I would invite you to please turn in God's word to Daniel chapter 5. Daniel chapter 5. And as you see the title of the sermon, the handwriting is on the wall. And I want to just throw out a disclaimer that The plan to move back into the book of Daniel this morning and this text and the title was determined a long time before this past week. And as we're gonna see as we move through things, certainly it's God's providence to have us in this passage, even in light of what is taking place down in Los Angeles and has taken place in similar ways in other areas. But this is where we are this morning, Daniel chapter five. And we do come back to the book of Daniel today as we come into chapter 5. We were last in chapter 4 back in November where we learned of God mercifully humbling and transforming the proud evil king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel chapter 5, by way of vivid contrast, we learn of God justly condemning and killing a subsequent king of Babylon, the proud evil Belshazzar. And we're only going to focus on the first 12 verses today, but I want to read the whole chapter so we can read and hear the whole story. And so I'm actually going to start with the last verse of chapter 4, which highlights this strong contrast. And so let's hear the living and active Word of God, and then I'll pray after I read. Daniel chapter 4, verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. For all his works are right, and his ways are just, and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the kings and his lords, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Immediately, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed and his thoughts alarmed him. His limbs gave way and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, whoever reads this writing and shows me its interpretation shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you, or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father, the king, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, who the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. Well, then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, you are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now, if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." Well, then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be for yourself and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O King, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship, and greatness, and glory, and majesty. And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive, whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he humbled. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him. He was driven from among the children of mankind and his mind was made like that of a beast and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. And you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew this. You knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you, your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways you have not honored. Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed, mene, mene, tekel, parson. This is the interpretation of the matter. Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Perez, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Then Belshazzar gave the command and Daniel was clothed with purple. A chain of gold was put around his neck and a proclamation was made about him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. And that very night, Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. and Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old. This is the word of the Lord. Let me lead us in prayer. Our most high God and father in heaven, you rule the kingdom of men and you set it over whom you will. You see and you know all things about everyone, everywhere, all of the time. And you hold everyone accountable. And yet you lavish mercy and grace and help in Christ to the humble who look to you in faith, even as you relentlessly oppose and destroy the proud who rebel against you in unbelief. Father, you have now gathered us all to hear your word in Daniel 5. And so may you help us to humbly hear and to humbly respond in faith. And even as you've promised that your word always accomplishes your purposes, we pray that you would accomplish your purposes in our lives today. Father, please help me by your Holy Spirit to faithfully and clearly proclaim your word. In Jesus's name, amen. Amen. Palisades fire creates apocalyptic scene along LA highway. So read one headline about the deadly and devastating fires in Los Angeles that erupted this past week. And as of this morning, with some fires still raging, we know that 16 people are confirmed dead. Several more people are missing. Over 12,000 structures have been destroyed, which included, of course, thousands of homes. And we know that hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate. One evacuee, as she escaped the fire zone, said that it was, quote, like driving through hell, literally hell, end quote. And someone else said that the mega catastrophe was reaching biblical proportions. And certainly we've heard similar references to scripture amid other big fires that we are all too familiar with in California. Of course, we remember the 2018 campfire north of us in Paradise, leaving 85 people dead, destroying over 18,000 structures. And certainly, we need to be praying for God's mercy and provision in Christ to people in Los Angeles. His mercy and provision both spiritually and materially for everybody that's being impacted by these present fires down there. But I mention these things because it's interesting, isn't it? That with the swift and deadly and extensive destruction brought on by these fires, biblical language is often employed. Well the biblical and historical event that we read of here in Daniel chapter 5 is the source of another phrase that we often use when something dark and foreboding looms on the horizon. When something dreadful is imminent, we often say, don't we, the handwriting is on the wall. And with this, we're saying something ominous is soon to occur. We're saying that there's a clear sign of impending trouble or inevitable judgment that's about to fall. And so, for example, somebody might say that with many injured players and the poor performance of the San Francisco 49ers this season, the handwriting was on the wall that they weren't even going to make the playoffs. Or it could be said for a college student, for instance, that since they didn't do well on the midterm exam and since they didn't complete the big project, the handwriting was on the wall that they were going to fail the course. So we use that phrase frequently. Well, in Daniel chapter 5, the defiant, drunken King Belshazzar, he didn't know it at the time. But when he saw the literal handwriting on the wall, it meant that he was going to be killed that very night. And even more, it meant that the world dominating, seemingly invincible empire of Babylon was also going to collapse with his death. Now, this scene in chapter five is a sobering episode that really shows us the interplay between both human and divine activity. And as I mentioned, today, we're just going to look at the first part of this episode in verses one to 12. And next week, I plan to look at the rest of the story in verses 13 to 31. But for this morning, the emphatic lesson that we're going to learn and that we're supposed to learn and that we're going to see in verses 1 to 12, the emphatic lesson is this. This is the main point. This is the big idea of the passage. It's this. Divine activity rules over all human activity. Divine activity rules over all human activity. And so in this opening scene in verses 1 to 12, we're going to see four different actions, four different actions that reveal how divine activity rules over all human activity. These four actions express this interplay I mentioned. In other words, we're going to see a human action, then a divine action, then a human action, then a divine action. So here they are, these four actions. Here's number one. First, we see the action of brazen human rebellion. Brazen human rebellion. This is what is pictured for us and described for us in verses 1 to 4. Now understand at the outset that this Belshazzar, he was not likely a blood descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. We know this from ancient historical records that identify actually four other kings between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Now Nebuchadnezzar's 43 year reign went from 605 to 562 B.C. And then later on Belshazzar's 14 year reign went from roughly 553 to 539 B.C. And of course these events in chapter 5 are on the last day of his reign as he's going to be killed that night. So the references in chapter 5 to father and son as it references Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar is not using those terms biologically but metaphorically. Nebuchadnezzar was a predecessor to Belshazzar, but he was not a human father. It's possible that Nebuchadnezzar was his grandfather, but we really don't know for sure. But he was known as the father of all who came after him because of the greatness of his power and influence over his lengthy 43 year reign. It's kind of like how we refer to George Washington as the father of America. We understand that's being used in a metaphorical way. We're not saying he's the biological father of every American. Well, then this scene in chapter five takes place about 23 years after Nebuchadnezzar's death. And it's really tragic to see how the leadership of the kingdom had descended to such crass and blasphemous lows after the lofty heights of Nebuchadnezzar's God-exalting life and testimony in the final years of his reign. And that's what's described in chapter four, especially at the end of chapter four, as Nebuchadnezzar bears testimony. But in chapter five, this Belshazzar is presented as a rich, proud, powerful, rebellious, hedonistic, God-mocking, unhinged, unbridled, entitled, self-indulgent jerk. That's the picture that's given to us of him. And he's a gross abuser of his kingly authority. And so on a given day, he throws an extravagant, fleshly feast with a thousand of his lords, along with all of his wives and concubines. You get a sense of the picture of this scene. And what's shocking is that all of this takes place while Babylon is under threat of siege from the Medes and the Persians. And as we learn at the end of the chapter, that very night, the Medes and the Persians are going to succeed in killing the king and in conquering Babylon. And so what a selfish and what a false sense of security Belshazzar displays. Here he is partying when he should be governing and protecting his kingdom. Well, we're told that wine flows in abundance at the feast, and sometime after he and the crowd are presumably drunk, in a high-handed act of defiance against the Most High God, Belshazzar commands that the vessels of gold and silver from God's temple be brought to the party. And these vessels had been seized and stored by Nebuchadnezzar some 65 years earlier when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem as we're told at the very beginning of the book of Daniel in chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. And so Belshazzar has all of these sacred vessels brought in and then with vile scorn and mockery, these vessels are filled with wine. And Belshazzar leads everyone in a toast, praising the false worldly gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone. What a sacrilegious defiant display of debauchery. Really a picture, maybe Peter even had this in mind when he said what he said, as we heard earlier in 2 Peter 2, verse 10, of those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. That's what Belshazzar is doing. And such brazen human rebellion is still manifest everywhere in the world today, isn't it? In fact, every single one of us who by God's grace have come to faith in Jesus Christ, every single one of us were Belshazzars in various ways and forms. And whether it was with full-throttled, rebellious partying like Him, Or perhaps in more respectable and refined ways, before God brought us to faith in Christ, if we are saved, we all once scorned and dishonored the Most High God. But for Belshazzar, as happened with so many of us, his God-mocking defiance was brought to a screeching halt. And this brings us to the second action of the text. We see his brazen human rebellion. The second action is that we see sudden divine terror. Sudden divine terror. And this is what we're told in verses 5 and 6. So as this drunken worship feast continues, suddenly something shocking, inexplicable, and terrifying happens. Listen to verses 5 and 6. Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace opposite the lampstand, and the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him, his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. My goodness, it's as if he was just slammed into a brick wall. The party is over for Belshazzar. And when he sees the mysterious hand and it's writing on the wall, he's instantly reduced, instantly reduced from being this boisterous, cocky blasphemer to being a terrified, groveling coward. He suddenly deluged with horror, drunken with horror, if you will. We're told his color changed. He turned pale. We're told that his thoughts alarmed him. His brain just erupted with fear and anxiety, as happens when someone is caught in their sin and in their guilt. we're told his limbs gave way. Literally that phrase in the Hebrew is the knots of his loins were loosed. And most likely what that's referring to is that his bowels exploded. He messed himself, so distraught was he. and his knees knocked together. He was uncontrollably shaking with complete panic. And so this man who was used to being totally in control of everyone and everything was totally out of control. And this was God's doing. Sudden divine terror. God, in essence, was saying, enough is enough. The party is over. And friends, we need to reflect on this and be encouraged, be exhorted to never deny or never underestimate the power of God to do whatever is necessary to get somebody's attention. to terrify and to shock them into reality. God's activity rules over all human activity. Belshazzar was in a drunken stupor of brazen rebellion against God. But in an instant, God shows his supreme, unchanging power and authority with the handwriting on the wall. God held Belshazzar accountable just as God holds all mankind accountable. And despite people's foolish and deceitful and high-handed rejection of the Most High God, it doesn't change His reality. And the Most High God can bring sudden terror that ends the party of rebellion. God knows how to shatter our false senses of security if we're not trusting and honoring Him. So you see the handwriting on the wall teaches us that God rules over all and that all are accountable to Him. For a time, He may allow wicked people to go on in their sin, to go on with the party of their sin, but a day of terrifying reckoning will come. Perhaps you know the gracious warning that God expresses through the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6, verses 7 and 8. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Perhaps you've also heard God's gracious warning in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 26 and 27. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, Meaning if we willingly reject Jesus Christ and happily, eagerly, fully rebel against God in a willful, persistent way, the writer says, there is no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but rather a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. This isn't a game. Be sober and take heed, friends, if you're not trusting Jesus Christ, you will face the sudden divine terror of God's eternal judgment. Well, how does Belshazzar respond to this situation? This brings us to the third action that we see in Daniel 5. We see brazen human rebellion. We see sudden divine terror. Third, we see the futile human desperation, the action of futile human desperation. And this is what we see there in verses seven to nine. And this is so tragic and so very, very sad. Suddenly shocked with divine terror, Rather than crying out to the Most High God for mercy, Belshazzar screams for help from the false, foolish, religious gurus of Babylon, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. And the king promises them wealth and power if they can read and interpret the handwriting. But as has already been well documented earlier in Daniel chapter 2 and in Daniel chapter 4, these wise men of Babylon, we might call them professionals, we might call them the experts, they're completely ignorant and impotent and incompetent. Listen friends, fundamentally spiritual problems and realities cannot be addressed or remedied by human knowledge and resources. Let me say that again. Fundamentally spiritual problems and realities cannot be addressed or remedied by human knowledge and resources. And so for Belshazzar and his fellow party animals, the situation descends into utter mayhem and chaos and desperation. And the king becomes even more alarmed with terror and all of his guests are completely perplexed. They are baffled. They are bewildered. This is total chaos. You get a sense of how catastrophic and how heartbreaking this is? It's a scene of futile human desperation in the light of divine judgment. A scene that is sadly repeated again and again and again throughout history. It's like the frenzy of a colony of cockroaches that goes berserk when a light is turned on. Men and women running wild as it were desperately trying to solve the consequences of their sin with human wisdom and remedies and resources and solutions. When instead they like we should be crying out to God in faith and repentance. Confessing our sins and receiving His lavish love and grace and mercy and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the apostle Peter declares in Acts chapter 4 verse 12, there is salvation in no one else, for there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Christ is the solution. Christ is the remedy. Christ is the problem solver. We need Christ. Feudal human desperation, tragically, sees the cross of Jesus Christ as complete idiotic foolishness. This is what Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 1 in verse 18. He says, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. To us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Well, back to Daniel chapter five, we've seen the actions of brazen human rebellion. We've seen the actions of divine, sudden divine terror and futile human desperation. What happens next? Think about this. God could have left Belshazzar there to wallow in his waste until he was killed. But that's not what God did. There's one more action for us to see. Number four, merciful divine intervention. Merciful divine intervention. This is what we see in verses 10 through 12. And this merciful divine intervention comes through the queen, who has not been in the room where the party was being held, but presumably heard the commotion going on. And she comes in and she appeals to Belshazzar to seek help from Daniel, and in so doing, to ultimately seek help from Daniel's God. Now, given the Queen's historical knowledge of Daniel, and of Daniel's God-given ability to interpret dreams and explain riddles and solve problems, as the Queen says there in verse 12, and also given the fact that the Queen was not present at the feast as one of Belshazzar's wives, This queen is likely his mother, who was married to his father, who had been the previous king, or it's possible, we don't know for sure, that she's his grandmother, possibly the wife, the widow of Nebuchadnezzar. We don't know for sure, but whatever the case, she's God's merciful intervention into this chaotic and desperate situation. And her plea to Belshazzar to call for help from Daniel ultimately points to the help that can only come from the Most High God. So in other words, the Queen is an instrument of God, whether she knows it or not. The text doesn't tell us whether she knows, but she's an instrument of God who is offering true help and true hope to the terrified king. And so in this we see God's relentless mercy even within the sudden terror that he's brought to Belshazzar with the handwriting on the wall. Amid judgment, amid judgment, God is still holding out mercy to the king if he would humble himself and receive it. Sadly, of course, as we know how the story ends, Belshazzar refuses God's mercy and he's killed that night. So you see, beloved, the emphatic lesson from this opening part of the story in verses 1 to 12 is the truth that divine activity rules over all human activity. We've seen this clearly in the interplay of these actions revealed here of brazen human rebellion, sudden divine terror, futile human desperation, and merciful divine intervention. And at this point, certainly for any of you, who are present today who are not Christians. You have not turned from your sins and you have not called out to Jesus Christ in faith to save you. You're not a believer. If that's the case for you, friend, this is a sobering warning. And it's a gracious warning. Because friend, like you, or you, like all of us, you are accountable to God. He created you to worship and to obey Him, but also, like all of us, you have sinned by failing to worship and obey God perfectly. And if you refuse the salvation that God mercifully offers you in Christ, and if you die in that state of refusal, there will be no escape for you from God's eternal judgment. The handwriting's on the wall. The handwriting's in the book. The handwriting's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't refuse Him. Turn to Him in faith even now. Cry out to Him, Lord, save me. You don't even know what that means, but God, I know I need you, I know I'm guilty, help me, save me. And for those of us who are Christians, who by the grace and the mercy of God in Christ, he's brought us to faith, he's brought us to new life. For you and I, brothers and sisters, this is a strong word of comfort and encouragement and exhortation. Because think about this, if it is true that divine activity rules over all human activity, and it does, God does, He rules over all human activity, then we can and we must trust that God will deal with wicked rulers and with wicked kingdoms. Because God will deal with wicked people. And you see, that's the word of encouragement and comfort and exhortation for us. Judging wicked rulers and wicked kingdoms is God's business. That's what God does because He's God. It's not our business. And think about this, for the original readers of the book of Daniel, who were Jewish people in captive exile under the wicked kingdom of Babylon, How it must have comforted them to learn that God sovereignly ruled over and dealt with the wicked King Belshazzar. And you see how it should likewise comfort us as we trust God. This is really what Peter is getting at in 2 Peter chapter 2. Again, the passage we heard read earlier. When he says there in verse 9, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. So trust Him, rely on Him. He sees, He knows, He understands. And He's either going to be merciful or pour out judgment. but he'll deal with wicked rulers and with wicked kingdoms. And so what this means, beloved, is this, if you ever find yourself troubled, distressed, frustrated, vexed, and righteously angry with wicked rulers, I know I'm speaking hypothetically, if you ever find yourself in that kind of condition, I'm speaking literally, we understand that, don't we? Even in our own state, even in our own country, even as we see in the world. Understandably frustrated and vexed and angry with wicked rulers. What it means is trust God to deal with them. in His way and in His time. Ours, as believers in this world, is to strive to be faithful, to live for and to proclaim the excellencies of God in Jesus Christ. Ours is to be about the work of making disciples. and within the country in which we live, within the state within which we live, to do all that we can to promote the common good, and to speak to what we can and should speak to, and to do what we can and should do, but all from the standpoint and vantage point that we're ambassadors of the King of kings. And he's left us here to proclaim his greatness and to make disciples for his glory and for his kingdom. And we should be praying that God will indeed deal with wicked rulers by humbling and saving them even as he did with Nebuchadnezzar. And even as we trust him to destroy those wicked rulers like Belshazzar who don't humble themselves. And so there's significance to this, great significance. And as I draw this to a close, all of this has implications for a question that you might be asking this week. And I've asked this question. I've been asked it by some of you and by others. And the question is this. Are the fires in Los Angeles the judgment of God? It's a very legitimate, very honest, and a very relevant question. And I don't have time to give an extensive answer, but let me say this. In my understanding of scripture, I believe the fires, just like all other kinds of natural disasters, as we call them, things such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, avalanches, and on down the list, I believe these express both the judgment and the mercy of God. They express both the judgment and the mercy of God. What do I mean? Well, they express the judgment of God in the sense that we know on the basis of what God tells us in Genesis chapter 3, that the whole world is under his curse because of sin. We know that because God has told us that in His Word. He's also told us in His Word through the Apostle Paul, for instance, in Romans 1, verse 18, that the wrath of God is presently, actively being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. That's constantly going on. It's constantly being expressed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Now we also know because God has told us in his word that he sovereignly rules over and he controls all of creation. Psalm 104 declares that truth. Psalm 145 and many other places in the Old Testament declares that truth. Jesus demonstrated that truth again and again during his earthly ministry when he exercised his authority and control over nature. He can calm the wind. He can feed miraculously thousands. He rules and controls all of creation. And this means then, putting these truths together that all of these deadly and devastating localized events like the Los Angeles fires, which go on all over the world in various kinds of way and have through history. Think about the global flood that we're told about in Genesis chapter six. Think about the destruction, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah that we're told about in Genesis 18 and 19. All of these are ordained by God and are expressions of His curse, wrath, and judgment that already exists upon the world. And even a little more specifically, certainly for people who die in these events, if they are not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, Their death is tragically the beginning of the eternal judgment that they will experience from God. So in that sense we can rightly understand these events such as these horrible fires in Los Angeles as the judgment of God. We don't know all of his purposes. We don't know the fullness of his mind. But we can know that because he's revealed it. But also, these events express God's mercy. They express God's mercy. As for those yet living, God continues to mercifully hold out the hope of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And thus, it is that even in the midst of such devastating and horrific events that Christians and whole churches have opportunity. Even as we ourselves may be directly or indirectly impacted by such disasters in the future, and even as I'm sure is true for so many Christians down in Los Angeles and whole churches, they're holding out the hope of eternal life to those who are affected by these things, eternal life in Christ. And they're coming alongside to humbly weep with and love and serve and help and hold out to people the only true living hope that is found in Jesus Christ. And perhaps God has ordained that many of these precious folks in Los Angeles who have lost their homes, some of them, as we know, even multimillion dollar homes, Perhaps for those who are yet alive, many would come to find joy and hope in the true, eternal, and unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. And certainly to that end, we should be praying. And so to that end, let me lead us in prayer. Father, there's so much that you have spoken to us from your word today. And you alone know your purposes for for each one of us. And you've told us elsewhere that you so love the world that you gave your only son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And may that be true for everyone in this room and in the hearing of your word today. May it be true for everyone impacted directly and indirectly by these fires in Los Angeles. May it be true for everyone in this sin-broken world that they would come to know the fullness of life and hope and joy and peace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you and trust you to work in us and through us for your glory in the name of Christ. Amen. Amen.