The Passionate Pursuit

The afternoon was even better, so it really sounded nice. What a nice balance. You see all those ladies up there, and you think, oh boy, can those guys make up for it? But they did very well, very beautifully blended, so very nice. Really appreciated the choir and the special meaning of the selection for today. Now, if you talk about meaning, it reminds me that when I was planning to put this passage together in my sermon for today, I remembered back to the very first time I ever read it. Has there ever been a passage that you read in the Bible, and you look at that and you go, what in the world is that talking about? I don't get it. It doesn't really make any sense. The words themselves don't seem to fit immediately. That passage for me was in Psalm 69 verse 9. I remember as a younger man reading this scripture wondering, what does that have to do with anything? Because it's one of those passages that uses some terminology, especially in the King James, New King James, that didn't immediately make much sense to me. Psalm 69 verse 9 says this, because zeal for your house that has eaten me up. It's like, what is that supposed to mean?

I know sometimes my mom used to say, what's eating you? And she meant, you know, what was bothering me, or what was irritating me, or that sort of thing. So I was trying to figure out, well, what does that have to do with anything? Then it goes on to say, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

Well, after a while and a little more research, you begin to understand that here's King David, and in a sense what he's doing is prophesying for something that's going to happen down the line. I think in one sense, David, yes, experienced this concept, that zeal for your house pointed to God's house, that he was passionate for God's house, and it was eating him up, not in a negative, irritating kind of a way, but that it was something he couldn't get off his mind.

It's like, okay, that seems to make a whole lot more sense. Zeal for God's house was eating him up. In fact, you look this up in other translations, and then, okay, it becomes clear. I used to have this 26 translations. I think I still have it in a box somewhere. And any time other translations were a little different than the King James, it would list what that translation was. Eventually, I looked that up and recognized that this was really talking about passion. Oftentimes, probably three or four or five different translations point to the fact that this is talking about passion for God's house consumed or took over the mind of Christ in that sense, that that was his focus.

Even if you were to read it today in The Voice, it's a modern translation, it says, I'm consumed with you completely devoted to protecting God's house, your house. And when you think about that as a prophetic thing for Christ, can you think of an example where he showed this complete devotion for protecting the house of God? Well, you probably can. You remember that example where they were buying and selling and all kinds of things were going on in the temple, and they had set up tables, and they were changing money for the cows and the sacrifices that could be— well, really, it just became a big bank, and they were making all kinds of money and profits off of these kinds of things.

And in John 2, it describes that whole event. And ultimately, what does Christ do? He forms a whip out of some cords. He drives out the animals. He turns over the tables, and He says, stop making my father's house—a den of thieves in some versions—a marketplace in other versions. Stop doing that. And the interesting thing in John 2 is that when the disciples were there experiencing this event, Psalm 69 is what came to their mind. And they associated David's prophecy with Christ, and they remembered, oh yeah, zeal for your house will consume me, will eat me up.

And Christ exhibited that passion, that determination, that devotion for the house of God. And as you begin to think about that, I don't think we can read that passage of Scripture and see how prophetically important it is without asking ourselves, how devoted to the house of God am I? Is it something that really eats me up? Is it something that fills me?

Is it something that I can't get my mind out of it? I wake up at night thinking about God's church, His mission, His purpose, where I am and my growth, where I need to change and grow. Am I consumed with that kind of a perspective? It is interesting, this word, if you were to look it up, comes from the word zaio, which means, well, like zealous. Zaio, it means to boil. If you were, you know, a pot of water, you'd be boiling water.

You know, if you were metal, you would be glowing from the heat that would come from being zaio, from being hot, because it literally points to that very thing, to have a hot or a fervent or a passionate devotion to God's way. And so here we find Christ was certainly pointed that way. And I wonder, here we are after the feast. Oftentimes, it can be a little bit of a downer. A feast is over, some of the excitement's gone, maybe some of the enthusiasm isn't there like it should be. And we know, if we were reminded last week, oh, we're six months away from the next holy days. But should that be where we are in our thinking?

I mean, do we have a fire in our belly that pushes us, that causes us to be dedicated, not just enthusiastic, but to have dedicated action to fulfilling God's purpose in our life?

You know, I know if we pose the question, are we supposed to be passionate for God's way?

Yeah, we'd all say, of course we are. Certainly we should be. So then the question is, well, how much are we? How do we get that kind of perspective? Well, it is interesting that Matthew 24 speaks to this issue. Oftentimes we think of where we are in the world today. We're going to be talking about that in the campaign coming up next week. This world we live in is a mess. Matthew 24 talks about the mess that this world is already in. They don't know up from down.

They've got everything turned around when it comes to morality, when it comes to how to live their lives. Christ talked about that in Matthew 24. If you look over to verse 42, He talks about the difficult times ahead. And at the same time, He focuses us to a perspective that we all have to make sure this is what our perspective is. Matthew 24, 42 says, watch therefore you don't know what hour your Lord is coming. But if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, He would have watched and not allowed His house to be broken into. So I think we could say pretty safely, we know the condition of this world. It is rough. We can't be far from this. The thief is right around the corner. Are we going to let our house be broken into? Spiritually speaking, do we have a spiritual house that is in order? Because we have been devoted to the house of God, to His temple. Do we have that kind of perspective? He says, verse 44, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you don't expect, but we can expect it. We should expect it. So He says, who is the faithful and wise servant? Well, He says in verse 46, the faithful and wise one is the one whom His Master, it says, finds Him so doing. That He is ready. He is passionate. He is pursuing God's house, His way, His will in His life in every regard. But on the other hand, if we're not, if we let down, we become lackadaisical. We start fulfilling some of those prophetic things that are in Revelation 2 and 3, where it talks about the condition of God's church. Even at the time of the end, He says, if we look that way, we allow ourselves to come to that condition. Verse 48, He says, if an evil servant says in his heart, my Master is delaying His coming, and then his behavior begins to show that. Well, look at the horrible results. It says, Christ is going to come, cut him in two, appoint his part with the hypocrites. They'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We don't want to be in that condition. We don't want to be in that state of mind where any part of our behavior points to the fact we think, it's not going to be that soon. It's not going to be that much worry at the time. You know, we're a long way off. You know, He's saying, no, you can't have that kind of an attitude and that kind of a perspective. So we have to have a passionate pursuit of God's way at all times. I think Christ is telling us here, do we have the kind of zeal? Do we have the sense of urgency that we should have? The feast should have motivated us even that much more thoroughly to grow and change and put on the character of Christ before He returns, to have our house in order. We know there's so many passages that remind us of these things. Paul said it a little bit differently to Timothy. Christ talked about these things in Matthew 24, Luke 21, also over in the book of Mark. But Paul reminded Timothy about the perilous times we live in. Would anyone deny those things? If you look over at 2 Timothy 3, it says, these difficult times. Men are going to be lovers of pleasure, lovers of money. They'll be lovers of themselves. Are we there? I think it would be pretty hard to say that's not us, that's not our world, that's not our society. And yet because we live in that world, it's not just recognizing it.

It's not just saying, well, I love God, I love Jesus, and that's all there is to it.

God expects a certain fervency from each and every one of us. In fact, the chapter after that, if you turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 4, I think in a way we see because this world is perilous, because these times are difficult, because people's attitude and approach are that. We can't allow ourselves to have that focus or that perspective. And so Paul warns Timothy, I think he warns us as well. Look at the words he uses at the beginning of chapter 4. He says here, I charge you, therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't say, well, what I'm going to tell you is a nice idea.

Wouldn't it be interesting if we could try to kind of be like this, to kind of change and not fit in with... Well, it might be a nice concept if maybe we could try a little bit to be more like Jesus. He didn't say that. What's the word that he uses there? He says, I charge you.

That's not just like a nice idea. That is like the general commanding his army. In fact, that's the same word that a general would have used in Rome. If you were speaking Greek, this is the word. I'm telling you, this is commanded. This is your duty. This is what you must accomplish. And he uses the name of God and Jesus Christ to back it up. I charge you, therefore, before God and Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, what do I have to do? What are my orders? What are the commands? And I believe this is not just for Timothy, but this applies to us. It applies to the church. Each of us, one of us individually as well. And he says, we're to preach the Word.

We're to live that Word of God. He says, be ready in season and out of season, no matter the circumstances, no matter the times. We must be ready. Sounds a little bit like Matthew 24. Ready. Put our house in order, in season, out of season. He says, convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and with all teaching. You see, do it in a godly way, in a Christ-like manner. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

And so is this our perspective? We know that in the end times scoffers are going to come, but they can't be any part of our thinking, any part of our reasoning. You see, the Feast of Tabernacles should have pushed us and ignited us to have this kind of passionate pursuit for the kingdom of God, for the way of God, for the character of Jesus Christ. And so do we have that? How do we have that? Can we more fervently seek the will of God in our lives?

Well, I think the answer is absolutely yes, we can. And maybe we could put it in terms of a couple of things we could ask ourselves to kind of gauge where we're at and how we can more fully come to the character of Jesus Christ. When you think about passion, do we have a passion that drives us? Do we have a passion that motivates us? A passion that helps us to be devoted to God?

We know we must be. Well, I think a measure of that is how devoted are we to God's church?

Because as we read in Psalm 69, it said that Christ had a zeal for God's house. We know the temple of God today is the church. Do we have a zeal? Do we have a passion that consumes us for the church of God? I hope we do. I believe the United Church of God has a special place, a special message, a special purpose that God is working in and through and with.

I believe Scripture points to the fact that we must have a zeal for His church, for His house. If you look over at Ephesians 3, it points us in that direction. In fact, I think in a very startling way when you really tear it down and look at it and identify exactly what Paul is talking about here in Ephesians 3, we'll begin in verse 8. Take a look at Ephesians 3 and let's see how this identifies with an enthusiasm, really more than just an enthusiasm, a devotion and a dedication being consumed for the church of God. Let's recognize this as Paul instructs God's church in Ephesus, and I think he instructs us as well. So as we look to chapter 3, verse 8, here's the apostle, the one who wrote, boy, I might say most of the New Testament. How does he view himself? Talk about a Christ-like perspective, pretty amazing here. Paul says, to me, who am less than the least of all the saints. Talk about a humble attitude. Talk about a child-like attitude. The apostle Paul, writing, he's less than the least of all the saints. He says, this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. We know Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, a little bit to the Israelites as well, but certainly to the Gentiles. And yet, in that message, what impact should it have had? What impact did God expect? What did Paul expect? Well, notice what it says in verse 9. It says, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ, to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church, to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. Now, if we read that really fast, right straight through, it's hard to really dissect the extent of what he's talking about here. And it is huge. I think this is so jam-packed with information that Paul's giving us here that this alone should help us to recognize the ultimate goal of the preaching of the gospel. He's made known his wisdom to us. We understand the plan. We understand the purpose. We understand our destiny. We understand God's purpose for each and every one of us. And for those that he's not working with, we get it. He's opened our mind to his truth. It's not a mystery anymore because that mystery that was hidden has now been revealed to us. God's opened our minds. But you know, it doesn't stop there. You see, we need to be like Christ. We need to be consumed with the passion that he had for the church of God, for the house of God. Did you get it here? Did you catch where he's talking about that?

Paul proclaimed the mystery. What becomes the instrument then?

Paul had expectations for the church. The expectations of the church, he says, the church is to declare the wisdom of God.

Do we have a passion for declaring the wisdom of God? He says it's not just his responsibility, but the church, the wisdom of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God. What is God doing in this world? What will he do? The church has that obligation to declare that wisdom. And in fact, we're to be on fire for this plan, this purpose, and the declaration of that, that it has an amazing impact. How much of an impact should that have?

Well, what does he say here? He says we're supposed to be so effective and so fervent that rulers and authorities or principalities and powers recognize that message.

What is he talking about? Should angels be able to have maybe even a better understanding of God's plan and purpose and how it works in human beings because of the church of God, because of our fervency and our devotion to the church and its message and the purpose of God?

I think that's what he's talking about here. It fits certainly with what he talked about a little bit earlier, that Christ was above all principalities and all powers. And if we move by the power of Christ, we're going to have that enthusiasm for the work of the church. And it's not just being excited about it. That's ridiculous. Not just being pumped up about it. We can be pumped up. I can be excited about it. But it's more than that. It's something that's on the inside, that I am dedicated, I am fervent, and I am devoted to this. And that devotion, yeah, it can express itself in enthusiasm, but it can express itself in a quiet confidence as well.

It can express itself in a motivation that can't help be expressed in our actions, in how we relate to people every single day, and the enthusiasm that we have to be dedicated no matter what to God and His way. Paul's talking about that dedication to such an extent that even angels are impacted by our dedication to God's way. Sounds silly? Sounds ridiculous?

I think that's what it's saying here. If you look over to 1 Peter 1 and verse 10, I think Peter expected that same thing. Talk about a dedication. Talk about a zeal and a devotion.

Could we impact the heavenly realm? Well, I think that's some of the expectation here. I mean, it's almost staggering when you think of the implications of this. 1 Peter 1 and verse 10, it says, "...of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you." Talking about the prophets of old. They had a message. They had a proclamation. They predicted the coming of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, and they looked to that, tried to figure some of those things out. Sometimes they just got a little glimpse, couldn't really get to the heart and core of it. In fact, verse 11 kind of points that way.

They were searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. He says, "...to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which have now been reported to you." They were ministering to us. They were prophesying to us. Psalm 69, in a sense, was not just a prophecy of Christ, but what about our devotion, our zeal for the house of God? He says, "...to them, to us, it has been revealed," and He says, "...to you, through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven." They helped us to understand. God used them to help us to see the truth, to become converted, dedicate our lives to following Him. Implication then, at the end of verse 12, it was preached to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. I think that ties in with what we read over in Ephesians, that we have an impact even in the heavenly realm. We're not just talking about satanic things, demonic things. We're talking about good angels, heavenly angels, righteous angels, stooping over, looking into how does this plan that God has implemented work? How does it play out in the lives of His people? Look at the examples of God's people and how they're living their lives and how they're going through difficulties. And as they protect and watch over us, they see us dedicated in every circumstance to living His way, promoting the truth in our lives, and it impacts even them.

I mean, isn't that a remarkable thing? That they're looking at how that plan plays out in our lives.

So you can't help but step back and say, well, how is it playing out in my life? Am I really making it evident, even as angels that watch over me and protect me? Do they recognize the fact I am dedicated? And they see our actions. They can't read our minds. They see us and what we do, what we're going through, what we're dealing with, and how our actions are different because of that enthusiasm and that fervor and that passion we have for the pursuit of following God's way. And so we could even ask ourselves, do we have that wisdom?

You know, we are to make known, it says, through the church the wisdom of God. That's what it said over there in Ephesians 3.10. Are we evidently, obviously, exhibiting the wisdom of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God? I think he says we've got to have that zeal for the church of God, both collectively and in a sense individually. So we could ask ourselves, how much of a supporter am I of the church? Do I support the church? And in our case, the United Church of God. Hopefully we would all say, absolutely! I love the church. I love what God is doing in the church. We want to be able to say that. We should say that.

Have we prayed for the church lately? Have we prayed? God bless your church. Help me to be an example of your way of life. Help me to more thoroughly reflect your truth and your love and your way. I pray for the success of the preaching of the Word. And I have a part to play in that preaching of the Word. Every one of us do. Are we praying for God? When's the last time you prayed for the church? For the mission of the church? For the goals of the church? For what God has set out as the responsibilities of His church? That's part of our duty. Think of it. Christ shed His blood. He died for the church. And we are that people. He's called us out.

He's brought us together. We are the assembly that God has chosen. We are the ecclesia. We are the called-out ones that are brought together. And we are representatives of His way. Are our lives a living example showing our zeal for the church of God? I think He requires it. I think He wants it. Can we more fully be dedicated to His way, showing that zealousness for His church?

I was reminded of this the other day. I was going through a couple of different surveys.

And George Gallup does all kinds of religious surveys. Well, a lot of different kinds of surveys.

But he normally stays within the United States. And one caught my eye, and that was a survey that he did that was more of a worldwide survey. And in this particular survey, he focused on a religious side of things. In fact, very specifically, he wanted to find people who used to go to church and no longer went to church. Now, I'm not talking about the church of God, but just generally out there in the world. They used to go to church, now they no longer go to church. And he asked him a bunch of questions. Well, one of the questions really struck me. He asked the question, what would it take for you to return to church? So, imagine asking somebody who used to go to church, they don't go to church anymore. What would it take for you to go back? Do you know what the number one answer was?

The number one answer was passion in the lives of the members and the leaders of the church.

Not just talking about excitement, but talking about a devotion. And that's churches of this world. And they don't have the truth. We have the truth. So, when we have the truth, are we exhibiting the kind of passion that Christ exhibited? A kind of fervency for God's way, a fervency for His church and its mission and its goals. And of course, the church as a representation of who each of us are individually. Because that's also impacted.

Because if we're going to measure the level of passion we have for God's way, the zeal that each of us have individually. It can't just be, well, I'm excited about the church. I'm excited about what we're doing. There's going to be these ads, and we're going to have these seminars. It's not just about that. It's going to strike each and every one of us individually. And I think we could ask ourselves, all right, how passionate am I about the church?

And how passionate am I about the truth? Because it's not just about an organization. It's about growing spiritually, isn't it? It's about adhering to the truth of God. How passionately am I pursuing the doctrine of God? Do I exhibit that in every area of my life?

You see, if we have a passion for the truth, for the doctrine of God, we're going to be growing in that. We're going to be changing, and we're going to be putting on Christ more and more. In fact, Jesus talked about this in Mark 8, verse 35. He talked about a consuming passion that not only he had, but that we all should exhibit when it comes to the truth, when it comes to the truth, when it comes to the doctrine of God. This is a familiar passage, one I think we all remember.

But notice it in this context. It gives a little bit different slant on things when we think of it in terms of the dedication that we each are expected to have for not only the church, but also for the doctrine of God. Let's notice what Christ said. He said, whoever desires to save his life will lose it. We've got to put ourselves behind God.

God's got to come first in our life no matter what. He says, whoever loses his life for my sake in the Gospels will save it. He says, what will the prophet demand if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? We know looking out in this world, people will give all kinds of things to give up the truth. But for you and I, can't be anywhere near that. So he even points out something interesting in verse 38.

He says it a little bit differently. He says, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father and with the holy angels. So it's not just about, well, I love Jesus, and that makes everything okay. You see, it's not just that. We know too many get confused with that, and they just have to accept Christ, and that's all there is to it. That's only the beginning.

You see, Christ himself pointed that out. Ashamed of me. And what else? My words.

My words. What are the words of Christ? Well, we have the words of Christ, don't we? We have the truth. We have the doctrine of God. We have his teachings. We cannot be ashamed. I mean, we might not be on the outside ashamed of those words, but if we're not exhibiting the impact of those words in our life, are we showing the fact that we're ashamed in that way? That we really haven't fully taken them on and really given it everything? You see, I think the feast has pushed us to this point that, all right, we're doing okay, but okay is not good enough. It's not okay. It's okay that we're where we're at, but now it's time to press on. And even in those words, Paul told to Timothy, we were back there in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, but if we go to 1 Timothy 4, look at 1 Timothy 4.

Additional instructions for Timothy, and I think to us, points us in this direction when it comes to the truth, when it comes to the teachings, when it comes to the doctrine of God. We cannot be ashamed of his words, and they have to take evidence in our life. They have to be put forth in the things that we say and the things that we do. Paul reminded Timothy of this very thing in verse 13 of 1 Timothy 4. Paul tells him, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Pay attention to this, he's telling Timothy. Don't neglect the gift that's in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Well, we can claim that as well.

Maybe not the same gifts that Timothy had. He might have had a couple extra things that were not exactly told what they are. But we've been given the gift. We've had hands laid on. We've been given the gift of God's Spirit. And so he tells Timothy, I think he's telling us as well, verse 15. Meditate on these things. Which things? Well, reading, exhortation, doctrine, not neglecting the Spirit, being submissive to God's Spirit. Meditate on these things. Not just think about him once in a while or make it a Sabbath thing to kind of think of me and maybe pray once in a while. And you know, if it happens to come to mind, this would be kind of nice if he doesn't say any of that. How does he put it? Verse 15, meditate on these things.

Give yourselves entirely to them. Entirely. You see, are there areas of our life that we're kind of holding back? That we haven't fully, entirely, completely turned them over? And they're not, well, yeah, we got a zeal, but it's not one that is consuming. It's not one that's eaten us up.

You see, it's eaten us up, and now we're putting on Christ. You see, and it's only by continuing in this truth that we've been given that we can be saved. I mean, is that fair?

Some would say, well, all you need is Christ. Well, we need His words. We need His instruction. We need the truth. We need the doctrine. If you recognize what He says, look at verse 16. Take heed to yourself and the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you'll save both yourself and those who hear you. It's not a one-time fits all, right? Not a one-time and one and done. That's not it. It's an ongoing thing that we take heed, we put it to practice in our life, and we continue in it. Continue growing. Continue changing. Because if we don't, He said the opposite could probably be true. How can we be saved if we don't continue in the doctrine of God, in His truth?

And so He says this is of vital importance. And we know the truth of God is challenged everywhere we look. Everywhere we look, the doctrine of God is being challenged. Out in the world, the moral standards of our society. You know, the latest is the promotion of gay marriage, the whole LGBT agenda. Those types of things fly in the face of God. The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, he tells us, if you're those things, you know, if you're a sodomite, if you're a homosexual, you won't be in the kingdom. Of course, he also includes, don't forget, thieves and liars and coveters. He says, such were some of you, but it's unacceptable to remain in that state of behavior. God hates that sin, but He loves us as sinners. And so that should motivate us to uphold the true doctrine of God. We cannot cave into the standards of this world. It is unacceptable. And when you hear about it, you know, there are many, not only the moral society that is working against the truth out there, there are so many detractors, not only just the ways of the world, but there are those that would point their finger at the church and try to criticize it, try to put it down. Detractors have much to say against God's church and His people. You probably heard some of those things. That is kind of interesting. I think in one way, I have a great blessing in my life. I have an opportunity to see things from different perspectives. I have the blessing, the opportunity to be the pastor of the congregations here.

What an awesome blessing that is. So I can see things as your minister. Also have the wonderful blessing to be able to teach at Ambassador Bible College. And that has a whole different perspective that shines through. I also have the blessing to be a part of the media team. I get to work with all of those in this building that put all their heart and soul into proclaiming that message of God. I see people in all of those aspects that are dedicated to God, that are striving to follow Him, dedicated individuals that are devoted to preaching the truth. They don't want to change doctrine. They love the doctrine of God. Of course, we don't all live up to it. We're striving to do that very thing. And I would say right from the president all the way down to the second level where I'm at. And in every area, every person, I see devoted to following the truth, not watering down the truth, not accepting a marginal Christianity, not saying, well, it's okay if you're a nominal Christian. That's a bunch of baloney. You hear things like that? You tell people they're crazy for thinking that. We have people that are dedicated to the truth of God.

We're not perfect in any way, but we're striving for that. And that is the goal. That is what we're purposing our lives around. And that's what we are passionately pursuing.

And so we all want to be like that. We all want to strive to the ultimate standard, the standard that Paul described to the Ephesians. He said each and every one of us should strive to that ultimate level, to the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ.

That's the goal. Anything else? Nobody's saying, well, come on in. Anything else is except baloney. That's the standard. That's what as a pastor, I'm striving for that. I know you're striving for that. And we want to continue to strive in every way to measure to that standard. With God's help and through His Spirit, we can. We don't have to be tossed around by every rumor, by every wind of doctrine. We can ultimately be fully dedicated to the doctrine of God.

Of course, that means if we are, our passion has to extend outward from there. Not only inward, but also outward in a way that's described in our zeal and our enthusiasm for the message, for the mission of the church. You've got a mission. You've got a part to play in that mission, that commission of the church. You probably, well, maybe you didn't notice it. We can maybe take it for granted. Up on the seal, outside the building here. It says it in two little short phrases, doesn't it? It says, preparing a people and preaching the gospel. That is our mission. That is our goal. We're a part of that. And we should have that devotion to do everything we can to promote that mission. And I, and each and every one of us, should strive to be a living example of that mission, a living example in every way. In fact, one that pushes us that much more forward.

You read through the Apostle Paul's letters over and over and over again. You can see that kind of expectancy. You can see that zeal that is written in his writings. Oftentimes, he even uses these physical examples to get across that point. To the Corinthians, he used the example of the Ismian games, kind of like the Olympics. It was on off years from the Olympics, even at that time. And he used physical examples to point to the passion that we should have about the mission for each of us inwardly, every one of us, as the house of God. We know that collectively the church is the house of God. But Paul also pointed in Corinthians individually we should have a passion for the house of God because we are the temple individually as well of God's Spirit. And so do we have a zeal that consumes us for the house of God? 1 Corinthians 9, Paul pointed to that in using one of those physical examples of the Olympic concept. I know you're familiar with it, but here in 1 Corinthians 9, just after pointing out the fact that collectively and individually we are the temple of God, we are the church, we are his tabernacle in that regard, he says something a little bit different. Notice the direction he gives when it comes to the commission. He says, do you not know, verse 24, chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize?

So he says, run in a way that you may obtain it. And he says, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we, for an imperishable crown, therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty. He knew the goal. He knew, just imagine, running in the Olympics. He knew his lane, he's staying in it, and he is going for it. He doesn't want to just say, yippee, I got to participate. No, I want to win.

I want to win that race. So Paul says, run, that you can obtain it. Does that sound like passion? Does that sound like an enthusiasm for putting God's way into practice in our lives? I think that's what Paul was getting at here. He's not running in an uncertain manner. In fact, talk about shadowboxing.

He goes there next, another Olympic event. Boxing. He says, I'm not just shadowboxing, I'm not just beating the air. He says, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I preach to others, I myself should become disqualified. He was artiously dedicated to the mission of God and how it showed in his life, how dedicated he was to his very own actions.

Now, of course, that means we don't do it perfectly. I was reminded of this when I read a while back about the Olympics. One of the traditions of the Olympics, one of the big events, especially I suppose it's I think it's one of the biggest washed events throughout the years. And you know what that is? It's not the 400 meter run. It's not the javelin. It's not the high jump or those kinds of things. You know what it is? The opening events, the opening ceremonies to the Olympics. And probably the one thing everybody focuses on is when that runner comes in and he's got the torch, right?

And he runs in with that eternal flame, which really isn't eternal, but he runs along and then he lights that fire. He's originally envisioning Prometheus who had stole the fire from the ancient Greek Zeus. So it's all a bunch of paganism. But anyway, you know what? Even today they still do that. And I got to reading about it. There was a little article about an event that happened in the Northwest in the Seattle Times. It talked about, if you remember the year they had the Olympics in Atlanta, so going back a number of years ago, they were running the flame, moving it from the Northwest all the way through the country till they could get to Atlanta for those opening ceremonies.

Well, the fella that had the responsibility up in the Northwest, and I don't really remember all the circumstances, but for some reason he was riding his bike and had the torch on his bike. I don't remember all the circumstances. Why? But anyway, he's riding his bike, he's got the torch on his bike, and as he's riding he's got to cross over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. So as he's crossing over, something happens where his back tire gets stuck and it blows. The tire blows, the bike goes kind of flying. You know what happens to the torch?

It flies off, smashed on the ground, fire goes out, and everybody goes, ahhhh! You know, oh no! And so, oh I gotta remember this guy's name. Oh, Harley! That's his name. His name is Harley Sheffield, I think. Look it up. He becomes famous because he's the guy that dropped the torch. And so he goes on Leno, and I don't know if he was on Letterman or not, but he got his 15 minutes of fame for dropping the torch. But the funny thing about it was not so much, what do you do?

What do you do? The fire went out. Do you know what they do? They end up following the people who are carrying the torch with the mother load, with the van. There's a van that follows the runners, or in this case the bike rider, and they have the flame, you know, it's sealed and all set back. So they just run back, they get another torch, and they give it to him, and off he goes running once again.

So I'm not sure how many times that's happened through history, but I'm sure it's probably more than just once. But as I was remembering that story, you know, this, you think of the passion.

This guy would have certainly had a passion for delivering that torch to the next runner, and wow, we're gonna carry this all the way. But he didn't make it. He didn't make it, but had a way to reignite that flame.

And you know, sometimes you're not always on fire, and those times come that we can get a little down. We can't get to... We sin! We're sinners! We fall short! And yet, kind of like that torch, kind of like what Paul's talking about, running that race and running so that you obtain it, God made a way that even if we stumble and we drop that flame, when passion gets low, when that enthusiasm, that devotion, and that dedication seems to not be as bright and burning as it should be, God makes a way.

He makes a way that we can turn, and then we can repent. We can change. We can turn to God, and He can reignite that flame. He can relight the torch, and passion can be reignited. We can be on fire. God's way can once again burn brightly in our lives. So if we ever find ourselves in that way, and we will, we will, let's never forget that. You might remember Harley Sheffield, and we can go back to God. That's where the fire really is at, the true fire, the spiritual fire.

And He can reignite us. He can help us to grow in grace and knowledge. He can help us, as Paul told the Ephesians, to grow into a holy temple unto God.

That's really what it's all about. To be diligent, to make your call and election sure. That's what Peter told us. We want those things. We can do those things. And ultimately, we can take that message outwardly as well, because we can be prepared as a people, and we can preach the gospel, and we can warn people. Because there is a warning message as well that goes along with the powerful message of the truth of the plan of God. And so God wants us to be that passionate people that pursue Him in every way in our life. In fact, I could probably summarize in the words that Paul advised Titus of. He told Titus in chapter 2, verse 14. Look over there for just a moment. Titus 2.14 reminds us of where we're at. We're doing all right, but God says we can do even better. We can run with that determination so that we can win the prize through God's help, through His Spirit. And here, he tells Titus much the same thing. Titus 2, verse 14, he begins by pointing to Christ, who gave Himself for us. So we have a Savior who's on our side. It says that He might redeem us from every lawless deed. From every time we drop that torch, He can redeem us. He can reignite that flame. He says, and purify for Himself His own special people. We are a special people before God. His people. And we see that leads us to have a certain kind of behavior. And so he says right here, verse 14, He's purified for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works, passionate about doing what's right. So where do we need more dedication, more devotion in our life? Maybe we can think about that this week.

If we had to think about maybe one thing, what is that one thing that hinders me from being more dedicated to God's way? Maybe we could think about that, pray about that this week. You know, are there things in our life that maybe we just haven't been as serious about as we should?

Maybe we really haven't fully committed ourselves in this one way. You know, we haven't dedicated ourselves to respond with the right kind of actions to God's awesome calling. Well, think about that this week. What's that one thing that we could do to grow? What could change so that we have an even deeper level of understanding about the passion God has toward us? Imagine the passion He has, the enthusiasm and the devotion that He has for us that He will bring about His plan.

He's not an ambi-pambi about His plan toward us, and we don't want to be that way toward Him as well. So let's be dedicated to continue to pursue what is most important for each and every one of us. Let's grow in our dedication to God. Let's grow in that devotion to His church. Let's be passionate about true doctrine and how it's applied in our life. And let's be that much more zealous about the mission in our lives and in the church for what God's purpose and what His plan is all about. And if we do that, there is no doubt we will diligently go forward in the best means in His ultimate, passionate pursuit.