Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, that brings up a subject I briefly need to discuss here this morning. And of course, it seems that some do not understand it, and I believe it's something I... I have got to discuss quite openly because of the inquiries about it. And if you have several inquiries about it and several people, or one or two people who appear to be upset over it... And you know, you have other people who have not inquired, who do have questions about it, and so the... so the matter has to be resolved. And that is on the question... question of interracial marriage and just where do we stand on this.

   And as I said, I... I intend today, as I hope I have done on all of the subjects, to... to discuss this quite openly and let you know just where we stand as a church on this, and what Mr. Armstrong has indeed said on this because he has... he has said... And perhaps it is something that you are not totally aware of.

   First of all, let me say this: that we know God did make different races. This is an indisputable fact, and we know this, we understand that because of what we see with our own eyes. He did mean for the races to remain pure and not to... not to mix. This... this is self-evident, I believe. This is self-evident. It is not anything that we need to... to turn to a lot of scriptures over.

   If God made it that way, it is apparent that it should remain this way and then, and especially when you're... when you're speaking about human beings.

   The forbidding of mixed marriages... You will read over and over again in the Bible, and I can turn to a few places right now, what specifically for the purpose of keeping the religion pure. And God did not want the Israelites to marry outside of their own country for that very purpose. And you will find that this was not only applied to Canaanite tribes, whatever color they may have been - we assume that they... that they were of a dark race and white. But this was also applied to nations such as Midian and Moab, who were white as white could possibly be.

   And God forbid those marriages, not for the purpose of... of keeping the races pure necessarily, but for the purpose of keeping the religion pure, and you can read that in the entire chapter of Numbers 25 if you wish. That was the purpose of it. And he realized because of the religion of other nations, God wanted the Israelites not to marry outside their own bounds in their own countries.

   This was permitted, however, in the case of Ruth, who was a Moabite... And was not an Israelite. And turned out to be the what great grandmother, the great great grandmother of David and in the... in the lineage of Christ nonetheless. And so we see that even though he did allow marriage outside the nation where religion was not a factor, that didn't seem to be a problem. That's it. The Moabites, the Midianites were... were of some distant relative to the Israelites.

   Now, the secondary purpose, of course, was, of course, to keep the races pure. We understand that. The primary purpose, the purpose that is mentioned over and over again in the Bible was for the purpose of... of religion. And because God stated over and over again that your religion will be influenced by what the other nations believe. That is not a factor here. But let me say the strong statements in the Bible having to do with marriage outside one's nation has to do with religion. Nothing much is said about race. Anything about race... is... is self-evident. And you don't find a great deal mentions about keeping the races separate for that purpose, even though we know it is to be done, as I said, these are self-evident things.

   Now, for this obvious self-evident reason, we do not permit church members to marry outside their race. Now there was some difficulty with that. Who... who is to decide as to what is the race? We have Mexicans in the church. We have Oriental people in the church. We have people who are mixed races who are perhaps not one or the other. And which of us then is to decide that? I... I'm just... that perhaps has very little to do with the problem that we're discussing here. But I do want to show you the complexity of the problem nonetheless.

   The complexity of the problem and it's not as simple as perhaps former Ku Klux Klan people may think, or perhaps people who are former Masons and still... who still think like Masons who are very, very narrow in their thinking, very narrow indeed - which organization we do not approve of because we understand their origin and... and... and some of their... some of their... some of their racial feelings. We do not agree with that.

   And anybody who has a lot of these feelings left over from that kind of a background, you were in it... And perhaps you have been in it, then let me just say that that kind of thing we do not approve of and, You... You would do well to examine what kind of thinking that those people have has done for you and how it influenced you. It is... it's wrong and we do not abide by it. One of the sickest minds is the person who belongs to the Ku Klux Klan. They're sick, sick people.

   Now, we... are stand on this as a church. We do not permit amongst our members interracial dating or marriage, and... and as subsequent, of course, dating or is in dancing for that matter or anything or any social concourse that would eventually lead to romance. In marriage, of course, we... we do forbid in the church. Do you understand that that is our stance?

   But what about a marriage that has occurred before a couple comes to the church? Now here's the point. And here's the rub with some people. What do we stand on that and what do you do? It's essentially the same principle that Mr. Armstrong has decided on... This principle years ago. I say years ago because I've heard him in ministerial conference... When this was discussed, I know one time back in 1974, the whole thing was thoroughly discussed. Uh, and the decision was made before then for that matter, because we have come across situations like this in other churches in other parts of the country where we have not had it here.

   It's interesting to see the reaction of some of our people here and some of the feelings that they have had because we are in a different part of the country with some pretty strong feelings, and he would do well to once again examine some of those feelings. The same principle is this, is that what occurs before baptism... it's finished. It's over with. We've got nothing to say about it.

   And if we were to do that, then we would have to take some very, very powerful statements that Jesus Christ had to say about divorce and remarriage, in which situation some of you are in yourself. We would have to say, well, now you... were married before as Christ said you shouldn't have been, and then you remarried and so therefore you are committing adultery.

   Now this we did do for some time. Because the statements that Jesus Christ made were so very, very strong and powerful in that. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 31... Just for example, we can turn to other places where Christ makes the statement. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 31 (Matthew 5:31), it has been said, 'Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.' But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.

   All right. Now we need to consider how many among us have been previously married. And then we've been divorced, and then we've been remarried. Now for anybody who insists that here is a situation that we should not accept, we must also by the same token must not accept any previous marriages. We cannot do that. You think about that.

   The same principle applies here. And what has occurred before baptism? What is it because more people come to the church is one thing. What happens after they come to the church is another thing entirely and we... we accept... Mr. and Mrs. Brince totally, completely, and nothing is to be said. And this... this is where we stand on it. This is from Mr. Armstrong. I checked it out completely, and that... that's his feelings on it, and... and that's... that's where we stand now.

   If it offends anybody, then I suggest you find out where to go because your mind is not quite in line with the way, where you ought to be thinking. As I said, here's something that we've discussed, we've discussed over and over and over and over again and... and... and ministerial conferences. And... and this is the conclusion that we have come up with. And I would suggest that any feelings you may have are strictly emotional due to your terrible, terrible bigot and prejudice background that you may have been reared in, which I know many of you have been simply because of the part of the country you came from.

   Now I... I hope that I have explained that subject very clearly. Maybe... or maybe not to your satisfaction, but nonetheless, that is where we do stand. This... this is final, by the way. And the subject is not open to any further discussion.

End of Special Subject:

Main Message:

   Now we saw in Florida... A couple of months ago, a man who was executed. The name of John Spenkelink. He was the first man to be executed in Florida against his will. Many people protested and felt that he shouldn't have been, but it's cruel, inhumane for a man to die by the hands of men under what we call justice or a system of law.

   Even Gary Gilmore in Utah, I think it was last year, a little bit longer than that, who wanted to be executed was stopped by people who just couldn't bear to think about a person dying. And somehow in the minds of these people, they felt that such a thing going on was morally wrong. But this... this is punishment. Yes, it is punishment. That's not a bad word. Is punishment so bad?

   Let me ask this: who is the author of punishment? And who does punishing? Is Satan the author of punishment or God? From a throw out a theological question... and perhaps one we need to think about. In the Bible, it's very clear who is the author of punishment and who metes out punishment. Satan doesn't punish anybody because nobody is going against him. It is God the one who is the author of punishment.

   In Genesis chapter 4 and verse 9, the first time he meted out punishment... To an individual was Cain. It says in verse 9 (Genesis 4:9), 'The Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother?' And he said, 'I know not. I am... am I my brother's keeper?' And he said, 'What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. And now are you cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from... from your hand' because God knew about it all the time. And Cain said, 'I don't know where he is.

   'When you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to you her strength, a fugitive, and a vagabond shall you be in the earth,' and Cain said to the Eternal, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear.' You might say, why didn't God take Cain's life? Well, God had a purpose in that. God was meting out punishment to... to Cain. Which was far worse than death. Cain was to live for hundreds of years. And be denied the very thing he wanted and that was to be top dog in the world.

   And I've explained this in Bible studies for those of you who have been... who have been attending Bible studies that a great deal was at stake when Cain killed Abel. Cain killed Abel because he had to get rid of Abel. He realized that God was choosing Abel above him. And the only way that Cain was gonna be top dog amongst the people of the earth that is his own descendants after all, Cain was... was senior to Abel, and he was next in line because Adam had disqualified himself and everybody knew that.

   Cain... Cain's only recourse was to knock off Abel, get rid of him. And so what God did to Cain by way of punishment was not to take his life. And mercifully get rid of him was to let him live. And see that that... he could never, be still long enough... and... and situate himself in any place in order to form a little... what a power base for himself and gather people to himself and then begin his own government, begin his own form... form of government and become a ruler of people.

   This is what Cain wanted so very, very terribly, and that's why he killed Abel thinking that this would put him in the next in line and he would be in position for that. God... God says, 'No, nobody's gonna kill you, but you're still gonna be a fugitive and you're still gonna be a vagabond, and that is your lot in life from here on' and it was a punishment worse than death. And that's why Cain said that.

   God imposed punishment on Cain. Now, it wasn't here and this is not to be construed that... that God is against capital punishment. You find over here in Genesis, the 9th chapter... Where he says here in verse 5 (Genesis 9:5): 'And surely your blood of your lives will I require at the hand of every beast will I require it, at the hand of man, at the hand... hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man. Whosoever sheds man's blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man.'

   But God says if someone kills someone else, then... then it is up to you to administer justice. By shedding that man's blood who performed that murder and of course it had to be a murder. You find this further explained, this was after the flood, of course. Where God... God saw that man had so corrupted himself terribly that God said, 'Look, you better start meting out certain punishments. Otherwise, this kind of thing is gonna go on and on and on and violence,' says violence filled the earth and the reason they were so violent is because perhaps a man did not see fit to administer courts of justice and... and... and shed the lives of people who committed murder. If they did that, then it would have been a lot less violence.

   So God set up a system right after the flood. So here's the way this has got to be done. Otherwise we're gonna have the same thing occur all over again. So in Exodus 21 and verse 12 (Exodus 21:12), when he was giving civil law to the Israelites... As to how their nations should be governed... Here's his... here is what he said as to how the... how justice was to be administered. And these are good laws, not a thing wrong with them.

   Exodus 21 and verse 12: 'He that smites a man so that he die shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.' Now in other words, if... if... if... if there's a guy that just deserved to be killed, I mean, he needed killing. And you got some, you know, and... and it was more of an individual thing then perhaps you didn't have a lot of courts that were set up and so on and if it just so happens that someone need to take vengeance on, they needed doing away with.

   God says God delivered him into somebody else's hand and then the guy who killed him could go flee to a place where he couldn't be where he had immunity from prosecution or from anybody else who tried to get back at him. But it says here, 'But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, you shall take him from your altar that he may die.' So here's a person who... who murders someone... premeditatedly. He thinks about it. He said 'I'm gonna kill that guy.' He had no good reason to, but he wanted to do him in.

   All right, this guy deserved the death penalty. 'He that smites his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.' There was no excuse for that, none whatsoever, no mitigating circumstance. 'He that steals a man and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall be surely put to death.' So kidnapping, very, very serious charge. I mean, how do you like somebody to steal one of your children? You know, I mean, that's serious. That's bad. And God says no, this stuff is gonna go on. He's gonna be put to death.

   'He that curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.' Of course, some of these other laws we do not... We do not follow, but some of the main ones in which we have administered capital punishment is... is for murder, first degree murder in which it is proven. It's more than one witness, usually, hopefully that's the way it ought to be because when there isn't, you can't or you shouldn't. And the Bible, these are laws in the Bible.

   In Leviticus 24 verse 17... Leviticus 24:17: 'He that kills any man shall be surely put to death.' And of course this is premeditatedly of course, and 'he that kills a beast shall make it good, beast for beast, and if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him.' In other words, if he... if he for some reason through... and then there what? And they're fighting amongst one another. He maims or hurts another person and well...

   If... if you hurt that man in some way or cause him to lose a hand or an arm or something like that, it's gonna be done to you too. 'Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. He that killed the beast, he shall restore it. He that kills a man, he shall be put to death. You shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country, for I am the Eternal your God.' It didn't matter who it was, it was the same law for both.

   Now when people go against the death penalty, they go against a very, very natural law, a very natural thing. Now, perhaps in our own minds we think, well, vengeance is bad. Well it's not. The human spirit or human nature demands vengeance, it does, and vengeance will be done. Now that is God's way. God said, look, 'Vengeance is mine,' says the Lord.

   Now God allowed these people to take matters into their own hands and to administer their own law. He expected them to. However, we in God's church ought to and we should learn to rely upon God to execute the vengeance. A vengeance will be done and punishment must be meted out. Let's not... let's not think that people can do things and get away with them. That is not God's way. That is not God's way.

   He says 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.' And God will do it and he has ways of doing it, lots of ways of doing it. Let me show you over here in Revelation chapter 13 verse 10 about vengeance while we're on that subject. Revelation 13:10: 'He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He that kills with a sword must be killed with a sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.'

   Now what is that saying? It's saying this, that when the saints, the people of God see terrible injustices going on, or certain things are happening to them, or they may go into captivity or... or... or they may be hurt, maimed or even killed... Their patience and their faith is this, they know... That the same thing is going to happen to the guy who's doing it to them. They don't have to worry about becoming angry at him. They don't have to worry about seeking retribution themselves. They don't have to worry about trying to get back at him.

   Their patience is... That those who are performing such a thing, it will happen to them in the same way. As a matter of fact, it might happen to them double or tenfold or hundredfold even because God just make certain statements like that. What they do to you, God's gonna pay them back time and time and time again. I wish they wish they... they... they had never even thought of doing such a thing. That's the patience of the saints. And that is that... They know, or we know those people who... who persecute God's people will suffer the same thing themselves and worse.

   You know, when we go against penalties, and God Himself says that should be meted out to people... We go against a very, very natural law. And I said, some of these things are very, very natural.

   What we do around the chapter 30, here's what God says. Now, this doesn't have to do with capital punishment... Of... of penalties... And curses that God says will happen when people disobey his law in Deuteronomy chapter 30. Beginning with verse 15 (Deuteronomy 30:15): 'See, I have set before you this day life and good... And death and evil... In that I command you to say to love the Eternal your God and to walk in His ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments that you may live and multiply, and the Eternal your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.

   And if your heart turn away, that you will not hear but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land where you... Where you pass over Jordan to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life you and your seed may live.'

   So if we obey God, we're gonna have a blessing. We're gonna be rewarded. If we disobey God, we're going to have curses or penalties, and we can read over and over again in the 20th chapter of... of Deuteronomy, the 26th chapter of... of Leviticus... The... the curses that are mentioned that are described in detail as to what... We will experience if we do not obey God.

   Now in Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11. Ecclesiastes 8:11... There is a system that God has set up. These are laws which... which cannot be broken as... as we have said time and time again, that you may try to break God's law, but God's law will break you. You break God's law, you're going to suffer penalty.

   Just because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. That tells you several things right there. First of all, it is in God's thinking... It is in his thoughts, his ... his plan, his way that he has devised that... that he will work... is somehow retributed in some way. That there is a system of laws, and when you break those laws, you have a penalty in some way.

   Now the problem is this, because penalties do not come immediately sometimes, and the penalties aren't immediately apparent... they think they're getting away with things, but you're not. You're going to pay the penalty sooner or later, and it is a sure thing. You will suffer the penalty.

   Now we all suffer penalties in one way or the other. Penalties do come. They come in many, many forms. One of the more immediate penalties we think of of course is pain. And this is the most obvious and perhaps the most... the most frequent. We suffer pain in some way. We break God's law, we do suffer pain, all right.

   There's the... we... we suffer the anger of another person. We break the law having to do with the rights of another individual, where we do not love our neighbor as ourselves. We somehow break one of the commandments of God in that regard and then we suffer, then the anger, the... the... prosecution, the suits of... of another person. And we suffer penalties whenever we break laws in that regard.

   There are such things as mental torment. People have emotional problems. These are results of breaking God's law in some form or another. You may not understand why you're breaking God's law, but perhaps you are. You perhaps are not exercising the discipline that you should... In order to conform yourself to God's ways and God's laws, and as a result, you... you... you suffer mental problems, emotional problems.

   People suffer deprivation as a result of breaking God's laws. A lot of people are suffering deprivation because of the breaking of God's laws. There's people whose family life is in shambles simply because the laws are being broken, whether it be on the part of the husband or wife or both of them, Works... It is a penalty that people pay because... Because of laws that they're breaking.

   Even death... Death is a penalty. Eventually, the laws that are broken and some people die prematurely... because of certain things that have happened and enough has accumulated in their life to where they're either killed or... or they're involved in some... some accidents. Or... or whatever, but there is a cause for it, there is a reason for it and usually someone somewhere along the line has broken laws and usually it's them, it's themselves.

   And Proverbs chapter 5 and verse 1 (Proverbs 5:1), you know the whole book of Proverbs and we can go through this... this entire book here. And... and show... What Solomon says here because he has observed life. He saw what people did and he saw when they sinned, when they disobeyed God and the penalties that they paid and over and over again in all the proverbs, he says this.

   Proverbs chapter 5, here's a whole chapter right here, telling the story of just what I'm saying. He says, 'My son attend to my wisdom and bow your ear to my understanding that you may regard discretion and that... Your lips may keep knowledge, for the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is bitter as wormwood... Sharp as a two-edged sword.'

   He says, 'Look, you can get involved in all kinds of illicit sex if you want to, whether it be fornication, adultery, or otherwise, and there's plenty of otherwises in that too, by the way... Is that if you do, it's... it's... it's a very pleasant thing. However, the end of it is bitter. And you're gonna suffer for it and you will pay the penalty.'

   'Her feet go down to death. Her... her steps take hold on hell,' that is the grave. 'Unless you should ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that you cannot know them. Hear me now, therefore you children and depart not from the words of my mouth,' and that's why it's so good to for... for young people to even read that teenagers and not to involve themselves in any kind of thing that's gonna lead to fornication. Simply because you're gonna pay a penalty for it. You really will.

   You pay a penalty for it and that's what this book of Proverbs says here, and he says to the young men and of course, it appears to be the young men who appear to be prone to this, but the young ladies who... who just likes to run around... They have a certain eye for it. They got a... a certain tendency in that direction and you've got... you've got peer pressure, a lot of that kind of thing goes on now, but here's the warning.

   Go ahead and involve yourself in it, but I wanna tell you something, you will pay the penalty later on. There's gonna come a time you want to get married. You want to get married. And you're gonna have to think about all the times that you ran around on the wife that you're about to marry. And maybe she did the same thing on you. And what are you gonna have? You're gonna have a distrust in the marriage. It's not gonna be based on solid ground. It's not going to have the confidence that it should have.

   You're gonna have problems, not only that, but you're gonna have problems in the other direction in your marriage. It's going to take a little while to work out. I'm not saying some of the... the effects of these penalties can't be removed. They certainly can be... With God's help and we're trying to develop the... the... the right attitude and. And and and people just determined to make things work out. Yes, they can work out.

   But I wanna tell you in the meantime, you will pay a penalty. You will be deprived of a great deal of joy and happiness that you could have had in your marriage. That's... that... that has been... that you have been robbed of because you decided to steal some... some it says some stolen waters and sweet waters... before you should have. That's just the way it is. There are penalties, you will pay, you will pay it.

   You say, 'Well, I don't know what I'm missing.' I'm gonna tell you something. If you have not kept yourself pure, you've not kept yourself clean... I guess... I guess you just won't know. But there is a... a kind of joy and happiness that is in marriage and going about and doing these things the right way and the way God says to do them, that... that you will have and that you will experience if you abide by God's law.

   And what it's gonna take is some kind of restraint on your part. Clean up your mind and forget about what other people are doing. And what the other boys and girls are doing in school, if they want to go out and they want to commit fornication, and that's their business. They're gonna pay the penalty.

   I went to school with kids and I can look back and you got a legacy of divorce and remarriage and all kinds of problems and alimony and they're still not on their feet. They work in some... some crummy factory or plant down in the Mississippi River and they call that life. They call that living. OK, I call... I call what I'm doing living too, a little bit better.

   And anybody who... who understands God's law, if you've been brought up with it, you have a fantastic opportunity to know the difference between right and wrong and keep yourself clean and pure for the one that you're gonna marry. All right, that's just a little bit of talk to the young people, but let me say this, this certainly applies to any type right here. Of... of uh... Uh, sexual deviation or part of anybody for that matter.

   He says here (Proverbs 5:7-23), 'Hear me now, therefore you children, depart not from the words of my mouth, remove your way from her and come not near the door of her house.' In other words, don't even come near it. Don't even think about it, get it out of your mind because when you do, you're beginning to play with fire. 'Lest you give your honor unto others and your years unto the cruel, the stranger be filled with your wealth. And your labors be in the house of a stranger.'

   How many people? Because of... of... of sexual infidelity... paid terrible, terrible penalties. How many marriages are broken up over that? Because of what has happened before the marriage, what has happened after they got married and... and... and... and they finally break up and a guy's got to support kids. He's got to support his wife and he's got to support another wife. And... and your... your strength and your wealth is gone and you never get anywhere and you're just strapped in something terrible.

   Because... Because of one sin... That's what God says will happen. Strangers are gonna be filled with your wealth. How many lawyers have gotten wealthy? Over people who couldn't keep their marriage straight. Because they wanted to lust in their own mind at the things they shouldn't have. They got lots of lawyers who are getting rich over other people's sins. Think about it.

   For God says, and you mourn at the last when your flesh and your body are consumed and of course that is the... The final end results of... of womanizing and running around to... to mourn at the last. And finally you kinda wonder what... what could I have had if I... if I had just done it right.

   And say, 'How have I hated instruction and my heart despised reproof? I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and in assembly.' 'Drink waters out of your own cistern and running waters out of your own well.' Now, if you want to interpret that, that means stay home. Cause what you got at home is a lot better than what you're gonna find elsewhere. And do it right.

   'Let your fountains be dispersed abroad and rivers of waters in the street. That is, if you do this, let them be only your own and not strangers with you, and let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be as a loving hind and pleasant roe and let her breasts satisfy you at all times and be you ravished always with her love,' not anybody else's love.

   Now why will you, my son be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Eternal, and he ponders all his doings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.' In other words, he's gonna be tied down, strapped in with the bonds with the cords of his own sins. They're gonna stay there, they're gonna live after him, they're gonna follow him wherever he goes, and you're gonna have problems.

   And a little bit of restraint... A little bit of obeying God's law and a little bit of self-discipline on your part is going to save you a whole lot of anguish and a lot of problems later on. 'He shall die without instruction and in the greatness of his folly shall he go astray.'

   Over in Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 25. Jeremiah 5:25. He says 'Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have withheld good things from you.' Whenever we sin, we are depriving ourselves of good things. Good things, real good things, the blessings that God wants us to have and then the absolute fullest extent.

   Start running around doing things you shouldn't do. So maybe I can have a happy marriage. Yeah, maybe you can, but I'll tell you what, you will be deprived nonetheless of what you could have had. That is the law. In... in I Corinthians... Chapter 6 verse 18, I Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18 (I Corinthians 6:18): 'Flee fornication.' I mean just get out of the way. Do what Joseph did run... Because it is available.

   And you just get yourself out of that situation. You sleep fornication. It doesn't say stand around, get up next to it, see how close you can get and hope an accident might happen. It's not what it says, it says flee. 'Every sin that a man does is without the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.' In other words, much of the penalty he's gonna pay may not affect anybody else. But it's going to affect you. It will affect your marriage? It'll affect the way you live and the way you think.

   Now, the point I'm making in all of this and perhaps it's a little bit long and drawn out... That there is a system. I don't care what law you break. There is a system that God has put in effect that is living. That is sure as the sun is gonna come up in the morning. That there is a system of penalties in life. God doesn't have to raise one finger to impose those penalties on you.

   If he doesn't want to, perhaps sometimes he'll go out of his way to especially punish a person because perhaps they need it. Or perhaps dealing with it or whatever. But God doesn't... doesn't have to do that because God sets in motion laws, living laws, whether you see them or not, whether you recognize them or not. You break them, you're going to pay a penalty somewhere along the line. Yes, you will.

   In I Peter chapter 2 in verse 20 (I Peter 2:20)... All of us... And he says here... Suffer as a result of what we do. So what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your fault... But you take it patiently. We suffer for our own faults. Now sometimes we might suffer because of what other people do to us. We haven't done anything because God says here... 'But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable of God.'

   Now that happens sometimes, but most of the time we don't suffer because of what someone else has done to us, and I've heard lots of people say that. 'I've been a victim of circumstances. I... I am just this way or things happen to me. They just seem to happen to me all the time.' Yeah, I have lots of people say that. Not ever realizing that maybe you were buffeted for your own fault, for the way you've been living, for your own ways, your own attitude, your own sins that you've committed for years and years and years and they've caught up on you and... and now you're paying the penalties for them.

   You think it's some kind of strange weird thing that you're suffering all the time. That's God's way. What else would you have God do? Let you off scot-free? No, God's not gonna do that. Most of the time, and I say most of the time, we suffer for what we do. There are times we suffer what other people do. Yes, yes, we do. There... there... there... there is... there is that occasion.

   And Peter here is referring primarily to religious persecution because of what other people would do, because of what we believe. If that time is going to come... And we did not bring this upon ourselves, but merely because of what we believe, what we stand for, we will be persecuted. You don't see that so much now.

   But what we do see is that many of us who have some of our problems, we're suffering because of... of... of terrible, terrible situations that we have gotten ourselves into and we can't really blame it on somebody else. Look, penalties or pain or suffering is our friend. I hope you... I hope you understand this. Whenever we suffer, it's a friend.

   And some of the penalties that we pay right now, sometimes... It is a small price, a small price to pay considering what we may experience later on if we continue in it. If we... if we do something wrong to hurt ourselves, we suffer pain and pain... pain is something that we all have, whether it's small ache or a small pain, before it gets too bad, it's telling us something. It's giving us a message, you're doing something wrong, you better slow down, you better take it easy, you better correct something here or there, you better take a rest whatever.

   The cold is miserable. The flu is worse. All right. Well, you may... you may have a chance to begin to take care of yourself and begin to change the way you live, and... and so that you won't continue suffering these penalties. Yes, pain is our friend. When you look at it that way, you stick your hand on the stove and you don't feel pain, and occasionally a person born that way that do not suffer pain, you know that, and that's something that's... that's a sort of a um freak in... in... in human development, but some people do not suffer pain.

   And... and their parents have to watch it very, very closely because they might put their hands on a stove or something and... and... and get burned and they're sitting there burning away and they don't even know it because they're not suffering pain. Well, that's... That's something physically wrong with the person and they were born that way, but all of us, most all of us do suffer pain.

   And it tells us whenever we're doing something wrong. And you suffer the pain of doing something, you're pretty good, you get the idea pretty quick that you have to and you must not do that again. Otherwise you're gonna suffer some more pain. Sometimes the effects is meted out very, very quickly and sometimes it drags on for a while.

   You know, so many of our children are raised up in a very, very unrealistic world. In that they... they have not experienced punishment, raw punishment, you know, we... now we've got these psychologists who come along and say, well, you're not supposed to punish your children, and they're not supposed to experience pain. We don't want to see our children suffer. Let me tell you something, suffering is not... Well, you don't like to, but it's not... Because it helps you to realize that... that you're doing something wrong.

   And when you as a parent, artificially impose certain corrective measures, punishment... On your children... That's a small price to pay. For... for what will happen later on. A very, very small price... To pay for... for the trouble that it's going to save that child later on. He says correction is grievous... Well, that means for the immediate, it is. We've got to understand what happens later on.

   So... so many children... Do not experience the way life really is. They... they get everything they want. They don't have to come... come by it the hard way. They don't have to work for it. And when it comes time but they gotta get out in the cold world and work, they don't know how to work because they've never been taught.

   The parents have paid the penalty for the child's disobedience for so long that the child doesn't even know that there are penalties that must be paid. The mother picks up after the child, the mother does everything for the child. The mother pampers the child, the child was not to suffer, the child is not to experience any kind of inconvenience. The child is not to suffer any kind of... of emotional distress. The child is not to be upset at all. You don't want the child to cry, you don't want the child to get hurt.

   Well, I'll tell you what's gonna happen. He's gonna get hurt something terrible later on down the line, he really will. Because... The small little hurts that he could experience, the very small hurts that he could experience... When he was growing up, teaching very, very valuable lessons... would go a long way and help him to realize that there are big, big penalties later on in life.

   Well, so many of them have adjusted to real life, they grow up... I think they want to get married and they get married and they have all kinds of troubles and troubles is a new experience and they don't know how to solve their problems. You see, a lot of... lot of older folks had the same kind of problems. They had the same kind of troubles, but they solved them. They exercised a certain amount of discipline, they exercised a certain amount of character, they work out their problems, they stayed with it, and kids nowadays, they have a little bit of problem and trouble... Well, if you divorce, first thing to do.

   And... and they don't know how to deal with the... the troubles because mom and dad always made it right for them. He's never had to experience any... any kind of unpleasantness. And so they don't know how to deal with it. Well, these are laws that I could... I could turn to the book of Proverbs over and over again where Solomon says, look, use the rod, and that means something, somehow along the lines so that they're gonna experience a little bit of pain to help them to realize what they did is wrong and that's it, it lasts for a very short period of time, doesn't do them any harm, doesn't... it doesn't warp their minds. It doesn't hurt them... Except for a very, very small time and then that's gonna save them big pain later on. Save them divorce, save them a life of poverty.

   And you do, you... you go a long ways to doing a lot for your children. Now, the same attitude... Prevails in parents... Who think like this and those who oppose capital punishment. Same kind of attitude prevails. Now you may have disagreed very, very strongly with... with some of these people who protested and called do-gooders... And call them liberals who protested capital punishment. You may have done that. But yet... You probably neglect to... to train your children in the right way too.

   It's the same kind of thinking because we just do not like to see suffering. We like... like to avoid a scene and we don't want to get involved and resolve a situation right then and there. Now... Punishment, penalties is a part of life. God is the author of it. He instituted it. Why fight... why fight... OK.

   In this regard, then let us consider... What... What are good works? Perhaps you might say how then is this subject related and that's what I'm getting to, just hang-on, I'll explain that. It's a rather difficult subject, but... but I think this is how it has to be approached. You hear so much about good works. Christians should have good deeds and good works and so on, and you... and... and... and many times very little distinction was made between people who need to be helped, who should be helped because of the situation they're in beyond their control, and other people who are naturally suffering a penalty.

   But they need to suffer. Like I said, penalties and suffering is... is a way of life. It is God's way. He instituted it. He authored it. Why fight it? A lot of liberals do good to do that. They don't want to see people suffer. Well, I don't wanna see people suffer either. And... But you got to ask the question. God sees people suffer all the time, and he lets them suffer and you let them die. Why would God do such a thing?

   Well, it is true that we need to do a lot for ourselves, and it is true that our responsibility is a little bit different from that, and that we do help certain people and I want... I want to explain that very clearly. But that's the problem with so many liberals and do-gooders, that they tried to remove the penalty that God has imposed upon people and they turn around and go do the same thing over again because we tried to remove the penalties. We... we don't like people to suffer. We don't want to have people get upset or suffer any inconvenience, so we removed the penalty. But God himself, because of his own laws that he has set in motion has imposed on them.

   The Bible makes a difference over and over and over again. The Bible makes a difference. You know, back in the Old Testament it speaks of the widow and the orphan, and the implication there is a widow who cannot help herself and the widow who has orphans or fatherless. I'm sorry, it says fatherless, not being just an orphan, even though orphans are included in that. It speaks of... Of... of widows and then the widow has children because she has to raise those children and does not have a breadwinner to go out there and to help support her.

   She has those children that's why it says widows and fatherless. And there's not necessarily a widow who can do for herself because we have lots of widows or people who are divorced, separate or even single, single women who in this day and age can fend for themselves, can take care of themselves, and should do so because they are able to, they're capable of it and do not fall in that category. We're talking about a widow, number one, who is elderly... Who can no longer work and we're talking about a widow with fatherless children. She does have children, she has to raise. OK, that is a different story, different category altogether.

   So the Bible speaks of that. The Bible speaks of how Christ helped who the halt, the maimed, and the blind. He helped those who came to him. And he... he did do something for them. He didn't try to correct the whole thing, as we have a lot of people do today, try to correct all the problems in the world today, which you're not going to do, and that of itself is self-evident.

   And a lot of people think that they ought to do that and get involved... Trying to rectify the world and in doing so try to remove the penalties that people are paying while they are still in their sins. Now we try to help India... Years and years ago, and... and all we're doing there is putting off the inevitable because feeding people, we're also feeding rats and cows.

   And because of their sins, their false belief... That they are in bondage to and they have not changed and they are not... not going to change... That... that they are going to continue to put animal life... Whether it be rats and snakes and whatever... and cows ahead of human life. And if they think that way and they do that to themselves, who are we to say we want to save you, but let's... we want you to still live the way you're living.

   And that's maybe a very, very hard way of looking at it. But you know, that's not so far different the way God looks at things. And perhaps a... a... a different approach that we need to have. What we have done is merely put off the inevitable. We have allowed them to foster more children... Which they have done... And... and the population continues to expand and there's gonna come a point where more people will eventually die. More people will die. And so as a result of what we did, trying to keep... keep people alive in their own sins.

   So now we're getting to some kind of point that can be argued. Perhaps it can. Let's go on. And Jeremiah chapter 26 verse 13 (Jeremiah 26:13): 'Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God and the Lord will repent of him the evil that he has pronounced against you.' Now, God does not want to see you suffer. And he says, before you're gonna get over your suffering, you're gonna have to change your ways. And if you change your ways, if you amend them... You will not suffer the things that are going to come upon you.

   Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 3. Jeremiah 7:3: 'Thus saith the Eternal host the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.' Because not in lying words saying 'The temple of the... of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,' they're... they're saying we have this religion, we've got that, and everything's fine.

   'But if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, and if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, and if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk not after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place and in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.'

   Amend your ways and God says, look, I'll take the penalty away. That's true. God does want to take the penalty away. He doesn't want you to suffer. He wants these penalties to be removed, and this is why you are anointed. What you are doing in essence is asking God to take the penalty away that you have been paying. Under what conditions will God take the penalty away? First of all... You begin to amend your ways.

   That is just as it says here, you begin to correct what is wrong. You say 'I'm... I'm going to stop doing what is causing that. I repent of the way that I am and I am changing.' That can apply to the penalty of any sin. Penalty of sin. Then you have to turn yourself over to God's hands and ask him, 'God, I realize this penalty is with me because of the nature of the law... And the penalty that has been imposed... But now I have repented... I am changing. What you see fit in your mercy now to remove the penalty from me, but I would... Continue to suffer... If I... If you don't.'

   And God does at that time, if we do amend our ways, and if we do repent and if we do stop sinning, but the penalty is still there... God will, God may see fit to remove the penalty and many times he has... And stop the... terminate the effect of your sins before... Before it would come to its own natural end. Sometimes these things run their course, and God sometimes heals people, sometimes removes the problem from them prematurely because they have indeed repented. God will do that.

   God does not feel that you have repented... God may feel that you need a lesson to learn... God may allow the penalty to continue on... To help you to understand that that the sins that you have committed in the past did indeed cause these things, and for you to properly thoroughly repent and to... to... to completely determine that you have got to overcome these problems, you... you may allow to go on a little bit longer.

   And of course in doing that, these are problems and trials then that we need to examine ourselves on and... and that of itself is working some good within us. I'm really trying to... to... to try to explain the principle and of penalties, how they're removed, when they are removed, under what conditions they are removed and how God himself deals with people so that we can begin to have a little understanding of the way perhaps we ourselves should deal with people.

   And I get so caught up with a lot of people uh who... who... who... who feel that they should uh... Uh, just correct everything that is taking place. It's not in God's will that he... that he does it. Jesus Christ said, he says, I... I... I... Uh, or it says of Christ... That those reed shall not break... And a smoking flax who shall not quench.

   In other words, there are certain things that are wrong... He is not corrected... And he doesn't want it to be corrected... Simply because people are not ever gonna learn... If these things are not corrected... Or... or corrected rather...

   Luke chapter 10 verse 25 (Luke 10:25)... The parable of the Good Samaritan is often quoted and often misquoted and terrible conclusions are drawn from this parable. The wrong conclusions are drawn from this parable... And very important to analyze what is here. In 10th chapter of Luke, in verse 25: 'And behold a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' They said unto him, 'What is written in the law? How do you read?'

   And he said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said unto him, 'You have answered right, this do and you shall live.' But he willing to justify himself said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' And Jesus answering said, 'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves... Which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.'

   Now here's the situation the man got into which was beyond his control. What sin did he commit? That he should deserve this? That's the question to ask. He didn't do anything. It was something that happened to him. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way... And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side and likewise the Levite... when he was at the place, came and looked upon him and passed by on the other side and a certain Samaritan as he journeyed, came where he was...

   And when he saw him, he had compassion on him and naturally it should be done. And you can't argue with that. That is a situation where you came upon, you saw someone in a desperate strait due to no situation of their or... or making of their own. And... and who's gonna help him? He needs help laying there dying. Something's got to be done. I realize this is an extreme example. It does apply to many, many other things, and we should consider that in our own lives.

   And he went to them, went to him, bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the morrow when he departed, he took out 2 pence and gave them to the host and he said unto him, 'Take care of him... And whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.' Now which of these three do you think was neighbor to him that fell among the thieves? And of course, he said, he that showed mercy on him and Jesus said unto him, 'Go and do you likewise.'

   Here's a man paying a terrible penalty because of what somebody else has done to him. And he wasn't suffering... Because... because of his own making... Or he wasn't in a situation that he couldn't do anything about. Now that's... that's the point I want to make here.

   People try to use that parable and say we've got to be good Samaritans and run all over the place looking for people to help and in doing so, help a lot of people that can help themselves, should help themselves, need to help themselves, quite capable of helping themselves. Here's a man who was not capable of helping himself. Now, that is a little bit of a distinction there. And... and we need... we need to make that distinction.

   And James chapter 1 and verse 27 (James 1:27), 'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit... The fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.' All right, now this scripture has been quoted many, many times... And once again... It is... it has been construed wrongly so to make it out, we gotta go look after all widows and we just gotta go and this becomes our religion.

   There are a lot of people and liberals even in this church who decided to make... make out to believe that that this is our... our religion. This is what we should do. We should go out and we should look for opportunities and we should spend our time in doing such a thing as this, that this is not worth speaking about. There are people that you are indeed responsible for.

   Number one, you're responsible for your own family. You are indeed responsible for people that you see... That you come across that is in your neighborhood, your block... Now your neighbor's house burns down or someone in the... in the... in very close proximity to you... Yes, you are obligated to take care of them, look after them as much as possible to help them get on their feet, but you don't go all the way across town... And look for people whose houses are burned down and you make that your... your way of life.

   Now that is not... that is not what religion is. Because everybody should take care of that burden. Things happen to a lot of people. And... You know a lot of people... You're responsible for those people that you know. And... In following the principle of the Good Samaritan or this scripture here... Here are people who are in situations that are beyond their control, but they can't do anything about Christ helped the halt, the maimed, the blind, the demon possessed, they were in situations...

   He... he... he gave them a chance. He primed the pump of the faith and gave them an opportunity... To make it. If they didn't make it after that, he says he cast out a demon out of an individual. He says if that person doesn't do anything for himself after that, the demon's gonna bring back 7 worse than himself, and that man's gonna be far worse than he was at the beginning.

   So when Christ help somebody, he expected them to take it from there. Now we help people... We're not gonna help people over and over and over again. You'll prime the pump, so to speak... And after that, they have to do for themselves. I'm speaking even in regards of handicapped people. I have seen handicapped people, if you want to talk about the halt, the maimed and the blind, yeah, you give them a chance.

   You give them a stake or... or you get them on their feet, and you kind of rehabilitate them, but after that, they cannot live a life of self-pity. They cannot live a life of... of bitterness and resentment. They gotta make it on their own after that, and there have been plenty, plenty of examples... Of people who should be dead right now, people who... who should be put on their back should not be walking... success. They've gained the respect of so many, many people.

   These people ought to be admired because they didn't sink down into the self-pity. Now there is a difference between the widow and the fatherless, the halt, the maimed, the blind, the handicapped, and the people that you find over here in Revelation... 21st chapter... Here are the kind of people who will not be in God's kingdom, the fearful or safe... Unbelieving? Yeah, people who fear... People who could do something for themselves, but they didn't.

   People who are paying terrible, terrible penalties because they could get themselves out of the situation if they want to. If they would exercise a certain amount of character and discipline in themselves, if they would try... We've got so many fine people... Who will make it... And so many who won't.

   Christ speaks of those people who will enter the kingdom... halt and blind... And those who are whole are just not going to make it... Because of an attitude of mind. Now we like to call the selfish people and greedy people and people who are consumed with some kind of terrible mental attitude, we give them psychological names like neurotics or schizos and all kinds of things such as that and we like to invent to say they got diseases and they've got the hangups and this and that we've got to do this for them, we gotta do that for them.

   God says people who can do something for themselves who can with effort... On their part... Rehabilitate themselves and get their mind straightened out and get over the self-pity and get over the self sorrow and feeling sorrow for themselves, they're gonna make it. Since verse 7, 'He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he will be my son.'

   The fearful and unbelieving... You got people who just sink down and down and down and down and never get out of it. Why didn't God do anything for them simply because they can do it for themselves, they want to. If they try. So God just doesn't have a lot of mercy on that... on that person, you know, that's just terrible. Well... Some people, brethren, you do only a certain amount for... After that, they've got to do for themselves.

   Because the more you do for them, the more they're gonna take advantage of you. And the worse they're going to get and they will never ever learn. Now I wanted to point out the difference between the halt the maimed and blind... Fatherless and the widow... The hurt, the afflicted... In a situation... Who are trying to do right, who will do right... All they need is a little helping hand, the priming of the pump, so to speak, they're on their way.

   And on the other hand, the fearful and the other unbelieving who will not make it to the kingdom, and there is a difference. There's a difference. In Matthew chapter 25 verse 34... Matthew 25:34... Let's read that then in this context... Even though I do believe the scripture does have a... a overall and overall... Application, which is... which we are yet to see.

   'Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world... For I was hungry and you gave me meat... I was thirsty and you gave me drink... I was a stranger and you took me in.' Now why was he in that situation? Was it because he was a bum? And he just didn't exercise the God-given ability to get out and work for himself and support himself. Why was he this way? You better ask the question.

   'Naked and you clothed me... I was sick and you visited me... I was in prison and you came unto me.' Why was he in prison? Because he was a dirty rotten murderer and a rapist and he needed to be there? Or was he there... Because he was wrongly prosecuted? Because he was a member of God's church... And he shouldn't have been there... And... and... and here are people who are being persecuted in the end time... And people there to help... And they supported one another in a situation like that.

   I dare say that is the application of that scripture. I think that we're gonna go into the prisons and rehabilitate people. I think... And we better reevaluate that... If we ever thought that we're gonna do that because we're not. The guys that are in prison I'm glad they're there. Sorry, that's just the way I feel. They got to be there because they did wrong... And if you don't punish them, they're gonna continue to do that.

   And how many times has... has someone been let out and he goes and he rapes and he kills again just like he did before within days of getting out... Because that's the way he is. We're gonna go and rehabilitate these people. Yes, some of them are... And so do... Very few repent... when their in prison... And try to change their lives. I am good. Once they do that... They got all the time in the world from us.

   You think you can go rehabilitate people, you're gonna change things and you're gonna rectify things in this world... You're not gonna do that. That's not what this is speaking about right here in Matthew chapter 25. I don't have a lot of sympathy for people... Especially when they've done some bad things and they go to jail for it. I don't lose sleep over that. I don't cry over it. I don't get upset over it.

   I'm... I'm gonna go out of my way to go see them. That was to lock them up for... I got... I got somebody... And I gotta go see him because I'm duty bound to... Fair enough, I'll do that and I'll keep in contact with him, but that's my responsibility. But not a lot of other folks. They are in there for what they did. And God... God said... This is what you've got to do.

   Over and over again in the Old Testament, you find that and God has turned this over to man... For the punishment... Of people who break the civil law... who infringe the rights of other people by hurting them, robbing them, maiming them, or even killing them, got to be incarcerated. And those people who have deliberately premeditated kill people have got to be put to death.

   Now, who are we to go against that? We can't... And we shouldn't... I hope I'm making a distinction... Between... The... the... the kind of a mind that people call Christians... go out indiscriminately... Helping, serving, giving themselves over to people who are just gonna be trampled on all the time. They can trample on you rather and Christ even said, you're casting your pearls before swine. They're gonna... you're gonna get them trampled on their feet and the dogs are gonna turn around and bite you. You do that indiscriminately.

   He says this about... Giving out the truth to people... Because even though you're doing good to them, they're gonna turn on you. There are a lot of people in this world who will do that. There are other people in the world who will appreciate it, who will take it, they'll do something with it. They'll... they'll... they'll... they'll take the chance and opportunity that maybe nobody else has given them. Fair enough, but make the distinction. Think about it. You say, well... That's to judge, yes, I guess it is.

   In Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 (Galatians 6:1)... I think it is summed up well here by Paul... Where he says, 'Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness... Considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.' OK? A brother needs a bit of help, fine. You try to restore it. What if he doesn't want to be restored? Nothing you can do for him. You can only help people who want to be helped.

   'Bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.' All right, you do have a responsibility to help bear one another's burdens. The people in the church, I say especially people in the church, have problems, have difficulties. They need that help, we must help bear that burden. That on a temporary basis. 'But if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own work... And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another.'

   OK, you got problems, you got troubles? You're a lot better off solving them yourself. Going to the source. So... well, so and so help me and so and so help me, and I'll get my help here and no, huh, you and the Lord, lots of times. Once you do that, you can rejoice in yourself... Because of what you were able to do and what you're able to accomplish, 'for every man shall bear his own burden.'

   Now that's interesting. Why... why does he say bear you one another's burden in verse 2 and verse 5, every man shall bear his own burden? I think, and I hope we can understand the balance in there, that there is a time that you do bear another person's burden. There's a time when you let them bear their own burden. And they need to, and they must...

   And if they're suffering a penalty that God has imposed on them, and there's no way, nothing that you can do to remove it... Why try? And if they're going to continue on in their sins... And they're not prepared to amend their ways, not prepared to change... But the more you do for them, the more you give them opportunity to continue to sin, you're only helping them in their sin and the penalty will never ever be removed.

   We have thrown our efforts at times and our money down the a rat hole... Trying to help and serve people who never make it because they don't want to change. They like the way they are, they like to sin, they won't change. Then I think it's time to conclude you don't help them anymore cause they want to be that way. They'll cry out for help in any case.

   'Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things, be not deceived... God is not fooled... For whatsoever a man sows that shall he reap... For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, and he that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.'

   See God deals with people in a way that perhaps we don't understand... And we all have all these possibilities, and I realized what I said today is not the end of the whole subject. I perhaps could go and explain example... example after example as to what a person should do and what a person not to do. Perhaps I've covered today only in principle, only in principle. I try to help you to understand as to how we conduct ourselves to others with problems and difficulties. And... and... Just what is your responsibility? We do have responsibility. I don't want to minimize that.

   But I also want to say... People who resort to that type of thing and say that is Christianity are wrong... They're wrong. That is not right. Our primary job, Mr. Armstrong has stated this over and over and over again, is to help the world understand the real and permanent solutions to their problems. Not to give them a handout so that they can continue on their sins just like they did before and prolong the suffering... to help the world understand what is the problem. And I think going to the leaders... Of the nations... Mr. Armstrong is doing and say, here is the cause of your problems. It's getting down to the root of it because of many of these Gentile nations, you pardon the term Gentile.

   That's the problem with Anastasia Somoza. The nice guy—you got a peasant family, so the Shah of Iran. You got to ask why they got in power, became dictators, kept it in the family, and he's worth $500 million now, a very conservative estimate. That's Anastasia, nice fellow. And set up a terrible system of government to where the wealth of the country flows to him.

   Oh yes, you can set up those systems, not very difficult. Our system of government here is a bit different. We try to disperse the wealth to everybody, but it doesn't always work that way. Things are being worked right now to where it is being accumulated in certain direction.

   However, some dictators are not as subtle—they're a little bit more obvious about it. And you say, "Well, boy, that nation sure is suffering." Why? Because you've got a man who was a corrupt leader, who was greedy, who was getting everything out of the country he possibly can for himself before revolution comes. Then he goes to another country—Switzerland or the United States—somewhere and enjoys himself the rest of his life. He drained the country of every bit of wealth there could possibly be.

   You got guys like that around the world. Whether it be in a black African country right now who have supposedly been freed from colonialism, or whether you're talking about the Shah of Iran, whose grandfather was a peasant—now one of them was the richest man in the whole world. These guys are out for one person: and that is themselves. And I just don't have a lot of sympathy for them.

   The problem is this: Why are people suffering? And what can you do to help them? Right now, the best thing that you could possibly be doing is to qualify yourself for the kingdom of God and doing what you can for the work of God, so that the work of God is going to get out. So that Jesus Christ can return and then put an end to the suffering.

   But to expand your energies, as so many people do, and all kinds of charitable organizations again and again, and think that this kind of work, good works, so to speak—is not talking about those kinds of good works, but the good works within yourself. But you're changing yourself, if you're overcoming and whatever other responsibilities, of course, that you may have, which indeed too many Christians do neglect—yes, people that they themselves become responsible for good works.

   Good works, is bad, is not involving yourself in a terribly long and involved effort that will change really nothing. But just doing it because we think that's what Christ wants us to do. And in doing that, we take away from the real effort. Take away from the only thing that's going to solve the problems of the world. And that is the return of Jesus Christ. Now that we are blessed to have a part of.