Remember Your Why (Part 1)

Well, thank you very much, Luke. I really appreciate the song and the sentiment. John is one of those characters to me that has always been fascinating. He's one of the ones that was there and alone and on his own, isolated there in his later life. A witness to so much history and a witness to so much of seeing his friends die in front of his eyes and watching as they disappeared from the scene and still continuing to hold on to that faith. Faith once delivered and having the opportunity to continue to serve God even very late into his years. So, appreciate that very much. Thank you, thank you. Once again, just welcome to all of you who are here with us today. We appreciate you being here and appreciate the opportunity that we have to be with you today and to ultimately worship God together. I have a question here today for you that I'm going to ask here in a minute, but I want to set the stage for us before I go ahead and ask. I would venture a guess that most of you are probably familiar with the business consultant and author, Simon Sinek, or Sinek, as it might be pronounced. He's had a couple of TED talks that he's released. He's had a couple of his interviews go viral, one of which discussed the difficulties and opportunities in managing millennials, and another that really talked about the importance of leadership of an organization and their direction and their guidance of those who are working for that organization. He's written a handful of books that discuss leadership principles and managerial strategies and corporate mindset, and really he's kind of become a go-to consultant by and large over the past few years. One of his books is titled Start With Why. Start With Why.

And in it, he describes the methods by which most companies today market their products and their vision, and he argues that the vast majority of companies define what they do first, how they do it, and then finally why they do it. And he says while all three of these things are important, and while all of them working together synergistically with all of the employees on board and bought in will ultimately drive that company's forward inertia, he argues in his book For a Better Way. Let me give you a quick example, okay? I'm going to present to you what might be an advertisement for a car company. What do we do? We build the most precision engineered luxury European automobiles. How do we do it? We use only the best parts, innovation, with a focus on comfort, handling, and power. Why do we do it? Because we know that you as a discerning consumer will settle only for the best. Sounds like something you hear on an advertisement for a European luxury car, right? It hits all the right buttons. It says all the right things. You can almost picture the car from the advertisement in your head. But instead, what Mr. Sinek advocates for is a reversal of this process. He advocates instead that for us to be most effective, we should always start with why. You know, every organization, every person, can identify their what. This is the product or the service that they ultimately offer. Most can define the how as well. Most of them can say how they do it. Their proprietary formulas, production systems, values, all those things. But what he argues is that there is a significant number of businesses out there today, corporations, people, entrepreneurs, that cannot explain why they do what they do. They can't identify their reason for being, the reason that they exist. For many corporations, the answer is simple. When you ask why, the answer is profit. Create happy shareholders, reinvest the profits, expand, make more money. More money makes happier shareholders, and on and on and on, the cycle turns. And while there's nothing inherently wrong with that as a motivator to conduct business, starting with why, starting with the reason why you exist, enables a person, a company, or an organization to use that revelation of why to drive their company, their organization, or their personhood forward. It allows them to drive their every move. And what's incredible about that is they can use that understanding to cut loose the things that don't fit their mission. They can examine things, and they can look at it, and they can say, does this advance my why? Because if it doesn't, then I cut it out. I get rid of it.

Individuals that know their why, individuals that understand the reasons why they do what they do, they can determine the best path forward in uncertain times. Because they are guided by an internal compass that directs them toward their goal and away from all the noise. The title of today's sermon is Remember Your Why. Remember your why. And I'd like to spend just a little bit of time today examining the example that we've been provided in Scripture of our elder brother, Jesus Christ.

And I want to do so with this concept in mind. I want to do it with this concept in mind, and then turn it on us. So what we're going to look at today is what did Jesus Christ do? What did he do? How did he do it? And why did he do it? Let's start today by turning over to the book of Acts. Let's begin today in the book of Acts. If you take up your Bibles and open up to the book of Acts, please.

You know, as you're turning over there, we'll just a little bit of backdrop on the book of Acts. We recognize the book of Acts was written as a companion book to the book of Luke. In some ways, it's written basically as a sequel. It was a continued writing to Theophilus, and it explains the events of the ministry of Jesus Christ and ultimately the formation of the early church. When you take the two books and you put them together, it explains the ministry of Jesus Christ and the formation of the early church. Luke, mind you, and this is important to keep in mind, Luke was not an eyewitness to the events of Jesus Christ's ministry, and he states as much.

Instead, what Luke did was he pieced the events together through interviews with people who were there, talking with people, and corroborating stories. He did a fantastic job doing so, really truly an inspired job doing so. But the goal was to set in order the events of Jesus Christ's life.

Now, interestingly, for a lot of the things that we see in the book of Luke, no, he was not there in person as an eyewitness. However, for a lot of the events of the book of Acts, he was. He traveled along with Paul as a traveling companion for a lot of his missionary journeys. And so we're going to start today in Acts 10.

We're going to pick it up in Acts 10, and we'll start there today in verse 34 of Acts 10. Just a little bit of background to this particular section. Cornelius and his men from the household have now come to see Peter based on a vision that Cornelius experienced. Peter experienced a vision as well. You know, God did a double vision here, so that not the foreigner song, but God here did a double vision here that said, look, Cornelius, here's the guy you're looking for, and hey Peter, by the way, these guys aren't just common.

These guys aren't, you know, unclean. You need to go out and meet with them. And so God worked it out so that the two of these men met. And ultimately, not just so the two of these men could meet, but so that the next stage of God's plan could be fulfilled, which was the removal of that wall of separation between the Jews and the Gentiles. Acts 10 and verse 34, we'll go ahead and pick it up, says, then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by his, or by him, the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ.

He says, he is Lord of all. That word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. And so Peter's taking the time here to kind of catch Cornelius up with the story, so to speak.

Kind of ensure that he is aware of this situation and make sure that he understands as he's kind of building towards what they're going to discuss. It goes on in verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

It says, we're witnesses of the things which he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.

To him all the prophets witnessed that through his name. Whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. So Peter explains to Cornelius a brief summarization of the gospel of Christ's ministry, kind of identifies who and what Jesus Christ is, why he came, what he's what he you know he's the role he's going to fulfill going forward. And he says specifically to Cornelius that he brought the word of God to the children of Israel preaching peace and that God anointed Christ with the Holy Spirit and with power.

And as a result of these things, as a result of his role, and there are many roles, please, you know, this is not the only role that Jesus Christ fulfilled in his coming, but this is one of the roles that he fulfilled, that he went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil. So what did Jesus Christ do? Well, he did good. What did Jesus Christ do? He did good. So now how did he do it? Okay, Jesus Christ, what? He did good. But how did he do it? Well, there's three things that he did really. I mean, there's more than three, but the three that I want to focus on today are first, he healed the sick. He healed the sick. No, Jesus Christ healed the sick. Many, many, many, many sick. We're going to turn to Mark 1 to begin with here today. Mark 1 just again, to see an example here of Jesus Christ doing this aspect of his mission. Mark 1, and we'll pick it up in verse 40, and we'll read through verse 45. You know, as Christ journeyed throughout Judea in the years of his ministry, and as you've read through the Gospel accounts, you know this, but he encountered a number of people that were suffering from a variety of illnesses and a variety of difficulties. You know, some of these afflictions were natural things, some of them were supernatural, but throughout, Christ healed these individuals of their afflictions.

Verse 40 of Mark 1 says, now a leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling down before him. One of the, some of the other parallel accounts say, worshiping him, kneeling down before him, and worshiping him, and saying to him, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Now, so here we have a man who's suffering from leprosy. We don't know how long, per se. I mean, it doesn't necessarily specifically state how long, but this man with leprosy approaches Christ and his disciples in a place of just incredible faith, basically tells Christ, I know that you can make me well if you so choose. He says, I know what's your call, but I believe that you can. And we've talked about this before, you know, I want to just reiterate it briefly, but in that day and age, lepers were pariahs. They lived a life of continual social isolation. Brethren, we've had a chance to have a taste of that over the past 10 weeks. We've had a chance to have a taste of that. A leper in those days were unable to feel the touch of another human being, unless that person too was a leper. It was actually illegal to touch them, and the defilement that could come from doing so was second only to touching that of a dead body. This was brought to my attention here this last week. It's kind of fascinating, but several sources require or discuss that the Talmud required them to remain at least four cubits from another human being at all times. You could not come within four cubits of another human being. Now, real quick math lesson. How big is a cubit?

A little over 18 inches. How far is that in feet? Six feet. Lepers were required to maintain six feet of social distance from those who they interacted with back in the first and second century.

Interestingly enough, if they were to come within a time when the wind was blowing, because there's an east wind that comes through, if the wind was blowing, they were not to be within a hundred cubits of somebody who might be downwind. Leprosy separated people and isolated people in a way that had not really ever been done before. But this man, again, we're not sure exactly how long it had been since he'd been a leper. We don't know how any idea how long it had been since he'd had, you know, human contact or how long it's been since someone had even treated him with compassion and with care. But in verse 41, keeping in mind, it is illegal by Jewish law at this point in time to touch a leper. He would be defiled. Verse 41, then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him. Quite possibly the first time that man had been touched by another human being in a very long time, and said to him, I am willing, be cleansed.

As soon as he had spoken, immediately leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Christ strictly warned him and sent him away at once and said, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go your way. Show yourself to the priest. Go follow through with what needs to be done. Go offer your offerings.

Go take care of what is required of you according to the law. Offer for your cleansing the things that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. So Christ tells him, look, go submit yourself to the priest, make an offering for your cleansing. Don't run around and tell everyone what's happened here today. Go follow through on the law. Of course, we know you read a little further down in the account, the man could not contain his joy. He went out from this moment and essentially shouted it from the rooftops, which made it really challenging for Christ going forward in this particular area.

But this incredibly compassionate and good miracle was only one of dozens and dozens of healings that Christ made in Scripture. He healed those that were sick. He healed the lepers. He healed paralytics. The lame healed those that were demon-possessed, all the while in that process maintaining his compassion. In fact, in Mark 2 and verse 17, we won't turn there, we'll just reference it, but when he was questioned on those whom he associated with, those whom he dined with, what were the words that he told those men who questioned him? He said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. He said, I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Christ healed the sick. He did good by healing the sick. How else did he do good? Well, he taught the Word of God. So in addition to healing the sick, he taught the Word of God.

Christ traveled through the region of Judea. He took opportunities to teach wherever he could find him. Often it would be in synagogues. It would be along the roadside. It would be to multitudes in the open, but he made his way from city to city with his disciples sharing the good news of the kingdom of God. He shared with them God's Word. He opened their eyes to the multitudes, to the principles behind the Torah, and that put him crosswise, as we know, with a number of those in the religious establishment at that time. Christ threatened the power that they held.

Kind of threatened the the the hold that they had on Jerusalem. But what is so fascinating to me, and I don't know, you've probably thought of this before, but early in Christ's life, these are the same men that marveled at his understanding of Scripture. Let's go over to Luke 2. Luke 2. And we'll go ahead and we'll pick up the story in Christ's early life. You know, his family, they've just completed the journey to Jerusalem for the Passover season. Again, Luke 2. They've, you know, Passover season, meaning both the Passover itself and then the Days of Unleavened Bread. It was one of the three times a year that they made pilgrimage to Jerusalem to keep the feast. And his family and a number of others from Nazareth caravaned together. The Scripture says there was a company of individuals. And it's possible maybe they all had those little green, you know, Feast of Tabernacle stickers on their on their donkeys. No, they didn't, of course. But, you know, they did. They had a company or a caravan to and from Jerusalem with Jesus's family. So imagine you're 12 years old, growing up in Nazareth, you know. Maybe this is the, you know, first time you've had a chance to necessarily follow up and go and do this. But you're, as a young boy from Nazareth, you, it is a bustle of energy and excitement as the Holy Days are fulfilled. You know, even if this has been, you know, years upon years upon years, you think of how excited you are every year when the feast comes, you know, to get a change of scenery and to go from little itty-bitty Nazareth to Jerusalem. This hustle and bustle and energy and excitement as these Holy Days are fulfilled. So they'd have been dwelling in a place that was new and different, perhaps staying with extended family or the accommodations of the period of time that they were there. Verse 41 says, "...his parents went up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast." So Christ at this point is 12, the young man. When they had finished the days as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. You know, we've jokingly said a couple of different times, you know, Joseph and Mary looked around about three days in and went, you know, or a day or so in and said, where's Christ at? Don't you have him? No, don't you have him? Was he up there? Searched the whole company, realized they managed to leave him in Jerusalem, but he lingered behind.

And Joseph and his mother didn't know it, but supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and just figured, ah, he's somewhere in the pile of people, you know, he's somewhere in here. I'm sure he's fine. "...and they sought him among their relatives and acquaintances, and so when they didn't find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him." So now it was after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, sitting in the midst of the rabbis in the temple, both listening to them and asking them questions. Now, who are these rabbis? Who are these men whom Christ spoke with at the temple? They were teachers. They were rabbis. They were elders of Israel, who were likely primarily Sadducees, but they probably had a mixture of Pharisees and Essenes and some others that didn't necessarily claim a sect at that time. But these priests, these elders, or these men that held similar positions later in Christ's life, are quite possibly some of the same ones who he would later have conflict with. It was only about 20 more years, you know, maybe a little bit more, 25 years before he was in his ministry. You know, some of these younger, kind of middle-aged elders or so, or the higher-end elders, they might have been, you know, kind of in that range. But at 12 years old, they were amazed. It says, "...all who heard him were astonished at his understanding," verse 47, "...and his answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, Son, why, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I sought you anxiously. We were worried about you. Christ said in verse 49, He said to them, Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? They didn't understand the statement which he spoke to them, but Christ knew who He was. You know, in those days, young men would apprentance in the profession of their father. You know, Christ's brothers would ultimately learn the carpentry trade alongside Joseph and learn to work alongside him, just as Christ would have. They were to be ultimately about their father's business. But Jesus's statement here is clear. He was to be about His father's business. Christ knew, and of course, so did Mary and Joseph, the circumstances of Christ's birth. Later, as He circulated throughout Judea during the time of His ministry, He opened the eyes of the people to the teachings of God, which caused friction. A great deal of friction with some of the same men who may have sat here and discussed with Him as a young man.

How else did Jesus do good? So He taught the Word of God as He went about. These are the hows. The what is He did good? How did He do it? Well, He healed the sick. He taught God's Word, and what else did He do? Well, He died for our sins. Jesus Christ died for our sins. Let's go over to Romans 5. Romans 5. You know, there's a lot of different places that you could turn to illustrate this basic concept. You know, there's a lot of different places that you could turn. But Romans 5, I think, really captures the concept of the good that was done towards us by this aspect of God's plan.

Romans 5, we're going to pick it up in in verse 6. Romans 5 and verse 6 says, For when we were still without strength, so when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Now notice verse 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. Verse 8, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Brethren, you and I were at one point in time without strength. You might say, I still feel like I'm without strength sometimes. But the strength is there. We just have to identify where it comes from.

We have to identify where it comes from. It doesn't come from within us. It comes from God.

And when we yield ourselves and we tap into that strength, we can confront incredibly difficult things. But while we were still without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. And He goes on to state. I think this is a huge concept, because when you talk about the whole concept of Scripture, what are the reasons that a person would give their life? It's something that they believe in very strongly. Rarely, Paul says, will a man die even for a righteous man? Rarely will a man step in and die in the place of a righteous man. Maybe they would dare to die to save a good man, push somebody out of the way, and end up dying in the process. But his point is that no one, really no one, no man, would give up their life for their enemy. No man would be willing to die for their enemy. He says, yet that's exactly what Christ did. While we were still sinners, while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us. He gave up His life for us, who were, and frankly, brethren, in some cases, still are as we yield to our carnality in open rebellion against God and His way of life. And yet Christ died for us. That willing, that humble sacrifice on our behalf, is what enables the world to be saved from the depths of their sin. You know, it's the spiritual fulfillment of the words that God promised through Abraham's seed. The whole world would be blessed. You know, there's a physical side of that. There's a spiritual side of that. This is the event that enabled the gospel message that he preached during his ministry to go forward. It enabled us to be reconciled to God the Father and enabled us to be redeemed from death and be able to repent of our sins, accepting His blood on our behalf so that we might inherit eternal life in the kingdom that he taught about. Only through him could we be brought to the point of entering that kingdom. So what did he do? Well, Acts 10.38 states that he did good. How did he do it? Well, various passages show that he healed people. He taught the Word of God. He died for our sins that we might live. And these are just three things, just three quick, brief things that are a sample of the good that Jesus did during his ministry. In fact, John 21.25, again we won't turn there, but John 21 and verse 25. The Apostle Paul wrote as a summation to his gospel, and there are many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose, that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. Jesus Christ changed the world with his coming. So we've seen the what, we've seen the how, but what about the why? Why did he do these things? What was the motivation behind his actions to do these things for us? Let's go to 1 John 4. 1 John 4, we'll go ahead and take a look here at the reason, kind of outline and really consider the purpose here, and make sure that we understand the underlying motivation for all of the things that we see Jesus Christ do. All of the what's, all of the how's. As we read through the gospel accounts, and we see his actions and his thought processes, and what he does and why he does them, what is the underlying motivation? What is his why? What's behind it all? 1 John 4 and verse 9.

1 John 4 and verse 9 outlines for us the motivation. It outlines for us the why.

It says, in this the love of God was manifested towards us.

That God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to be the propitiation for our sins, and that wasn't his only purpose. He did a whole lot of other things during his time here, obviously.

But through being the propitiation for our sins, God's love was manifested towards us.

There's two huge aspects of this that are part of the why.

Two huge aspects of this that are part of Jesus Christ's and God the Father's why.

The first of those is that God loves this world. God loves this world. I want to be clear, not the actions of it, not the terrible things that people do to one another. God loathes those things. He detests sin. But he loves the people of this world.

Regardless of their race, regardless of their station, their gender, political alignment, you know, the list goes on as to the things that divide us as human beings.

But everyone on this planet is a potential future child of God. God loves the people of this world. And he desires as many of them as possible to ultimately come to repentance and be a part of his family. The second thing we can pull from this concept of God's love for us is that Christ came that we might live through him. Both literally and figuratively live through him. He provides us with eternal life, but not only that, if we go forward in our calling or as we go forward in our calling and our understanding, we endeavor to become more like him. And figuratively living through him. What we do as time goes on and as we work and we yield ourselves to God and we yield ourselves to his way of life, as time goes on, our dwelling place, so to speak, our body, a temple for God's Holy Spirit, becomes more and more and more hospitable to God.

It provides him a place in it. It allows him to guide our lives. It gives him a place to abide.

You know, John ties up this thought here in 1 John 4, combining these two concepts together and giving the readers of his epistle the takeaway. He goes on to say, verse 11, Beloved, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another.

Because God so loved us and loved the world, then we must live through Christ. And if and when we do, the love toward one another will be apparent, not just to those of the house of God, but to those who are without as well. If our actions are not loving, the inverse of that is true.

Not only will those of the house of God see it, but they will also, those without, will see it too.

Christ's motivations, his actions, his choices, his decisions in the face of temptation and trial were driven by his purpose.

He did nothing that he did that didn't stem from the love of God manifested toward his creation, driving his life. Why did he do the good that he did? Why did he heal the sick? Why did he care for those who were less than? Why did he teach the truth? Why did he die for us?

Because of the great love and compassion that he had for mankind.

That's his reason why. That's what guided his life.

Thinking of that leper who'd been cast off for society for so long in his disease, and recognizing that he's a child of God too.

I want to understand that at the core of God's law is love for God and for man.

Why did he die for us? Because out of his incredible love for mankind, he took on our death penalty in our place, so that God might bring many sons and daughters to glory.

Christ's why love for this creation and for mankind governed everything that he did. It is what drove him forward.

American satirist Mark Twain once famously said that there are two important days in your life.

One of which is the day that you are born, the other is the day that you find out why.

Brethren, I'd like to ask you a tough question today, and I want you to really consider this.

What is your why?

What is your why?

What drives you spiritually?

What is the core thing that motivates you in your life?

That drives your decisions, that drives your thoughts, that drives your actions?

You know, we know that we're created as children of God. We know we've been called. We know we've been offered an incredible opportunity. We know that we're supposed to become more like Jesus Christ in order to attain it. Those are givens. Those are givens, so to speak.

But I want to ask you a question today that I hope you will take the time to meditate on this coming week and determine an answer for.

This question was recently asked of me, and I felt like it was an important question to consider.

Write it down, if you would, please.

Why do you want to be a part of the kingdom of God?

Why do you want to be a part of the kingdom of God?

You know, we know this is our goal. Scripture tells us that we should be seeking it, that we should change our lives so that we might obtain it. But when it comes down to the why, when it comes down to what our motivations are for following through on that, why do we want to be a part of it?

Brethren, when we understand the why, the how and the what will follow.

You know, I'd intended on finishing this up today by going through and providing some different scenarios as to reasons why we might seek the kingdom of God, kind of looking at our why. But as I thought more about that, I came to the conclusion that in doing so, I would run the risk of tainting your own self-reflection and meditation on the topic. That instead of you coming to a conclusion and really sitting down and thinking about it, that it might be, you know, something where something I said would, you know, take the place of what your own thoughts would be.

So I opted not to do that today. I think it's an incredibly important question.

And I think it's one that I would really like to ask you to privately and in prayer with God over the next, you know, later today if you want to, or sometime this next week, to take the time to ask yourself to consider it and to write down your answer.

Consider discussing it with your spouse. Think about talking about it with your family, maybe your friends, and ask yourself, how can this motivation inform my how and my what? How can this ultimately drive my life? And how can I use this motivation to go forward? Again, why do you want to be a part of the kingdom of God? You know, we live in uncertain times. We live in uncertain times. You know, would you a million years have predicted three months ago that this is where we would be today? You go back to January, February of this year, maybe early March, would you have predicted that we would be sitting individually in our homes, logged into a webcast or a phone hookup? That we would be prohibited from gathering together in person? That we'd be bound by social distancing restrictions, mask requirements, and other factors?

Would you have predicted that a novel virus could have wreaked havoc like this globally?

And we tend to look at this with very American-centric eyes, as we do with a number of things, but this is truly a global phenomenon. This is not a purely American issue with American motivations. But it is uncertain. And when we live in uncertainty, it can be really easy to take those anxieties and those stresses and those concerns and manifest them in different ways.

Some people, when they're anxious and they're concerned and they're they're stressed, they freeze. Yes. Kind of get that deer in the headlights sort of look about life. And they can go deer in a headlight for months. Some people run and hide. Some people just, nope, I'm not doing this. I'm out of here.

And yet others, they fight. Typical fight or flight. When we deal with stress, we deal with anxiety. You can freeze, you can run and hide, you can fight. But if we understand our why, and if we remember the reason for our existence, if we remember the goal of the kingdom of God, and the reason that we seek it, we can mitigate these anxieties, these stresses, and these concerns, and remain steady, even in the face of adversity. There's a number of examples in Scripture of individuals who have reacted in these ways when dealing with anxieties and when dealing with stresses. You know, there are plenty that have frozen in their in their tracks, so to speak. There are some who have run and hid. You know, there are some who have fought. And I would submit to you today that none of these responses are the ones that God desires. Instead, I'd like to close today by taking a look at another example. Another example of a person who was in the most difficult circumstances of his life, knowing what was to come, and ultimately what he would face. That account's found in John 17. If you go ahead and turn over there, please, I'd like to close today by reading through John 17.

When people face difficulty, when they face anxiety and uncertainty and stress, they react in a variety of different ways. And when you take a look at the different ways that we can respond, often the ways that we can respond are very human in their in their origin, which makes sense. We're human. But God doesn't necessarily desire us to respond in very human ways, to freeze with fear, or to run from the problem, or to take out our sword and attack Malchus. Instead, look at Christ's example in John 17. John 17 in verse 1, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Lord, glorify your son that your son also may glorify you, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have known that all things which you have given me are from you. For I have given to them the words which you have given me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to you, Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Notice what he says in verse 15. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. And as you sent me into the world, I have also sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

He says, I do not pray for these alone, but for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you gave me I have given them, and that they may be just as we are one, I in them and you in me, and that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me, and I have declared to them your name, and I will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. You know, Christ knew what awaited him on the morrow, and that evening, you know, he knew what was to come. He could have froze, he could have run and hid, he could have chose to fight. Instead, he submitted himself to God's will. He placed his trust and his faith in the Father, and in the time of his most difficult time in his life, he prayed for his people. He prayed for the people whom he was tasked to care for.

The world around us is getting a taste of what's prophesied to come, you know, and this is just a taste of what's prophesied to come. You know, we too are experiencing this directly. The coming years are going to be years that will become more and more challenging, and that is going to push us all, push all of us, in ways that we have not been pushed before. As we, you know, start into the time of the Great Tribulation, as Jacob's trouble, you know, begins in earnest, things in this country are going to get uglier. But brethren, we cannot afford to lose sight of what is important. We cannot afford to lose sight of what is important. We cannot afford to compromise our why, because of the challenge of these times, because when it gets truly dark, and when it gets truly bleak, it is going to be that why that will serve as our internal compass, directing us and guiding us forward. You know, when the martyrdom that we see in Scripture occurs, that why is going to guide you forward in what is right. Brethren, I hope you will take the time later today or sometime this week to really answer this question in earnest, to spend the time in prayer and meditation to God, and to define the why. Why do you want to be a part of the Kingdom of God? Because that why is going to define your how. It's going to determine the things that you do. It's going to determine the things that you do. And it's going to define ultimately the products of your life, the what's, the fruits that come from it. I hope you all have a wonderful Sabbath. And I hope going forward from today that you will always, in every circumstance that life, throws at you, that you will always remember your why.