Herbert W Armstrong

   It certainly is a great honor to be here in the presence of all this royalty. I'm really sincere when I say that because I'm standing in the middle of, oh, about 6,000 future kings and queens of the world tomorrow. A fantastic experience just to be able to be here in the presence of all these royal people.

   And right now at the feast. You are in training, intensified training as to how better to become a future child of God, a son of God, because someday you're gonna wear a crown and you're going to be a part of the royal family of the great God.

   Now, I have something in my pocket. I want to pull out—most of you can't see it. It's a little pill, and it's a cute little pill. It's white and it's round. Now, I don't take pills. I want to clarify that. I do not take pills, and I am not going to try to sell you this cute little white pill. I just want to talk about it just momentarily. It's round, it's cute, it's just very nice-looking little pill. Probably tastes terrible. I don't know.

   But this pill, and billions like it, are being sold all over the nation and around the world. But did you know that the word "pill"—pill, pill—has at least three definitions, three definitions?

   Now, first of all, the most common definition for the word "pill" is this: it is a medicine in a small rounded mass. It is a medicine in a small rounded mass. And, of course, billions and billions of these little pills are sold every year.

   The second definition that Webster uses for the word "pill" is that pill is something unpleasant that has to be endured, something unpleasant that you must put up with.

   Well, the third definition of the word "pill," the one I want to talk about this morning—and that is, a pill, again according to Webster's dictionary, a pill is defined as a disagreeable or tiresome person.

   Now, the big question that I have for you this morning: Are you a pill? Are you sitting next to a pill? Let me just expound on this just a little bit here. A pill is someone who is grumpy, grouchy, crabby, and irritable. A pill is somebody that may do you favors, but he really lets you know that he has really had to sacrifice to do a favor for you. A pill is someone that says something like this: "You know, I don't like to do so and such," you know, "I don't like to do this."

   A pill can be somebody who complains about the long traffic lines. Now, some men are married to a pill, and some women, unfortunately, married a pill, and also, unfortunately, some parents are in the process of raising a pill. You know, they had this dark cloud just following them wherever they go. Nothing seems to work out well for them.

   Now, there's a very serious problem, however, with the pill, brethren, because if you are a pill, or if you remain a pill, keeping this pill-type attitude, then you will never inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God does not have any room for pills. And so if you have this grumpy, grouchy, irritable, crabby type attitude, you'll never be keeping God's feast during the millennium because, unfortunately, you will not be in the millennium.

   What I'm really talking about this morning is attitude. That's the subject of my sermon this morning—attitude, which certainly is one of the most important of words that we ever use. You know, before I came into God's church, I never even heard the word "attitude." Then I came into God's church as a teenager, and the word "attitude" kept coming up in sermons and sermonettes and in literature and so forth. It became a very important word for all of us.

   We warn our husbands or our wives, you know, "Have a good attitude," especially around the children. We warn our children to have a good attitude, and we're in the whole process of leaving one attitude that is very prevalent in this world and gaining and receiving the attitude that is of God.

   Let me turn first of all to II Corinthians chapter six. And this is a scripture which is a promise for all of us yet ahead, a promise of even why we are here. We are here right now during the feast to claim this promise.

   So in II Corinthians six and verse 17 (II Corinthians 6:17-18), this is II Corinthians six and verse 17, God says, "Wherefore come out from among them and be you separate." In other words, leave the attitude that this world is in, say the Eternal, the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.

   And now verse 18, the promise that we are looking forward to right now. Verse 18: "And I will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters," saith the Lord Almighty. God says, leave the sins and the attitude of this world and touch not the unclean, and God promises in the kingdom to be our Father and we're going to be his sons and daughters.

   Now, I would like to quote from Mr. Armstrong. This is "The Wonderful World of Tomorrow" book which he wrote. And Mr. Armstrong made an extremely important point about this word "attitude." It's a fantastic book. I know we've all read it many times. It's the hope that we have. It's our goal that we're striving for. And he explains it so well here in this booklet, "The Wonderful World Tomorrow."

   So I would like to quote from God's Apostle on page 68, and to give you a little bit of background here, he's talking about the fact that God has trained Abraham and Isaac and so on, these men of old, to do a great work. And he's asking the question here: How did he train them? What was he looking for? What abilities or talents and so on was he looking for in these men? How was he training these men?

   So he says, "God Almighty is working out a purpose here," and he says, "His first promise of this happy state was made to Abraham. God promised Abraham this whole world as an everlasting inheritance for him and his children. God promised that through Abraham, all nations of the earth would be blessed. At the same time, God began ensuring the efficiency and perfection of His world-ruling government by causing Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and Joseph to be trained during a lifetime in several basic essentials for top personnel in a government of perfection."

   All right, he's talking about training the rulers, the kings of the world tomorrow, and several basic essentials for top personnel in the government of perfection. The first essential that Mr. Armstrong lists is this—Mr. Armstrong says, "First is right attitude." That is the first essential. God looks on the heart, the spirit, the attitude. First of all, that is where he looked in choosing David to be king over Israel. That is where he looks in you and in me. These men were trained in submission to God and those over them in authority.

   So again, what is the first essential that God looks for as a future member of the royal family? He looks at your attitude. Now, have you ever noticed? Sometimes people can pray—maybe you found yourself doing this as well—people can pray, they can study, they can fast. And, of course, that is the foundation of our Christianity. Prayer, Bible study, and fasting is the anchor. It's something that if we do without, we won't—well, we will no longer be in God's church. It's the foundation from whence we build.

   However, Christ warned of people who prayed and fasted in the wrong attitude. They fasted to be seen of men, and very little good ever came. And so often people can pray, they can fast, they can pray, they can fast, they can study, but they never change their attitude. And very little progress is made because you've got to have a right attitude.

   Now, the word "attitude" does not appear in this King James version of the Bible. And yet the Bible is filled of these other terms that Mr. Armstrong was talking about—spirit or heart. And so when I go through the Bible this morning and mention the word "spirit" and "heart," then please realize that according to Mr. Armstrong, that means attitude. That's what the Bible is talking about.

   Let me define attitude very quickly. Attitude is a basic outlook on life. It is regarding feelings towards God, God's church, and your fellow human being. It's how you approach life, God, and God's church. Now, as I was saying a few moments ago, the word "attitude" has become one of the most important words, almost a buzzword that we use time and time again.

   For us, those of us who are in God's church, we know that there are two basic attitudes in this world. One comes, of course, from the great king of the universe, God—and God's attitude, and God frankly has the greatest attitude of all. God's attitude is supreme. It's an attitude of love, compassion, concern. God's attitude is service-oriented.

   However, the other basic attitude comes from Satan. He's the arch enemy of mankind. It's an attitude of bitterness, incredible hostility, hatred, especially for you. Satan's attitude is extremely hateful against you.

   Now, as one of God's ministers, I've had to deal, as I know all of God's ministers have had to deal, with both attitudes. Sometimes we've come up and talked to a member of God's church that just had a fantastically sweet attitude—humble, submissive, yielded—and very inspiring for that minister to talk to that individual. Unfortunately, on the other hand, we've had to deal with Satan's attitude, the spirit that Satan has and that he does put in some people. And let me tell you, brethren, it's very, very frustrating and very unpleasant to have to deal with that type of an attitude.

   I'd much rather deal with God's attitude and a Godlike attitude than the attitude of Satan, because Satan's attitude is incredibly hostile and bitter and hateful. And our job therefore is to move away from Satan's attitude and Satan's outlook. And our job is to move towards God's attitude.

   Let's turn over to Proverbs chapter four. Proverbs chapter four and verse 23. And here we have a verse that you can take it both ways—physically and spiritually. And it's excellent instruction and powerful instruction in either of two ways, because God says here in Proverbs four and verse 23, "Keep your heart with all diligence." This is Proverbs four verse 23 (Proverbs 4:23): "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

   Now, like I said, this is powerful instruction in either of two ways. Physically speaking, it's very wise and very smart for us to take good care of our hearts. You know, to give it proper nourishment, proper rest, proper exercise—that little instrument inside of our chest cavity that weighs less than one pound and is about as big as your own fist. And yet in a lifetime will pump millions and multiple millions of gallons of blood right through that heart, and it'll just keep pumping.

   And so God says here, "Keep your heart, take care of your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." So diet and exercise and a physical situation is very, very important because when our heart stops, we stop.

   But spiritually, the same thing is true. And that's really what the Bible is talking about here because the Bible, when it speaks of heart, it means attitude. And frankly, when our attitude gets bitter, we start to die spiritually. We just do—we start to die spiritually. And just as our physical heart is the symbol of physical life, so is our attitude very closely connected with how our spiritual life really is.

   So, keep your heart with all diligence. Watch your attitude because out of it are the issues of life. Now Almighty God in the Bible warns time and time and time again about the danger of getting into a wrong attitude. And then God says over and over again, have a good attitude, and he warns those that had wrong attitudes to straighten up their attitudes.

   And just as God could no longer work with Satan once Satan's attitude became bad, then neither could God work with ancient Israel because ancient Israel's attitude became bad as well. Let's turn over to Psalm 78. Psalm 78 and verse 36. Psalm 78. This is a very lengthy psalm which chronicles the history of Israel and chronicles their attitude.

   Psalm 78 and verse 36 (Psalm 78:36): "Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues." At Psalm 78 verse 36. Now verse 37 (Psalm 78:367: "For their heart"—their attitude—"was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant." Their heart was just not right with God, and therefore time and time again, although God wanted to work with Israel, Israel's heart was wrong and Israel would just go the wrong way.

   Now, looking forward to the wonderful world tomorrow, our whole job in the world tomorrow, once Satan is removed, is gonna be to watch and to be able to work with people whose attitudes are becoming and in the process of becoming more like God. That's a promise that God gives over here in Ezekiel 36, a millennial chapter. In Ezekiel 36, this verse here talking about the kind of attitude that we're gonna be able to work with in the world tomorrow.

   Satan is gonna be in chains, as we heard in the sermon, that he'll be in a dungeon for 1000 years. And so over here in Ezekiel 36 and verse 26 (Ezekiel 36:26), God says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." God's gonna change the attitude, and he's gonna change the spirit. God's spirit is gonna flow like rivers of water in the world tomorrow.

   And we're gonna be able to deal with people that are coming out of a very hostile environment, a very hostile attitude. They're gonna have a new heart. "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." And as we heard in the sermon, that one man who stole $220 and now he's in prison for the rest of his life—that's not really a heart of flesh, is it? That's not really a very good attitude for the judge and the jury and so on to lock that man up for life for stealing $220, and then criminals and murderers go off scot-free.

   But God promises that a new heart and a new spirit will be given, and it's a fantastic promise that we are all looking forward to. Let's turn over to Jeremiah chapter 50. Notice again, this change of attitude that we will be able to be working with. Jeremiah chapter 50, how wonderful it's going to be to be able to work with people coming out of the great tribulation whose attitudes are gonna be changed.

   Isaiah 50—I said Isaiah, I meant Jeremiah—Jeremiah 50, Jeremiah 50 and verse 4 (Jeremiah 50:4-5): "In those days and in that time, says the Eternal, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together going and weeping, and they shall go and seek the Eternal their God."

   Now, not too many people today are seeking God, are they? They're not in a hurry, of course, to seek God. As Mr. Armstrong has explained, God's not calling the world as a whole at this time. But verse 5, what an inspiring verse: "They shall ask the way to Zion." Zion, of course, is a dual meaning. It means God's church; it also means the holy city. "They're going to ask the way to Zion with their faces looking for Zion, and their whole attitude is gonna come and let us join ourselves to eternal, a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."

   They're gonna go out of their way in the world tomorrow to seek after God. Their attitudes are going to be completely changed in the world tomorrow. Now, a few days ago, just prior to the feast of tabernacles, I gave a funeral sermon, and I went through the Bible and I showed the plan of God, you know, in brief, but I showed the first resurrection, second resurrection, and so forth. And I explained to them the immortality of the soul was pagan and wrong.

   And there were only three church members in that situation, just three church members, and the rest were all unconverted and not in God's church. And when I finished, of course, they were looking at me like I was crazy because I was telling them that the immortal soul was just pagan and so on. I was explaining to them the resurrections.

   And when I finished, they did not ask the way to Zion. They didn't come up to me and say, "Oh, take me to your church. You know, I want to hear more of the Bible. I wanna hear more of the plan of God." They did not ask the way to Zion. They looked at me like I was crazy. "What? Two resurrections? Immortal soul is pagan?" They thought I was loony.

   But in the world tomorrow, once Satan is removed and we get—and God gets his program going—people will be asking the way to Zion, and they'll want to go to church. They'll want to go God's way.

   Now, brethren, whenever we think of attitude and good attitude and think of people in the Bible who had a good attitude, we must think of David because David's attitude for the most part was very good. Let's turn over to I Samuel chapter 16. And this is the time when certain men were looking at the brothers of David. And they thought, "Well, this fellow, he's tall, he's strong and so on. He'd make a great king."

   I Samuel 16 verse seven. This fellow, you know this guy is 6 foot 6 and obviousely anybody 6 foot 6 he can make a good king (I Samuel 16:7):. "But the Eternal said to Samuel, 'Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him, for the Eternal sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Eternal looks on the heart.'" The Eternal looks again on the attitude.

   And men and women are totally unqualified to choose their own king. They're totally unqualified to choose the next president of the United States. No, we don't vote for several reasons. One reason is, how do we know the man's attitude? How do we know his heart? God sees the heart. We don't. That's why God chooses kings, because God judges the heart. And again, according to Mr. Armstrong, this is the very first area that God looks at in determining what our role as kings and queens in the world of tomorrow will be.

   It's really quite sobering. You know, God does not look at your smile only, although that's important. He does not look at the clothes that you wear only, although that is important. God, first of all, looks inside. He looks in your heart. First of all, he wants to find out what your attitude is really like.

   Now, already we've passed halfway through this feast. I can hardly believe that this feast is already half over, and this is the time of the feast where if we're not careful, we let down on prayer and our attitudes begin to be worn on our shirt sleeves. And we've got to remember we're in intensive training to be royalty in the world of tomorrow, and our attitudes had better be of God.

   Let's go to I Samuel 13 verse 14. Now, you talk about a pill—I mean, Saul, who started out pretty good, the whole story of his life became the story of a pill deluxe. I mean, he became a real pill.

   I Samuel 13 and verse 14 (I Samuel 13:14): "But now your kingdom will not continue. The Eternal has sought him a man after his own heart." You know what a tribute that must be for God himself to say that here's someone with a heart just like mine? Wouldn't that be fantastic if God could say that about you? "Well, here's a man or a woman after my own heart." What a tribute, what a compliment for God to pay any one of us. And really, that's the goal that we should be striving for—to gain and to have and to become and to have this heart just like God's.

   But anyway, he's speaking about David here: "The Eternal has sought him a man after his own heart. And the Eternal has commanded him to be captain over his people because you have not kept that which the Eternal commanded you."

   So here you have young David, the shepherd king, the little boy who played on the hillsides of Palestine with a harp and would sing. And as he'd watch the sheep down there munching on the green grass, David would sing praises to God, and David's whole focus as that young teenager was how great God is, how excellent in this universe is your name. And he looked up at the stars and he said, "God, you are so great," and David began at an early age to reflect the attitude of God. And you read those psalms of David and you find that David had his focus on God. And I'll be speaking more about that later on, but he did have the best attitude of all. And that's what God was looking for as the next king.

   Later on, I want to be talking more about David and his good attitude. But first, I want to give you a brief look at the attitude of the arch enemy of us all, who is Satan. I won't turn back to Isaiah 14 and verse 12—that's already been covered several times already. But in Isaiah 14, verse 12 (Isaiah 14:12), we read about Lucifer. Lucifer, who means "light bringer." His name means light bringer.

   And God said, "Lucifer, my trusted one, take my light, take my laws to the earth and get the earth ready for mankind." Well, Lucifer didn't like that. That wasn't good enough for Lucifer. He didn't want to bring light to God's way to this earth. That wasn't for Lucifer. He was bored with bringing light. He wanted to bring darkness, which is what he did.

   And somewhere along the line, his attitude began to change. It began to sour and it turned bitter and hostile against the great God. I'd like to read again from a very powerful article that Mr. Armstrong wrote. This is from the Good News magazine of March 1979. And actually, this article is a result of a very powerful sermon that Mr. Armstrong gave to all of us ministers back in January of 1979. And he talked about the liberal attitude and what is a liberal.

   But then he focused on Satan, and he gave these tremendous words for all of us to really pay attention to and be warned of. But he says here, speaking about Satan, "It is Satan's attitude that is his prime evil." Mr. Armstrong goes on to say, "Satan does not hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. Satan harbors only the deep-rooted desire to do evil—to go contrary to God's law of love and righteousness. He wanted to go as far as he could in an evil way, contrary to God's way. That was in his heart."

   So what's the most evil thing about Satan? It is his attitude. That's the evil of Satan. Let's turn to Matthew the 15th chapter. Satan, of course, as you know, is the fallen ruler of this earth. He has infected every human being—and I mean infected every human being, of course, except for Jesus Christ—with the same attitude that he has.

   And Mr. Armstrong was saying a few days ago in his sermon that even beginning with age one—age one and then two and three—at that very early age, Satan begins to plant moods and bad attitudes into the little mind of that little baby, even at age one.

   Now, Matthew 15 and verse 18, as I said, he's the fallen ruler of this earth. He's infected us with his attitude. And so we read here in Matthew 15 and verse 18 (Matthew 15:18): "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the attitude, the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, theft, false witness, and blasphemies."

   Satan is clever, brethren. He doesn't run around in a red suit, you know, with horns and a pitchfork and a long tail with a point on the end of it. And he comes sneaking around your house and he says, "Boo, I'm Satan." Well, we'd recognize that. We'd say, "You're Satan, get out of here." No, he's a lot more clever than that. And so he attacks us through our attitude, through moods, through various thoughts that we have. And the whole world is infected with this attitude.

   God inspired the Apostle Peter to detect a wrong attitude. Let's turn over here to Acts chapter eight, just as one example of many where the first thing that this minister spotted was the attitude—the Apostle Peter. The very first thing Peter noticed was the man's attitude.

   Acts chapter eight and verse 18 (Acts 8:18-22): "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money." Acts eight verse 18. Now verse 19, saying, "You know, I want to have this power and so I can give people the Holy Spirit."

   Verse 20: "But Peter said unto him, 'Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart—your heart is not right in the sight of God.'" The very first thing Peter saw was his heart, his attitude.

   And they said in verse 22, "Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you." And so Simon, unfortunately, his attitude never did change.

   But you know, one of the very biggest assignments that we have as parents working with our children as best as we can is we need to protect them from the attitude of Satan. And we should not allow our children to have periods of depression, you know, temper tantrums and so on where they just kick and scream and shout and holler. And some parents will say, "Well, that's all right. He's just gonna let off steam. That'll be all right." That's terrible because as he's kicking and screaming and shouting and crying—and I mean really in a temper outburst—Satan's attitude can slip right in there and Satan's attitude can begin to infect that child's mind.

   Let's turn over, I want to talk about children for a while and their attitudes, in I Corinthians 7 and verse 14. Mr. Armstrong again has recently been writing on this. I Corinthians 7 and verse 14 (I Corinthians 7:14), and it says here: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; else were your children unclean, but now are they holy."

   As Mr. Armstrong has been explaining, God sets apart our children for use in his church in this age. Maybe God called you and he called your wife. But also your children are holy—they can be included in the very plan of God. And if we do our part, starting with very young children, their chances of serving God and going God's way are greatly increased because our children are not cut off from God. But it all depends so much on how we train them to have the right attitude.

   If we want our sons and our daughters to be with us in the kingdom, to be right there by our sides in the kingdom, we'd better be training them right now to have a good attitude. That's one thing, frankly, I spank my children most severely for—is this attitude of rebellion, sarcasm, stubbornness. That's the attitude of Satan. And I don't want my children to have that attitude because if they develop this sarcasm, this stubbornness—because the Bible says stubbornness is as idolatry and so on—and this rebellion, if my children grow up in this kind of an attitude, they may very well not be with me in the kingdom. And I want my family to be there together. I want us all to be there in God's Kingdom together, and it's so important for us to train our children to have the right attitude.

   Now, of course, if we're gonna train our children to have the right attitude, we've got to have the right attitude ourselves. You know, if you're driving down the ah, you know driving over here to the Tabernacle building and you forgot the instructions Mr. Cass said, and you pass somebody on the right, and along comes a policeman and he pulls you over and he gives you a ticket—and if you say, "Well, why that policeman! Didn't he know I'm a child of God? Didn't he know I'm going to church? I'm keeping the feast! Why is he giving me this ticket? Doesn't he know I'm important?" and grumble, grumble, grumble—well, then your children are gonna pick up on your attitude. And perhaps later on, they may call policemen very bad names because children will reflect your attitude.

   If you're positive, they will be positive. If you're negative, grumbling, grouchy, irritable, then don't be shocked when those potential children of God are gonna be grumpy and grouchy and crabby and irritable. They'll pick it up from you every time. Children are like a little tape recorder, and as they watch you, they're just taping it all in—video and sound, video and sound, you see—and they're taping, and they don't even know they're taping it. I mean, just the way that God has made them, and they're taping this all in and taping this all in.

   And if you have a certain attitude about whatever it is, that child—when that child is in the same situation—that child will say the same thing and do the same thing. So it's very important that our attitudes are right first and that we secondarily instruct our children and correct them when we see they are in a wrong attitude.

   Let's turn to Matthew 19, Matthew 19 and verse 14 (Matthew 19:14): "But Jesus said, 'Suffer little children, forbid them not to come unto me: for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'" Their attitude—so teachable when they're small, so teachable, so lovable, so humble. And if you spend your time teaching your children about the kingdom and teaching them what the meaning of this feast is, what the meaning of the day of Atonement was, they will believe that and they'll accept it.

   And Christ said, you know, let these children come to me because their attitude is so humble. It's so yielded. It's so teachable—of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. And he preached a sermon to the big people by pointing out the attitude that the little people had.

   So yes, we want to make God's Kingdom. We want our families to be there. We want our children to be there. And I tell you, brethren, Satan the devil is just blaring out his attitude. It just comes out in movies and music and everything that you can think of. Satan's attitude is there, and it's very appealing to our young people. We've got to be careful. We got to make sure that they know what a good attitude is and that they've got to know they get punished when they get in a wrong attitude.

   Now let me go back to David. As I mentioned earlier, God's main concern for the future king of Israel was the attitude. And let's turn to Acts 13 and verse 22, a New Testament scripture about David. Again, this compliment is repeated—in other words, twice in the Bible, God gives this tremendous compliment to David.

   Acts 13 and verse 22 (Acts 13:22): "And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David, this is Acts 13:22, to be their king, to whom also he gave testimony and he said, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.'"

   Now, after David's life—he was dead, he was buried and so forth—even after he had made many mistakes, David had repented. David had borne good fruit and maintained overall a very good attitude. And in the kingdom, he's going to be the ruler over all of Israel.

   Now let's go through some scriptures then and look at the scriptures which point out the kind of an attitude that David had. I've got a few points that I'd like to bring about David and his attitude. We can study the life of this man who had such a good attitude, you know, most of the time, and maybe we can learn from his own example.

   What was so good about David's attitude? Well, first and foremost, he always had God first in his mind. God was first. He looked at God first with all of his heart. He was wholehearted and he looked to God first of all.

   Now let's go over and turn to Psalm 63 and notice this attitude, and again, ask yourself the question: Do I have this kind of attitude? Is this my attitude? Am I trying to develop this kind of an attitude in my own life?

   Psalm 63 and verse 1 (Psalm 63:1-4): "O God, you are my God; early will I seek you." Why, David would jump out of bed in the morning and get on his knees and start praying. How about us? You jump out of bed in the morning, rush over to the newspaper and find out what George Brett's batting average is? You know, will he make 400 or not? I haven't been following him lately. Last I checked he was one for four and he wasn't doing—he was only doing about 391. He wasn't batting 400. I don't know where he stands now, but is that what we're concerned about—the Kansas City Royals?

   And we jump out of bed and we read the standings of the Royals and so on, or do we jump out of bed and do what David did? "Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see your power and your glory."

   David was—he wanted and he sought God first with his whole heart. "Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus will I bless you." Verse 4 of Psalm 63: "Thus will I bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name." He was wholehearted. David was—he put God first. Now true, he made some mistakes. But overall, this was what his attitude was all about.

   Psalm 42 and verse 1 (Psalm 42:1): "As the heart, which is a deer, As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." Do we say that? Is that our attitude? Can you really say your soul thirsts for God, for the living God? "When shall I come and appear before God?"

   And as Mr. Washington was bringing out a few days ago, that here we are trying to keep the feast and trying to listen to the sermons. And yet so many people are out there doing other things rather than being in here listening to the messages. But David's attitude was that his soul was thirsting for God. "When shall I come and appear before Him?"

   Psalm 40 and verse 8 (Psalm 40:8), just one page back—David put God first. He prayed to God. He studied the law of God. He sang about God, and in Psalm 40 verse 8, he said, "I delight to do your will, O my God; yes, your law is within my heart." Hopefully, that's our attitude. I really hope that it is.

   But can you see now why God was so pleased with David? I mean, he was a young man that just delighted in the will of God, sang about God, prayed to God, meditated on God, thought about God, delighted to do his will.

   Psalm 119 is a chapter that just one after the other of praise and praise and praise of David to God. I'll just pick out a few verses. Psalm 119. Again, you're looking at this attitude of David. Psalm 119 verse 10 (Psalm 119:10): "With my whole heart, with my whole heart have I sought you." David put God first, and he put God first with his whole heart and his whole mind.

   And in verse 97 (Psalm 119:97): "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day." And then in verse 99 (Psalm 119:99): "I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." So he meditated on God and God's way—did not just meditate on the local ball games. I don't think they had baseball in those days. I don't know, I could crack a corny joke right now about Genesis 1:1. But you've all heard it, so I'll skip that and go on.

   But the first thing I wanted to mention though is he kept God first with his whole heart. The second thing that David did that was that kept his attitude right is he kept the big picture uppermost in his mind. Number one, he put God first. Number two, he kept the big picture uppermost in his mind. He had the vision that we heard about a few days ago. He kept God's kingdom close in his mind. And these Psalms are so millennial because so many of these Psalms were David's wishes and his thoughts about the kingdom.

   Let's go back to Psalm 16, for example, showing you that David kept the big picture uppermost in his mind. Psalm 16 and verse 11 (Psalm 16:11): "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." David wasn't so bug-eyed about the physical and so on. What he looked at was the beyond. He looked to be at God's right hand. He wanted to be in the kingdom because he knew that's where the pleasures would be forevermore. And so he kept the big picture uppermost in mind.

   Psalm 17 and verse 15 (Psalm 17:15). And of course, David was talking about the wicked and how the wicked sometimes were harassing him and so on. But he says over here in verse 15: "As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied when I awake with your likeness."

   Now, how about us? Is this our attitude and our approach? And what do we say? Well, maybe I received a bad deal, or maybe I was cheated here, but in the long run, it'll all work out because I'll be satisfied. I'll be taken care of. I don't need to be a pill now. I don't need to run around with a big chip on my shoulder because when I awake in the kingdom of God, I'll be just like God, I'll look just like Him. I'll have the same attitude and mind just like God. David kept his eyes on the big picture.

   OK. What about Psalm 27? Psalm 27 and verse 4 (Psalm 27:4), just all kinds of Psalms here that just had sinned—and boy, when he sinned, he really sinned. We know the story of Bathsheba and then the murder that David did commit. But what did David do when he got into a bad attitude? What did he do?

   Let's turn over to Psalm 51 and find out what happened when David got into a bad attitude. David, when he was good, he was good, and when he was bad, he was bad. But fortunately for David, he kept seeking God and finally, through God, overcame his human nature and will in the kingdom, of course, be the king under Jesus Christ.

   But in Psalm 51—you know it so well—it's the prayer of repentance, and in effect, David was saying, "God, I've had a terrible attitude, horrible attitude." And that's why he says here in verse 3: "I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me." Psalm 51:3.

   Now his attitude, which had been horrible and bad and murderous and adulterous—his attitude was beginning to change, and he began to blame himself. He didn't blame Bathsheba, he didn't blame anybody else. He says, "I acknowledge my transgression." That's the beginning of a good attitude when you admit to yourself that you have sinned. That's the beginnings of a good attitude.

   "Against you, you only have I sinned," verse 4, "and done this evil in your sight." Now verse 7: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Verse 10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

   David knew his attitude had gotten sour. His attitude had become rotten, and David knew that only God could bring him back to a good attitude. Only God could restore that attitude.

   And that's why He did not say, "Well, God, you just watch me. I have my own strength. I will have a good attitude starting tomorrow at seven in the morning." He didn't say that. He said, "God, I want to have a good attitude. I want to have a right spirit. I want to have a clean heart. Create it in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

   Now, David did his part. He prayed, he fasted for seven days. But yet he knew that without the help of God, he would not have a right attitude. And that therefore is the third key—he prayed for a good attitude. He prayed for a good attitude, which is another key that David used.

   Let's go back to Acts 13 verse 22 because I want to mention a fourth demonstration of a good attitude. So far, I mentioned number one that David put God first. Number two, David kept a big picture of God's kingdom in his mind. Then number three, I mentioned that he prayed for a good attitude.

   Well, back in Acts 13:22 we see the fourth demonstration of really a good attitude. And again, check it with yourself. Ask yourself, how do you stand with this? Because we are to let the word of God show us what we need to do.

   But anyway, in Acts 13, verse 22—as I read before—"He had removed him, raised him up to be David, their king, to whom he also gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.'" That is the fourth demonstration of a good attitude, namely doing God's will. See, a good attitude is more than a nice smile. A good attitude is more than a handshake. A good attitude is doing the will of God.

   Now, God is training you, brethren, to be kings and queens in the world tomorrow—kings and priests, it says in Revelation 5 and verse 10—and you're going to be over the government. You're gonna be replacing the governors and the judges and the presidents and the kings of this world. You are gonna sit in the throne of judgment and government in the world tomorrow.

   But you won't get there, brethren, unless God knows now that you're gonna do God's will. That's why he said here, "Here's David. He's gonna be the next king. He's a man after my own heart, and he's going to do my will." See, David didn't do David's will. David did God's will.

   And God has to prove to himself through our trials and tribulations that we're going through—he's proving whether or not we, as potential kings and queens, the role-model kings and priests—he's judging whether we're gonna do God's will. He doesn't want you to do your will. He doesn't want me to do my will. He wants us to do God's will. We have to do it God's way.

   And that's gonna be why the government in the world tomorrow will be so harmonious, because all these spirit beings, all these rulers around the world will be pointing back to Zion, pointing back to God, and there'll be no confusion because we'll all be doing the will of God and teaching the people underneath us to do it God's way. And here was the quality that David had here—God knew that overall David would do the will of God.

   Let's turn over to Matthew 21 and a little story here that Christ said, which was just so filled with meaning. Again, judge yourself. Let the Bible correct you. Matthew 21 and verse 28 (Matthew 21:28): "But what think you? A certain man had two sons and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'"

   Now, some of your parents that have a couple of teenagers probably can identify with this little parable quite readily. You know, "Go to work today in my vineyard." He said, "I will not. I wanna go ride in my automobile. I wanna ride on my Honda, my motorcycle. You know, I wanna go—I don't wanna work. It's hot out there."

   But afterward he repented and went. He told himself, "Hey, I've got to do God's will. My father's a nice man. He doesn't want me to overwork. Just work in the vineyard. I'll do it." He repented and he went.

   He came to the second and said likewise. And he said, "I go, sir"—big smile. "Sure, dad, you trust me. I mean, I'll do it." But he went not. He never showed up for work. One guy was all mouth and the other one had to do some repenting.

   "Now, whether of them twain did the will of his father?" And they said unto him, "The first"—there is the one that had to change his attitude and repent and then go to work and do something and did the will of his father. And Christ said, "Verily, I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots, once they overcome their sins, they will go into the kingdom of God before you."

   So here's a very good section again on attitude. One young man with all smiles, someone who said something and did something else—but he was all smiles—but he really didn't intend to do the will of his father. Why should he sweat? Why should he work? It's more fun to promise something, do something else. But that first son who didn't really want to go to work, he changed his attitude and he began to serve, and that right there, brethren, is another hallmark of a good attitude. Do you serve? Do you do again—and I mean serving in the will of God.

   Now, in the book of Mark—I can go there, I've got plenty of time, I think—Mark chapter seven, you see this attitude coming out again and again. Judge yourself. Mark chapter seven and verse six (Mark 7:6-9): "He answered and said unto them, 'Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart—their attitude—is far from me.'"

   "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandments of God, you hold the tradition of men." OK? Their lips all day saying praise to God, but their heart—that was a different matter all by itself.

   And then he says in verse nine: "Full well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own tradition." Yes. If you want to have a good attitude, you've got number one, put God first; number two, you've got to keep the big picture of the coming kingdom of God uppermost in your mind. The coming kingdom of God must be more important than the ball games, the fun at the feast, and everything else that we have. The Kingdom of God must be uppermost in your mind.

   Thirdly, you've got to be praying for a good attitude. And fourthly, sometimes you just got to get right down there and do God's will and serve God. I'd like to summarize this section by turning to Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter 12 and verse 29. I can remember the first time I read this verse—these two verses—because to me, it really said it all. I mean, it just said it all.

   I got out my colored pencils and I marked these verses and I put a box around them and underlined them and really blocked this out because it was so important to me. Mark 12 and verse 29 (Mark 1:29-30): "And Jesus answered him and said, 'The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And you shall love'"—talking about your attitude—"'you shall love the Eternal your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment."

   And this verse, verse 30, really summarizes what a good attitude is all about. It's putting God first not only in your lips as you pray to God, but also in what you do in doing the will of God.

   Now, as I said earlier, some people, they pray, they study, they attend services on a regular situation, but they're not growing because for some reason, there's a bad attitude—they're blocking that growth. And I tell you brethren, we don't have many years left before the Kingdom of God. And if you've got some bad attitude blocking your spiritual growth, you'd better get rid of it or you will not be in God's Kingdom.

   It's kind of like the story in the book of Joshua or back there in the Old Testament where this man had this little idol—a little old idol about, oh, I guess this high. They carried it with them—a household god. And anyway, he pulled it out, looked at it and said, "Oh boy, this is my nice little god here," and he took it back and hid it, and he just loved it. They had a little idol around.

   And I've often thought that's kind of like people that sometimes take their little sin and they hide it, see, and nobody can see their sin or their attitude, and then they take it out and look at it and then they hide it back again. They just love to keep that little attitude back in there somewhere. But the problem is sooner or later, God's gonna make you show your hand and God's going to have to—God will tell you you either change your attitude or get out.

   Now, sometimes a wife gets into a wrong attitude against her husband and sometimes the husband gets in a wrong attitude against his wife. And it says in Colossians chapter three: "Husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them." That's Colossians three and verse 19 (Colossians 3:19), I believe. "Husbands love your wives. Be not bitter."

   How are you gonna have a happy marriage, which by itself is a type of the coming kingdom of God? But how are you gonna have a happy marriage if you're bitter against your wife? You don't like her because of something she didn't do and you're bitter against her. How are you gonna grow spiritually? How are your prayers gonna be answered?

   Like Jesus Christ said, if you go and come to pray before God and you've got something against your brother—and I'll paraphrase. Well, let's just go back to that Matthew 5 because what Christ is really saying here is change your attitude before you pray. That's really what he's talking about here.

   And Matthew chapter five and verse 23 (Matthew 5:23): "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and you remember that your brother has ought against you—you got a problem with your brother or your wife or you've got some hostility there—leave your gift before the altar, go your way first, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gifts."

   And by analogy, you know, if you're gonna go and pray and you realize you're in a bitter attitude, you better get straightened out.

   It's kind of like walking in the woods—and I used to be in forestry and I just love to walk through the trees and I just love trees. And one time I saw this beautiful tree, just straight trunk and a beautiful full crown and I just beautiful. The bark was so smooth and nice. I thought what a marvelous tree that is.

   Then I walked around on the back side, the side I could not see. And there was this big black hole where a limb had been and it rotted out and fell down. There were carpenter ants in it. There was rot in it. At first sight, you couldn't see this rot because it was on the other side. It was on the blind side from me, but just walking around that tree, it exposed that tree for what it was worth and it had a rotten place and went right down into the middle of that tree.

   So God, brethren, in training future kings and priests in the world of tomorrow, He's so concerned about your attitude and God's gonna give you plenty of opportunities to prove your attitude to him, won't he?

   Now, I want to mention just briefly the worst attitude that I can think of. The worst attitude I can think of is certainly disloyalty against the government of God. Just thought I'd mention that in passing. But what is your attitude towards Mr. Armstrong, towards Mr. Rader? Of course, all of God's evangelists and ministry—you have a wrong attitude? Are you a little bit sarcastic, sardonic, kind of a wise guy? That's the worst attitude I can think about—becoming disloyal against the government of God.

   But, you know, if you have a bad attitude and then you change it, then your spiritual growth is gonna just take on a spurt and it's gonna grow and you're gonna make progress. And it's almost like trying to grow a plant without sunlight—it'll wilt and it'll just not do too well.

   I know my wife loves these plants, and she had these plants on the north side of the house, these house plants. I always teased her about these house plants. I kept telling her this big old spider would run out and grab one of us one of these days, but big, big old house plants and she had them on the north side of the house and would you believe they would wilt and turn brown and just die and begin to die.

   Well, she got the bright idea of putting them on the south side of the house and they began to flourish and grow. You know, one little move made all the difference in the world, just like our attitude. One move can make all the difference in the world. Moving it from a bitter attitude over to a good attitude will make a tremendous difference in your growth.

   Let me conclude by turning over to Ezekiel 26:36. And it's a verse that I had mentioned before, but I want to mention it one more time in conclusion, a millennial verse. Ezekiel 36 and verse 26, because we're keeping the feast which pictures the time when the attitude of the whole world will change for the good: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." Our job now as future rulers of the world tomorrow is to change that attitude—change that attitude from the hostile nature of Satan to the attitude of love which only can come from God.

   So brethren, with the help of the great God of this universe, let's make sure that our hearts are really right with him.