Purpose, Principles and Perspective - Sam Walters - GTAN2541

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, Go, therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to Go Teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through Australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Sam Walters. SPEAKER 2 We've got some serious things to discuss this afternoon, so may God be with us as we discuss them and help us to look introspectively. The. I can just. Don't worry about that. I can just swing it on. Yeah, that's fine. So let's say a prayer. The Lord, as we go into tonight's topic, praying that you will speak to us, that you will fill us with your spirit, and that you will draw as close as you and challenge us to come up higher. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. We're going to have a look this evening at some of the reasons why we drift in our Christian walk. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. And how this affects our witness. And we're also going to explore some of the ways we can overcome some of these reasons. You know, I've thoroughly enjoyed being here, by the way. So this has nothing to do with the sermon. You know, you've come, you've got different groups coming from different churches. It's powerful. Keep up the good work. Keep up the good work, what you guys are doing. So where are we going? We're going to do this through the Book of Esther. Esther. So if you turn to Esther in your Bibles, because that's where we'll be. Me, when I'm turning to a page in my Bible, you know how you want to know where something is in the Alphabet? And you have to start from the beginning. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H. I have to do that in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers. So I know where it is. So anyway, you turn to Esther in your Bible, because that's where we'll be. Let's just get an overview of what's going on. Main characters, main characters. Obviously, you've got Esther. Esther, who Mordecai has looked after since she was a child. And she becomes the queen. She becomes the queen. King Ahasuerus. Now, I don't know how you pronounce that. Here in Australia, I hear so many people say so many different things, but for the purposes of this evening sermon, I'm going to be saying Ahasuerus, if that's okay with you. And he's the king of the Medes and the Persians. You've got Queen Vashti. That's his first wife. In the story at least you've got a man called Haman who becomes prime minister. Is it prime minister here? Okay, he becomes the prime minister. He becomes the prime minister. And Mordecai, a Jewish. Now let's get some of the background. Some of the background. If you remember, God's people were in captivity in Babylon. I'm just giving you some of the history before we get into things. They were in captivity in Babylon from about 605 to 539 BC. And in 539 BC, the Babylonians defeated the Medes and and the Persians defeated the Medes and the Persians. Cyrus in about 536 and Darius in about 520 was helping the Jews to go back to their homeland and to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple that were in there. You remember that, don't you? So they were given some religious and some civil liberty. And then in about 480, Ahasuerus. This is where we're at in the story. Or Ahasuerus, how did you guys say it? How did you get home? I could attempt it. Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus. I feel very Australian saying that. Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus. So this is after Cyrus, this is after Darius in about 480 comes into the scene and the same kingdom that's given civil and religious liberty to the Jews is now imposing a death decree to the Jews. You remember in Daniel chapter eight where you've got this ram, a male lamb that's got two horns, which is used to represent the kingdoms of Meda and Persia. You remember that, don't you? It's almost a bit similar. Not quite the same thing, but a bit similar to that beast in Revelation that has those two horns like a lamb that give religious and civil liberty, but then later on that same kingdom helps to impose a death decree. You see a foreshadowing of this with the kingdom of Meda and Persia. Does that make sense? So you're seeing almost some last day. We'll come into the adulting in a second. Some last day. It is a last day vibe to the book of Esther. A last day vibe. Now, what are some of the major themes? One of the major themes of the book of Esther can be summarized in Esther, chapter nine, verse one. Esther chapter nine, verse one. We're just overviewing. We're going to get into things in a second. We're just overviewing Esther chapter 9, verse 1. Now in the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandments and his decree drew near to be put in execution. In the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary that the Jews had rule over them, that hated them. In the book of Esther, you've got these turnarounds where it looks like it was going one way and it turns around and that it's heading in another direction. We've got a few of those. What are some of the turnarounds that we see? Vashti goes from queen to concubine. Esther goes from orphan to queen. You've got Bigthan and Teresh. You may not remember them. Some of you will do, though they have a plot. The king, kill the king and end up being killed themselves. Then you've got the reversals between Haman and Mordecai. At the beginning, Haman is given a signet ring where he's given tremendous power. And at the end of the book, the ring is taken away from him. Haman seeks to exterminate all the Jews and find himself begging a Jew for his life. Haman builds these big gallows to hang Mordecai on and ends up being hung on them himself. Mordecai, he's sitting at the gate at the beginning of the book, but in the end he ends up being somewhat prime ministerial. At one point he's dressed in sackcloth, and another point he's dressed in kingly robes. And even towards the end of the book, non Jews in the empire go through some type of conversion process, and many of them in the book of Esther become Jews. There's these turnarounds. There's these turnarounds. It's a theme that comes out in the Book of Esther. And we'll see if we can unpack some of those now. Yeah, we're still doing the issues. Let's carry on with them. Let's carry on with them. There's many names in the Book of Esther, but only two have a specific characteristic that I'm going to tell you now. First. Yeah, yeah, let's do the first one. Esther, chapter three, Esther, chapter three. And let's read verse one after these things. Did King Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him? And then let's look at Esther 2, 5. Now, in Shushan, the palace, there was a Certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. So in the Book of Esther, you've only got two individuals where it gives you their lineage. Haman, you find out he's a descendant of the Agagites, and Mordecai, you find out he's a descendant of. What did it say? He's a Benjamite. So Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. And so the author of the Book of Esther is trying to give the readers of the Book of Esther clues into what's going on in the story. Why do only these two have their lineage mentioned? That's the question. Why do only these two have their lineage mentioned? And so you've got to go back, you've got to think, was there another time in the Bible, was there another time in the Scriptures where you see a son of Kish who's a Benjaminite dealing with someone who's an Agagite? I'm sure we all know this. First Samuel, chapter nine, verse one. Now, there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zoroah, the son of. Now, how would you say that in Australian? It's gone quiet now. It's gone quiet. I'm hearing different things. I'm hearing winter when it should be summer. The son of Bcharath, the son of. I can't even read from there. I can't. I need to get glasses. I'm sorry. Media Team I've turned around. The son of Bcharath, the son of Apphiar, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son whose name was Saul. Saul. Saul. And in 1st Samuel 15, Samuel said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel. Now, therefore, hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, even when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And then you see some of the results of this situation. Well, let's do this, let's do this, let's do this. Why is Samuel saying that to Saul? There's been ongoing drama between The Israelites and the Amalekites. And we're not going to get into all of this, but Numbers, Judges six, Judges seven, Judges ten. There's just been ongoing drama between the Israelites and the Amalekites. And so the time has come for them to be destroyed. And in first Samuel, 15, 10, then came of the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, it repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he hath turned back from following me and hath not followed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night. Everybody was supposed to be destroyed, was destroyed. But Saul kept Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive. He kept Agag alive. The son of Kish and the original Agagite are meeting here. And Agag should have been destroyed, but Saul kept him alive. Saul doesn't do what God says. And so the Book of Esther starts with a history of a controversy between God and his people and their enemies. And there's a history that's going on. And what I'm realizing as I've been studying this book is that choices that you make for now are never just for now. They're for now and for eternity. Saul would never have imagined that his children's children's children's children will be impacted by a decision that he was making today. Saul would never have thought that a decision that I'm making for convenience today would have ramifications that could affect the destiny of my entire nation tomorrow. May God help us that in the small things of life, to be faithful. And so in the Book of Esther, you start picking up a few hints of a few things. A few hints of a few things. I'm not judging anyone. I'm not judging anyone. I'm not judging anyone. But you start picking up a few hints. So remember at the end of Babylonian captivity, people were being called, come out of Babylon and go and restore and rebuild Jerusalem. So Babylon's here and Jerusalem's here. And people are being called from here to go over here. Now, what's happening here? I can feel it in the room. It's really warm. I can feel it. And the vibe is people are sleepy. So what I'm going to ask everyone to do just quickly, can we just stand to our feet? Can we stand to our feet? Let's stand to our feet. Let's stand to our feet. Let's stand to our feet. And we're just going to stretch up. We're just going to stretch up. We're just stretching up and we're stretching to the right. We're stretching to the right. We're stretching to the left. We're stretching to the left two more times to the right, to the right. And then we're going again to the left. We're going again to the left. And we can sit down now. We can sit down now, thank you very much. So let me tell you where we're at. Let me tell you where we're at. Let me just bring everybody back in. Let me bring everybody back in. We're just getting some context of the Book of Esther. And in the Book of Esther, it's at a time when people really shouldn't be in the cities of Shushan. But actually, if I was serious about God's work, if I was serious about following God's calling for my life, if I was serious about doing the things that God was asking me to do, if I was serious about his message and about his mission, then really I wasn't in the location of Shushan, I was in the location of Jerusalem. Because in Jerusalem, that's where God's work was happening. I hope this makes sense. Ezra, chapter 1, 4, 6, 3, end of Babylonian captivity. Less than 50,000 people, of the hundreds of thousands of people returned. Esther, the Book of esther is about 50 to 60 years after the Book of Ezra. And so they've been sucked in. They've been sucked in. You know, some people, they come to Australia just for. I'm just going to quickly get my money up and then I'm going to go back home. But then once you've got a mortgage and your children are in the Adventist school and you've got your pension going, and the next thing you know, you're here. They've been sucked in. They're in the system. They've got their health insurance and things are working fine. They're working a 9 to 5, they get sick pay, they get paid holidays. And so it's convenient, it's comfortable, and there's nothing wrong with those things, but just know that they've been sucked in. They're in the system. They're in the system. And so because if he's got his benefits, he's working in the king's palace, it just works out for Mordecai. Mordecai is pretty cosmopolitan, if that makes sense. He's working in the king's palace, but he's not really a guy. He's like some of us where we're in the king's palaces, we're in Spaces of influence, but no one really knows what we're about. So twice you see in the book of Esther where Moses says to Esther, esther, do me a favor, when you go to the palace, don't let anybody know your kindred. Don't let people know where you're from. Don't let people know who you are. Don't show people your identity, you know, that their faith was rooted in their identity. Just keep that low key because what you're doing is that, you know, it's a different type of environment. You've got a code switch, you've got the code switch. And so because you're code switching, you're in a different environment. It's a professional environment. You know, you can't really be sharing much about faith there. If you're going to get ahead, you've got to kind of keep faith and religion and things of that nature to yourself. And so In Esther, chapter 2, verse 10, and I think also Esther 2:20, Esther had not showed her kindred nor her people as Mordecai had charged her for. Esther did the commandment of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him. What about us? This morning we were talking about mission. And I just often think for Adventist young people, assimilation is just so easy. What about us? Have you ever compromised, have you ever hidden your religious identity? Esther hid her religious identity in the workplace for about five years. How are you at work for five years? And no one knowledge of a Seventh Day Adventist. How does that work? You're in your university dorms for a good three years and no one knows you keep the Sabbath, not one person. How does that work, friends? God's calling us higher. Embracing who you are in Jesus Christ opens doors for you. Living in denial of who you are opens different doors for you. They're Christian, but it's nominal. It's neither here nor there. There's no strong convictions about anything. Just a kind of going with the flow that they're silent Christians. And one of the things I'm realizing is that the quicker you embrace who you are in Jesus Christ, the quicker you can get on with living your best life. You're supposed to be an ambassador, and that means everywhere you go, you wave a flag. In fact, you're supposed to be your home. It should be an embassy where angels love to visit. Because everywhere you go and everywhere you meet and everyone you meet, there's just something different about you. Christians do things different friends. Christians do things different. Christians do things different. Christians do things different friends. Listen to me, please, Christians do things differently. It's not the same. It's not the same. I don't know what you've heard, but it's not the same. And so because it's not the same, I live differently. And I live differently because Jesus has called me to a different type of life. You get hints in the book of Esther that there's been some sacrifice of principle in order to get ahead. Some hints in the book of Esther there's been some sacrifice of principle in order to get ahead. It's not explicit, but it leaves you asking questions. The nature of the beauty contest won't get into all the details today, but just check out some of these verses. And it's just like, Esther, what's going on? And then the fact that, you know, sometimes you read the Bible stories, and it's not everything that you see in the Bible stories that the Bible is condoning, but they're just simply delineating how human beings lived unequally yoked with an unbeliever. You see, in the story of Joseph, also, he's doing so well. He's doing so well. And he's dealt with the Potiphar's wife scenario. He's gone into prison, he's remained faithful, and then he's with Pharaoh. And Pharaoh then offers him a wife. And what he should have said to Pharaoh is, I'm sorry, Mr. Pharaoh, my sincere apologies. Thank you so much for the offer, but on this particular occasion, I'm going to have to. But you see this thing so often where people crumble under pressure. God's called us to have not simply an in vitro, but to have an in vivo experience, to bring some pharmacy in here when they're bringing new medication out. There's two types of tests that they'll do. An in vitro testing is when they've tested it like a test tube, just to make sure that the chemical reagents react in the way that they're supposed to react. An in vivo test is when they take this test and they test it in a live subject. And I feel like for many people, they have an in vitro experience with God. They've seen it work over there. But God's calling us, friends, not for it to work simply over there. He's calling for it to work over here. So in Esther 4, verse 8, the devil heats things up. Esther gets a view of the times. The great controversy between good and evil comes and knocks on her door. And so the battle that's been ongoing between the Amalekites and The Israelites comes and steps into her situation. And so in Esther 4, verse 8, also he gave him a copy of the writing of the decree was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shoot unto Esther and declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go into the king to make supplication unto him, and to make his request, and to make request known before him for her people. Now Esther's husband doesn't know that she's a Jew. That's crazy, because she's been hiding her identity up until now. Have you ever felt like you compromised so much that there's no way out of the situation of your own creation? You've been at work and you keep Sabbath generally, but some Friday evenings, you kind of have to slip into things. You turn tithe. But occasionally the bills are a bit more than. So you have to kind of just. We're just. We're doing the best we can. You're at school and you've not revised all year, but now the exam's on Monday and you feel like Saturday is the best time to do it. And have you ever felt like you've compromised so much that there's no way out of the situation of your own creation? It's too hot. Like, if I come out now, it's just too awkward. Like, how am I gonna explain that, what I've been doing up until now to my boss? He's just gonna. There's too much questions. All the chuckles that I'm seeing in the room lets me know that people are getting what I'm saying. That's my certificate of baptism. Samuel Fonzo Walters, Oxford Street Seventh Day Adventist Church, 14th of October, 2000. I was 11 years old. 11 years old. Pastor Jean Vu. This was back in the days when it wasn't just one person getting baptized at a time. You'd have about 20, 30 people getting baptized at a time. When I look at this young boy in the pictures, he's full of dreams, he's full of hopes. On that day, I would have felt like I never would have sinned again, never would have done another compromise, because I would have just felt like, take me now, Jesus, I'm ready, or let me walk with your God. Has he not walked in days of old? And I wish, friends, I could say to you right now that from that moment, from there on in, that I was growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing in my Christian experience. But the reality is that some of the biggest sins I committed was after I was baptized. And the question comes when You've committed the biggest sins and you've compromised in the ways that you've compromised. And then you kind of just like, how do I come out with this now that I've done this? It can feel like the concrete of your compromise can keep you down. But what I've realized in my own Christian experience is that when it feels like the concrete of your own compromise, compromises are boxing you in. It's then that you've got to reach up to Jesus Christ. And as you do so, he'll enable you to have the power to grow beyond your compromises. We see this in the book of Esther. Esther gets a view of the times. She gets a view of the great controversy, the great controversy between good and evil knocks on her doorstep. And as she does so, she does a few things to go from drifting to driven. She gets her perspective, she gets some principles going, and she decides to reach up to God in prayer. Esther 4, 16. Go gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan and fast. Feed for me, and neither eat nor drink. Three days, night or day, I also, and my maidens will fast likewise. And so while I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish. So Mordecai went his way and did it according to all Esther had, commander him. The first thing that you do when you feel like, okay, I've done a few things here that on a spiritual level don't make sense. The temptation is at that moment in time, it's for you to try to fix it. But what God says is, actually, this is what you do. Start with prayer, because when you sin, sometimes it can feel like I can't come to God in prayer now because I feel like my sins are doing something. Friends, what I'm realizing is that many of us are Pharisees in reverse. Pharisees come because they think they're good. Many of us don't come because we think we're bad. Check the psychology. So that means that if I thought I'd been good that week, then I would have come, but because I think I haven't been good that week, I haven't come. Friends, it's not about whether you've been good or whether you've been bad. But, friends, it's about your need. And as you recognize my need, that then should say, I need to come to the one who can supply my needs. And so Esther decides to reach up. She reaches up, fast, ye for me, and I, my maidens, will fast likewise. Number Two to go from drifting to driven. We've got to get some accountability. Fash ye for me. And then she says, and I also am. My maidens will fast. Likewise, she decides that it's not just simply a me thing, but this thing is going to have to happen in community. Community post Covid shout out to everyone that's watching online. God bless you. I'm sure some of you couldn't make it on here today for various reasons. And may God bless. Continue to bless the online ministry. But I'm sure there's a proportion of people that probably haven't been back to church since COVID Friends and family, if you want to go quick, go alone. But if you want to go far, you've got to travel with others. And we're going all the way to heaven. And in order to do that, the Bible has some specific things that it says. Forsake not the assembling of thyself together. Even more so as you see the day of the Lord approaching, as we see the signs of Jesus Christ coming, what that means is that we need to be meeting together more, not less. It goes back to what I was saying this morning. Sometimes we see church about what can I get? But sometimes we've got to flip it around and it's about, what can I give? First of all, she reaches up. Second of all, she reaches out. She reaches out. First of all, she reaches up, she connects with God in prayer. Second of all, she reaches out, she connects to a community that can help her have accountability in the scenario that she's in. And third of all, so which I go unto the King. Sorry, if I perish, I perish. To go from drifting to driven, you have to choose to do so. You have to choose to do so. It's a choice that people have to make. God has given us the power of choice. It's ours to exercise. This is Ministry of Healing, page 176, paragraph 2. God has given us the power of choice. It is ours to exercise. We cannot change our hearts. We cannot control our thoughts, our impulses, our affections. We cannot make ourselves pure fit for God's service. But we can choose to serve God. We can give him our will, that he will work in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure. Thus our whole nature will be brought under the control of Christ. Friends, it's about where have I decided to put my choice? Where have I decided to put my choice? The first one. The first one you reach up. The second one she reaches across. The third one she Decides I need to have an inner still about this thing. I remember I've graduated university and I'm getting my first job. And I've mentioned Sabbath in the interview, but I didn't mention it properly. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Well, you've mentioned it, but you've skirted around it. And so now it's summer in England. I'm not working weekends, but I'm thinking about Friday evenings. It's summer in England, so you know, it's not that deep because sunset in England and summer is about 9:30pm and work finishes at 5. But as you get towards winter, work begins to finish at 4. And the question comes. The question comes, sam, what are you going to do? I spoke to a friend, he said, sam, you got to ask, what do you mean, what are you going to do? It's not even a question. Not working Sabbath. Come up, May. That's what he's basically told me. You need good friends. You need good friends. So I remember that morning, I got on my knees. I just left university graduate. I got on my knees. I just started quoting the Ten Commandments to myself. You know the one. Remember the Sabbath day, seventh day, to keep it holy. And I remember being on my knees and when I got up off my knees, I remember knowing that I'd left that place different to when I got down. I don't know if that makes sense. And I knew that as I got up off my knees. This was a different Sam walking into the office to speak to the manager that day. He wasn't very courageous. I was scared. But I knew that even though I was scared, I was going to have the conversation anyway. And regardless of what happened, I was going to leave the consequences with God. Faith, friends, requires it not just to be something you think about, but it requires to go through from your thoughts to your feet, to your hands, to your mouth, to your words, to your choices. Faith is not simply a passive thing, friends. Faith is more of a verb. You've got to do what's right and leave the consequences with him. And what was the results of embracing who she was in Jesus Christ? Esther, 8, 17. And in every province and in every city, whithersoever the King's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. There's many people in our workplaces, there's many people in our schools, there's many people in Our universities and in our colleges who would have a complete, complete change of heart if you were to simply embrace who you are in Jesus Christ and stop hiding it. But you haven't given them a chance. Sometimes we're trying to fit in, but Christians do things differently. I tell you, when I started deciding I need to start doing my own thing, I was at work and I'm still listening to them talking and a number of them saying, oh, yeah, I go to the spiritualist church opposite one of the grocery stores. Yeah, I go to see my dead granddad. I go to see my dead this, I go to see my dead that. People are doing their thing. Friends, you've got to do your thing. And as you begin to do your thing, you give people an opportunity to know the God who you serve. Because people are being deceived left, right and center. But our mouth is closed. Last passage as we wrap this thing up. Reading Hebrews, chapter 12. Wherefore, reading from verse one. Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. As I go around, sometimes I see some of the compromises that we make. Friends, tithe is holy and should not be touched. Friends, the edges of the Sabbath ought to be guarded. Friends, Jesus Christ died on Calvary's tree for you and I specifically. And he calls us to come up higher, not in our own strength, but he calls us and asks us to look to him. To look to Him. Here the Bible contrasts, or compares, rather sorry, compares is a better word. Compares the Christian experience to a race, to a race. Not a short distance race, but a long distance race. A long distance race. And it's saying that as you're running this race, you've got to lay aside the weights and the sins which doth so easily beset us. And in verse 2 it says to look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, enjoyed the cross. Here. The Bible says that as you're running, as you're running, you've got to let go of some of the weights. And the sins which doth so easily beset us. And then he says, we have an example in Jesus Christ. Now, I'm not a big runner. I've been. There's a lady at my home church called Pat Cummings. I shared this story. Wherever I go, she's a runner. She's like, my mum's ages, so she's got a daughter my age and she runs races and wins them. So when I say runner, she's a runner. So she'll come like first for her age group in a marathon or a 10k, things of that nature. And so the North England Conference owns a summer camp. And we were trying to raise some money for a summer camp some years ago. And so Pastor Ramdin said to us, okay, let's do a 10k, raise some funds. No plans, no problem. I had zero intention of doing any training. My plan was just to simply show up, run, see what happens. So Mum and Pat Cummings, they give Bible studies at my mom's house to a couple of individuals. So I've shown up and I'm sitting there catching up with these guys, and Pat says, sam, I heard you doing a 10k, why don't you come training with me? I'm thinking, this lady is the same age as my mum. Now, I've heard about Pat's running, heard about it, maybe the same age as my mum, so shouldn't be a problem. So, yeah, I'll come. No issue, no issue. So I've met up, I've gone to Pat's house. She's the same age as my mum, and we've started this running. We're jogging. And she decided she's taking me on a 10k that day. I think it was around about 10k. She's taking me that day. So we're jogging, we're jogging. And as we're jogging, we get about 10 minutes in and I realize this thing's serious. She's having casual conversation. I'm just trying to catch my breath. And anyway, as we're going, we're going, we're going. We've been running round and I realize we get to a certain section that in order to get back to Pat's house, we. Where my car is parked, we've got to go up this hill called Sandy Bank. Now, Sandy bank on a Sunday morning is the type of road that you'll see learner drivers there practicing their hill starts. That's how steep it is. So I've asked Pat, I said, pat, what route are we taking to get back? She goes, sandy Bank I said, okay. I knew how to get some internal courage for this thing. So we come into. She lives at the top of Sandibank. So we come into this thing and we get to the bottom of the hill. I'm sweating profusely. One step, two step, three step. About a quarter of the way up, I realized, sam, you're going to have to change tactics. This thing isn't working. And I remembered something that you're supposed to do in the middle of your race when you hit a wall. What you're supposed to do at that time is take your mind and think about finishing the race. And as you think about finishing the race, it takes your mind off what you're going through and puts your mind on where you're going to. Here you see something. You see something similar happening with Jesus. Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus was running his race and he came to his hill, a hill called Calvary. And as he was climbing up Calvary, the Bible says that he had this joy set before him on his mind. Friends, that joy was you and that joy was me. And it says in your race, in your race, as you're running, and it feels like sometimes you want to compromise. And it feels like in certain areas you feel like giving up. In certain spaces where you feel like I haven't lived up to all the light that God has given me. Jesus says, in those moments, look to me, look to me, look to me. And as you look to me, verse three says, as you consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, something will happen. It will help to be a buffer against the weariness and the fainting that can sometimes cause us to be burnt out as we felt yesterday. It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day contemplating the life of Christ. We should take it scene by scene. Now, I think when Ellen White says this, I don't think she's saying, get your stopwatch out and set it for 60 minutes. But I think she is saying, spend some time. When the Bible says, consider him, how do you consider anything? You've got to think about it. You've got your reasoning. And as you think about, as you behold Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God on Calvary's tree, it does something for you. She says, your spirit will be quickened. Right. Let me close this so you don't know when I'm done today. Someone in the room needs to uncompromise some compromises. The power to do that, friends, does not come from simply trying to uncompromise. You've got to reach up. You need power from on high. As you do so you want to start connecting. Remember what we said, that as you get involved with church, as you begin to serve that process of trying to help somebody else, God does something for you. Just help the other person. But it also changes you on the inside. And then also you've got to decide, come what may, even if I'm broke as brokers broke, regardless of what the situation is, tithe is not being touched. Some of us probably need to have conversations with managers Monday. I know you used to be doing this, but the preacher said. You can't even say. The preacher said, my relationship with God causes me to. Some of us are compromising relationships. May God help us, give us the strength to be the people he's called us to be in these last days of Earth's history. The book of Esther, it's framed in a space where you've got these things which Ellen White says will be repeated in the last days of history. These death decrees, these religious bigotry. These things will come again. And you see these people who manage to wake up in the final moments. Friends, God's calling us. When we see the signs of the times. He's speaking to us and he's saying there's a time right now that it's a time to wake up out of sleep. May God help us. Dear Lord, as we come to you today, this week, we want to start making some decisions, some real decisions. We want to be honest, 100% honest. There are some areas, dear Lord, that you've revealed to me, that you're calling me to live up to the light, that I know. There are some things, dear Lord, that perhaps I know I've been doing, but you're calling me to live up to the light that I know. And when we think about what Jesus Christ went through for us on the cross when they were saying, come down, come down, come down. If you're the Son of God, come down. And he resisted. He resisted. He resisted. He resisted. And he was resisting because he had this joy that was set before him, and that was the White IRA Seventh Day Adventist Church. Oh, Lord, when we think about that, help us never to give up, to put our trust in you. We're looking for power, dear Lord, power from on high to live the life you're calling us to live. We're looking to build connections, dear Heavenly Father, because we know that no man is an island. And dear Lord, give us the strength to decide for you these things we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Tomorrow. Tomorrow we're starting at 5pm and we're going to have a look at Balaam and some of Balaam's choices and how that impacts us today, the brink of Canaan. God bless you and by God's grace, I'll see you tomorrow. SPEAKER 1 This message was made available by the Waitara Seventh Day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit waitarachurch.org.au SPEAKER 2 It's been our pleasure bringing you this program Today here on 3 ABN Australia Radio.