[Sam Sweat] Bob Donovan is an individual who is in his fifties. His life seems quite aimless. His morning routine is to awaken at 5:30 am and have his coffee, eggs and toast – he likes it buttered, with a little bit of strawberry on top. And that's his routine – every single day. It has been for years. Now, he remembers that one time, searching for the truth – but in his search – he became so disgusted with religion, its politics, its people, that he simply walked away. He was totally disillusioned by it all and it became a joke to him. He's got about ten more years of work left and then he'll quietly just fade away. And the world is waiting.

An unnamed mother sits in the streets of Calcutta, India – one of the poorest places in the world – the streets sometimes like a cesspool. She sits on the street, malnourished and is slowly dying. But even more painful, is a small baby boy on her breast, no more than a month old. He's dead, and he's still clasping to his mother. And you look at this mother, and dripping from her eyes are tears, and in each tear is an ocean of pain. And the world is waiting.

Richard Walsh is married with two children and a third is on the way. He lives like a growing number of South Africans – in a security-gated community – perimeter-fenced – with his second wife, Sheila, a schoolteacher. Richard is a broker. He has worked hard all his life, and yet, on his way home, he stops at his neighborhood McDonald's to pick up a Big Mac and fries, as he's accustomed to do. When he returns to his car, he's surrounded by four men who ask for his keys. It's not exactly clear what happens next, but witnesses say that Walsh – who had been mugged before – he appeared to resist what was probably just a routine car-jacking. A single shot was fired, and the gang jumped in its car and roared off. Richard lay dead on the tarmac of the McDonald's parking lot. It was five minutes before the police arrived, and when they found the car, it was a smoldering wreck by the side of the highway in Pretoria. Some of you from that area – that part of the world – are familiar with many stories like that. And the world is waiting. The world is waiting.

Israel was to be a model nation. And, in fact, the world was waiting for Israel as well. The world was to see Israel as a model – as a people that demonstrated the Great God. What did the nations, the world, need to see from Israel? Let's go to Deuteronomy 16. This is post-Feast. It's been a couple of weeks now since we've been to the Feast. Let's look at this. What were we to learn from the Feast? Deuteronomy 16 and verse 13:

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 – You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. And you shall rejoice in – the – feast – that's key – you shall rejoice in – the – feast.... And I do not think that's too much of a problem for most of us at the Feast. We do rejoice. We have a very good time at the Feast. But it says: you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

Rejoice. Rejoice. That's one side, and yet, Deuteronomy 14 – if you go to Deuteronomy 14, verse 22 – it says:

Deuteronomy 14:22 – You shall surely tithe – Deuteronomy 14:22 – you shall surely tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks. Why? What's the purpose? We've seen rejoicing and now we see: that you may learn to fear the Lord your God seven days. Is that what it says? What does it say? ...that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always – ALWAYS!

That tells me, that going to the Feast is not just Feast-specific. It's not just isolated for the Feast. But you shall learn to fear the Lord your God always – all the time. All the time.

The fear of God is a very interesting subject. One commentator, in the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, writes: fear or reverence refers, in Paul, to the appropriate level of respect and honor to be shown to another. Often in light of fulfilling one's service to God, it also implies terror at the prospect of failing to fulfill one's obligations. Paul asserts that believers are to show fear, or reverence, with respect to God and Christ, the state, and to other human beings. The relationship among these, in Paul's thinking, is that reverence or fear of God constitutes a suitable basis for Christian conduct. Paul's concept of fear or reverence is grounded in the Old Testament idea of fear or reverence not being a completely sinister terror stemming from being subjected to an angry deity. For Paul, fear, or reverence, reflects an appropriate response in terms of respect, honor and service, due to the powerful and Holy God, who is bound by covenant to His people.

That's fear. That's fear – learning to fear God as an appropriate respect and honor and reverence – and it involves trembling – trembling at the fact of doing wrong before this God. Fear of God is the root. Fear of God is the root, and from that root, there is a shoot. And from that shoot, there is the fruit of joy. The basis, the bedrock, the ground, is the fear of God. The fruit is the joy – is the rejoicing. Fear God and rejoice, both coupled together. So, the deeper the fear, the deeper the reverence for God, the deeper the joy. That's how it works. The more shallow your respect and honor and awe for this Being, the more shallow your joy. Now joy, in the scriptures, is different than happiness. When we think of happiness sometimes, happiness tends to be more circumstantial. It's based upon the circumstances – things are going well – “I'm happy” – but joy…it's much more lofty than that. Joy is something that supersedes circumstances. It rises above the circumstances. It's not pulled down by the circumstances. It's grounded in God.

The world – I had asked – what does it need to see from Israel? Well, the world needed to see Israel rejoicing and fearing God. That's what they needed to see. That's what they should have seen. And of course, they didn't.

So, our question today is this: What does the world need to see from the Church? Or more specifically, what does the world need to see from you, me? What does the world need to see from the Church, and what does the world need to see from you? The title of this message is: What the World Needs from You. What the World Needs from You. Let's turn to Romans 8. This is a climactic section in the book of Romans. In Romans 8, we will see a future component and a present component of suffering and joy. In Romans 8, verse 18, Paul says:

Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings – that's interesting, isn't it? –  it's plural – it's not the suffering – this isn't a once-all thing – that the sufferings of this present time – and so he's going to contrast the here with the not-yet here. That's what he's going to do. ...this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed – present, shall be. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility – that was talked about in the sermonette in Genesis 3 – the curse that came upon this entire world – not willingly – who wanted that? Who wanted that? Nobody wanted that willingly – but because of Him – that is, God – who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. And, not only that, but we also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees?

So, a future component and a present component. The future component – that's typically what we focus on at the Feast of Tabernacles – the Kingdom of God, the coming Kingdom of God, the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and our bodies being changed – those are things that we reflect upon – and the millennial period – wonderful, wonderful times yet ahead. Now verse 18 focuses on that future component. The glory which shall be revealed in us. That's future. Verse 19: the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God, as Paul outlines it here. The sons of God are resurrected. They are changed. And the creation follows. The creation follows. First, human beings, and then the creation. Verse 20 – he says, He subjected it in hope – that's a future connotation – in hope – in hope. Verse 21 - the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption – the whole creation is in this bondage of corruption – all of it, all of it. Verse 23 – eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

That's all future. That's all future, at least in its ultimate consummation. It's all future. But within the future, are deep echoes of the present. There's always the contrast. There's sufferings now. There's subjection to futility now. In verse 20 – now, subjected to futility. I wouldn't be surprised if you walk out of here and you stub your toe walking out the door on something, and you just say, “What was the purpose of that?” There's a futility about it. It doesn't make any sense. Or, an accident I just saw and witnessed – people on their way to a wedding – their daughter's – and now they are either delayed or won't be able to go to the wedding – I don't know, but it's so futile. It doesn't seem to have purpose. And the whole world is subjected to this futility. That's what the text says. And we are a part of this.

We also experience this futility. And, if you've been on this planet very long, you know that. You know that. There's the bondage of corruption. There are the birth pains that Paul describes here. It's like a birth. It's like a birth, It's like a birth. This woman – and I've witnessed the birthing process four times – this woman giving birth, straining – her blood vessels in her forehead are about to burst – they're rippling across, with sweat underneath her nose and her upper lip, and the straining of the face – trying to push this baby out. It's like a birth. It's like a birth! It's painful. And the woman, squeezing her husband's hand, as my wife did, and that hurts. It's painful! It's like a birth! This is a painful experience. It's painful. This life, this planet – it's painful. And it was all subjected to this futility in hope – in hope. And then it says: we groan even now – so again, the future component and the present component. Let's look more closely at this present component – something that we sometimes don't look at. But 2 Corinthians 6, and let's read verses 3 through 10. The context here of 2 Corinthians 6 – 2 Corinthians is probably one of the most sad letters of Paul's writings. He's fighting for his apostleship to his readers, and they seem to have rejected him, as well. And it's very sad what he says at times. But 2 Corinthians 6 – the context here is God reconciling the whole world to Himself. In Chapter 5 it talks about reconciling the whole world to Himself. He says we are ambassadors for Christ. And we see the context is also salvation. In chapter 6, verse 2:

2 Corinthians 6:2 – For He says, “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.” Of course, that's quoted from a passage in Isaiah, which says, a day – but for you and for me, and for the Corinthians – now is a day of salvation. It is for us. It is for those at Corinth. And so the context here is salvation – it's redemption, it's bringing people in. Now notice what Paul says in verse 3:

Verse 3 – We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God – the ESV says: we put no obstacle in anyone's way, but as servants of God, we commend ourselves – no obstacles, commend – the NIV says: we put no stumbling block in anyone's path, rather as servants of God, we commend – no stumbling blocks, we commend – the Amplified Version says: we put no obstruction in anybody's way, but we commend ourselves – no obstructions, but we commend – and the New Living Translation says: we do not want to put anything in the way that would keep people from God. Everything we do shows we are God's servants.

So here's Paul – he doesn't want to put obstacles in peoples' way. He wants to commend his faith. He wants to commend his God. He wants to commend his Christ – his Messiah. He doesn't want to put obstacles in peoples' way so they can't have salvation. He wants to remove obstacles. He wants to take away barriers, and he wants to commend his life, his faith, his practice, his ministry, his service, his being a servant of God – no obstacles, but commending. Now how are you going to do that? How are you going to do that, Paul?

There's three areas which he's going to cover now. In verses 4 and 5, he's going to cover suffering, and  in verses 6 and 7, he's going to cover his character, and then in verses 8-10, the paradoxes of the Christian life. So he's going to show us how. Verse 3:

2 Corinthians 6:3 – We give no offense in anything – in anything, in anything – that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things – in all things – we commend ourselves as ministers of God – in what? – in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings…. Go over – keep your finger there and look at 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 23. Paul mentions being beaten, and he says – verse 23:

2 Corinthians 11:23-25 – Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more: in labors – he's giving evidence of his ministry – in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one, three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked – a night and a day I have been in the deep.... I don't know if you understand what it would be like to be torn asunder on your back with a whip, like Paul says, five times – forty stripes, less one. You take a whip, and perhaps bone shard on it – or metal – and you begin beating the back. And each time, a little flesh is ripped off until it starts hitting the bones – and it's ripped off and ripped off. That's one beating. That's one. So he goes his way. It heals and it tightens. That's what scar tissue does. It tightens and tightens. But that didn't happen just once. It happened again – and the scar tissue is ripped off again -  and then it tightens and tightens and tightens. This happens five times to Paul. And so you can imagine the tightness of his body – of his skin on his back – and the pain that he would endure every single day of his life – every single day. There was no day this man didn't feel pain. He continues on in verse 26:
V-26 – …in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen – and, of course, in the Roman series, you should be able to put some of that together – in perils by heathen – yes, them too – in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren – yes – in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides these things that are without, that which comes upon me daily: the care of all the churches.

So Paul exhibits patience – not impatience – in tribulation, in his neediness, in his distresses, in his stripes, in his imprisonments, in the chaos of life, in his work, in his lack of sleep, his lack of food. He's gone through all this. And he's not allowed it to make him bitter, but make him better. Somehow, someway – to be able to go through all these things and not become an angry individual – closed off in a cave from the world and despising everyone. Paul says, I don't want to put obstacles in peoples' way. I want to commend what I'm doing – no obstacles, commend. Then in verse 6 – 2 Corinthians 6:6 – he talks about his character. He says:

2 Corinthians 6:6 – …by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness – how's he going to do that? What are the resources that he's going to use? I want that. I want that kind of ability – that kind of character – to be able to go through what Paul went through and still rejoice. I want that. I need that. I have to have that. Where's he getting his resources? He says: by the Holy Spirit – yes, that's where he's getting it – by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left – probably meaning the sword of the Spirit in one hand and the shield of faith in the other. This is how he's doing it. This is what makes it possible for Paul.

And then he begins the paradoxes:

V-8 – …by honor and dishonor – and if you are in this life, there will be those who honor you, and there will be those who dishonor you – by evil report and good report – there will be good reports from some, and there will be bad reports from others. Paul has learned this. He understands this – as deceivers, and yet true – many looked upon Paul as a deceiver, and yet, Paul knew. I've testified before God, he says. I'm telling you the truth – and yet true – and now we get to verse 9, and some read this a little differently. I don't think Paul is saying: that's not true, but this is. That's not true, but this is. That's not true. No, this is true. I think more of what he's saying here is that “Yes, that is true, but that's not the complete story. That's not the full truth. Look at verse 9:

V-9 – …as unknown, and yet well known – that's true, isn't it? We're unknown. We're unknown people. And the Corinthians in the great area of the Mediterranean in the Roman Empire in the first century – a small little group and a little area – they're unknown. No one knows them in the empire. And yet, he says, “We're known” – known – a little insignificant group of people in the Roman Empire – yet known by God and written in the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the world. That's who we are. Yeah, we're unknown, but God knows us – unknown, yet known – as dying, and behold we live – that's true, isn't it? We die. We die every day. We die every single day. And yet, we live. We live. We're more alive than anybody else. If you have the Spirit of God, you're more alive than anybody on the planet. We die daily, yet we live – as chastened, and yet not killed – that's true – beaten, chastened, and yet, for some reason, or some people, God makes the way of escape, and they're not killed. They're not killed – chastened, but not killed. He seems to deliver us, doesn't He – issue after issue. And then he says – as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing – that's true, isn't it? If you take a look at our world, it's a pretty sorry world. If you take a look even at our own families, at times – and the fracturing and the splintering of our own families – one can't do anything but cry. It's sorrowful. It's sad. So whether it's geopolitical, whether it's within our own families, it's sorrowful. Again, we all are subject to this futility in this world – all of us. And yet, we're sorrowful, but we're always rejoicing – always rejoicing – in hope. He subjected it in hope. We're rejoicing because we have a Messiah. We're rejoicing because our bodies shall be changed. We are rejoicing because this isn't it. We are rejoicing because there is a Kingdom, and there is more even beyond that. There is a joy that is set before us which keeps us going and going and going and going, just like for Christ. Sorrowful, but always rejoicing – yet making many rich, as having nothing – we don't live in this life to be wealthy, do we? Paul says, my objective is to make other people wealthy in Christ – spiritually wealthy. He makes many people rich, and yet he has nothing, and yet, he says – possessing all things – Paul says, “I possess all things. I have all things.”

Now he tells that to the Corinthians in chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians, verse 21. He says:

1 Corinthians 3:21 – Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours....You've got to be kidding, Paul. All things are yours? That's what he says – verse 22 – whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world – or the world? – or life or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours.

That's an amazing statement! It's all yours. It's just a matter of time; a matter of time.

Galatians 3, verse 29. What's yours? Galatians 3, verse 29 – verse 28 – we'll start there:

Galatians 3:28 – There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Jesus Christ – in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ you are one. And if you are Christ's – if you belong to Christ, if you are in Christ – then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

You and I are heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. We shall inherit all things. That should bring much joy in the midst of sorrow. It should. And yet, when I think about Jesus Christ – look at the contrast in Isaiah 53 – Isaiah 53, verse 3:

Isaiah 53:3 – He – this is Jesus Christ – is despised and rejected by men – a Man of sorrows – a man of pain.

That's Jesus Christ – sorrowful – sorrowful. And yet, I have to believe Jesus Christ was the most joyful Being that ever walked this planet. So, look in John 15. Here's Jesus Christ speaking of His True Vine and the Father as the Husbandman, and the connection that takes place, or should take place with us, and He says in verse 15 – or verse 11:

John 15:11 – “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

“I'm full of joy,” Jesus says. “I'm full of it and I'm talking to you, and I want your joy to be full like My joy.” And that's not the only place. Look at chapter 17, verse 13:

John 17:13 – “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”

“I want My joy in them.” And yet, we just read in Isaiah 53 – a man filled with sorrows and acquainted with grief. And yet, He's filled with joy. That's sorrowful, but always rejoicing. That's a paradox. That's a paradox in the Christian life. And one of the ways to remove obstacles and commend ourselves as servants of God, is to in fact, be sorrowful and yet always rejoicing. Let me explain that. Look at Matthew, chapter 5. Matthew, chapter 5, is often a passage which we turn to and we talk about being an example to the world. That's true, but that's not the full truth. There's more to it. Matthew 5 and verse 13 says:

Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Now, we could just extract that out of its text without context, and we would say, “Be an example – that's what it's saying.” But yet, there's more to it. Look at the context – look at verse 10 – because the context is persecution. Verse 10 says:

Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Then he goes to verse 16:

V-16 – “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

So it's in the midst of pain, it's in the midst of persecution, it's in the midst of distress, it's in the midst of the beatings that's what is so salty. That's what is so bright. What do we offer the world? What do we offer them if it's in good times, in great times and wonderful times, and we're happy and we're joyful? They can do that. They have that. They know how to be happy and joyful in good times. But what about in persecution? What about in job losses? What about in the loss of children and miscarriages and suicides? What about that? What about bodily injuries? Can we rejoice in that? To rejoice in something like that – that is so…it's so briny, it's so salty, it's so bright, it's so fresh, it's so unique, because that's not the response that individuals have. That takes something deeper. It takes the Holy Spirit. It takes these things which Paul is talking about – and how he does this – how he's sorrowful, and yet, always rejoicing. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works” – and the objective is to – “glorify your Father in heaven.”

We are not a superficial people. We are not. We are deeply embedded, faithful Christians, and we learn through suffering and through pain – in the midst of pain, in the very painful life that we live – in futility – we come to hope.

Now for those in our world who do not have this hope, it is totally without purpose. It is futile. But, Romans 8:28 says, “For those who are loved by God and called according to His purpose, there's a plan – there's a purpose.” So the sorrow and the suffering and the pain of this life – it's used for something greater than it is. It builds in us faith. it builds in us a depth of sorrow for the sin and the world in which we live, which is profound. We come to hate sin, and we see its destruction throughout our planet, throughout our relationships, throughout the nations, throughout our government – everything. And we have hope.

We have hope. This is what we offer the world. We offer them joy in pain. It's hard to do, but that's what we offer them – joy in pain. The world needs to see the hope of the Kingdom of God being lived out in this age of futility. They need to see sorrow and joy. They don't need to see your painless joy, and they don't need to see your joyless pain. That's what's so salty. That's what's so bright. They need to see both. They need to see sorrow and rejoicing. They need to see pain and joy. That's being a real human being.

There are some within the church who believe that we should have a plastic face of smiles all the time. That's just not reality. This is a futile world. And so we have sorrow – and lots of sorrow. We cry a lot. We're in pain a lot. But, like it says, “We don't grieve as others who have no hope.” We don't. We rejoice. We rejoice – over and over and over again – we rejoice.

I've turned here before – let's turn here to Habakkuk 3:17 – and we'll go back to Habakkuk again in the future – there's a lot to pull – theological freight – from that particular passage. Habakkuk 3 – again, the Babylonians were coming, and Habakkuk was having this debate – his complaints – with God. He then says to God, “You're a God who can't look upon sin. Why would You do this? You can't look upon evil?” “Yeah, I'm sending the Babylonians, Habakkuk. That's what I plan on doing. And they will be a tool in My hands.” And Habakkuk finally comes to the realization that this is a God to be trusted. It was mentioned in the sermonette – Romans 1:17. It's a passage we'll get to – “the just shall live by faith” – and we'll expound that in a future message. But this is the outcome – Habakkuk 3:17 – he comes to this landing point – this settled point in his life – as he sees the Babylonians on the horizon, about to take Judah. And he says in verse 17:

Habakkuk 3:17-19 – Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food, though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – notice what he says. What does he do? He says, “You take it all away – You take all the food, You take away the shelter, You take away my job, You take away my income, You take away my health” – this is just like Paul – “You take it all away. You strip me of everything that I value in this life,” and he says – verse 18 – Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. That's amazing faith. It's incredible faith. It's powerful faith. And when you look at something like that, you say, “That's salty. That's briny. That's fresh. That's unique.” That's how we should be. It's so different from what the world gives. “You take it all away, and I still trust You – still – verse 19 – The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.

Back to Romans 8. Again, our question: What does the world need from you? What does the world need from me? Romans 8, verse 31:

Romans 8:31 – What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? We've talked about that. He has given us all things. It's just a matter of time. It is all yours. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation – look at the list here – listen to it – shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in – in, in – in all these things – in them, not under them, not over them, not around them, not to the side of them, not even through them, but in them – in them – in the loss of job, in the loss of home, in the loss of husband, in the loss of wife, in the loss of child, in the loss of the use of hands, in the loss of knees, in the loss of hearing, in the loss of sight, in the loss of the function of a heart, in the loss of a functioning stomach, in the loss of a functioning intestine, in the loss of your feet, and feeling of your feet, in diabetes and kidney failure, in back problems, in cancer, in depression, in tens of thousands of other diseases and ailments – in all these things – in all these things – it says – we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us – Paul rejoices in the Lord despite the expected loss of everything in the present – he rejoices despite the loss, of everything in the present – we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Oh, you are a disciple of Christ. God loves you. He loves you tremendously – more than we could describe or imagine. It's beyond comprehension. He does love us and He does care for us. And yet, despite the losses – as I said, the loss of home – you can see these things in your own life – loss of homes, loss of jobs, loss of health – loss, loss, loss, loss, loss, loss – you know what a Christian does? He gets his pen out and he wipes through it and says, “Gain in Christ! I count it all as gain in Christ, because I know that Christ will use that loss for my gain. He will do something with it, and it will change my life; not only here and now, but ultimately, it will change my life in the future.” And that's what it's all about.

The world needs to see and touch and feel and experience Christ living in us. That's what they need to see. They need to see real Christians – real Christians. They need to see our hope. I hope that was kindled for you at the Feast – that hope, that Kingdom of God, that return of the Messiah, that future which we long for and we groan for daily. I hope that was kindled for you. They need to see that. The world needs to see that. And they need to see our hope in action – demonstrated in suffering and sorrow. They must see an unassailable, resolute, unconquerable, deep ocean of joy and peace that surpasses understanding. They need to see our groaning, our sorrow, and they need to see our joy. The world is waiting for you. Indeed, the whole world is groaning – even now, waiting for us – the earnest expectation of the creation for the revealing of the sons of God. And so, as sons and daughters of God – even now, consider that the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to make the comparison. There's no comparison. They're not worthy to be compared for the future that we have.

Bob Donovan, the mother in the streets of Calcutta, and Richard Walsh are waiting. They are. They're waiting. What did the world need to see from Israel? Well, they needed to see sorrow and rejoicing. They needed to see fear and rejoicing. They needed to see Israel removing obstacles and commending themselves as God's servants – fearing God and rejoicing – sorrowful and yet always rejoicing – that's what they needed to see.

And so, we've completed the Feast of Tabernacles. I want you to reflect upon the Feast, and think about it, and remember why you went in the first place – to learn to fear God, and learn to rejoice in Him, always, always, always. That's what the world needs from you.