Herbert W Armstrong

   As Mr. Leonreen mentioned, I've had the opportunity to coordinate the many different duties here in a physical sense in the auditorium building. And the zeal that many of you display to do your labors is astounding, to say the least. Let me give you one little example that has happened.

   We have a cleanup crew that comes in every morning to straighten chairs and pick up papers and sweep the aisles and make things look presentable so that when everyone comes, we have a nice neat auditorium to meet in. And it's been established over the years, the best time to do that is early in the morning, and we thought, well, hopefully 7 o'clock in the morning would not be too early for people, but it would enable us to get the work done.

   Well, one of our crew chiefs reported to me that he came down early to make sure that things were ready when the crew arrived at 7. He got here at 6:15 a.m. People were standing in line clamoring to get in to get at their work, and by the time the regular crew should have arrived at 7, the job was done. So if you only show up on time, you get nothing to do. Now I'm not saying that you should be here at 6:15 in the morning, but I, like I said, the zeal of some people astounds me because at 6:15 in the morning, I wasn't standing down here at the auditorium this morning. I think I was still sleeping, but many of you are certainly zealous in your application of the jobs that you have at our Feast of Tabernacles this year.

   I am sure you were impressed in the microwave transmission yesterday with the little film preparation that was prepared about Mr. Armstrong's book, "The Mystery of the Ages." I know it sent goosebumps up and down my neck to see the production, the printing, how it was put together, Mr. Armstrong's presentation to the 2nd year theology class. And it really raised a level of excitement about that book.

   And I know as a minister, we had the opportunity to get a sneak preview ahead of the feast because we received about 3 weeks before the feast, a copy with an encouragement that we would read the book before coming to the Feast of Tabernacles so that we could, you know, certainly be ready to discuss it with our members and to be as enthusiastic as we could about the book.

   I found in sitting down to read the book that it was almost like being reconverted again. It really was. I thought, well, what is Mr. Armstrong going to say this time because he always has a way of putting it in a way that, well, wait a minute, I've been in the church for 23 years and I didn't see that before. That's the way it always hits me. And as I read the book, it just stirred up the first love that sometimes is such an elusive thing to hold on to.

   In beginning this sermon, I would like to read one paragraph from the "Mystery of the Ages" book. This is from page 213. If you have your copies with you, you can follow along. It's the last paragraph on page 213, and it carries over to the top of page 214. And it's going to set the theme for what I want to talk about in this sermon today.

   He says that Jesus was born as a human, to become a King, ultimately to establish the Kingdom of God, ruling the whole earth with the government of God. But that rule required more than the individual Jesus. The king, president, prime minister, or ruler over every nation governs with and through a more or less vast organization of others who rule various phases and departments under him. Likewise, Christ must have an organized government with numerous others trained and qualified to rule under Him. Jesus said, "I will build my church." The church was to consist of many to be called out of Satan's world to be taught and trained for numerous governmental positions under Christ when he comes to rule over all the nations.

   Now this theme of being trained to be a ruler - a governor, a judge, a priest, a king - this theme has been emphasized time and time again leading up to this Feast of Tabernacles in articles by your local church pastors and, of course, already here at the feast. But you know there's a question that I think troubles many in God's church. It's a question that I think most all of you have considered, and this question I want to dwell on today and hopefully look at some things in the Bible which will give you a little clearer understanding about this worry that many people have.

   The question goes something like this: How can I, as a retiree, a housewife, a carpenter, a salesman, a farmer - or on, and on, and on, with our various jobs that we may have - how can I ever be a king in the world tomorrow when I have never had any on hands experience, you might say, ruling in today's world?

   I'm not a mayor. I'm not a governor. I'm not a senator or a representative or a president. I've never planned a city. I've never designed a bridge or a building or a sewer system. How am I going to rule in the world tomorrow under Jesus Christ? How will God even know that I would be qualified to do that? Why I have had no hands-on experience in ruling a city or a nation in the world today? How can I do that? I don't have those kind of talents.

   And many people will take a statement that David made back in the Psalms where he said, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God" than, you know, some exalted position in the world today, and they'll say, "Let somebody else rule. I'll just be a doorkeeper and stay out of the way." Any of you ever thought that way? "I just want to get into the kingdom and I'll just take a little job somewhere. Let somebody else rule those cities."

   We're going to go back into the Old Testament today, and we're going to see what it is that really qualifies a person to be a king, a judge, a ruler, a mayor. And I think you're going to see by the time we're done in this sermon today that you're indeed getting on hands training. You are being trained to do the job that God has given you to do in the same way that the rulers and the kings of old in God's government in the Old Testament were being trained, and we'll see that God doesn't change. He's looking for the same qualities in us today as he looked for in the leaders of his government in the Old Testament.

   Let's begin this by going back to I Samuel chapter 16. And there is one thing that certainly God differs from than any of us that are human beings. We are physical. We naturally look at physical things. Now here in I Samuel 16, God sets one requirement that I think all of us will get a great deal of relief from. I'll explain that in a moment.

   But here in I Samuel 16, we read in verse 1 that the Lord said unto Samuel (I Samuel 16:1), "How long will you mourn for Saul?" Saul, of course, was the king who had been rejected because of his disobedience and other factors. "Seeing that I have rejected him from reigning over Israel." So here was a king who wasn't fit to be a king. God didn't want him anymore.

   He said to Samuel, "Fill your horn with oil and go, and I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. And I have provided me a king among his sons." Now as Samuel went, he examined all the different sons. And finally we come down to verse 7 (I Samuel 16:7). The Lord said unto Samuel, "Don't look on his countenance or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him, for the Lord sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

   Now you know that's a great deal of comfort to me. Because my hairline is receding. My waistline is expanding. I have various and other sundry physical ailments that if God is going to wait for me to win a beauty contest by the outward appearance, it'll take me the whole millennium to get in shape before I could ever rule anything. And as I look out on you, you're in no better shape than I am as a general rule either.

   Now I know many people, they figure, well, look at me. I'm old or I'm handicapped or I don't move too well anymore or I didn't have much education. I only finished the 4th grade. I don't have much to offer physically. But you see, God is not looking at what you've got to offer physically. We read that lesson in Saul. Saul had a lot to offer physically. He stood head and shoulders above everybody. All the women swooned when Saul came by, but Saul was a miserable flop as a ruler. No, God didn't look at the outward appearance. God told Samuel, "You look at the heart. Because that's what I'm looking at."

   Now let me give you an example that occurred in my life many years ago when I was first a church pastor back in Newark, New Jersey. To show you how we as physical human beings, even as ministers, can make judgments about people based on what we see from the outside, and we don't see at all what God sees. We don't see the heart.

   I can remember receiving a letter. As ministers in God's church every day receive letters from a brand new person who wanted to visit because he wanted to become a member of the church. "I want to be baptized. I want to come to your church. Come and visit me." So my wife accompanied me and we went to this 3-story apartment building in Newark, New Jersey. And if you've ever been around Newark, New Jersey, it was not the most pleasant town necessarily to go to make visits in, but nonetheless, we went up to the 2nd floor.

   We knocked on the door, and as any minister will know, there is that moment of anticipation when you wait for the door to open, and the thought in your mind is, "What have I gotten myself into this time?" As you wait for the door to open.

   Well, the door opened and my heart sunk. Because here on the other side of the door facing me was a young man, probably about I would guess 22 or 23. Long flowing hair past his shoulders. Skinny and anemic looking. Barefooted. And to use a term that was popular when I grew up, he looked like a first class hippie. And I thought, "Oh ho ho."

   But you know, as I stepped into his front room, it got worse. My nose began to tell me that there is a scent of something in the air that I smelled once or twice before. If that's not marijuana, I said to myself, I don't know what it is. And then I heard the music he was playing in the background. It was this wretched, grinding rock music. And then as my eyes got adjusted because the light was rather dim in this room, I noticed there was somebody else in the room. There was a girl sitting over here on the couch. And I hope that it was his wife. But I had suspicions otherwise.

   Well, we sat down. And he said, "What can I do to be a member of your church?" I stalled the question for a while. I said, "Give me a little background. Do you always have been in the city of Newark, where did you grow up? Tell me how you found out about Mr. Armstrong." We talked for a while.

   And yet he kept coming back. "All right, now what do I need to do to come to your church? I want to know how I can become a member." And finally I said, "What have I got to lose? I'm just going to unload on him."

   I said, "I'll tell you what you're going to have to do. Let's start with you. You're going to get that haircut first." Didn't bat an eye. I said, "What do you do for a job?" He says, "I'm a rock musician." "When do you do most of your work?" "Friday night." I said, "alright, you've got to keep the Sabbath. Rock music is not something that God particularly takes pleasure in. That's got to go too. You've got to get another job."

   I said, "What's this I smell?" "Well, a little grass, you know, some marijuana." "That's got to go too. Now is this woman your wife?" "No, she's my girlfriend." "Does she live here?" "Yes." "She's got to go too."

   I said, "Have you ever heard of the word tithe?" "Tithe? Well, not really. I think that means 10%, doesn't it, right?" "You've got to start doing that when you get another job. You know about the Feast of Tabernacles and the holy days?" "Well, I heard about those vaguely." "Well, you better start making plans to go next year."

   You know, I figured we may as well do this upright. He wants to know what he could do. So I gave him some literature to send in for, told him what he had to change, gave him my phone number and said, "When you take care of this and you've read this material, you call me back." My wife and I walked out and I said to myself, "Never hear from this guy again."

   Well, about 4 weeks later, the phone rang. It's him. I said, "Well, now you remember our last visit. I said, before I come again, I have a few questions to ask you. What did you do about the band?" "I quit, got a job for the city." I said, "You're not working Sabbath?" "Nope." "Well, uh, what about the uh... the drugs?" "They're all gone, haven't had any since you were here before." "What about your girlfriend?" "She went back to live with mother. She's not here anymore." "What would you do about tithing?" "Oh, I've been sending it in faithfully, getting my money together for the Feast of Tabernacles." I said, "What about your hair?" "Oh, you'll like my hair when you see it," he said. "I'll even have shoes on the next time you come too."

   To make a long story short, this man came to church, not long after was baptized, his girlfriend also came to church. She was baptized. Not long after that, I married both of them, and they are fine, upstanding members in God's church today, and believe me, from the description I just gave you, you would never recognize them.

   But you know, I began to learn a lesson. You know, God must have looked down from the heavens above, and he kind of shook his head and he said, "You know, Mike Slagerty, you're looking at the wrong thing. You're looking at the wrong thing. All you see is his long hair and the marijuana scent in the air and the rock music that's playing, but you don't see that this man has a heart. This man is willing to change."

   "I can work with this individual with my spirit, and this man will come along. You don't see the heart. All you see is the physical accouterments that can easily be changed, and I've got plans for this individual. Because I know this individual has the willingness to do it my way when my spirit begins to work with his mind. And we educate him in the way that he needs to go."

   Now there's a very important point there. Do we have the willingness, the heart, the mind, the attitude? Because of all the things that I will mention in this sermon today, heart, desire, the willingness to obey our Creator - that is what God is chiefly concerned about. As he said again in verse 7, he said to Samuel, "Don't look on his countenance. Don't look how tall he is. Don't look how handsome he is. I want you to look at the heart. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."

   Now let's go over to the book of Exodus chapter 18. When God began to call Israel out of Egypt, He used, of course, Moses and Aaron as his chief servants. He delivered the children of Israel from out of the land of Egypt. And of course with any group of people - millions of people that came out of Egypt - there were going to be administrative difficulties. Decisions had to be made. Problems had to be solved.

   Now Moses initially tried to do everything himself. We read in Exodus 18:18 that Moses' father-in-law Jethro had to rebuke him, and he told him, "You will surely wear away both you and this people that is with you, for this thing is too heavy for you. You're not able to perform it yourself alone." And you know Jesus Christ is not going to try to rule the whole world all by himself in the world tomorrow. Now I'm sure as God, if he wanted to, he could devise ways, I suppose, to do it himself, but he didn't choose to do it that way. He is going to have others with him.

   Now, going on verse 21. He said "Moreover, you shall provide out of all the people." Now we're going to get down to what God was really looking for for a leader, people who are going to assist Moses in taking care of the children of Israel. And let's continually ask ourselves the question as we analyze some of these traits in this sermon: Is this a description of what we're doing right now? Because if it is, God can use us. If it's not, then probably God can't do much with us.

   We read starting here in verse 21, "You shall provide out of all the people able men." We could say women as well. Able people. What does that word "able" mean? Does that mean you have to be totally trained and qualified and have years of experience in rulership? Before God could ever use you as a ruler, do you already have to have been elected as the President of the United States, served 3 terms as a US Senator, had 15 years as a judge before God can do anything with you, because otherwise you wouldn't have any experience and you wouldn't be able?

   No, God is talking about "able" from a different perspective. The word "able" has to do with someone who has proven themselves, someone who is experienced, but experienced in what? Experience in the governments of this world? That would probably be the first way not to qualify. But you see what God is looking for is for people who are able, experienced, trained in His way of life. And that is what all of you are doing now regardless of your circumstances.

   God has called us to learn a way of life. Now every day as God looks down from the heavens above and he sees all of us doing our daily affairs, can God truthfully say, we are becoming more able day by day? We're becoming more experienced day by day in the way we treat our family, in the way we respond to our husband, if we're a wife, in the way that we take care of our children, in the way that we take care of our money, in the way we have a relationship with God in our daily prayer and Bible study, in the way that we serve at the Feast of Tabernacles or in our local church areas? Are we showing God that we are able men? Experienced individuals in his way of life?

   See, that's what God wants in a ruler. Someone that's experienced, someone that's proven, someone that day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year shows that they are able in doing it his way.

   Now go to the next quality. God says he wants leaders that fear him, "such as fear God." And you know there's a Psalm that I would like to turn to. You can hold your finger right here in Exodus 18 because we're going to come back. But let's turn over to Psalm 119. And verse 112. This is a favorite Psalm of mine that I certainly hope with God's help I can live up to all of my life. And I think it talks about what the fear of God really is all about.

   In Psalm 119 verse 112 (Psalm 119:112), David was inspired by God to say this. He said, "I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes always, even unto the end." Now you know there are 2 ways that you can look at "the end." David was determined that he was going to do things God's way to the end, meaning all his life. He had set his hand to the plow. He knew what God wanted him to do. And he inclined his heart. He set his mind. That is going to be the way of life that I'm going to follow to the end of my days.

   But you know it can also imply something else. That if David was going to meet an untimely end, that if someone was going to give David the choice, "Do you want to keep obeying God's law or we're going to end you," then David said, "If that's the choice that I have, then I will choose to obey God even if it's the end for me." Because he had counted the cost, and he knew what he wanted to do.

   You know that's the attribute of an individual who fears God. They know above all else that there's a God in the heavens above who sees everything they do, who reads every thought in their mind, who knows every word that they say. And that motivates them every day of their life. And even though they can fool the minister, they can hide from other people, they can get away with things behind somebody's back, because they have the fear of God and they know that God sees all, they say, "Why bother to do that? That's futility."

   "You know, who am I kidding? I can kid a man, but I can't kid God. So instead of trying to kid God, I am going to go to God for the help that I need to live His way, and I'm not going to try to kid him. I want him to know my thoughts and my words and my actions, and I want him to show me where I need to make improvements, and I'm going to go to him every day to get his strength to overcome and to grow."

   And do you know by having that kind of an attitude you are qualifying to be a ruler in the world tomorrow? Whether you're a housewife, a carpenter, whether you're a retiree, whether you're young or old or crippled or with a 4th grade education or a doctor's degree. If you are showing that you fear God and you're going to incline your heart to obey Him even to the end, God says we can use you. You're the kind of a ruler I'm looking for.

   But you know, it's very easy when things are going good to obey God. But there was a little story told one time that I think will illustrate that sometimes when the heat is on, what are we going to do? You know when things are smooth and it's easy to obey God, no problems. But what happens when really you're put in a situation where to use the expression, the heat is on?

   And I'll tell you a story. I hope it wasn't a true story. It's actually a joke that was told one time, but perhaps it actually happened. It was a story about a fisherman. Some of you may have heard this from the Chicago area.

   I think I told this a couple of years ago when I first came into Chicago, and maybe Mr. Fey will even remember it from the Poconos a couple of years ago. I know we were there at one feast together. But there was a man who had a reputation as being the greatest fisherman ever. Nobody knew how he caught his fish though. Because he would go out at night and he would come back the next morning with sacks full of fish. He would distribute it to the orphanages and to the widows and to the needy people in town, and he gave away sacks full of fish every time he came back from his fishing trip.

   Well, he had a cousin who was a game warden. And his cousin was dying with curiosity to know how did he catch all these fish? What lure did he have that attracted such fish? So we asked his relative, "I'd like to go fishing with you one night and see how you do this." His relative said, "Fine, come along, meet me at my house tonight at sunset."

   So they met at his house at sunset, loaded the boat on the car, got the fishing equipment, put it in the trunk, and off they went. They didn't drive very far, 15-20 minutes, and they came to a lake. The man stopped and the game warden said, "This is it? I've fished this lake hundreds of times. This lake hasn't got any fish in it. You can't catch that kind of fish out of this lake."

   His cousin merely smiled, took the boat off the roof, got the fishing equipment out of the trunk, piled it in the boat, and they rode out to the middle of the lake. "Now," he said, "we're going to fish." He opened up his tackle box, took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it out there. BOOM! Fish everywhere floating to the surface. Got his net out, gathered up all the fish, put it in the sack.

   And he proceeded on filling up sacks of fish. Well, his cousin who was the game warden looked at him and he said, "You know, we may be kin and all that, but he said, I'm going to take you in. This is illegal. You can't fish like this. This is against the law!"

   And his relative said, "Well, you have to do what you have to do. But," he said, "before you take me in, before we row back, just one moment please." He opened up the tackle box again, took out another stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it in the game warden's lap. "Now," he said, "you're going to keep yaking or start fishing?"

   Now you know, I think about that story quite often in life. Because I think God allows us to get into situations in our life where we profess to be Christians, and every now and then God allows that stick of dynamite to be thrown in our lap and he says, "OK, now are you going to still obey me? Or are you going to start fishing illegally like everybody else and doing the things that all the rest of the world does? Or are you going to still do it my way? Even though it looks bleak if you do it my way."

   And you know when you're sitting there and in your lap is a stick of dynamite and the fuse is getting shorter by the minute, and you say to yourself, "I have got to make a decision. What am I going to do?" But you see, if you pass the test, and you don't fish and you continue to keep God's way, God says, "I can use a person like that in my kingdom. That individual fits the qualities. That is an individual who fears God. That's an individual who is going to keep my way and incline his heart to follow my way even to the end."

   You see, we can use somebody like that in our kingdom. He would make a good ruler. She would make a good ruler under Jesus Christ for all eternity.

   Let's go a little further here in verse 21 of Exodus 18 (Exodus 18:21). Those that fear God and men of truth. Now, to be a ruler in God's government, we have to be individuals who are truthful. I can remember Mr. Herbert Armstrong, on more than one occasion when I was a student in Ambassador College, being asked in his opinion, what was the greatest sin that a man could commit?

   And I remember Mr. Armstrong's answer to this. He said, "Well, first of all, we'd like to make this clear that sin is sin. You break any of God's law, and if it's not repented of, the wages of sin is death. But," he said, "in my experience, I would like to say this: that you know if an individual is a murderer or a thief or an adulterer or someone like that, but they're at least honest enough to admit their mistake and work on it, there's hope for that individual. But if an individual's word is no good, then that individual is no good."

   So in one sense, the worst type of a sinner you can be is the type of an individual who is a liar, whose word is no good, who cannot be trusted. In other words, as we have just seen here, who is not truthful. Who is not a man or woman of truth. You remember Christ said in the Gospels, let your yay be yay and your nay be nay because anything else proceeds from sin.

   And we all know how easy it is to shade it our way. We're asked to give our side of the story, and we know down deep what the real story is, but we don't want to look too bad. And so we kind of conveniently forget this detail and we throw in maybe a little exaggeration of that detail because we want to look good. But God says, "No, if you're going to be a ruler, what I'm looking for is someone of truth, someone whose word is good."

   But you see, every day, all of us have a chance to show God that we would make a good ruler by being men and women of truth. In the way we deal with our marriages, with our children, the way we deal on the job with our employer or employee. All the different applications in our daily lives to show that we are men and women of truth.

   Now the next qualification, look at this. It says someone that's going to be a ruler of the people has got to be someone who hates covetousness.

   Now I was interested in some of Mr. Fey's comments earlier in the feast when he was talking about covetousness just for a little bit. And he made a statement that caught my ear that I actually jotted it down here. And he said, "When you covet, you can never be content." You know that's right. When you covet, you can never be content.

   Now we think about coveting as generally physical wealth. But I would like to apply this to the context of becoming a leader and a ruler in the world tomorrow. Maybe there are some of you who are women sitting in this room today who have been affected by the women's movement in our society around us. And maybe sometimes you look at your calling in life and the fact that you were born of the female gender, and down deep you wish you were the leader. You wish you were the man. You wish you could be the boss of the house. And because you covet what your husband has or has been given by God, you're never content. You have a restless feeling that's never fulfilled.

   Maybe you're the husband. Maybe as you go to church, you see that somebody else is the deacon or the elder or the president of the spokesman club and down deep you wish it was you. And because you covet, you're never content. Maybe on the job at work, somebody else has made the foreman or the crew chief or whatever else, given the promotion, given the raise, and it didn't go to you. And because you covet, you're never content.

   You know why it's important that a leader of the people not have this weakness of coveting? Because it is what disqualifies rulers faster than anything. You know what got Satan the devil in trouble? You know what got Satan the devil in trouble? He wasn't content to come down to the earth and give God thanks because he had been chosen to have the opportunity to refurbish the earth and make it something for God's plan. He wanted more. "I want God's throne itself. I'm not satisfied to just stay here."

   You know what gets leaders into trouble in our society today? You get elected to be a representative. "I don't want to just be a representative. I want to be a senator." You get to be a senator. "I don't want to just be a senator. I want to be the president." Now after you get to be the president, I don't know what you want then, because in our land there's nothing higher to achieve. But you get to be a judge. "I want to be a higher ranking judge." You get to be a justice. "I want to be the supreme justice."

   And it's always looking up and never taking the position that you've got right now and saying "No, this is what I've got, this is what I'm going to do, this is what I'm going to put my hand to, and I'm not going to look and covet for what somebody else has that I don't have." Because you see, if God is going to choose us to be a leader, then we're going to have to show him that we're willing to take our lot in life.

   And maybe your lot in life has been kind of a cruel one. Maybe you are blind. Maybe you're deaf. Maybe you're crippled. Maybe because of circumstances beyond your control, you didn't receive much of an education.

   Now, are you always going to look at what somebody else has and say, "I want that. Oh, I wish God would have only allowed me to have this. Oh, I wish life hadn't have been so tough and I could have had something else"? Or are all of us going to learn to say "No, this is my lot in life. This is what I have. I am going to obey God and faithfully follow His way in this circumstance that I find myself in. And that's what I'm going to do." Because if we can learn to do that, then we can be content. But if we are always looking for a different circumstance in our life, we're going to be miserable.

   And God knows that when the judgment day comes and He gives the rewards out - you know that's going to be an interesting day. When that resurrection comes, when we're either changed into a spirit being, or if we've died, we come up out of the ground, we meet Jesus Christ in the air, we come down to the Mount of Olives, and he sets up his kingdom.

   You know, I think who he appoints to what job is going to be a tremendous surprise to many people. Now, hopefully, in fact, it's not just hopefully, if we are there as spirit beings and we have qualified and we have overcome this thing of covetousness, then we are going to be overjoyed at whatever position we receive, and we're going to be overjoyed at whatever position anybody else receives.

   We're looking at it as a human being right now. I am sure we're going to say, "What? They are going to be the ruler over 10 cities and that individual is only going to be the ruler over 1? I can't believe that. What did they ever do in the local congregation that showed anything?" But God is going to know what they did. He is going to know they have followed these traits that we've already read. And God is going to be able to read the heart, the attitude, the inner core of that individual, and he is going to know very well what they are qualified to do. Very well, he's going to know that.

   Well, going down to read a little further here, there's something else I want to bring out. Not only hate and covetousness, but "Place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds and rulers of fifties and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons, and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto you, but every small matter they shall judge, so shall it be easier for yourself, and they shall bear the burden with you."

   Now you know there's a vital area right there that we just covered that God is also looking at. Do we understand authority in our life today? Notice in the government that God set up in Israel there were rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens. And there was an order of doing things. You didn't automatically take every little problem to Moses. Otherwise, why have the ruler over the tens, the fifties, the hundreds, or the thousands? What would their job be?

   I would like to take just a minute here to show you right here in the Feast of Tabernacles how we are learning that lesson.

   Now let's let's see something just for a moment here about the Feast of Tabernacles. God the Father, who was in charge of everything, decided at some point in history that he was going to design 7 annual holy days for his people to remind them of his plan. One of those holy days was going to be the Feast of Tabernacles.

   God gave to the Word, the spokesman Jesus Christ, the authority to be in charge not only in Old Testament Israel, but also in the New Testament Church today. Now Jesus Christ took that authority that was given to him. He first worked with Moses and the leaders of the congregation in the wilderness and gave them instructions about keeping that feast. He worked with his early apostles, and of course he works today with his latter day apostle, Mr. Herbert Armstrong.

   Now, Mr. Herbert Armstrong, being guided by God's word and what it says about the feast and using the inspiration that God's spirit gives to him, sits down with a team at headquarters. I know at least 3 individuals who are prominent on this team: Mr. Ellis Laravia, Mr. Leroy Neff, and Mr. Joe Tkach, and other individuals who assist them.

   He gives to that team what he expects to be accomplished at the Feast of Tabernacles. That team, in turn, conducts a meeting at the first of each year and calls all the feast site coordinators from the United States and the Canadian sites and the international sites to Pasadena. They get together and they relay to these feast site coordinators what is to be done at the Feast of Tabernacles.

   Those coordinators in turn go back to the local area, in our case, Mr. Liongreen here in the Wisconsin Dells. He chooses among the ministry and deacons and other individuals, department heads, and he has a meeting. And he relays to those department heads what he wants done, as has been instructed from him from the team at Pasadena.

   Now, let me just take myself as an example, since I would be best familiar with that. I was given the responsibility of the auditorium. The auditorium is basically divided into 5 parts, as I have to do with it: There's ushering, janitorial, stage, clean up, and the mother's room. I chose 5 individuals to be over those parts.

   Let's take one of those parts, the janitorial area. I chose a deacon in the Chicago North Church to oversee the janitorial work in the restrooms.

   [Tape Flipped]

   We in turn chose 4 crew chiefs who in turn had section leaders, and those section leaders in turn had 5 or 6 individuals working under them who mopped the floors, replaced the toilet tissue and the hand towels, and scrubbed the toilets and keep things in order.

   Now this may sound like a simplification. But if you are the individual cleaning the toilet in the bathroom, you have experienced the government of God from God the Father to Jesus Christ, to his apostle Mr. Armstrong, to the headquarters team, to the feast coordinator, to the overseer of the auditorium, to the deacon who was put in charge of the janitorial area, to the section leader for that day, to your crew chief, right down to you as you clean the toilets.

   But do you begin to see why the Feast of Tabernacles can work so well? Because whether we're talking about this auditorium, whether we're talking about the orchestra or the choir, somebody out in the parking lot, those working with housing, or whatever area of the feast we would want to choose - there is a government where there are captains over the tens and the fifties and the hundreds and the thousands and so on.

   And when somebody has a question in the bathroom, he doesn't take it immediately to Mr. Lilongreen, does he? No, he takes it to his crew chief. If his crew chief can't handle it, he takes it to the section leader. If the section leader can't handle it, he takes it to the deacon in charge. If he doesn't know what to do, he takes it to me. If I can't do anything with it, I take it to Mr. Lilongreen. Hopefully it'll stop there.

   But if it's that urgent, then I'm sure he would call Mr. Tkach in Pasadena, and if it was still that earth shaking, he would talk to Mr. Armstrong. And if it was really that earth shaking, I'm sure Mr. Armstrong would be on his knees talking with Jesus Christ, looking for some inspiration. "What do we do now?" And if Christ didn't truly know the answer, and I know this is farfetched by now, He would say to God the Father, "What are we going to do about this bathroom?"

   But the point I want to make is there is government. Now you say to yourself, "Where do I get the experience to learn how to be a ruler?" You are getting it at God's Feast of Tabernacles.

   Every time you obey what the parking man says out there and you park in this spot rather than drive over there and park in that spot, you're learning how to be a ruler. Every time you get in your seat and get ready for services when Mr. Lore comes up and says, "Would everybody please find their seat," you are learning how to be a ruler in the world tomorrow.

   Do we begin to get the picture now? And I hope we begin to see that God is providing these means for us to be trained to learn His government and how it operates. The technical skills of how to build a bridge and how to construct a sewer project and how to put up a building - technical skills can be learned by a spirit being at the snap of a finger. Technical skills are not the problem. It is an individual who knows how the government works that is the problem. And that's why we're going to school right now today to learn those skills.

   Let's turn over to Deuteronomy. A couple other points I want to make here in the end of this sermon. Deuteronomy chapter 16.

   Because we're going to see a couple of three other traits here that we should be learning in our everyday lives. Here in Deuteronomy chapter 16, I know we're familiar with verses 16 and 17 because it talks about the offerings that we take up in the three seasons of the year. But now let's go to verse 18 and read here three verses that bring out some other things that we need to think about (Deuteronomy 16:18-20).

   It says "Judges and officers shall you make you in all your gates." So here again were instructions to make leaders, to make rulers, judges, and those that were going to be over the functions in Israel. "You shall make these judges and officers, which the Lord your God gives you throughout your tribes, and you shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not rest judgment. You shall not respect persons. Neither take a gift, for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just so you follow, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God gives you."

   Now I might paraphrase that a little bit and say, look, if we want to be in God's kingdom, and if we're going to inherit the earth and we're going to rule with Jesus Christ, then we had better learn this lesson as well, because there are two main things that he brings out here. First of all, we cannot be a respecter of people. And secondarily, we cannot let physical things, bribes and gifts, and so on sway us.

   And yet how many times do all of us get caught in that trap where we show favoritism? Maybe in a family we show favoritism toward one of our children over another. We allow one certain privileges because they're a mama or daddy's favorite and the other ones are forced to take a backseat, and we are rougher on them. Maybe on our job at work we give some of the employees who may be under us if we're a supervisor certain privileges, but because we don't like somebody else for no good reason, we put the thumb down on them.

   You see, maybe even here at the Feast of Tabernacles, hopefully not. But maybe even someone who is leading a particular area who's an usher or a section leader in the bathroom or whatever, maybe he's got 2 or 3 people he likes better than somebody else, and he lets them put the paper towels in and he takes the guys he doesn't like so well and assigns them to clean the toilets.

   You see how small it can kind of go out. But God wants us to treat people justly. Because that is the mark of a true leader that everybody can respect and look up to is because they know they can go and get a fair shake.

   Now there was a little story told about a lawyer that I think will illustrate this about not being fooled by physical things. An elderly lady came into this lawyer. This is a true story, by the way. And she was being oppressed and being taken advantage of by someone, she had been swindled out of a certain amount of her money. And she said to the lawyer, "I want justice. Can you help me get justice?"

   And the lawyer said, "Yes, I can help you get justice, but I have one question for you. How much money do you have?" The lady was shocked. She said, "Why does it matter how much money I have?" "Because I have to know," said the lawyer, "how much justice you can afford."

   Now you know that's the way the system works today. That's the way the system works. It's a fact of life. Maybe some of you have been victimized by it. If you've got enough money, you can hire a smart enough lawyer and keep the appeals process going long enough until you can wear the other individual out or break them. Then you can win in a court of law on default. So truly in our society today it is how much justice can you afford?

   But you see, in the world tomorrow, God is not going to be governed by those laws. He is going to want just individuals who have proven in this life right now that they're not going to be a respecter of people. That they are not going to be influenced by bribes or by what you have to offer physically speaking. They merely want to know what is right.

   Notice verse 20 again in Deuteronomy 16: "That which is altogether just shall you follow." You see, that's the admonition to a ruler. You have got to do what God's law tells you to do. It doesn't matter whether the person is rich or they're poor, whether they're prominent or whether they're just very menial. It doesn't matter whether they're your friend or they're not your friend. It doesn't matter how many gifts they can give you. No, your consideration always must be that which is altogether just.

   But you see, God is looking down, and he is making that judgment on all of us by all the little things that we do in our lives.

   Now let's go to one other scripture here, Deuteronomy 17. And we'll bring out just a couple of more points and bring this to a close. Deuteronomy 17. Let's start in verse 14 (Deuteronomy 17:14-20): "When you are coming to the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you shall possess it and shall dwell therein and shall say, I will set a king over me like as all the nations that are about me."

   So God knew that Israel was one day going to clamor for a king. But God says if you're smart, this is what you'll do when this king comes. It says "You shall in any way set him King over you, whom the Lord your God shall choose." So if you're smart when you look for a king, you will want God to do the choosing for you.

   Well, fortunately in the world tomorrow, God is going to do the choosing because he can read the hearts of all men. "One from among your brethren shall you set King over you. You may not set a stranger over you, which is not your brother."

   Now do you know what that teaches us? God isn't going to select the mayors and the rulers and the kings and the judges in the world tomorrow. He's not going to select them from among politicians and prime ministers in this world today, because they are not a part of the brotherhood. You are the brotherhood. God is not going to take a stranger to his way who doesn't know his law, who hasn't proven it by a lifetime of living it, and make that individual a ruler in the world tomorrow. He is going to choose from among the brethren. You're the ones that are going to be the rulers that God is going to be choosing from.

   Going on, verse 16, that individual "shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt." Now that's a very significant point. If a ruler is going to be a real ruler, he cannot allow the people to go back to their former way of life. Do you know how overpowering is going to be the urge for people in the beginning of the millennium to want to return to the former way of life?

   And Jesus Christ is going to be trying to instruct them in God's way, and they're going to be trying to return to this religion and to that political system, and they're going to always be thinking back. "Well, now wait a minute, when I was over here in China, we did it this way, and oh, can't we go back and do it that way again, and we had such beautiful Buddhas that we worship. Can't we have at least one Buddha in the synagogue?"

   But a ruler of God is going to say no. We're not going back to Egypt. We brought you out of Egypt. But you see, here's the point. Do we want to return to Egypt? Secretly, even while we're sitting here at the Feast of Tabernacles, do we wish we were someplace else? When Christmas comes, do we kind of have that feeling? "Oh, it'd be nice to have the tree up again." I certainly hope not. But I know as ministers we run into many times people who you can tell down deep in their heart want to go back to Egypt. But as a ruler of God, you cannot go back to Egypt. You have got to direct the people under your charge never to go that way again. We're going to learn a new system. The people cannot be allowed to stray.

   But notice this, verse 18: "It shall be when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests and the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them."

   Now are we following that example that God required of these leaders in the Old Testament? And are we diligently studying from that law every day of our life? Do we read from it? Do we meditate on it? Do we try to consider how we can better apply it in our lives? You see, that's what God is going to be looking at as we qualify to be a king and a priest.

   Verse 20, one last thing he brings out: "That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel." So God, you see, does not want us to have a haughty attitude and lord it over people. He wants us to learn now to rule in love and in consideration and in patience and in peace and to treat with dignity and respect those that we may be over in whatever capacity that we have.

   Well, I hope in the time that I've had in this sermon today, I've been able to impart to you this point: That if you have had a fear that because you did not have great technical expertise, that you had no hands-on training about being a king or a mayor or a judge or a ruler, that somehow when the kingdom of God came that you were going to be inadequate or inferior and simply were not going to have the training to do the job...

   I hope I have shown you today from God's word that what he is looking for is not all that technical training. No, to summarize what he is looking for are able men and women who fear God, who are men of truth, who hate covetousness, who understand authority, who have no respect of people, who don't let physical things sway them, who aren't going to allow those under them to stray and go back to Egypt, who study his law diligently day by day, and are learning in whatever capacity they have now not to be vain or haughty, but to rule with peace and love and consideration.

   Now let's turn to the concluding scripture in Matthew chapter 25:21. And we will see how those little things that you do every day that put these traits into you will enable you to be under Jesus Christ, ruling with Him in the world tomorrow.

   Matthew chapter 25 and verse 21, let's see again from God's word this principle that will wrap up this sermon today. Matthew 25 and verse 21, and this of course is in the parable about God's kingdom, but I only want this one verse in verse 21 (Matthew 25:21), and I hope God will say this about all of us:

   "His Lord said unto him, 'Well done, you good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things.' You were faithful when you cleaned the toilet at the Wisconsin Dells feast site. You were faithful when you parked the car. You were faithful when you picked up the songbooks. You were faithful in the way that you treated your children and you treated your wife. You were faithful in the way that you respected your husband. You were faithful in those little things. 'So now, I will make you ruler over many things. Come, enter you into the joy of your Lord.'"