Rulership in the Literal Kingdom of God

Well, good morning, brethren. Thank you so very much for the wonderful special music today. Appreciate the instrumentalists and the choir and singers, and certainly appreciate what Mr. Randy Schmidt has done in helping organize and put together a music program. It's certainly very wonderful. It's wonderful to have that, to praise God, to worship the great God who has drawn us together. I was thinking as I talk with several of you in the crowd today before services, it's really wonderful to go out and see so many, what I would say, familiar faces. Because there are so many of you that are very faithful brethren and continue to come back here. I see many of you that I have seen not only years here in Branson, but even some of you going back to Lake of the Ozarks. Several of you have mentioned that to me. You've always been very kind to me and the things that you've said. I recall one man saying, you sound just like you did back in 1980s, when we were in Lake of the Ozarks observing the feast. He said, you look quite a bit different.

Maybe I'm adding that a little bit. I think it's probably because of the glare on the dome that I look a little bit different. I certainly want to thank Mr. Knockel for his sermonette. I just love Mr. Knockel. He is an amazingly good example and always has something good for us to remember and keep in mind. I thank him for his contribution to this service today. Certainly, I hope none of you did leave while he was talking because he had something to say. I hope all of you have been enjoying different activities or maybe get-togethers. My wife, Pat, and I were able to go over to a get-together last night. That was really the only way I could describe it would be a joyous gathering of loving friends and family. I love the people we were with and I told them as we were leaving, because I told them I needed to leave in order to try to get ready for today, and they were yet to serve dessert. I was being told, oh, don't you want to stay for dessert? Don't you want to stay for dessert? I told them exactly what I needed them to do. I needed somebody to eat some cheesecake for me.

As it turns out, I find out that they can't follow instructions because they left me some chocolate cheesecake componi or something here for during services today. So there's two pieces of chocolate cheesecake here, and I thank you for them, my good friends. But I'll have to put that off. We have below the podium here, we actually have two bottles now, Dr. Ward. Didn't have any up here to start with, but we've got a bottle of water for the sermon and a bottle of water for the sermonette, and now we have cheesecake underneath.

Anyway, I better not spend any more time with that. Brethren, as all of us know, we're here to celebrate and to envision the coming rule of Jesus Christ on earth. See, we know from the Bible and from our celebration of the feast for many years now that this observance, this festival, points to the reign, the rule of Jesus Christ for a thousand years. Now that's going to be a beginning. It's going to be a beginning of the right type of rule on earth. And some of this might seem old hat to you, but I think it's important for us to, in a sense, lay the groundwork for what I want to cover today.

You know, what we all experience in our world today is countries around the world, and here in the United States and in North America, different countries, are just simply human types of human types.

They're ruled by either maybe a democracy. Many countries around the world have some type of a government that would be a monarchy, or a lot of them have what you could only describe as a dictatorship. We have communist countries. We have socialist countries. All of these are just simply human types of government that won't work. We're flailing around in this world without really good answers to anything. But I want us to look in Daniel chapter 2, and all of you, I'm sure, are familiar with this because this is a chapter that covers Nebuchadnezzar's vision of this great statue that represented man's rule on earth. And again, I'm going to go through only a very little bit of this because I know you're familiar with it. But I want you to think about what God said. See, Daniel was living, he was a captive in Babylon, and he was living in what you might say was a fairly good condition, in that he was a consultant to the king. And he was brought in to explain not only the interpretation of the dream, but explain the dream itself. And obviously, God had to give him that. And of course, he says so. Verse 27, Daniel says, no wise men or enchanter or magician can show the king the mystery of what the king is asking. But he says in verse 28, there he is, of God in heaven, who reveals mysteries, and he is disclosed to the king what's going to happen in the end of days.

And so, you read on down through the whole description of the image. And yet, you see this image pulverized. You see it destroyed by a stone that was cut out, not by human hands. See, man doesn't have the solutions to man's problems. You know, man is struggling, and all the governments of men have not the solutions. But it says in verse 35, this stone that struck the statue became a great mountain, and it filled the whole earth. And in elaboration, as you go on down a little further, down in verse 44, in the days of the final kings that may be ruling on the earth, even today, the final human governments that are still bickering and fighting and at war, and in distress, in the days of those kings, the God of heaven is going to set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. And nor shall this kingdom be left to people, other people. It will crush all of those kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it will stand forever. See, that's what we celebrate. That's what we envision, the coming rule of Jesus Christ on earth. And so what we see described here in Daniel 2 is new rulership, new government. And we need to understand just how that government is going to work. And there's a lot of information in the Bible that tells us, not just prophecies that tell us what's going to happen. We have perfect examples that we're going to go over some today. You know, in Luke 19, Jesus taught a parable of the pounds. He taught a parable of giving different individuals different levels or different numbers of pounds and told them to cause those pounds to grow. And in this parable, I'm not going to read the whole thing. You can read it in Luke 19, verse 11 through 19, if you wish. But ultimately, it says, as this king returned, he called his servants to report, and the first one said, well, I've gained 10 pounds. In verse 17, he says, well done. My good servant, I will give you rulership over 10 cities. And the second one came and said, I have five pounds. And in response in verse 19, and you shall rule over five cities. Now, again, my purpose is not to elaborate on this parable, but obviously, you know, Jesus was teaching a number of things, surely many lessons and meanings that he was implying. And yet from the verses I read in verse 17 and 19, the focus was on the role of ruling, ruling in the kingdom of God. And so, I want us to ask ourselves, what type of rulership will be required in the coming kingdom? How is God preparing you?

Because he's preparing us. Jesus talked about preparing numerous people, not only in the past and clearly in the Old Testament, numerous people who have been prepared for roles of service. He talked about the 12 apostles being given responsibility of rulership in the kingdom of God. But how is God preparing you for rulership in the literal, earthly kingdom of God? He's a new government, the new world government. How is he preparing you? Now, we've been told already in the feast here that we might be kings or priests or teachers, but I want to focus on something a little different from that, because the gospel message of Jesus Christ is about the kingdom, the government of God. And that has got to convict and convert all of us right now. See, we're preparing to be involved in that rulership. And, you know, we recognize that that kingdom is going to be a world-encompassing kingdom. There's going to be established a capital of the world in Jerusalem, and there's going to be direction being given. We're all familiar with Isaiah 2 and 11 and numerous other prophetic chapters that talk about what's going to happen. But I want us to just think about the literal kingdom of God here on the earth. We've only read, Mr. Sharpe read the other day, some verses in Zechariah 14, and that is clearly a very important chapter to study and come to a better understanding of. But it says in verse 9, you know, the Lord will be reigning. He will be king over all the earth from Jerusalem. Now, as we've said for many years, every kingdom, and if it's a kingdom that encompasses the earth, every kingdom has a certain territory. And again, we know that's going to be all over the earth. It has subjects. It's going to be everybody. Isaiah 11, verse 9 says the earth will be full of the knowledge of God, the knowledge of God, the knowledge of God's way of His law, of His government. See, how is it He rules? Because Jesus will be ruling. There will be a focus on the law, and if you attended Bible study the other night, you may better understand what is meant. As in Isaiah 2, where it mentions many nations in verse 2 and 3, many nations coming to be taught the ways of God. And it says, out of Zion, tell, go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That should take on more meaning if we more clearly understand what God means by the term Zion, where He dwells, who He directs, who is willingly in subjection to His rule. And obviously, as we said, every kingdom has a territory and subjects that are subject to the law. There is obviously a king. We might look at that in Hebrews 1.

All of you would know the answer to the question, well, who's going to be the king? Clearly Jesus Christ. But here in Hebrews 1, verse 5, it says, to which of the angels? See, the angels aren't going to be in charge of the world to come. A man is not going to be in charge of the world to come. See, in a sense, an angel, a fallen archangel, is in charge of the world today. He said so to Jesus.

But here it says, to which of the angels does God ever say, You are my Son, and today I have begotten you. Or again, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son. Several different references here. But I want to drop down. I want to drop down to verse 8. But of the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of Your kingdom. See, the King, the King all glorious, the King all powerful, the King who is the Master and who is the Lord that all of us should serve today, his role is going to be expanded around the world. He's going to install that. Jesus Christ will be the King over all the earth. So I want in the remainder of the sermon today to think about the leadership qualities that Christ will use to rule the kingdom of God.

How will that government of Christ be administered at that time? What type of pattern? What type of government? What type of leadership? What type of rule is He going to have? And that He says, if we're given authority, we're given authority to rule. He says, I'm setting the example. I'm telling you exactly what the rule of God will be like by the perfect example of Jesus Christ as a servant leader. See, Jesus' pattern, when we study His life, we see what He did. His pattern was servant leadership, and He told His disciples, you have to learn that. You have to become like me. You have to follow my example. See, now I'm connecting this to what I believe that would be a consistent pattern in the world to come. There clearly may be a lot more to it, and clearly be more expansive than I would ever imagine. But we can clearly see a number of leadership qualities that Jesus had that He did as an example for us. And actually, I think sometimes I know we often talk about serving, and I have to ask you or tell you whenever I ask for more of you to volunteer, more of you to be able to help with different of the departments, because we did need help. I was extremely happy to hear that the next day several different departments said, no, I've got enough. I'm fine. We've got people who are willing to serve. We've got someone available. We'll be able to make some type of rotation. That's exciting. That's exciting that God is working in your life, in your heart, in your mind. And yet, I hope we can understand because as we you know maybe continue to age, which all of us are, as we continue to age, we may not be able to do the physical service that we once did. There are other ways to serve. Ways to serve as prayer warriors, as have been mentioned. Praying for one another, loving one another, being concerned for one another. And yet, I will say that Jesus' example of servant leadership is more than just physical activity. I think many of us perhaps can remember in Luke 10, the example of Jesus coming to the home of Martha and Mary and talking to them. And what did he say? Martha, you're busy with so many tasks. And yet, Mary is choosing the right thing. Her focus was on listening to what Jesus had to say. He said, Mary is choosing the right thing. See, so there's more to just simply physically being involved in serving. Now, we want to do that, yes. But I will say that servant leadership is a mindset. It's a way of thinking. It's something that's in our heart. Now, I have to say that I've been aware of servant leadership for about 50 years, or at least 45 years. At least those words, I don't know if I understood at all what those words meant back 45 years ago. I think my understanding of least was at least limited. But I recall and know that that was what I was supposed to learn to do. And all of us need to understand that it is a mindset of true care and love for those who are governed. See, that's the righteous government and rule that Jesus Christ is going to install. Now, he's going to get everyone's attention to begin with. He's going to have to do that because this world is in chaos. It is under the sway of the satanic spirit that rules the world today. But see, we're going to come out of that. He's going to bring us, he's going to bring the world out of that, and then he's going to rule in righteousness. He's going to rule as a servant. And see, that's what he's teaching us today. He's teaching us not just to know that Jesus was that way. He wants us to know that's what he expects of anyone he would give rulership to in the kingdom of God.

So what are some of the servant leadership qualities of Jesus Christ, our boss and our king? Not just in the world to come, but even right now, if we understand that Jesus is the head of the church, we understand that we are under his supervision, under his direction, under his government even today. But say surely in the world to come, he's going to appoint people, he's going to give responsibilities, but he's going to expect their rulership to reflect him, to reflect the way he is, the way he serves, and the way that we learn to serve one another.

So I want to go over... I've got seven written down. I don't know whether I'll get through seven. I know sometimes that's confusing. You hate to say what you're going to do and not do it. And I know when we're supposed to quit, so be relieved. But I'll do these quickly. You know, for the first part, for the first part, the very first one, it's obvious, and we teach this every year at the Passover. Jesus' example of washing the feet of the disciples was clearly an action that he did, but it was far more an attitude of service. I want us to look at that. John 13. Wonderful, wonderful section in the book of John from chapter 13 through 17. Jesus working, training, teaching, loving, caring for his disciples right before he would be taken, betrayed and taken, and then crucified the next day. Now these chapters are, we read them every year, or at least some of them, and yet here in chapter 13, John 13, in verse 14, he says, So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, then you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set an example that you also should do as I have done to you. They hear he's telling us how to be a qualified ruler in the kingdom of God. Have an attitude, have a mindset of true care and love for those governed. That's what Jesus had for his disciples.

Now obviously connected with this first point of Jesus' attitude of being a servant leader, you can't get away from Philippians 2, verse 5 through 11. And I thank Mr. Sharp for going over this the other day, because that's already been covered really, really well. And his focus, of course, was that true godly humility is what is required. It's what makes it possible, as Jesus did, humble himself to take on the form of a servant. That's what we have to do as well.

So the second quality, that first one is simply his example of servant leadership out of humility. The second one was that clearly Jesus was able to follow instructions. He was a great follower before, you know, he would be the leader. And clearly as the Son of God, he came for that purpose. I want us to look in John chapter 5. Jesus was a great follower. He was clearly following the lead of the Father. He was sent by the Father out of love for us. And yet what he says should be so meaningful to us, and we should learn what it is to be a good follower, you know, to be able to follow instructions, to follow and pay attention. You know, Mr. Canakkle mentioned this earlier, how we need to be quick to hear and then slow to speak. And I like verse 20 there because it says, the wrath of man has nothing to do with the righteousness of God. I think about that every time I get upset or filled with anger or wrath wrongly. That's something that just doesn't have anything to do with God and His plan. But here in John 5 verse 19, Jesus said, barely I tell you the Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father do for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. Down in verse 30, He says, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. My judgment is just because I seek to do not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. He said, I can follow the Father. I follow what He says. I follow His direction.

And we all know at one point He asks the Father, is there any other way? And of course, knowing that there wasn't, He said, I'm following Your will. Here in John 7, John 7, verse 14, it would appear around the same time during the feast as we are celebrating today and tomorrow. Verse 14, about the middle of the festival, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Jews were astonished at what He was saying, and they thought, how could He teach like that? He never learned that from us. But in verse 16, Jesus answered, my teaching is not my own. It's not mine, but it is His who sent me.

He actually explains what it is to be a good follower here. He says, I'm here teaching as the Son of God. I'm passing on the Word of God. My words are spirit and they are life. Now, He was talking to the Pharisees here, and they didn't want to hear Him. They didn't want to listen. They wanted to criticize. They wanted to try to undermine. They wanted to put Him down.

But He says, the teaching, my teaching, is not mine. It's His who sent me. And anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I'm speaking on my own. Those who speak on their own. This is an amazing verse to see in verse 18, because we don't want to speak on our own. We don't want to come up with our own misinformation. He says in verse 18, those who speak on their own have an ulterior motive. They seek their own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, talking, of course, about His Father, that individual is true, and there is nothing false in Him. See, that's what Jesus showed as an example of servant leadership. He was a great follower of the Lord. Now, the third thing I want to go to is that as a servant leader, Jesus was willing to do very difficult things, hard things, things that were greatly inconvenient. Although I'll get to that in a little bit, it was simply difficult. We know ultimately He would be crucified. He would talk to the Father about, you know, is there any other way to do this? And knowing that there wasn't, He said, I'm simply subject to Your will. When we read Matthew 4, Matthew 4, Jesus is being tempted by the devil, by the fallen Archangel Lucifer, to fall down and worship Him. He wasn't about to do that. We see He always came back and answered our response with the Word of God. And of course, He said in verse 10, worship the Lord your God and Him only, shall you serve. And you can often read through this and say, well, it must have been just a piece of cake. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry. And of course, Satan's first tempting was, well, turn these rocks into bread. And of course, that was not easy. And yet, as He depended on the Father, as He depended on the Father to help Him, He could overthrow the influence that the devil was offering. And of course, He was trying to also trick Him, cause Him to doubt whether He was really the Son of God, because He makes the implies the question, well, if you are the Son of God, then do this. You know, I'm trying to appeal to vanity or selfishness. He loses for new all come. All about that. He's the author of that. And Jesus was far above that. His servant leadership was willing to do the difficult things. What do we read here in Matthew 7? Matthew 7, for all of us in verse 13, enter through the straight gate, the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction. And there are many who take it, but the gate in verse 14 is narrow and the road is hard that leads to eternal life. And there are few who find it. See, that's what Jesus exemplified. A willingness to do hard things out of a desire, a mindset of true care and love for other people.

So number three, a willingness to do difficult or hard things. Number four, a willingness to be inconvenienced. Now, I know whenever we come to the feast, we have back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back services, activities. I get tired about the fourth day. Actually, I get tired about the second day, but I think some of you might also understand that. And yet, and we're asked to serve, we're asked to be involved. It isn't always convenient. Sometimes we have to change plans. And I'm not saying any of us have to change plans on this account, but it's very clear that Jesus was willing to be inconvenienced by the people he really did love, he cared for. I want us to look in Matthew 14. Matthew 14. You see in the beginning of the chapter, John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, someone he was close to, at least he knew him. He knew him better than John understood who Jesus was. He knew who Jesus was as his cousin. He wasn't quite sure, until later on, perhaps, that he is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. But John's in prison. And in verse 8, through some chicanery, a young dancer is prompted by her mother to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. In verse 9, the king was grieved, and yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guest, he commanded it to be done. And so he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. A horrible way to die. And the head was brought on a platter, verse 11, given to the girl. She brought it to her mother. Here it is. And the disciples of John, his disciples, came and took the body, and they buried it. And then they went and they told John's beloved cousin, Jesus.

See, that had to be some kind of a sad report. John had been alive earlier that day, now he's beheaded, and so he's now dead. He's been buried. But it says they went and told Jesus. And verse 13 is interesting. Verse 13 says, now when Jesus heard this, he didn't just immediately think, well, I knew that was going to happen. What's it say in verse 13? When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there to a boat, or in a boat, to a deserted place by himself. See, he went off and felt like he needed a little bit of a alone time, perhaps alone time with his father. He said, this is incredible. You know, my good cousin John just is beheaded. And as hopefully most of us would also grieve someone that we were close to, someone that we loved and that we knew, he had great words, great commendation for John the Baptist. And yet, now he's died. And so it says Jesus went off in a boat to a deserted place by himself. I would think, you know, to grieve, to think about what's just happened, to realize, you know, things are really moving along here in the plan that we have.

But it goes on in verse 13 to say, when the crowd heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. And when he went ashore, he saw this great crowd and he had compassion for them. And so he cured their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples said, well, here's a big crowd. They don't have anything to eat. Jesus says, of course, well, feed them. Now, Jesus was grieving. He was suffering from the loss of his cousin. And he went off by himself. But when the crowds found him, he realized, well, this is not terribly convenient, but I have compassion for these people. I love these people. I'm concerned about these people, and I want to cure them. I want to heal them. I want to feed them. And see, I think that's a great example of being inconvenienced. Certainly many of the things that Jesus went through were inconvenienced, or they were not convenient, I guess is what I'm wanting to say. And yet, we need to think about that as a part of our learning to rule like Jesus Christ as a servant leader. The fifth thing I'll mention is that Jesus treated other people.

It appears all other people, even those who are his enemies, you know, he talked to the Pharisees much of the time, and they would always try to trick him up or back him in a corner, try to get him to do something wrong. But Jesus always treated everyone with a basic dignity, knowing that these people have been created in the image of God. See, his understanding of looking at other people and not just sizing up, but well, is that person, you know, are they better than me? Do they look better than me? You know, probably, you know, they make more money than me. He didn't evaluate those things. He treated everybody with a basic dignity. And that's, of course, what we are supposed to learn to do as well. Now, Jesus was accused of eating with sinners and tax collabs. The Pharisees didn't like that. They thought that was below them. They were above the tax collectors and sinners, of course. But, you know, Jesus, well, He's the one who goes and eats with them. He even picks one of the tax collectors, the hated IRS agent. They wanted Him, or He wanted Him, brought Him to be one of His followers, one of His disciples called Matthew.

See, it's amazing, as Jesus tells a parable in Luke 10, the only places that recorded one of the parables, probably, that you are very familiar with, the parable of the good Samaritan.

Now, that's not the parable of the priest. The good priest is not the parable of the Levite. The parable of the good Samaritan, the focus that Jesus had on others, was a respect and dignity. And I don't want to go into the parable itself, but I do want to turn to John 4, John 4. John 4, starting verse 7, this is when Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria. In verse 7, it says, a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Now, this was amazing in many ways.

Because the Samaritans were viewed very poorly. They were looked down upon. They were considered underlings to the Jews. And yet, certainly to the Son of God, He didn't have any problem talking to the Samaritan. And this happened to be not only a Samaritan, but a Samaritan woman. And they, of course, didn't appreciate women properly. They viewed women in a much, much less positive light. And yet, the Samaritan woman came to Him, and Jesus began to talk to her. He recognized who she was. He understood what the situation was. And yet, He said, well, give me a drink.

And His disciples, in verse 8, had gone to the city to buy food, and the Samaritan woman said to Him, say, she was shocked that He would ask to give me a drink. And the Samaritan woman said to Him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria? You know, I've got many stripes against me, or strikes against me. Why would you even ask me a question? Why don't you be like everybody else and look down on the Samaritans and look down on me as a woman? In verse 10, He answered, if you knew the gift of God, if you knew who it was that was saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would give you living water. See, this was clearly something Jesus had to give. He was the Son of God, and He was able to help not only the Jews, but also the Samaritans and everybody else all over the globe. And yet here He was showing. He was showing a basic respect and dignity for everyone created in the image of God. And too often, you know, I fail to do that. You know, whenever I'm rude, which I am sometimes, sometimes on the phone, don't talk to my wife. She might know, if I'm rude, then I'm wrong. You know, I'm not showing the basic dignity for someone else who I can't see, but who was created in the image of God, who needs what I happen to have, which is God's mercy and blessing, His grace having been extended, His calling, His forgiveness. The calling and the mercy of God is absolutely incredible. I should know better. I should. I'm held at a higher accountability than someone who doesn't understand that, and so are you. So number five in our, how will we rule? What type of servant leadership is Jesus? And will He use in the millennium? And He will expect those that He places and appoints in rulership roles. He will expect us to follow that example.

The next one I want to look at is in John 17. This is simply that Jesus had been working with these disciples. He had talked to them, and they had begun to follow Him, and He had asked the Father, and the Father directed Him for His prayers. Which ones to pick? Who's going to be the twelve? Which ones am I working with? And yet at the very close of the time that He was physically going to be with them in John 17, you could say that He was an incredible spiritual mentor to these men, men that He had come to know and truly love. And yet did He realize that they were weak? Did He realize that they had problems? Did He realize how limited they were? Well, they were yet to fully receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that was going to come on the day of Pentecost in another couple of months, or a little less than a couple of months. But here in John 17, let's look at what it is. See, Jesus served as a spiritual mentor to His disciples. He saw their spiritual development. He saw... Now, you would think whenever you read what the disciples did, what they said, how they acted, you could have reason to think that Jesus would say, these are just a bunch of losers. They're a bunch of betrayers because not only Peter, who he told, was going to turn his back on him, but all of them turned his back. He could say, oh, it's a bunch of betrayers, a bunch of chickens. They don't want to stand up for me.

Now, that would have been a human line of thinking. That wouldn't have been the way that Jesus looked at it. But here in John 17, He asked the Father, and He was very close to the Father, of course, all at all times. And you actually see, if you read through accounts in the book of Luke, many, many, many descriptions of Jesus praying. Luke writes it down. He was always praying to the Father. Now, there are many other examples of that, but in the book of Luke, you really find that emphasized. But here in John 17, you know, He asks that the Father would once again give Him the glory that He had with Him before. And that was going to be a re-glorification. He had been with the Father. See, the Father is the Almighty God, and He was the eternal Word. Jesus was.

The Father and the Son inhabit eternity, and so they've both been always existing.

And yet, He said, I came to the earth, and I'm fulfilling my role, the mission that you gave me to do, and I have glorified in verse 4, you on earth by finishing the work you gave me, and now Father glorified me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. See, He wanted to be re-glorified, reunited with His heavenly Father.

And then He talks about His own disciples. He knew that they were going to be, in a sense, kind of lost. He knew they were going to be like sheep without a shepherd. He had been physically there for a number of years now, working with them and talking to them and showing them and teaching them and even helping them try to overcome some of their own problems.

But He talks about His disciples, and later then, in verse 20, He talks about all of those who would believe on their words, which is us. We believe on the words that have been passed down in the pages of the Bible, the prophets and the apostles. That's a basis for our lives and for our belief. But Jesus was an incredible encourager to His disciples in verse 6.

He said to His Father, I've made Your name known to those that You have given Me from the world. They are Yours, and You gave them to Me. Now, so do we believe that we've been drawn by the Father to Jesus Christ? Well, yes, we understand God's calling. He says, these are ones that the Father has given Me to make up the initial leadership of the Church of God. He says, they are Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

Well, there were times when they failed. There were times when they fell into the water, off of the log. They didn't do everything perfectly, but Jesus said, they get it. They understand who I am, is what He was really saying. Because He goes on in verse 7, now they know that everything You have given Me is from You. For the words that You gave to Me, I have given to them.

So He was a faithful follower. He says, I've given You the words of the Father. The words that You gave to Me, I've given to them, and they have received them, and they know in truth that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me. See, they understood that He was the Son of God. Now, they didn't know how to react to that many, many times, and they would later learn how to do that, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, they would live and then die for the family of God, for the Father and the Son.

But He says in verse 9, I'm asking on their behalf. See, He said, I'm praying for them. I'm not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those that You've given Me, because they are Yours. All that are mine are Yours, and Yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.

See, now, after some of the antics that the disciples pulled, you wouldn't think that Jesus would be so positive, but He could see the growth. He could see where they started. He could see where they'd come. He could see, surely, where they needed to go. But He was a great spiritual mentor, and He was able to encourage them. And, of course, He's asking His Father to bless them and encourage them. So the last point, number seven, that I'll mention, is that number six was being a spiritual mentor. Number seven, Jesus as the Son of God and all of us as the children that God has drawn and called to be the sons and daughters of God, He had a sense of His own destiny.

He understood why He was here. He understood what He needed to do. He understood where He was going. And see, that's something that we have to think about as well. Back up to chapter eight, John chapter eight. This is in a section where Jesus is saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me in verse 12 will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. See again that Pharisees won't believe it. They don't believe it. They don't want to believe it. They don't want to understand who He was. They don't want to understand who He was. They don't want to believe all of His different descriptors of how He was the Son of God.

And He's going to rule the earth at His second coming. He said, My kingdom is not of this world, not right now, but I am a king and I will return. And He says here in John 8, in verse 14, after they criticize Him for what He said about being the light of the world, Jesus answered, He said, Even if I testify on my own behalf, which of course they didn't like anyway, He said, My testimony is valid because I know where I came from and I know where I'm going. You don't know where I came from or where I'm going.

You actually simply judge by human standards and I judge no one, yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid for it is not I alone who judge, but I am the Father who sent me. See, now what that points out is clearly Jesus understood the purpose of His life here on earth. He understood why the Father had sent Him. He understood the difficulty of the mission. He knew it wasn't a convenient mission.

He knew it would end up in giving His life. And of course, you know, we never know how long we may have to serve God because the kingdom of God is at hand and could be for any of us at any time. But Jesus said, I know where I came from and I know where I'm going. See, how should that affect us? Well, do we fully sense God's purpose in our lives? You know, I know where I came from. I came from, you know, two parents that I dearly love. I grew up on a little farm outside of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma.

And I know what it is to be a little bit. I used to know a little bit about being a farmer because I grew up on a farm. I know where I came from. I know I certainly didn't know very much. And yet, thankfully, at about age 16 or 18, as may have well been with some of you, God showed me what the purpose of life is. He showed me where I started and He showed me the purpose of life and He shows me where I'm headed.

And so when I read Jesus, I said, I know where I came from and where I'm going. See, I need to know where I came from. And I certainly have a lot yet to overcome. But with God's help, that's going to be achieved. He's going to cause me to come to understand the type of rulership that Jesus will use in the world to come, and that He wants me and you to fully sense His purpose in our lives.

Not just a whimsical thought, but to fully sense that. So I hope that this can be helpful as we think about the type of rulership that Jesus will extend to the world. I think a pattern has already been set and shown to us that we need to be servant leaders as well. So I want to close with just one verse here in Proverbs 29. We're talking about a new government, a government that is going to overthrow the governments of man and is going to be installed around the globe, around the earth, and it will exist for a thousand years, and then beyond.

It says it will never end. But here in Proverbs 29, the outcome of ruling like Jesus Christ as a servant leader is described in verse 2. It says, when the righteous are in authority, what's the outcome? The people rejoice, but of course when the wicked rule, as we suffer through today, the people groan. See, we have much to look forward to, brethren. We are being trained. We want to understand not only that Jesus was a servant leader, but we want to allow God to grow in our heart and a mindset of being a servant leader ourselves.

We're going to rule in the kingdom of God only if we emulate the servant leadership of Jesus Christ. So Christ says He's going to be giving authority, giving rulership to us in His righteous kingdom.

I hope all of us can continually be mindful that we are in training now, and we have a blessing of the perfect example of the servant leadership of our coming King and ruler and Master and Lord Jesus Christ.