Committed to the Cause

Happy Sabbath, everyone! It's good to see all of you here this morning. Thank you, Rhonda. What a beautiful melody! Didn't know it was from an unknown composer. That didn't sound like German, either, did it? Nobis? What was it? It's Latin. So Germans writing in Latin, but it was a beautiful melody, for sure. So I really appreciate the special music. Because Africa is known as the Dark Continent. Seems to span back to the time that, for the Western world, very little was known about it. Back in the mid-1800s, a man named David Livingstone explored the Dark Continent. Of course, it was Dr. David Livingstone. He was a physician. He was a missionary, really a pioneer who worked throughout Africa. And for great periods of time, they might not even hear anything about David Livingstone. What happened to him? Some had written to him at one point, trying to find out if he would like some help in exploring the darks of Africa. Some wrote to him specifically, we'd like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?

Do you know what David Livingstone wrote back? He wrote back, If you have men who will only come if they know there's a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there's no road at all. Pretty straightforward, wouldn't you say?

And in fact, are we ready? Are we ready to build a spiritual road? Are we as God's people ready and willing to advance the mission? Are we committed to the cause? I mean, here's David Livingstone committed to a physical cause, exploring the continent, helping and serving others there. And his story is absolutely remarkable. And yet, without the Spirit of God, the accomplishments and the commitment that he had were absolutely amazing. He was mauled by a lion and almost killed. After that, his arm was partially disabled, where he couldn't even move it and it caused him constant pain. His wife died of malaria. Over 30 times, he was suffering from that same malady. And often food and medical supplies had been stolen from him, where he was left with nothing. He suffered from pneumonia. He suffered from cholera. He suffered from ulcers. And eventually, he became half blind. Amazing story, reminiscent of the Apostle Paul. We know in 2 Corinthians 11, the Apostle Paul says, he suffered with stripes. He suffered with prisons. He suffered with rods. He was shipwrecked. He was in perils over and over and over and even stoned and yet stood strong and would not give up. He wouldn't quit. In fact, like David Livingstone, I could imagine the Apostle Paul saying the same thing. David Livingstone said, I am prepared to go anywhere as long as it's forward. And we have to be a people with that same perspective because as we look at what God has done throughout the ages, He's done remarkable things when He has a people who will be committed to the cause of God. I mean, does God work through lukewarm, half-hearted, unenthusiastic people? I don't think so. When we look at what God's Word tells us, He loves people who are fervent for His way, committed in their hearts and minds to love God, committed to His Kingdom, advancing His Word. And so we need to be a people like that. It's amazing what the Apostle Paul told Timothy. If you turn with me over to 2 Timothy 2, Paul tells Timothy much the same in his perspective, in his expectations, for not only Timothy is a part of the ministry, but for us, for those who also need to be committed to the great cause of God. 2 Timothy 2, verse 1. Notice the words that Paul encouraged Timothy with.

He begins in chapter 2 by saying, you therefore, my Son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And so it's not our will, but God's will. It's Christ living in us. He says, the things that you've heard from me among many witnesses, commit these things to Luke, who are unenthusiastic, half-hearted. Oh, no, it doesn't say that. Commit these to faithful men, faithful people who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And he reminds him, no one engaged in warfare and tangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

So we have been enlisted, haven't we? We've been called by Almighty God. We've been signed up, and we could say, drafted for a spiritual battle. We are spiritual soldiers. God's given us His armor so that we can fight this spiritual battle. And there are so many examples of this very thing throughout Scripture that are so inspiring and so encouraging when we recognize we're in a spiritual battle.

We're not fighting flesh and blood. We are fighting spiritual wickedness in high places. And God wants us to be committed to the cause of advancing the mission, taking that word and His way to the world, being living, breathing examples of what it means to be a true Christian, to be a spiritual soldier. And I often think of the example of King David and those individuals that he surrounded himself with.

You know, at the time of King David, God established him as king. In fact, king over a combined Israel, all the tribes of Israel. And David certainly honored God and His way. And he was a great man, a great king, no doubt. One who was committed to God and when he fell down and made those mistakes and sinned greatly before God, he repented and he changed his life and followed God. Yet he didn't stand alone. He wasn't by himself taking on the world. He was surrounded by a band of mighty men who accomplished great feats of valor. We can find a list of those men in 2 Samuel chapter 23.

You'll turn there with me. 2 Samuel chapter 23 beginning in verse 8. We have a full listing of these 37 men that were fully committed to God, fully committed to the mission, committed to David and the cause and the kingdom that God had established at that time. And so it's an amazing listing of mighty men. So in 2 Samuel chapter 23 verse 8, it tells us the names of these people.

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. And if you want to practice saying some very interesting names, boy, there's quite a few of them here that are so difficult for we Americans to try to pronounce. Look at these names. Can't even begin to say some of these. Joseph Behesheth.

Yes, so that's an easy name. Hopefully he had a nickname. He was a Taqamanite. He's just the first of the three mightiest of men. And we have their great feats, in many cases accounted for here in chapter 23. And I'm not going to go through this whole listing of different individuals. But think of the connection to us. With these men, David accomplished a great work. If God is going to do a great work today, He can do that among us and raise up a mighty band of men and women to do great things on His behalf.

Now, David needed mighty soldiers to back him up. For us, it's a strong band of people who have faith in God, who are spiritual leaders. And in a sense, God's church must be a band of spiritual individuals, similar to those physical ones that surrounded David. And when you think about what made these men special, a couple of interesting things jump out at you.

They were drawn to David. They recognized David's cause. And as an individual, they came to him. They recognized David's leadership. They recognized his spirituality. They recognized his commitment to God. And so, they were committed to David, but it even went beyond that. They were committed to the cause of the Kingdom, the cause of what David was committed to. And us, like these, we need to be drawn not to David, but to David's Lord, to Jesus Christ, and to be committed to the cause of that great spiritual Kingdom to come.

And so, when we recognize the characteristics of these individuals, they were drawn to David. They were attracted to him. In fact, so many counts in the Bible show the fact that they loved David as a person, as an individual. And this motivation caused them to commit themselves to David's cause, to David's mission. And so, think about our connection. Our connection to this is that we must be drawn to our Lord, our Master, our high priest, our King, Jesus Christ.

And that should cause us to have this deep-seated commitment to advance the mission of God Almighty, to be committed to His cause, God's cause. And so, we can ask ourselves, are we men and women who are drawn to Christ, not just as Savior, not just as King, not just for personal salvation. We know there's more than that that we've been called to.

We have been called to advance the mission of Almighty God. And so, when we look at David's men, these weren't individuals that were drafted into His cause. They were called. They weren't unwilling conscripts who just, well, just tried to fulfill their duty. That wasn't that at all. These are willing soldiers.

These are individuals who served out of devotion to David and the cause. And there's some amazing examples of that very thing. In fact, if you're still here in 2 Samuel 23, if you look down to verse 15, we have an example of that amazing commitment. Here's David hiding in the cave at Adulam, hiding there. The Philistines were in Bethlehem. That's David's hometown. Yet, David thought back to this amazing time. He thought back with longing, verse 15, that someone would give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.

He thought back to that time when he was a boy, and there was peace, and all those amazing memories of good times came rolling back into his thinking. And he just couldn't resist just verbalizing these words. If it were only possible. Obviously, these words aren't a command. He didn't say, Hey, get out there! Get me some water! Get me back to the well at Bethlehem!

No, he didn't say that. In fact, if he thought about it, he probably wouldn't even verbalize those words. He wouldn't even say it out loud. But he mentions this craving kind of offhand. What happened? What happened? Well, three mighty men slip away, risk their lives, and brought back this precious gift of water.

Water from David's hometown, the well of Bethlehem. And in fact, David is so touched, so moved by this, what do we find? Well, at the end of verse 16, after bringing it to David, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.

He poured it out in honor of God. He acknowledges the devotion. He acknowledges the commitment of these men and that deep-seated appreciation for their love. And he knew these amazing warriors loved him so much, they were willing to put their own lives on the line and die for him. Go right into the midst of the Philistines for just a little bit of water. And David thanks God and honors them. And it's just such an amazing representation of this deep-seated commitment and close bond of love that they had with David. In fact, so strong. These 37 men mentioned in this chapter are really amazing. And as you look through this list of names, they're not all the same. In fact, they're all very, very different. We find a variety of individuals from obscure places, out of the way places. Some such as the last one mentioned, Uriah the Hittite. Well, he's a foreigner. What in the world is he doing committed to David? Why is he there? Why these obscure places that they're originating from? I mean, you read through this list of names, none very noteworthy in and of themselves, not from prominent families. We have a lot of hick towns mentioned here. That's what they are. They're Nowheresville, one-horse towns, like where I'm from, one stoplight, that's it. Yeah, that's where they're from. So you can't help but think, well, what was it that united these individuals?

What was their hero? They loved David. They were attracted to David. They felt a calling, in a sense, to rally around David. They were men of diverse backgrounds. They were men that were drawn together because of their commitment to the cause to advance the mission of the kingdom. And when you think about us, we're not very different. What about our backgrounds? Where do we come from? Do we recognize our educational backgrounds are different, our economic background, our families that we are from, even our racial background? We're different people. But we can have this kind of unity if we truly are attracted to the light of the world. Because if we're called of God, we're captives. He's captivated our hearts and our minds. And we love God. We love Jesus Christ. We love one another. And we have that in common so that no matter what our different backgrounds may be, we are one in Jesus Christ. And when we recognize who these individuals were, if you hold your place here, 2 Samuel, go to 1 Samuel for a moment. In 1 Samuel 22, there's an interesting comment that's made here in verse 22 about those who were gathered to David. We know David went through some very difficult times. We know Saul chased him relentlessly through the wilderness, even though he was already designated as king. We know that even during the time that he ruled, he was driven out of Jerusalem. But these mighty men stayed close to him. And if you read verse 2 of 1 Samuel 22, it says, everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to David. Not the noteworthy ones, not the prominent ones, not… I mean, these were men who were troubled under the reign of Saul. Those that, in a sense, sighed and cried over the state of the world. They were unhappy. They were recognizing that disconnect and this assorted mix of a bunch of people with problems, with challenges in their personal lives to overcome. What did David do? Get lost. I don't want you guys. You're terrible people. I don't want you having any part of me. We've got to have the perfect people. We've got to have the totally upright. We've got to have the ones from the highest background. We've got to have the noble, the mighty… No. David accepted them. David helped them. I think he helped train them. And ultimately, they became loyal, fighting troops, advancing the mission.

So, as we think about the spiritual connections here, I think it's important for us.

Does God require us to solve all our problems, to be perfectly faithful in order to come before him, in order to serve him, in order to honor him in our lives? Or can He take us, a flawed people, and mold us into mighty men and women for His cause? I think undoubtedly He can. Like these men, yes, we suffer. We feel pain. We feel, well, maybe not the physical indebtedness. Well, maybe it is. We have a poverty of a life that's living under a satanic system that God is going to ultimately do away with. And so, when we consider that, we know the real anointed King is coming. And we have joined ourselves to Him, and He has accepted us. And the fact is, even David himself, David himself was a fugitive. He was a rejected man running from Saul, really a type of Jesus Christ who came to His own people. And what did the Jews do to Christ? They rejected Him, ended up beating Him and stoning Him and crucifying Him. And so, certainly, David as a type of Jesus Christ came to His own people. They rejected Him as well. And so, in a sense, we join the rejected King. And yes, that means life isn't going to be perfect. There's going to be difficulties. We're going to be reproached. We're going to be persecuted. And so, when we recognize that, these men followed David wherever he went, followed him to that cave where they ultimately went and got on this beautiful water. And yet, as we recognize that, by aligning themselves with David, they automatically became enemies of Saul.

It's no different for us. By making the captain of our salvation, our king, the ruler of our lives, we are in total rebellion against the ways of this world. And this world is going to hate us. And so, as we recognize that, like these men, we serve a different kingdom. We serve a kingdom yet to come. We ultimately serve the king of that kingdom and His Father. We serve ultimately God's anointed. And so, we have to submit our lives to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, because He's coming again to establish the kingdom of God. And we willingly then become the enemies of this world, the domain of darkness and this present evil world system, so that we may take on the ways of this world and declare, without a doubt, in faith, Jesus Christ is the captain of our salvation. And so, with our calling, we need to be mighty men and women committed to the cause of Christ advancing His mission. Thinking back to Dr. Livingstone, he once said, He once said, God send me anywhere, only go with me, lay any burden on me, only sustain me.

So that unflinching passion, that courage, that unwavering commitment was always there in His mind, always there in His thinking. Of course, in King David's day, there were enemies all around Him, and whether it was the Hittites or the Philistines, the Jebusites, there were enemies to be overthrown, kingdoms to be repulsed and conquered. Today, for us, it's no different. The kingdom of darkness must be overthrown. We must, by the power of God, overcome and conquer that power that stands against us. And so, the word must be preached. The example must be set. The name of God must be proclaimed to the world, to every tribe, every tongue, every nation. That's the mission that we've been given, and care for those disciples that hear that word, and are called by Jesus Christ. And so, it's not just that we're called to be serving just the church. We see, there is a God-given mission to preach the word and be living, breathing examples, so that God may bring many sons to glory. And so, this is a kingdom that will span the nations. And just like God had chosen Israel to be a light under the Gentiles, we, as God's people, collectively as His church, are called to proclaim His kingdom to the outermost parts of the world, to every call. So, what greater cause could there possibly be than the one that we've been called to?

And so, as we think about 1 Samuel or 2 Samuel 23, we recognize the greatness of David, that he was certainly a man after God's own heart, but he couldn't do it on his own. He couldn't have accomplished God's purpose without this band of committed, mighty people who are faithful to accomplish the task at hand. And so, we recognize that.

This isn't something just the home office can do on its own, a booklet could do on its own, a program could do, or a website could do on its own. No, we're not just a bunch of isolated individuals. It's more than a team effort. It's a family effort. It's a collective effort that God's called us to because we are a part of the body of Christ. And which part isn't necessary? Which part isn't essential? Which part does God call and say, well, you don't have to do anything, just hang on till I come back? I don't find that in Scripture. We're all a part of the family of God. And each of us have been given an important task to accomplish by the captain of our salvation. And so if we're to advance the cause, if we're to be committed to this cause, every single one of us have to have a wholehearted commitment to that way. And so over and over again throughout the Word of God, we recognize it has to be accomplished through Him. If you flip back to 2 Samuel 23, we certainly want to take note of something so vitally important.

So vitally important. As we recognize what God is doing, we recognize something so critically important here. If you notice what He says in verse 10, as He talks about Eleazar here, He mentions something very powerful. He says, He arose and attacked the Philistines until His hand was weary and His hand stuck to the sword. Wow, I can't imagine that. Well, I think there's times I've cut the grass and it seems I can't let go of the handle, but never to that extent stuck. I suppose it's something like that. But here's Eleazar with a mighty victory over the Philistines. But ultimately, the Lord brought about a great victory that day. That was the perspective. That was the vision. That was the faith and the confidence that these individuals had. They weren't considering the odds. They weren't considering the number of individuals coming against them. They were recognizing God was with them and it was God that was going to bring the victory. It was God working through them. They were constantly, in this whole list of individuals and their amazing accomplishments, were looking to God for the ultimate victory.

And as we face it, odds are against us. We're just this little band of people.

What can we do on our own? Not much. On our own, we can't. We can't. Odds are against us. The world got us outnumbered. There's no doubt about that. And of course, there's always people on the sidelines. They're on the sidelines of the battle and they're pointing, whoa boy, there's a whole bunch of people coming. The force that's coming against you is unaccomplished. You can't beat them. They're looking at the size of the giants. We're just these little grasshoppers that can't take this group on. We're not going to be able to do it. But commitment to the cause overcomes odds by faith, by faith and confidence in the living God. We have to have that kind of perspective that no matter what it looks like, God is with us. God is on our side. What has He promised us?

He says He's never going to leave us. He's never going to forsake us. Even at the worst possible moments, God is there. And so we're reminded of that in this beautiful story of David. This kind of commitment takes that faith and turns it into initiative. It's not just a passive thing. It's not just, well, let's go on to the defensive.

Nope, that's not the case at all. What did these mighty men do?

They took it to them. They didn't just hang back. They went on the offensive and they took it to the enemy. And you read some of these stories? Wow! I mean, it's just phenomenal. Look down here to verse 20. Here in verse 20, we've got Beniah. It says, He killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. Men that seem to have a power of like an animal behind them, these two Moabites. And He killed them. Then it also says He gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day. All right, impressive enough to kill a lion at all.

The snowy day. You're going to take him on when you could slip, you could fall, you're going to go down into a pit where it's one-on-one. Are you kidding me?

Yeah, I think I'll just leave well enough alone. He's in the pit. He's not getting out. Let's just forget that. No, they weren't about to do that. And so when we think about what they were accomplishing, just physically speaking, I mean, yeah, we can't be passive. We got to take it to the enemy. And that doesn't mean they just stood back as the mighty men, the 37, and barked out commands to the rest of the soldiers. No, they weren't doing that. They were right, read through this. Take time to read through this later on the Sabbath. You'll recognize they weren't passive. They weren't just telling others what to do. They were right there in the midst of it, setting that example, leading the way. And for us, it's the same way. We need to be right in the middle of it, setting the example of how you love God. How do you serve people? How do you serve your family? How do we exhibit the love of God in our lives? And so when we consider that, we recognize part of this mission is not just something that is out there, but it's also in here. There's an inward aspect to this mission. If you hold your place here in 2 Samuel, head over to 1 Corinthians 9. We recognize this relentlessness, this tenaciousness, that these individuals have to take on the physical enemies of Israel should be the same kind of relentlessness and the same kind of tenacity that we, as God's people, need to have toward the mission that begins with an inward look. 1 Corinthians 9.24 emphasizes that very fact.

Here the Apostle Paul says, do you not know that those who run a race all run, but one receives the prize? He says, run in such a way you may obtain it, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. He says, now they do it for a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. So like these men in 2 Samuel 23, he says, therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one that beats the air, not just a shadowboxer. He says, verse 27, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I preach to others, I myself should become disqualified. And so that inward mission to put on Christ, to have His kind of thinking, growing in His way, understanding His Word at a greater depth and applying it in our lives, growing in grace and knowledge, being conformed to the image of His Son.

Now that's in that section of Scripture in Romans 8 that says, all things work together for good to those who love God. We have to be conformed to His image, His thinking, His way. And that certainly tells us spiritual growth, putting on Christ, not an option. Not, well, it'd be nice if we did that. Well, spiritual growth, well, you should try to work at that. Not optional. It's not optional. It's a requirement. It's an absolute requirement because if we're not advancing, we're slipping back. It's impossible in a battle to hold the line. You can't hold the line. You've got to move forward. And so this part of the mission that is inward becomes so absolutely critical. Or, like Paul, we could find ourselves disqualified if we don't bring our lives into subjection to the captain of our salvation. And so as we think about that very fact, we've got to have that kind of relentlessness for the mission God has called us to, to become like Christ, to strive for that standard, that measure, the stature of Christ. That's the ultimate goal individually, personally, as we're called to salvation. But as we consider the story of the mighty men, there's also this outward mission that we've been called to. This mission that's encapsulated in Matthew 28. Go therefore to the world, make disciples, and help those disciples. Luke 14 says, compel them to come to the wedding. I mean, those are amazing things. And if we're going to be doing that, not just preaching, not just on the web, not just on a program, no, as individuals in fulfilling our mission, our personal mission that we've been called for, that mission that's delineated in Ephesians 4, verse 16, that every joint has something to supply. Every one of us has a part to share. If the mission is going to be completed, if we're going to advance the gospel, it takes the entire body. What part of the body isn't necessary? Every part is. Every part is. And so we've been called to do our share in the preaching of the gospel. A little bit is explained in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 15. This outward mission is emphasized. I think that that ties in with these mighty men of David, this amazing commitment and loyalty that they had to David and the mission itself of advancing that physical kingdom has been given to us to advance the kingdom of God. In 1 Peter chapter 3 delineates one of the orders that we've been given in order to do our share, in order to do the part that we've been called to do. 1 Peter 3, 15, it says, always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason. Some translations to give an answer. More literally, it does mean a defense. Like you are standing in court giving a verbal defense defending the faith.

And once again, it's not an order that says, well, you ought to try to be ready to talk about your faith. You ought to try to be ready to defend what the truth is. It doesn't say that, does it? It's like a command. It's like an order from our captain. Always be ready. Always. Because you don't know when you may come into a situation where someone will ask you. I notice every Saturday morning you've got a briefcase, you're going out to your car. Where are you going?

How do you answer? You ready to give a defense? Well, I'm going to church services. You tell them straight out, what are they going to say? Saturday? You ready to give a defense? It doesn't have to be a long, drawn-out answer. But you can say, I'm a Christian. I follow the example of Jesus Christ. And so I worship the way that He says we should be worshiped. I follow His teachings. Wow, really? Ready to give a defense. Always be ready because we have a hope, as it says here. We have a reason for the hope that's in us. Ultimately, this earthly kingdom is going away. This way of man is going to come to an end. And so He says, that's part of the instructions we've been given. That's part of the orders that we have, that we have to be ready to verbalize our faith, to defend our faith, to show why this is the best way to live, to shine that light, and to be ready when the questions may come up. And they certainly will. If you have a job, you're going to tell them, well, you know, in October, I'm going to take off for a week. Really? Where are you going? Going to a church convention?

No, you're not. You're going to the Feast of Tabernacles. And if you say that, what will the response be? Oh, yeah, I know everything about the feast. Sure, no wonder you're going. No, they're going to say, huh? What is that? What is that? Well, can you answer that? Can you verbalize that? Hey, wait a second. I thought you went to church on Saturday. You're going on Sunday to church? Why are you going to church on Sunday?

Well, it's the Feast of Pentecost. Can you verbalize why you're doing that? If we're not able to, we're not fulfilling the command that our Savior has given us to be ready to give a defense to anyone, everyone who asks of the hope, of the hope that lies within us. So we have to be able to defend the faith because that helps advance the mission. That helps advance the gospel. You can be a vital part in preaching the gospel verbally. And by the way that we live, we can be a shining light as Christ says, let your light shine. Absolutely. That shows we're living that way. Not just talking the way, but we're living it. Like Paul said, we're ambassadors for Christ. We're ambassadors for Christ because on Christ's behalf, we are living that way. We are shining that light. And it's so much who we are. It's our identity that we are soldiers of Jesus Christ, that we can't help but fulfill our God-given orders. And so as servants, we are determined. We are relentless. We're like these mighty men, steadfast and persistent in pursuing our part in accomplishing the mission of God. And so it's just absolutely amazing as we consider this example, this amazing example of being strong for the cause, not just holding back, but pushing the envelope, leading the way, setting that example. Not settling for being comfortable Christians, not convenience Christians, but committed to the cause Christians. Those that are pioneering the way, like a Dr. Livingstone, with care and obedience and growth. That's what we've been called to. We've been called to do that very thing. And so I have to ask myself, am I really determined, committed to that cause? Am I committed to that message? And of course, it's also a reminder, am I really committed to my Savior, my commanding officer? Am I committed to Jesus Christ and God Almighty? Because ultimately, if we take a look at Ephesians chapter 6, what a reminder here, how it's even possible. How are any of these things even possible to consider that I could even be a mighty man on God's behalf? That I could stand for His way when odds are totally against me? Well, it certainly reminds us here in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10, how that's even possible. It tells us, finally, my brethren, be strong, not with your own might, not with your own will, not by your own means, but it says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. That's how it's possible to have the faith and confidence that God has promised us awesome things never to leave us, never to forsake us. He's promised that He started a good work in us, and what is He going to do? Turn us back on us, not help us, not guide us or lead us? No, He says, I'm going to finish that work I began in you. Philippians 1, 6 is such a great reminder of that. And so as we consider that, it's by His power. It's by our commitment to God, no matter what, we're dedicated to do His will. We're dedicated to follow Him. We're dedicated to have a zealousness to do it heartily unto the Lord. Colossians 3, 23 is such a great reminder of that. We do it to serve God, to serve our Savior, because we are His own special people, zealous for good works.

And so we can have that kind of dedication. We can have that kind of eagerness. We can have that kind of commitment to love God and serve Him and His church and be that living, breathing example to the world around us. And so from here, we know God has done a significant work through a group of committed people. And so we can be that people. God is raising up a band of mighty, committed Christians as His people. And so let's stand strong. Let's be committed, and let's do everything we can by the power of God, by the power of His might, living in us and through us. It's what makes it possible to be committed to the cause and ultimately together. Together, we can do our share, we can do our part, and undoubtedly we can advance the mission.