it's Jesus that talked about that. You see, what Mr. Armstrong said all that many years ago about we're going to grow to the direct proportion of our hearts in the work is founded upon what Jesus Christ said. Where your heart is, that's where you're going to put your treasure. Now, we tend to place our treasure, don't we, in a secure place. If you got something really valuable, you know, you put it in a safe and it's got a lock on, a special lock. You know, we tend to do that. We don't lay it out where somebody can just pick it up and walk away from it. I'm assuming all of you locked your houses before you came, right? You got many valuables in your house. So we want to keep the treasures we have in a secure place. But what do you treasure or cherish in your life? What do you treasure?

Well, you know, I have a sort of, I treasure my body. I think all of us, don't we, we treasure our bodies. And we try to take care of them. You know, we want to maximize what we can do. We want to be mobile as much as we can be in our lives. And the Bible says no man ever hated his own flesh. So we like our bodies. We like our minds. How about our families? We love our families. We treasure our families, don't we? We treasure our sons and daughters and grandchildren. And we value them. We want, in fact, not only security for ourselves, but for our children and our grandchildren. We value our money, our possessions that we have.

You know, but do we really see when it comes to money and possessions, possessions that we have, that really all the physical money we have belongs to God?

And interestingly, the Bible talks about how even our children belong to God. You know, doesn't it say in Psalm 127.1 that children, our children, are God's heritage? Doesn't say they're our heritage, although certainly that's true that they're God, our heritage, and they belong to God as well. All the gold we may have, all the money we may have, you know, that belongs to God. How shall we live then? Everything belongs to God. It says in the Bible, whatsoever is under the whole heaven, God says is mine. In Job, it says that all, or in Psalms, it says that all the gold and the silver belong to me, to God.

So think about that. Now, the gold that we have belongs to God. All the possessions we have belong to God. And you, in fact, we are told belong to God. So really, you and I don't really have anything. It all belongs to God. Now, let me ask you, are you willing to put yourself and your children and your money in the hands of the United States government?

Are you willing to let the governments of this world oversee and determine what happens to you and your money and your children?

And obviously, if all these things belong to God, if we have that perspective, that everything belongs to God, that in reality the government doesn't have anything, that we don't have anything, then it should impact how we use our physical bodies, how we use our families, and how we use our money and our possessions.

You know, if you can see that bigger picture, I don't know if I made it clear enough for you, but I always thought this is kind of funny, brethren. And please take my humor.

We are commanded in the Bible to give 10 percent, and certainly we are. Or a tithe, as it is called. But it always bothered me that we give God, who owns everything, possesses everything, 10 percent. But when we eat at a restaurant, we give a waitress 15 percent, or 20 percent. I don't know if you ever thought of that. You know, that we're willing to, just from the food that we put in our mouth, and somebody maybe brings us some hamburger and fries, we're willing to give them 15 or 20 percent. But we're only willing to give, or many are at least willing to give 10 percent to God. Because he had, and he has to command it of us. The waitress doesn't even have to command it. We do it because we feel like we owe her something, or him, if it's a waiter. Something to think about if you, when you are at, you know, a restaurant, and you pay that 15 percent, think about your relationship with God. So, brethren, one of the things I think is so important is if we're putting our treasure into the work, and again, the realization that all things belong to God anyway, that the perspective we need to have is that's where we want to put what we have, so it will be secure. It's going to be secure now, because God's going to watch over it, and it's going to be secure in the future. And not only that, it will have a reward that's going to be attached to it as well. Let's go to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Or, brethren, we can trust the world, and by the way, I'm not saying to anybody here not to put your money in banks and that sort of thing, but if we think somehow that if we put all we have into this world, and we try to build something up in this world, that it's going to be secure, you're going to be sadly mistaken in the future. You know, Jesus put it even in, I think, a better perspective over here in Matthew chapter 6 in verse 19. Matthew 6 in verse 19. Somehow my Bible will get there. But in verse 19 here, Jesus said this, do not the layup for yourselves treasures on earth. So don't build up something big here on earth. A lot of people want to build up something to build a name for themselves. Where moth, he says, and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. I remember the story of one of the ministers years ago. Many of you may remember Dr. Charles Dorothy.

But Dr. Dorothy, as I remember the story, his dad was a store owner.

And basically that's what he put, that's what he did. He had his whole life wrapped up in this grocery store or something. Barbara might remember this story better than I. But what happened, as I remember, with Dr. Dorothy, is that one day his father's grocery store burned down.

And so Dr. Dorothy remembered at that time, it had a big impression on him of how temporary things in this world can be. Well, Jesus said, don't lay up everything here upon earth, where moth or rust can destroy or can be burned down, can be wiped out of the depression, where thieves could break in and steal, but you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. And then he made the statement, for where your treasure is that, there your heart will be also. Because Jesus Christ told us the perspective we need to have. Our real treasure needs to be in the right place. We need to not put everything all over eggs, you might say, in one basket.

You know, you're not going to be able to build up something in this lifetime and have security.

You need to think about what we're laying up in heaven. That needs to be a very high priority. And while we need to take care of our own financial responsibilities, and there's a there's a obviously responsibility there, don't forget about your responsibility to build up something in heaven. So you'll have something when this physical life expires.

You think about tithing. Our real treasure, you know, a real treasure is this. It's what is left after we tithe. The Bible commands us to tithe. And everything above that, if you give above 10%, is an offering. It's an offering to God. And, you know, it really, in reality, if we were doing something that God does not command us to do, and he doesn't command specifically how much an offering is supposed to be. He does say we need to give offerings, but based upon your desire to give, it was from the heart. You know, that is what God, you know, we can find out what really the heart is. You know, if we give 10% and then we throw in a penny for an offering, it shows a wrong heart, a wrong spirit, you know, unless that's all you got. Then it would be the widow's might. And such a case is that. But when we do what is above and beyond what God commands us to do, brethren, then that is when we find out where our hearts are. You know, and if we give from the heart, brethren, to God, you know, what's going to happen as well when we're giving to God for the work. And I know a lot of God's people are very much sacrificed, you know, for God's work. You know, offerings have been tremendous in the Phoenix area and have been for many, many years. And really, we thank, you know, God's people for their sacrifice and what they do for the work of God. But it shows where the heart is when we give above and beyond, you know, what we're commanded to do. And it generates excitement, enthusiasm for the work. You know why it does that? Because you have a stake in it.

You put your part of your treasure in there in order for the work of God to be done. You know, Jesus Christ was relentless in doing the work of God. I mean, persecution didn't slow him down. Nothing he went through physically on this earth. When he was doing his ministry and living, nothing slowed him down. And he worked in labor until he finished the job. Let's go over to John 4, John 4 over here. In John 4, verse 31.

You know, Jesus had in this chapter, you can read, I won't go through this account, is when Christ and his disciples have been out doing the work of God. And he came to what was Jacob's well. Do you know, brethren, that Jacob's well is probably the oldest well in the entire world right now that is functioning?

I've been to Jacob's well. Maybe there are some of you that have been to Jacob's well. And, you know, I remember that there they have a, you know, a typical wall around the well.

But Jesus came up, he was very thirsty, and he sat probably on a wall or something like it. I'm sure that's changed for the many years have gone by. And a woman came up and she had the the paraphernalia necessary to get water out of the well. And Jesus said to her, she was a Samaritan woman, he said, give me water to drink. And she said, well, why in the world are you talking to me? You said you're a Jew. And, you know, Jesus, of course, spoke to her and said, look, if you knew who was asking you for this, you'd ask for water from him. Living water, of course, is what he was talking about. And, you know, it's an interesting story, though, about the Samaritan woman. But he, in the course of the time when he was talking to her, the disciples had gone and they had gotten food and they came back. And when his discourse with this Samaritan woman had basically been summed up, notice here, we'll come down to verse 31 of chapter 4 of John. It says, in the meantime, his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat. So they'd gone to get food and it came back and these things had transpired before. But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. There were things that motivated Jesus even when he, you know, remember, was driven into the wilderness and he fasted for 40 days and night. He said, I've got, you know, food that you don't know about. Therefore, the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? You know, that's why they left. They get food for him. And Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. That's my food. That's my meat. And it culminated with him being nailed to a stake and dying for all of us, brethren. And he told his disciples, do not say they're still four months and then comes the harvest. You know, he's saying, I don't want to hear that it's not time. We've got a little more time before we can begin to do the work.

Don't tell me that, he says. He said, but hold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are already white for harvest. And, brethren, look at this world. Frankly, I think there's never been a time in this world where there's so many people confused.

It is white for harvest in these days and times that you and I live in. But it's got to have people that are really wanting to do the work to go out and do the reaping of this harvest.

But he says, and he who reaps receive wages. There are going to be rewards for those who reap. And gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. And so Jesus said, we need to get about the work. And, brethren, I know we've had our trials in the church. I know that we've had our disappointments in the church. The Bible warned us that the men of understanding would fall. And that certainly happened. We've seen it. But, brethren, we've got to get up, dust ourselves off, and realize the job is not done. And it may not be done in your lifetime or mine. It's still ahead of us. I was thinking when Mr. Knudsen was talking about going to Jerusalem, going to Israel in 2020. And as he walked by, I said, well, I said, you know, all of us might be in Jerusalem in 2020. You know, and not necessarily that we're buying tickets to go, that God may, again, cause it that we do go. Now, don't anybody say that Jim Tucker said we're fleeing next year. But we don't know what the future is going to bring. We don't know what God may do and when it could happen. I don't think it's going to happen in 2020. I think it's going to be a little bit longer than that before it does happen. But rest assured, it will happen. But Jesus said that his desire was to do the work. His food, his meat, was to do the work. And let me tell you, brethren, the true followers of Jesus Christ are moved by the same thing. If God's spirit, brethren, is in us, we're moved by the same thing. We have the same attitude to finish the work, to do the work. You know, there's a man that was talking to another gentleman and the man said to the other man, he said, what is your profession?

And the other man said, well, I'm a Christian.

And the man thought, well, I better reword this to ask him. And that's wonderful, you're a Christian. That's what you do. The man said, no, no, no, what I mean is what is the job that you have? No, what is the job that you have in your life? To which the other man replied, well, oh, I know what you mean now. He said, oh, my job is a mechanic. But he said, my profession is I'm a Christian. And, you know, I want us to remember, brethren, that we don't have a job, we have a calling, we have a profession. And, you know, whatever job you've got, whether you're a mechanic, a real estate, a broker, or whatever, a farmer, whatever it might be, that's your job. But the job is there so that you could do your profession of being a Christian.

That we have the profession, brethren, of being a Christian. It's not a job, it's a calling.

It's a profession. And it is a high calling, brethren, greater than anything a human being can have in this world. I don't care how many PhDs you have behind your name. Whether you're a doctor or a lawyer or whatever it is, there is no degree that is as high as your calling in this age. We'll understand that more when it happens, when we will be dealing with doctors and lawyers and PhDs and all kinds of people in the world tomorrow. You know, if they survive the time of the tribulation that's coming, we'll be talking to heads of state. We'll be talking to people who are presidents, prime ministers. But you see, they will not be as great as those that God is calling now, who have the profession of being a true Christian today. So, brethren, God wants us to, again, remember that. Place your treasure, brethren, in the work. Don't build up all these things of the world that are out here. Remember, Jesus Christ was relentless. He was relentless to finish the work. That's where He put His energy. That's where He put what He valued as a man and God, a manual. He put His life into His calling. He put His life into His mission, and He died, as we know, when He was nailed to that sake. And He gave His life for us for, you know, not only forgiveness ascends, but He was beaten so that we could be healed through His stripes. You know, again, you can build things up in the world, but what's going to come to? And that may sound like that that's what we should devote our minds to and our hearts to.

You know, let's go notice over here in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. You know, I'm at the age, and I know many of you are at the age where you think about, you know, what are you going to do, when you get to be an old, old person, and you can't work anymore? People start thinking about retirement. And quite frankly, sometimes people, when they start thinking about retirement, they start putting everything they have into it.

And, you know, after a while, they don't have room to even, you know, in the world, I'm speaking of, give to their church. You know, they don't, they forget about tithing. You've got to put that away for retirement, you know? But here in Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12 and verse 15, let's notice this.

He's talking to his disciples again, and he said to them, Take heed and beware of covenantsness. You see, we should prepare for retirement. I'm not saying we should not. We should prepare for the time when we can't work, that we can take care of ourselves. But there is a line where we can cross we become too covetous about something. But he said, he talked about covetousness. For once, life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. I don't know if any of you have seen the poster that used to be big many years ago. It had pictures of the different line of cars. There were Lamborghinis, you know, different Mercedes on this picture. And then, I think there's a caption, He who has the most toys wins. In other words, if you've got the most possessions, and in this case, it was you have all these high-end expensive cars, and you've got all these toys, a nice big house, you got the, you know, the boat, you got all that stuff, you win in life. And people that don't accomplish that, well, they lose. That's their concept.

But he says, life does not consist in the abundance of the things we possess. And then he spoke a parable to them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.

And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?

So he didn't think about anybody else. And so he said, I will do this. I'll pull down my barns. I want to tear these old barns down and build greater. And there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Therefore, I will, therefore take your ease, you know, you just relax and eat and drink and be merry. So that Epicurean approach of life. But I want you to notice here what God says to this person. But God said to them, you're a fool. You are a fool. She laid everything up in barns for the future.

And God says, you're a fool. This night, your soul is going to be required of you. Then whose will those things which you have provided? Who are they going to belong to? And Jesus said, so is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

You see, the rich man made the mistake of just forgetting about doing anything in terms of laying up treasures in heaven. It's not wrong again to prepare for the future, but don't forget about laying up treasures in heaven. Something to keep in mind, brethren, for all of us. So number one thing at point two or point one is pray or rather place your treasure in the work. Place your treasure in the work. Number two is a very simple point. Pray for the work. Pray for the work of God.

Not a day, brethren, should go by without you and me praying for the work of God.

You know, God wants us to pray for the church, to pray for the efforts of the council of elders. He wants us to pray for the ministry. He wants us to pray for one another, even.

You know, Paul was oftentimes in perilous situations. And I won't go to it, but over in 2 Corinthians 1 and verses 8 through 11, you can read the account that Paul was on such perilous circumstances that he wondered if he was even going to come out alive that he would have to trust God to resurrect them if they got killed.

They were doing the work. You know how Paul was chased around. He was let down in baskets to escape and all the things he had to do. But when he wrote to the Corinthians, he put this one statement in the letter that he wrote to them. He said to the brethren in Corinth that they were helping together for them when they were doing the work through prayer or by prayer. In other words, they may have not been able to do anything to keep Paul out of the danger, but they could pray about it. And brethren, we can pray about it. We need to pray again about the Council of Elders. We need to pray about the staff if a home office. We need to pray about, you know, the ministry, the pastors and the elders and the deacons. And we need to pray, brethren, for one another as God's people. Satan always tries, brethren, to thwart the work of God. He's trying to stop the work of God. He's trying to divide people. He's trying to hinder the work of God. And so let's make sure again that we pray for God's work. No, and over in 2 Thessalonians 3, I'm not going to go there either, but in 2 Thessalonians 3, Paul talked about that he asked, brethren, to pray that the gospel will have free concourse, or in other words, it will not be held back. That God would intervene for the work to be going out to the world, and the gospel could be preached. I want you to think about the fact, brethren, that when the gospel is not being preached, somebody is not hearing the truth. Somebody. I'm sure God can work in other ways, but when the gospel is not being preached, if we're being held back, you know, and the gospel can't go out, somebody's not going to hear the truth. What if that was you? What if it was you that didn't get a chance to hear the truth? Now, of course, you wouldn't know it, would you?

But we all have a responsibility to do our best to make sure that the work is never held back, that it has free concourse. I remember when Mr. Armstrong was alive, there were many times when the work of God had log jams, there were problems that came up, and I remember many times Mr. Armstrong would fire off a letter out to the churches, and all the brethren would get them. But Mr. Armstrong would talk about something that the church was trying to accomplish, and how that it was being held back is being held up. And Mr. Armstrong, you know what he would do? Anybody know what Mr. Armstrong did? Yes. He would call a fast. And every time, every time when everybody would come to church, they'd be, you know, doing a lot of food and water for the Sabbath. You remember, you could put the cups on the water fountains, so that nobody'd forget. And he would call a fast. And pretty soon, whatever was holding the work of God back would be out of the way, and things would move forward. Didn't matter what it was.

Well, brethren, we need to do the same thing in the church. We need to be fasting for the work, and praying for the work, and certainly have our hearts in the work. And if there's something holding the work of the church up, we need to pray about it. We need to fast about it if need be. Really, the truth of it is that God does the work. We're the tools that are here. But, you know, it's like with the old saying, you got 1% perspiration and 99% inspiration. You know, we put a little effort, 1%, and God does all the rest through His Holy Spirit. And you know why He does it that way? You know why the gospel sometimes is held up?

If God wanted to, He could reveal it to the world right now. Everything. He could do it. He's that powerful. But it's for our sake that we don't place our faith in ourselves, but we place our faith in God. Because it is God who does the work, brethren. You know, over in Galatians chapter 6 in verses 1 through 2, let's do turn to this over here. That's the only one I will turn to. But in Galatians 6, there's so much in the Bible about what we're talking about here in this message here today, brethren. And I really do hope that you realize that what I'm saying to you is from my heart to you. And when I'm speaking to you, I'm talking to myself. I guess I am a little crazy, huh? I don't think so. I think that's what God wants us to always do, not to preach to people and sort of talk down to people. We're all in this together. In Galatians 6 in verse 1, it says, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restorest such in one in the spirit of of journalists, considering yourselves, lest you also be tempted. So in other words, if we see problems, brethren, in the congregation, we have a responsibility, if we're a little stronger spiritually, we have a responsibility to pray for that person, whoever they are. You know, whether they're going through problems of a middle nature or whether they're going through problems of a physical nature or trials in general, that we pray for them, that we work and we labor with them with that. I want you to think about this as well. Somebody has a big job in the church, a big responsibility. We should pray for them and the job that they have.

You know, Mr. Knudtsen has the work in Kenya. I don't know how many other countries over there you got, but you know, probably three countries. Or is it four? He's got four countries. I think we should give them more countries, don't you think?

Big responsibility when you have four countries.

And I don't know, several hundred people that you have to reach, that you have to coordinate.

So if somebody has a big job, you pray for them. And bear one another's burdens in that way. You can help each other. And if we're praying for the work, brethren, when we see things move forward, we're thrilled. When we see good things happen, we're happy about it. We like to hear the good news. Even though sometimes there can be problems, that will always be the case. If we pray about it, brethren, and even sometimes fast about it, God will open up so that it's not held back. It can work in a positive way to move forward. But let me tell you this too, brethren, whatever God does, it will have an impact. Whatever He does, sometimes we wonder the work that we do. I've often wondered through the years, and I've been preaching since 1974. I don't even know how many years that is now. I can't add it up in my mind. But there have been times, and I'll be honest with you, and I've said, what in the world good have I done to anybody? I've had people, when I've said that, verbalize it, and they've rebuked me for saying it, which I probably needed. I have somebody who needs somebody to hit me on the head for thinking that way. Whatever we do, brethren, is going to produce fruit. Whatever we do is going to have an impact. If you pray about it, if you pray about it, it will happen. Let me take you to one last scripture—and we won't turn to it anymore—but in Isaiah 55. Here the prophet Isaiah, inspired by God, says these tremendous words over here. There are certain parts of the Bible you love reading, you know, love going through, because it gives you hope in spite of what you might see. In Isaiah 55, down in verse 10, it says, For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, that do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, or that word void means empty. We'll come back empty-handed, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper in the thing for which I sent it. You know, there's something I have to talk about as well. Through the years of doing the work of being involved in the ministry, it has not all been hunky-dory and peachy-keying. It's not all been pleasant. Sometimes there have been highs, though, and there have been lows. But you know what has been so remarkable through those years, I've seen so many good things, and I've seen God's hand so many times. And I was talking to Mr. Schreiber about this not long ago. He and I were talking about this. And I said, you know, Randy, have you ever been in circumstances where you felt you'd made mistakes but it turned out good?

And he said yes. And it occurred many times. In fact, you know, even when you're traveling, you don't know where you're going. Something as simple as that.

That I have seen almost in a miracle that you were headed, you were trying to see somebody, and you didn't know how to get there, but you got there.

If you can understand what I'm saying here.

This next verse here jumped out at me last night when I was looking at this.

You know, in chapter 55 that we read there, and down in verse 12, "'For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace, and the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.' And I thought about God's people. Did if we have the heart to do the work of God, that no matter what we do, as God's people, if our hearts are right, we have the desire to go out and preach the gospel, brethren, that this entire creation will rejoice by what we do and what we're doing, brethren. That God will be with us, and as it were, that trees will sing, and God's very creation will be happy for what God's people are doing. That's sort of what Paul talks about, isn't it, over there in Romans 8? You know, about how the whole creation waits for the sons of God? Brethren, maybe, just maybe, you know, God blesses us that much in this world when we're doing the work of God. Another thing I would say to you, brethren, about praying for the work, pray for more co-workers.

It's obviously, God's not going to call millions of people who are going to be baptized, you know, be a part of the church, but he might call hundreds of thousands of co-workers to help us to get the work done so that more doors could be opened. So, pray for more co-workers. Jesus talked about, again, forcing out, you know, laborers for the harvest, and these are co-workers. People are going to help. Donors and co-workers. It used to be that the income of the church, I think, was 20% was from donors and co-workers. And, you know, maybe it doesn't sound like an awful lot, but when you multiply, you know, whereas the church's income was at one time $200 million, 20%, 40 million. That's more than the United Church of God has as a budget.

So, pray for co-workers to be forced out. Maybe some would be able to come into the church. And, brethren, finally, pray for your brethren. Pray specifically for your brethren.

You know, beat your prayers down, you know, like into very specific things about the brethren. Whether it has to do with their health, whether it has to do with their physical lives, or or maybe attitudes that even need to change.

Jesus said, where your heart is, that is where your treasure is. And vice versa is true. Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is, brethren. And that's where the things are the most valuable to us.

This is where our heart should be, brethren, in the work of God. Are we thankful? Are we enthused about the work of God? We surely should be.

And when our hearts return to the work of God, and to the way of God, and to our calling, brethren, we will recapture that first love. And let it never be said, brethren, of us, you've lost that loving feeling. But rather, that we are still on fire, brethren. With a love, a great love for the great calling, for the work of God that we've been given in our lives. Let that be said. Let that be our legacy, brethren, for the future. Because with that, that there's great reward beyond this human life and the life we have now.