The Race to the Kingdom of God

Here we are between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles coming up, where we're looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ. We're looking forward to the time when He comes to set up His Kingdom on this earth. But one thing about the Feast of Trumpets, it reminds us as we head into this season that between now and then, the reality of the lives of the people who live at that very end, it's not easy, the times that people have to go through before the return of Jesus Christ.

And there have been times in history when it was not easy to be a Christian. For all of us living in this land, in this country, it's actually been very easy. Living as a Christian in this country has been very easy. There will come a time when it's not. Now, some of us have gone through persecution. Some of us have lost family members. Years ago, people would lose jobs over the Feast of Tabernacles or over the Sabbath. But very few of us have received the type of persecution that many people did in the first century and sure nothing like the people received during the Middle Ages.

But still, we've all had some kind of persecution. We've all had some kind of issues. We've lost friends or maybe we looked on as a little weird. What are we going to do when it gets really hard? When we lose big opportunities, we lose jobs, we lose friends, we lose our chance maybe to accomplish something in life we've always wanted to do because we have to make a choice between being a Christian and doing what we do.

I have a good friend of mine who was a professional musician and came into the church. And basically, because of the Sabbath and because of traveling all the time, which was hurting his family, he had to give up being a professional musician, which was his life. And that he said was the hardest thing he ever had to do because he loved music. He was good at it. Amazingly proficient. Had amazing talents. Played all kinds of different instruments. Could sing, compose music.

And he had to give it up. Although actually he didn't because wherever he lives, and he's lived a couple different places in his lifetime, he always puts together a choir and an ensemble. And every piece of tabernacle he goes to, he's usually leading a choir someplace. And he continues to do it, but he has to live his life in a totally different way than he would have. What are we going to do when we're faced with the hard times before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ where we actually may face very serious problems in persecution?

And you know, persecution comes in different ways. That doesn't just mean somebody's beating you up, but being ostracized by people. Having people turn their back on you. Loved ones. Losing an entire career. Losing opportunities. Maybe at school. What are we going to do when we have to face those things?

Now we face them in little ways now. How do we even face them now? It's interesting. Jeremiah was sent to bring people of Judah a message before Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah was very frustrated as a prophet because Jeremiah expected people to repent. And most of them did not. And he was just frustrated. He had a message. It was from God. This is important. And most people thought Jeremiah is a little crazy. So Jeremiah now is giving his message. He's preaching.

He's trying to get Judah to understand and repent. And he finds out that the people from his own village where he grew up are planning to kill him. Now can you imagine that?

People you grew up with? Friends that you'd known as children. And now there's a plot in his own hometown where people are saying, when he comes home, we're just going to kill him. And look what he says here to God in Jeremiah 12. Let's go to Jeremiah 12. Now we can apply this in the little ways that we may be persecuted now. But what about big ways? Jeremiah was prepared to have some people dislike him. He was prepared for some people to stand against him. He was prepared for some people to call him names.

He was prepared for that level of persecution. But now people in his own town, relatives of friends, they wanted to kill him. And so he goes to God in verse 1. He says, Righteous you are, O Lord, when I plead with you. Let me talk with you about your judgments. Now that's a very interesting statement. I mean, when you look at that in different translations, especially Jewish translations of the Bible, literally what he's saying is, I know you're always right, but I have a real problem with this.

You're always righteous at what you judge, but I have an issue here that makes no sense to me. Notice the rest of the verse. He says, So why are people who are wicked, treacherous, lie, steal, cheat, commit adultery? Why do people want to kill me? Why do they all seem so happy? And I just keep telling people to repent, and I don't have any friends left. I don't think they have anything left.

You have planted them. Yes, they have taken root. They grow. Yes, they bear fruit. You're near in their mouth, but far from their mind. He says, these are religious people who talk about God all the time, but He's not inside their minds. It's not what they think about it. So what really motivates them? But they sure talk a good talk. But you, O Lord, know me. You have seen me. You have tested my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter.

Prepare them for the day of slaughter. He says, you know me. I've given everything I have to you. And here I am, being persecuted and plotted against, and they're all happy. Why don't you prepare them for some slaughter? Why don't you take care of them for me? How long will the land mourn and the herbs of the field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed with the wickedness of those who dwell there because they say He will not see our final end. In other words, God's not going to judge us.

We're His people. We talk about Him like He just said. They all talk a good talk. So they don't believe God's going to judge them. Now, you think God at this point is going to give Him back some encouragement, right? Or maybe some correction of some kind.

You know, you shouldn't think that way. Or maybe, you know, just calm down, Jeremiah. Or, you know, you're right, Jeremiah. I am going to slaughter them. I'm going to punish them. What God says to you is very interesting. Verse 5, if you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with the horses? He says, okay, you're running with men, and you're all wearied running with men.

What are you going to do when I make you run with horses? See the imagery here? Oh, well, Jeremiah, this is the easy part. This is the easy part. Remember, Jeremiah lived through the destruction of Judah. There's a part in the book where he and a friend are walking through the ruins of Jerusalem, because God said, I won't let you go into captivity. So he didn't go into captivity. His family didn't go into captivity, but they're walking through the ruins of the city saying, but there's nobody here.

At this point, he's saying, what are you going to do when it gets hard? Look at the rest of this verse. It's interesting. He says, and if in the land of peace, in which you trusted they wearied you, you and I live in a land of peace right now, how many times have we heard people say, how many times have I heard myself say, honey, I'm so sick of this world.

I'm just tired. Right? How many times have you come home from work and said, I'm just so sick of this. Everybody's this honest. Everybody's playing politics. I'm just so tired of this. And he says, if you're tired when there's peace, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? Now, the floodplain of the Jordan, this area was an actual area around the Jordan River, that was low. So it flooded a lot. So there weren't any houses there. Basically, the floodplain of Jordan at this time was just a jungle.

I mean, there was a lot of trees, a lot of underbrush, you know, just growing there because nobody lived there. And at this time, it was famous, and you can read even in other parts of Jeremiah where it talks about this, it was famous for the lions that lived there. There was a Middle Eastern lion that's basically extinct today that used to be throughout the Middle East. And in this floodplain, with this really deep undergrowth, it's where the lions would go to hide.

So he said, if you are weary in the land of peace, what happens when they stick you in the swamp where you're surrounded by brush, you're up to your knees in mud, and you can hear the lions coming? What are you going to do then?

Now this had to discourage Jeremiah a little bit. Well, these are the good times, Jeremiah. Why are you so tired of? What are you so worried about? What are you so upset with?

You all experience, all of us experience difficulties in being a Christian. I mean, there's difficulties we have because we make mistakes. There's difficulties we have because of our own sins. There are difficulties because of our age or health or whatever. But there are difficulties that happen in your life and my life because we are Christians. And that's what I want to talk about today.

Because right now you and I are running with the horsemen. I mean, with the footmen. You and I are just running with other people. And there will probably come a time in your life at some point where you'll run with the horses. How in the world do we run with the horses? And sometimes I meet somebody who's had to run with the horses. Ask Mrs. Keller sometimes about the time where the man had a gun to her head. That's running with horses. That's running with horses. Because why? Because her and her husband were preaching the gospel in Africa.

Now, I've never had to run with the horses that way.

All of us at some point run with the horses as we obey God. My dad for years had in his living room, one of the relatives have it now, this old painting, not even a really good painting, of horses running in an old frame that he bought, I think, at Goodwill. And on a piece of tape, taped underneath of it, written on the piece of tape was Jeremiah 12, 5 and 6, the two verses we just read. It's always been, because of that, one of my favorite passages. I have at home, well, right now I'm not at home because it's the process of being reframed, I have a page from one of the original King James Bibles. The original King James was written between 1611 and 1650. They didn't mark on it the exact dates like we do with copyrights because they didn't copyright things then. So I have a page that says, so I have a page from a Bible that was printed somewhere between 1611 and 1650, and it's this page. It's Jeremiah.

What do we have to do when God requires us to run with the forces?

Or will we be weary before we even get there? I want to go through four things you and I can do. I want to give it now as we're headed into this joyous time, and we'll hear sermons about what the millennium is going to be like, and what it's going to be like when Christ comes, and what it's going to be like to be saints that have been changed, and those who are younger that won't be changed yet, the huge job they'll have, as the whole world is going to be brought into a relationship with God through Christ and Jerusalem. But what about between now and then? Four things we do when we find ourselves running with the horses, facing absolute difficulties, because we have to make a choice between being a Christian or not being a Christian. First thing, remember, remember that entering the kingdom of God involves personal sacrifice.

For us to enter into the kingdom of God is an incredible sacrifice for God. It takes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For you and I to enter the kingdom of God involves immense personal sacrifice. Acts 14.

Acts 14 is a very encouraging passage here. Paul and Barnabas.

Are traveling around doing the work that God told them to do. We'll start in verse 21. Acts 14.21.

And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lyster, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, strengthening them. You know, when you look at the lives of Paul and Barnabas, they were persecuted all the time. Every place they went. And not only by pagans, but by Jews. And they were Jews. And not only by Jews, but sometimes by members of the church, because of what Paul had done to their relatives and to their friends. And yet, every place they went, they strengthened people and they gave them exhortation. And I want to... Before I finish the rest of this verse, I want to talk about exhortation. Exhortation is a very interesting word, parakleo in the Greek. It's a little different meaning than comfort, although it can mean to comfort somebody. It has a different intent to it. You know, to comfort someone, there's a Greek word for comfort. And that means to help them by making them feel better. And it's sort of a proactive word. In other words, something bad has happened to them and you are comforting them. Parakleo means to exhort someone is proactive. It moves them into the future. It literally is a moving into the future. When we exhort each other, we are pushing, helping, striving towards the future.

So he says that they went around strengthening the brethren and pushing them, moving them, encouraging them towards the future. But what's interesting is the rest of the sentence here is why they're trying to exhort them towards the future, to what God is doing.

It says, let me read again, verse 22, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. We must through many tribulations. There is no easy way. And actually for most of us, our Christianity has been fairly easy. I mean, the reason we don't act like Christians sometimes is because we want the benefits of the world, not because we're being persecuted, not because something's being taken away from us. We just want more. So it's not because, well, I have to make a choice here to lose my job, to lose my reputation. Maybe my family, maybe my wife and kids will leave me. We're not faced with those kinds of decisions usually. Usually our decisions are we're not acting like a Christian because we want something. It takes loss, great personal loss to enter the kingdom of God, because there are times you and I have to make decisions in which we lose something for God. It was the whole idea of giving a sacrifice in the Old Testament. You had to give up something for God when you brought a sacrifice. What is it we are not willing to give up?

We through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. Remember, that's our first step, remember when hard times happen to you, when you are persecuted, when you lose an opportunity, something bad happens to you. You lose a friend, you lose money. Remember, because you're being a Christian, not because you're being dumb, but because you're being a Christian, remember we were told that's the way this is. That's what it costs to be a Christian in Satan's world. It cost us something. Remember that. So we can accept it. Which brings us to the second point. Once we remember, oh yeah, this is part of the price, we accept tribulations as steps on our spiritual journey. We accept tribulations as steps on our spiritual journey. You know, how you and I respond to Christian tribulation is largely based on accepting those tribulations as part of what Christianity is all about. When we can accept, we remember God said this was going to happen, we can accept it, we begin to see them as growth opportunities. This is an opportunity for me to learn. This is an opportunity for me to grow. This is an opportunity for me to be more like Jesus Christ. This is an opportunity for me to be closer to God. Now that's not easy. There's nothing easy about this. There wouldn't be called tribulations. It'd be called picnics or something.

That's the whole point. Between now and the return of Jesus Christ, Christians will be increasingly punished by the world. You know, I've had some people tell me, you know, I'm sort of glad I'm in my 80s because I probably won't be around when the tribulation starts. I've had people who are dying tell me, oh, I'm glad this is over. I don't want to be here when the tribulation starts.

I don't know about you, but there's ties I pray. God, your kingdom come. But somehow get me through the mess between now and then. And that's a little scary.

So we accept it and we begin to see these as growth opportunities. Look at 1 Peter. 1 Peter 4, because Peter, who suffered a lot for his Christianity, had this viewpoint, and this viewpoint helps us, will help us when we have this viewpoint, to accept what is happening to us. 1 Peter 4, verse 12.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is about to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you. This is happening to do with, they were receiving persecution. He says, don't consider it strange.

So he said, okay, what context is that? It is strange to be persecuted. I don't want to be persecuted. You don't want to be persecuted. I've asked God many times, please help me not to be persecuted. Then he put me on television. Now that's just verbal persecution. Okay. It's still unpleasant sometimes to get hate mail and death threats and all the other stuff that goes with it.

But that's really running with the footman. I can delete the email.

I can delete the email. I can read the letter from someone who says they hate us and they hope we go to hell and we will burn forever. And I think, they're having a bad day. But it's running with the footman. I mean, the first time I got a letter like that, it upset me. It's like, well, why? I didn't know this person. God, please, please change their mind. Please show them who you are.

And that's not even running with the footman. That's just sort of walking. Really, it is. Okay, we're walking with the walkers.

We're not even running with the footman with that kind of thing. He says, but rejoice, verse 13, to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Rejoice in that you get to just a little bit, be persecuted like Jesus did. Oh my. Be happy. Be happy that you get to suffer a little bit like He did, to be one of God's children. To be like Him. That's the thing. We have to become like Jesus Christ. There's no way to become like Jesus Christ without partaking at least a little bit. And hopefully it's just a little bit, but a little bit of His sufferings.

But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. He says, because when He comes back, you're not going to fear, like I said, oh that He's the trumpet's. We don't have to fear that when He comes back, we will be punished. We can rejoice that we're going to be changed.

We're there to meet Him, to meet God, and to be with each other. And Peter says, keep that in mind and be happy that you might suffer a little now and be prepared for that. He says, if you are reproach for the name of Christ, blessed are you. You ever go ask God for a blessing? When I ask God for a blessing, God please bless me, but please, without tribulation, if possible. Because this is a blessing. So I literally said that. God, I would like a blessing, but a blessing without tribulation if it's all possible.

Because if I go ask for a blessing and I look at every, oh no, I should have said that first.

I should have thought about this. It is a blessing to suffer in just a little way Christ suffered in order to be a child of God. For the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, and their part is blasphemed, but on your part, He is glorified. Then He tells us something, because I've seen people sort of, wear persecution like a badge. Don't go seek persecution. And then I've seen people, and we've all done this before, we suffer because we did something wrong, and we act like, well, I'm suffering because I'm a Christian. No, we suffer because we did something wrong. We're just suffering because we did something wrong. Well, why is God allowing this child to come upon me? Sometimes God's saying, I didn't cause that. You did.

Verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, or an evildoer, a busybody in other people's matters. I find it interesting that busybody is in the same category here. It's something to think about if you're really a control freak and a person that gossips all the time. That's a pretty bad list to be put into.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. That is acceptance.

Peter accepted his trials by being a Christian. Same way with Paul. You know, the first time I'm shipwrecked and stuck in the ocean for three days because I've gone someplace to preach the gospel, I'm going to be just like Jeremiah. I know you know what you're doing, but in this case, maybe you don't, right? I just love that. I know you know what you're doing, but how in the world does this make sense? I'm just trying to go do it on my job. You told me to go do something, and now here I am, which is exactly what Jeremiah was saying. I'm just doing my job, and now my friends want to kill me? Are you going to let them kill me? Why would you let my friends kill me? Understand the stress he's under here as he is suffering persecution. We have to accept tribulations. Like I said, it's not just persecution. It's anything that happens to us because we choose to be a Christian, and we find ourselves losing something for it. Maybe you lose the chance to play sports in high school. Maybe you lose the chance to do all kinds of things in order to be a Christian. And I'm going to tell you something. And it hurts. We have to remember that's part of the sacrifice. That's part of the price we pay to be followers of God. Secondly, we have to accept, yeah, Christ suffered for me. I can suffer a little bit here. I can suffer a little bit. When I think about what he suffered, it's okay. You accept this as part of what happens to it. Now, after we remember, okay, we're promised to have these kinds of difficulties, we accept that, we compare it to Christ's suffering, then we have to focus in on something. How you endure any issue depends upon what you focus in on. You ever stub your toe or just from playing ball? I have like turf toe, which means I get arthritis now in my big toes. And it hurts sometimes every step. Now, if I can think about something else, I'm okay. But sometimes all I can think about is it hurts. So I walk around the house going, ah, ooh, ouch, better. Now I get out with other people and I'm not even thinking about it. Right? Why? Because I'm focusing on something else. What we focus on, and we do that with children all the time, you focus them in on something else and maybe the problem you're having disappears. But focus is very difficult when you're faced with consequences. I'll give you an example. What if I had a 20-foot-long plank, real nice thick plank, about two feet long, and I laid it up here on the floor, and I said, I'd like to have everybody come up and just walk the plank. Most of us would come up and walk the plank. I mean, it's not the big deal. All the kids would do it. Even if you have a walker, you can walk. I mean, you could do that. You could walk that little plank. Now what if I brought in a couple cement blocks and I put it about three feet off the ground and said, walk the plank.

There's a lot of us who would say, I'm not doing that. I might fall off. What's the same plank? It's the exact same plank. It's two feet wide. It's 20 feet long. It's plenty thick enough to hold your weight. But what would you be thinking about? Not the plank. You'd be thinking about falling off the plank. Now let's make it real hard, because this is what being a Christian is. God takes that plank and He puts it over a chasm that's 300 feet deep. He says, walk the plank.

Well, I can walk the plank. Look, I can run the plank. I can jump on the plank. I can skip along the plank, because if I fall two inches, it doesn't hurt. 300 feet will kill me. And suddenly, you don't think about the plank. All you think about is the chasm. Now what do you focus on? If you focus on the chasm, you'll never walk the plank. It's what we focus on. We have to focus on the little path that God gives us and not think about anything else. I don't care. No. If I had to walk that plank over 300 feet, I would get down on my hands and knees and hug it and crawl across. Right?

But you got to think about the plank. You got to think about what God is doing, the path that He's given to us. So when we face exclusion by friends or lost financial opportunities, or career opportunities, or school opportunities, or opportunities just to have fun.

Because we obey God, we have to focus on what God has given us, or all we'll think about is what we've lost. We have to focus about what God is doing to give us, which is one of the reasons for the Holy Days. It is for us to focus in and see the plan of God, as was brought out in the sermon, it is repeated over and over. He repeats it for a purpose to keep us focused on the plank. That's what He does. He keeps His back focused on the plank.

Because sometimes it's a long drop off off that thing. And we won't walk it if we focus on that. You know, you think about the Israelites. You think about a focus here. I used this example in our last leadership meeting that we had a couple months ago. Think about the Israelites. A whole year they spend going across the desert, getting to the Promised Land. God opened the Red Sea for them. God destroyed the Egyptian army. First of all, all these plagues, ten different plagues upon them. They saw all that. They got out into the desert. They watched Him give them water. Every day they were getting up every day and getting supernatural food. It wasn't like God had stopped doing miracles. They were experiencing a miracle every day. They went out in the desert and just picked up food off the ground, except on the Sabbath. And then there wasn't any.

They were being led by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day.

They saw miracle after miracle after miracle, and then they got to the Promised Land. Numbers 13, 26. You know the story. Numbers 13, verse 26.

Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron. This is the spies He had sent out. He sent out spies to spy out the land, to tell them what God had given them. And all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Peron at Kadesh, and they brought back word to them and to all the congregations showed them the fruit of the land. They told them and said, we went into the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit. It is exactly what God said. There's plenty of water. It's beautiful. It's nothing like the desert we've been through. You can grow anything there. And there's the kind, you know, we can raise our sheep and our goats and our cattle. Nevertheless, the people who dwell on the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Enoch there. The Malachites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. So now everybody is just all stirred up. Everybody's worried. They can't see the plank at all. They can't see the path of God at all. All they can see is that this won't work. Those people are going to persecute us. Those people are going to kill us. Those people take our children and make them into slaves. And then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, Let us go up at once and take the possession, for we are well able to overthrow it. But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they gave the children of Israel bad report of the land that they had spied out. It's interesting in verse 33, it says, We saw the giants, the descendants of Anok, came from the giants, and we were like grasshoppers, or we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we were in their sight. Well, it doesn't say we were just like grasshoppers in their sight. It says we were like grasshoppers in our own sight. That's a very interesting statement. He didn't say, Wow, the people are there. We look like grasshoppers to them. It said, We look like grasshoppers. This is sometimes called the grasshopper complex. They didn't see God. They didn't see the God that had killed the entire Egyptian army. They didn't see the God who had opened the Red Sea. They'd walk through it. Remember, these were people who had walked through the Red Sea. They didn't see God who was in the, the cloud was in the temple or in the tabernacle right now.

They could have turned around wherever they were talking and looked towards the temple, and the cloud was there. They had just picked up manna that morning. They didn't see God. All they saw were big men, and those big men were bigger than their God. They had lost focus entirely.

Sometimes we have to be careful because we're not careful in our own emotion, because we're small. We're so little. We're like grasshoppers. And faced with the trials and difficulties of obeying God's way, we see ourselves as so small. We believe, well, God can't help me. God won't help me. God can't get me out of this one.

So we actually have the grasshopper complex. At my own site, I am a grasshopper.

But what are we in the sight of God if we are His child?

We have to stay focused. We have to stay focused on what God is doing. We have to stay focused on His path. Look here in chapter 14, verse 6.

Chapter 14, verse 6 says, But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes, and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we pass through the spout is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Verse 9, Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.

What did the people's fear when they had lost focus on God lead them to? If you read the next verse, they became a mob, and they were going to stone to death Joshua and Caleb.

Out of fear, we'll do all kinds of things. They were going to kill the men. Now it's Joshua and Caleb who are being persecuted by what? The people of God.

They're being persecuted by the people of God because they had the audacity to say, let's just... God said He's going to take us there. Look what He's done for us all this time. He's going to take us there. Let's go.

And out of fear, they were going to kill them.

We focus on life's negativity, hardships, and injustices. We become fearful. When we focus on, but I lost this. I mean, I remember a man I knew who left the truth and hated it. And he is, I don't know, we must have been in his 20s or 30s because he could not get over the fact that he had been a pretty good football player, had to give up football in high school because of Friday night, and he had a chance at college football. And missing playing college football, he felt like he'd given up so much. And yet anybody knew this man, he'd been blessed a thousand ways. He didn't see any of those blessings. All he saw was college football. I've actually met a number of men like that and left the truth eventually because they had given up college basketball or college football. Now, none of them would have gone on to be pros.

But they missed this experience. It would have been a good experience for them, I'm sure. Although they might be hobbling around on knees worse than mine.

The point is, if we think what we have given up is greater than what God is going to give us, then we become fearful. We become fearful of what we're going to have to give up next. Philippians 4.

You and I, as we have this focus, have to constantly be reminded what God has done for us, what God has given us.

You know, sometimes say that and think about what my life would have turned out like if God had not called me. I've done that numerous times and I always come up with different scenarios and none of them are very good. I doubt if I'd be alive.

What would your life be like if God had not called you? If you say, oh, it would have been much better, then you're missing what God is doing. So I'm going to exhort you to think of the future and focus in on what God is doing in your life now.

Philippians 4 verse 6, he says, Be anxious for nothing, Paul writes, that in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. Go to God. Let him know what you need. Let him know what you feel that you're missing out on. Let him know what your troubles are. But do it with thanksgiving. Every time we bring something to God that's a need, we also need to bring a thank you for something you've received.

Just think about how that would change. Every time you went to God with a request, you also had a thank you to go along with it in your prayer. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There is a peace that comes from God that you cannot understand. And if you've ever been there, you know exactly what I'm talking about. There is a time when your trouble cannot be solved, and it only happens because you're on your knees, maybe in the middle of the night, crying out to God, and peace comes. And it comes from God. You can't understand it. There's no psychological reason for it. There's no explanation for it. It comes from God. It becomes because you are. You remember, you accept, and you're focused, and now you let God do something you can't do for yourself. There will come a time in everybody's life where you will be on your knees and say, I cannot do this. You must do it for me. It'll happen if it hasn't, because there's a point where all of us get broken, where we actually go before God and say, I can't do this, whatever it is. And you must do it because I cannot. And it will happen. God takes all of us there at some point. Life takes us there at some point. And in this case, a peace comes that you and I can't do ourselves. We have to stay focused. We have to ask God to keep us focused. You have to ask Him, help me stay focused. I'm all over the place. And there's times you have to say, let me have peace. I cannot deal with this tribulation. It is more than I can deal with. Then there's one last thing we have to do.

Now that we're focused, we have to actively seek living God's way. We have to actively do something. It is not enough just to remember. It is not enough just to go through what I've been talking about here. Accepting, focusing. You must do something. Life is about doing. It is about doing.

That's why we can't run and hide.

There was a time in the church when we thought the best thing you can do is not let anybody know what your religion is so you can run and hide. When I first came into the ministry, my card did not say minister of the worldwide church of God. It said representative of Ambassador College. I just thought that was weird. I asked, well, why do I get that? Because you don't want anybody to know you're a minister in the worldwide church of God. You can be persecuted. Oh, that is sort of weird, but okay. You and I aren't supposed to live in a shell. We're supposed to walk through this world, not trying to convert everybody, but the light is supposed to shine. And that means when the light shines, people take notice. And that means when people take notice, some of them don't like it.

But we have to walk through this life with the light shining, actively, openly practicing our Christianity. Acts 5.

You talk about a wonderful time to be a Christian, to be a disciple of Christ. Acts 5. Man, this is a good time. Look at these first few verses here. Well, let's go down to verse 12. Acts 5 verse 12.

And through the hands of the apostles, many signs of wonders were done among the people. Christ hasn't been dead for very long, but He was resurrected. And the church, this is a great time. Thousands of people are joining the church constantly. They're growing.

And they were all with one accord at Solomon's porch. The temple was still standing, and the apostles would gather at the temple, and it says, in one day, 3,000 people were baptized. This was a great time to be in the church. Yet none of the rest dare join them. Oh, wait a minute. Other people didn't come along and join them. But the people esteemed them highly. They didn't dare do it because they were afraid of the price that had to be paid. There was a price to be paid to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And some people believed it would not do it because they were afraid of that. But they really thought highly of those who did.

And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the street and laid them on beds and couches, and at least the shadow of Peter passing might fall on some of them. Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people, and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were healed. Wow, what a great time to be in the church. "'At time of peace,' a good time," verse 17, "'then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put him into the common prison.'" Wait a minute. Wait a minute. But we're doing the good things here. In this we say, I know everything you do is right, but I have my doubts about this one, just like Jeremiah. But wait a minute. We're preparing. Christ is coming back, and this time they probably still thought Christ was coming back, because Paul did years later he thought Christ was coming back in his lifetime. They were all probably in this way. He's going, wait a minute, we're preparing the way for Christ. What do you mean? What do you mean, putting us in prison? God, would you take care of this? Would you lead them to slaughter? So we can get the work done here so Christ can come back.

"'But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. Actively go and keep doing it.'" Wait a minute. They just put us in jail, and you want us to go back out? You'd be like, an angel comes and sneaks them out. Right? Oh, it'd be a great movie. He sneaks them out, and they go from house to house, and the Jewish soldiers can't find them, and then they bring in some Romans, and they can't find them, and they go from place to place. Wow, that'd be a great movie. No, go back out in the front of everybody.

"'And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priests and those who came with him came and called the council together, and all the elders of the children of Israel sent to the prison to have them brought.' So they're brought on trial. So now they're tried, and they're sort of convicted. They argue on what to do with them. And so now there's this public spectacle of them on trial. They're being persecuted. Well, this isn't the way it's supposed to turn out. At any moment here, lightning is going to come down, wipe out the Sanhedrin, because you know Christ is coming back.

Hey, this is what happened. Verse 40.

This is after they had argued back and forth what to do with them. They agreed with him, this is one of the leaders, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them... Wait a minute, wait a minute. I didn't know I'd have to get beat up for this. First of all, put in prison. Okay. An angel got us out. They arrested us again. That's okay, because God's going to send another angel tomorrow night. Right? He got them out once. He'll get them out again, but this time he didn't get them out. They were beaten up.

Okay, wait a minute. We remember that there's some tribulations, but this isn't exactly what we planned. And they were beaten them. They commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So what did they do? Well, of course they went and hid. Isn't that what you do? That's what I do. I go hide someplace. I go someplace for a dog, okay? Nobody can find me. So, you know, hide my... I make sure that I sneak out real early, like at five o'clock in the morning and Saturday morning, so when no one would know I was going to church. Put my suit on in the car, right? They just think I'm going fishing or something. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. We have to consider when we give up something for God, to be able to suffer.

To be a child of God, to be worthy to suffer is something that should make us excited. Boy, that's tough. But notice that's what it says they did.

They rejoiced to be worthy, to be publicly beaten and shamed, to be worthy of that in order to obey God. What a blessing!

That's how they saw it.

These are different people because they're filled with God's Spirit, and they're focused in on what God is doing. Notice what it says here in verse 41, And daily in the temple, at every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The Sanhedrin didn't stop them, it just made it worse. Now they were heroes, and everybody still came out and listened to them speak. Oh, they may have looked a little bad, you know, with a broken nose and beaten up, but they just got up and preached more. They said, oh good, I'm glad I'm not called to be Peter. You know what? None of us are called to be Peter, right? None of us are called to be apostles. None of us are called to be... But when you look through the New Testament, these were the decisions everybody had to make. Oh, the Old Testament, too. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were teenagers.

Oh, when they had to make their decisions.

So this isn't just for the great titans of faith, you know? The great giants of faith make these decisions. You and I make these kinds of decisions, always on different levels. Some of us receive grace from God and that our persecution and our trials for being a Christian are minor. And we get to walk with the walkers. And sometimes we have to run with the footmen.

And sometimes we have to run with horses.

How do we do that? Well, we start with these four things we talked about. Well, remember how you and I experience Christian tribulations as great, they're largely based on accepting them. That these are opportunities that God promised us. So we remember and we accept. Verse two things. Remember that God said, it will cost you something to be in my kingdom. And two, we accept these as learning experiences. Then we stay focused. We stay focused on His path, His way. And then we act. We live it. We do it. We keep moving forward. We don't run and hide. We don't seek persecution. We don't seek bad things. But we live our Christianity. We don't try to hide our light. There is an interesting story in 1 Kings. I want to conclude with this. Elijah confronts King Ahab who refuses to obey God. So what happened was, this is 1 Kings 18. 1 Kings 18. So what happens is God brings a drought upon the land. And then God says, I'm going to lift the drought. So Elijah has to go to Ahab. So verse 18.

This is 1 Kings 18. No, verse 41. I'm sorry. It's 1841. Then Elijah said to Ahab, okay, he says, God's going to take away this drought. He's going to show you how powerful he is. Go up, eat, and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went out up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, then he bowed down to the ground, put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, go now and look towards the sea. And he went up and looked, and he said, there's nothing. And seven times he said, no, go look towards the sea, because God says the rain is going to come, and I'm going to pray here until it comes. Seven times he sends him out to look for the rain. Then he came to pass, the seventh time he said, there's a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea. So he said, go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you. In other words, you're not going to get home unless you go right now. Hook those horses up that chariot and take off as fast as you can, because the rain's coming. And that's exactly what Ahab did. Verse 45, now it happened, in the meantime, that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah. He girded up his loins, he put his clothes on, and he ran ahead of Ahab the entrance of Jezreel. Here's a man who really did run with the horses. Now, you think about that. Nobody can run with horses, right?

He outran the horses. I've often wondered what's that look like. In my mind, it's like the Road Runner cartoon. Wylie Coyote is on like a missile or something going along, and all of a sudden, meep, meep, and he comes up, and you can see his legs. They're rolling, and there is the Road Runner standing, just running beside him. He looks at me, and off he goes. I don't know. What's it look like when you're beating these horses and you look, and here comes Elijah just bookin' by, you know? It's not possible to run with the horses. It is with God. That's the point he was telling Jeremiah. He said, Jeremiah, you're tired. I understand. You're running with footmen here. You're running a race, and there's people chasing you. What are you going to do when you get outrun the horses?

See, only God can help us outrun the horses. And there may come a time in every one of our lives when we run with the horses. And when we do, remember that the race to the kingdom of God involves tribulation. Just running with the footmen can be exhausting, and it can be difficult. But when we apply these four things of remembering and accepting and focusing and actively living, then there's going to come a time when if you do have to run with the horses, with God's help, you will.