Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you that we have the privilege to gather together and to sing praises to your name. The fact that you are God that you are in complete control, that you are on your throne, that your will is being accomplished, that your church is still here, that your church is still growing, that you are still redeeming individuals who are wicked. Father, we come to you asking that you continue to grow your church, not only here, but all across this world. from every nation, every people group, and every tribe. Specifically, Lord, this morning we pray for Nicaragua. We ask that Your Word would go forward there. It seems that evangelism is not going forward, that discipleship is not happening, Lord, that Your people are becoming stagnant. Lord, may that not be the case. May You grant more workers for Your kingdom there. And Lord, we selfishly pray for this morning, for right now, for the souls that are in this room, we pray that you would encourage us, that you would equip us, that you would spur us on to love, that you would spur us on to good works through the preaching of your word right now. Give us ears to hear, and we beg of you to save the lost. And we pray this in the name of your one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, good morning. It's good to be with you this morning. We are in our study of pastoral epistles, walking through verse by verse, through the letter of 2 Timothy. And this morning we enter into 2 Timothy 3. I'm so glad that you're here this morning. If you would, turn with me to 2 Timothy 3, and after fighting that, please stand with me in the honor of God's word being read. But understand this, in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive in a knowledge of the truth. Just like Janice and Jambrus opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. Please be seated. See the men whom the Lord has gifted and called to serve as elders of a local church are to do their best as a worker for the Lord. They are not workers for men. They're not to be ashamed of their work, but they are to rightly handle the word of truth. We find in this letter that elders must not be quarrelsome. They must be kind, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting their opponents with gentleness, praying and desiring that the Lord would deliver them from their sin. See, everyone who names the name of the Lord is apart from iniquity and to live a honorable life, a holy life, a pleasing life before the Lord, a life that images being set apart from sin as well as set apart for the work of the Lord. That is biblical Christianity. You're set apart from something, but you're set apart for something. It is not just being set apart. All of God's children are to flee youthful passions, youthful lust, and pursue righteousness, to pursue faithfulness, love, and peace. And we do this not alone. We do this together as the local body of Christ. If we're not fleeing lust and pursuing holiness, we will not be prepared for what will come. We will not have a plan for each day. We will be blown by every false wind and wave of doctrine that comes. See, the gospel has been entrusted to us as the church. And if you're here this morning and you're not ashamed that you belong to the Lord, if you have personally repent of your sins and trusted in Christ alone for your salvation, God has personally entrusted you with his breathed out words. I want that to sink in. That what we call the Holy Scriptures, God has entrusted this to you and to me. This has been entrusted to us to guard, to keep, to know it, to read it, to study it, to memorize it, to meditate upon it, to proclaim it. Like this has been entrusted to us. And if God's people don't guard it, nobody else will. We must guard it. The gospel has been entrusted to us as the church. And when we are failing to flee from sin and to pursue the Lord, we will fail to stand firm in these difficult days. And so the first thing that we need to understand is we need a biblical understanding of today. We need a biblical worldview. And verses 1 through 5, this is what we have. But understand this, that in the last days there will be times of difficulty. See, since our resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven, we have been in the last days. We are living in the days before the return of Christ right now. Our savior has already come. He has died. He has risen to life. He is ascended into the glories of heaven. He is sitting right now at the right hand of God, the father with all power and all authority, and he will return in his perfect timing. And we as a church are called to be ready. These last days are days of difficulty. These are dangerous days that we live in. These are evil days that we live in. And we will struggle to navigate these days if we are not abiding in the truth. Ephesians 5 verses 15 through 17 says, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. See, we must understand what the will of the Lord is, and we will not understand the will's Lord if we do not abide in the word. To abide in the word of God and to apply the word of God, that is what it means to walk wisely, to abide and apply, to abide and apply. to embrace youthful passions, to walk unwise or foolishly, to live a life of evil in this world and waste our God-given breath. This is to walk as Paul describes in verses two through five. He says, for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good. treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. So these 19 ungodly characteristics, they are horrible to think about, are they not? But this is what you have when a soul does not love the Lord. This is the outcome. This is what is promised. Paul is informing young Timothy and the church of Ephesus of not only a description of what has already penetrated the church, their present circumstance, but of what will come and continue in the last days for what we see today. See, when the truth of God is not taught, there is not silence. When the truth of God is not taught, there is not silence. When the truth of God is not taught, the wicked ideas of men will continue to penetrate souls. The wickedness of men will continue to march forward. We know that God will build His church, Matthew 16, 18, but we must be wise and ready for difficulties. Danger is not exempt from the Lord's children. Anyone who would say that has not read the Bible from start to finish. These 19 ungodly characteristics describe those in the church who were presently deceiving. This is not talking about people out in the world. It's saying this is what is happening in the church. This list begins with the truth that they are lovers of self, and the list ends with the truth that they do not love God. Lovers of self and money, it says. Selfish men who are seeking to grow their kingdom, sinfully elevating themselves as their greatest love. They're proud, arrogant, and abusive men that do not care about others because they must be seen. William Barclay says this concerning the arrogant. He nourishes in all-consuming, all-pervading pride. In His heart, there is a little altar where He bows down before Himself. And in His eyes, there is something which looks at the men with a silent contempt, as if, I cannot believe you would look at anyone else besides Myself. There is no one greater but Me. And life becomes all about what we want. Lovers of self, lovers of money, they're proud, they're arrogant, they're abusive. And it also says they're disobedient to parents. See, when self-love consumes the heart, continual disobedience to parents and everyone else, that will happen. Just this past week, my wife came home. from working with three-year-olds and she told me a story. I asked, how was your day, sweetheart? And she says, well, it's okay. We have two kids that are causing most of the problems. And it's one kid over and over that happens continually. It says, we tell the child what we're going to do and how we're going to do it and the child looks at you and the child says, no, I'm not going to do that. I don't want to do that. You can't make me do that. disobedient to parents. And then usually that is accompanied with a parent who comes and the parent asks, how was my child today? And if the teacher is wise and understanding, the teacher will look at the parent and says, well, I want to talk to you about something. And you can kind of tell because the parent doesn't really want to listen. I mean, this is describing the days that we're in. When fathers and mothers do very little in training themselves in godliness, they're gonna do very little in training their children spiritually as well. Children will physically grow up, but they will remain spiritually a child or spiritually dead. They're disobedient to parents. They're also ungrateful, they're unholy, they're heartless, and they're unappeasable. See, when self-love grows, so does the wickedness of not even loving family. That's the picture. See, we see many people in this world that are not saved, but they love and they care for family. Now, not biblically speaking. There's not a biblical love there, but they would do things for their family. But it's saying that wickedness will continue to grow to the point that they have so much love and care and concern for themselves that they will stop loving family. the wickedness of not even loving family, being heartless, even to family. They become slanderous without self-control and then become brutal. See a man who gossips, who does the work of Satan, they have no self-control. They're not loving good, they're treacherous, they're reckless, they're swollen with conceit. They know what is good, but they hate it. Good is what they would declare as a burden to them. good would disrupt their everyday living. They're lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, a hedonist. That's what a hedonist is, to live a life that pursues self pleasures, a self loving man or woman who is a God hater, yet loving the pleasures that God graciously provides them. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. See, the form of the man looks to be that of godliness, a semblance, but it is false piety. It is empty. The heart is still stone in need of being born again. Matthew 23, 25 says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you're full of greed and self-indulgence. See, we see dimly, presently. Our eyes are limited, but God sees through our hypocrisy and knows what we are full of. He knows if we are clean or if we are just having an appearance of being clean before the rest of the world. Matthew 7, 15 says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. See, many claim to be teachers of the truth today. Many claim to be teaching for the glory of God today. Many appear to be clean, but they are serving Satan and living to further his temporary perishing kingdom. These false teachers are without substance yet appearing to be truth tellers and they deceive many leading others into deeper levels of depravity that results in being devoured by the enemy. One of the things that we hear Jesus saying to false teachers in scripture is you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. This is a biblical understanding of today. This described the days in which we live and the people in which we are to be aware of in the church. Even as the church gathers, we must be on guard. We must be discerning. We must know the truth. And I don't know what you think about when you hear this list. Lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive. But as I read the list of these descriptive words that describe these false teachers in the church this past week, the heart and the behavior of these men, of what they were doing in the church, I was burdened, not just for the 7.1 million people in the DFW area, I was also convicted of the sins which spring forth from my own heart. I was convicted of the different things that they're saying that I see in myself each and every day. Areas where I love myself, areas where I am abusive and I want my own way done. Areas where I don't think about anybody else but Casey. I was convicted of my own sins. But it was also joyful to read this list because the Lord graciously called me to repent. The Lord in His wonderful mercy showed me those sins, and right then and there I repented of those sins. It was joyful to read it. In verses 2-5, I see the kindness and the patience of the Lord. I see His redemptive power. In verses 2-5, I see exactly what the Lord saved me from, and then knowing all of Scripture, I know what God has saved me to. And I know what He has built now, that this life that we live, all these evil things that we're seeing that are penetrating the church, that are in the church, that are in this world, they will not last. They are temporary. So how do we respond as a church to people who have a pattern of loving self and not loving God? What in the world do we do? End of verse 5. Avoid such people. avoid such people. We're to turn ourselves away from false teaching and false teachers. Now, this is not saying we don't evangelize. That wouldn't make any sense. This doesn't say that we don't fulfill the Great Commission and we don't go out and we share the love of Jesus Christ with others. This is talking about those who are in the church. And so how do we avoid those people? Well, you have church discipline. You call them out on the carpet. You call them to preach the truth and love. The church is to avoid such people. We're to turn ourselves away from false teaching and false teachers. If we have rebuked them in love to stop teaching false doctrine and they refuse, we hand them over to Satan so they learn not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1.20. The picture is, is we dare not tell them that they're saved. That's why you have church membership. You don't allow things to fester in a church because if one sheep is sick and the shepherd doesn't address, it won't be long until all the sheep are sick. And that's the last thing you want as a shepherd. I mean, that is a picture that you have here. Ungodliness growing in the church. You address the ungodliness. And if we have rebuked them to stop teaching false doctrine and they refuse, it says, we hand them over to Satan so they learn not to blaspheme. We inform them that according to the word of God, you are not saved. And we call you to repent and believe. And if you do not, we're going to treat you as the world. That's what it means to be handed over to Satan. You're no longer the church. We don't see you as the church. We live in difficult days. We live in difficult days. So the church does not allow false teaching to be taught and the church is not to allow false teachers to be associated with the redeemed. You don't allow false teachers to be associated with the redeemed. If a local church allows false teachers to keep teaching, that church will soon be a false church. It became a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing, devouring soul after soul after soul. We live in difficult days. We must have and maintain a biblical worldview. Look with me at verse six of our main text. It says, for among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. So we need to be good stewards of truth in these difficult days. We must be good stewards of truth in these difficult days. At the time of this letter, many women in the Ephesian church were being led astray. Ungodliness was growing. See, weak women in the church were being led astray by false teachers who had crept in undetected with their cunning methods. These women were religiously seduced. They were religiously seduced. Just as in this day, at the time of this letter, in our day, there are many women who know theology a whole lot better than men, especially in the home. They care so much about the things of God. But what we see here is also when you have men who do not care and not leading those women, you also have men who are also very seductive, who will lead those women astray. Ungolliness was growing. These women were being religiously seduced. Religious seduction happens when you are spiritually weak. Weak souls are burdened with sin. Weak souls are led astray by various passions versus being led by the Word of God. They were led astray by various passions in a constant state of wearing different masks. It's the idea that they hear things all the time and they say, amen, amen. Then they walk out and they hear things from the world. Amen. The amens never stop wherever they are, whatever context they're in, whoever they're around, they put on mask. They have one for every occasion and for every people that they're around. John Stott pinned that this method of false teachers preying on weak women as a timeless tactic. He says, choosing a time while the men were out, they would concentrate their attention on weak women. This is as old as the fall of man. For the serpent first received Eve, it was also employed by the Gnostics and has been the regular ploy of religious commercial travelers right up to and including Jehovah witnesses of our own day. While the men are at work, let's go knock on some doors. Let's go see who we can talk to. When anyone becomes a spiritual idler, they will become weak and they will gossip. They will learn all sorts of things, but they will never be able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth. See, flattery will come and deceive when a mind is not being sanctified in the truth. And we don't have to look very far for that because we can see that in our own lives. When we neglect truth, The only person we think about is ourselves. When we neglect truth and we're, we're constantly thinking about ourselves. We make much of ourselves, much of our problems. And over a period of time, it is really depressing just to look at our own life. That's why as Christians, we're not called to just look at our own life. We're called to look at the glory of our great God. and we're called to be a part of that mission and to faithfully love him and to care about him and to delight in him and to fulfill his commands. When our sinful desires run wild with no daily transformation of the word, we will be weak, we will live foolishly and the sin in our life, it will kill us. Flattery will come. and deceive when a mind is not being sanctified in the truth. So how do we know when we are being led down the primrose path, so to speak? You ask yourself two questions. Question one, do you know what the Word of God says? Do you know what the Word of God says? Do you know truth if you hear it? Do you know what it is to hear lies mixed with truth? Scripture calls us to be good Bereans. We're gonna be good Bereans. It's a whole idea of we study the scriptures to make sure what was said is true. Doesn't matter if you're John Piper, if you're Matt Chandler, doesn't matter if you're John Stott, doesn't matter if you were John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards. You hear what every single person has said and you look at the word of God. We must know the truth. The second question. Question one is, do you know what the word of God says? Question two, how are you living? How are you living? If you know the commands of God, are you obeying them? Are your sinful desires leading your life or is the word of God leading your life? And I love this, our pride gets so puffed up that we actually think that things that happen to us in our life are not our fault. It's a beautiful thing when you can take all the blame off yourself. James 1, 14 and 15 says, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. The desire when it is conceived give birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James talks a lot about the things that we say that comes out of our mouth that stems from our heart. Where do you think our desires come from? They also come from the heart. When little truth is being absorbed, when little truth is being absorbed, if you add to that godless living, the sum total will never equal that God is glorified. If you're not in the word and you're not living for the Lord, if you add those two things together, you're never going to glorify God as a child. It won't happen. In verse 8 it says, just as Janus and Jamberus opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. Aren't you glad we have the Old Testament? Aren't you glad that Jesus didn't say, we don't need it? Because how in the world would we know about this? According to Jewish tradition, these are the names of the two men in Pharaoh's court who who did the dark arts before Moses and opposed the Lord. In Exodus 7, 8 through 13, we have this. It says, then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, when Pharaoh says to you, prove yourselves by working a miracle, then you shall say to Aaron, take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. as did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff and they became servant, but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. So just as Janus and Jambres directly opposed the Lord and Moses so clearly in scripture, the men who are false teachers, the men who deceive and creep around capturing weak souls to do the devil's will, these men are corrupted in mind and they are disqualified regarding the faith. The word Janus means he who seduces. And the word Jambres means he who makes rebellion. Many people think throughout Christian history that they were given these names. And anytime you heard those names, you knew exactly what you were hearing because you would go straight to the Old Testament, to this occasion, to this context, to what just happened. Titus 1.16 says, they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable. They are disobedient, unfit for any good work. So these false teachers, they claim to know truth, but they are spiritually dead. They are disqualified regarding the faith. I don't know about you, but I never want to hear my name in the same line as disqualified for the faith. That is one thing that so many people think I can just live how I want to. And right before I die, I will do something about it. Dear friend, there is a time that scripture says when the Lord is going to wash his hands of you. He has given you gospel proclamation after gospel proclamation. He has given you opportunity after opportunity. He has given you the word of God for you to read and to study. He's given you day in and day out people of vessels that are coming in. And at some point, God's going to say, I'm done with you. That is a scary thing to be disqualified for the faith. Matthew 13, 22 says, for false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders and lead astray, if possible, the elect. There are so many things going on in our world right now. It is scary to look at. Things that you cannot explain. Things that you would think, that must have been done with a camera trick. That must have been done somehow. Let us not forget that we are living in a time of spiritual warfare. Let's not forget what is happening in this world, that the battle is raging, whether or not you and I choose to stay on the sidelines and do nothing, that God is growing His kingdom and false truth is being advertised all the time. If we are to personally glorify the Lord, we must be good stewards of the truth in these difficult days. These are not easy days. These are difficult days. Elders and leaders in the church must not be slow to respond to falsehood or lacks to what divides and sickens the flock of God. The word of God must be preached and nothing else should be allowed to be preached. Are you a good steward of the truth? Are you a good steward of the truth? Are you treasuring truth in your heart? Are you treasuring truth in your heart? And if you're not, let me ask you, what are you treasuring? Because when you compare anything to the glory, to the majesty, to the righteousness, to the holiness, to the greatness of God, it's as filthy rags. Treasure the Lord. Here's some good news here. Look at verse nine. But they will not get very far. Their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. We need to remember that false teachers will ultimately fail. No man or woman can thwart God's will. Amen. We're not wondering as God's children, I wonder if God's going to win. And I know what you're thinking. Well, intellectually. Yeah, I know that. But many of us in this room are living defeated lives as if God's going to lose. We're living lives that don't have faith in our one true living God. We're living lives as if God will not take care of this or that or this problem or that problem. We're not trusting the Lord completely. We need to remember that false teachers will ultimately fail. No man or woman can thwart God's will. These two men, they opposed the Lord and Moses. They appeared to be very powerful and they led many astray just as today's false teachers do. But let us find rest in the truth that God will continue to grow his church and his church will be here when he returns. There is no power, there is no man, there is no woman, no enemy that can stop or thwart God's will. None. whatsoever. In Matthew 16 verses 13 through 18, if you would turn with me there, Matthew 16 verses 13 through 18, we have this promise that the Lord gives us. He makes an astounding promise. Now when Jesus, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is? They said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah, one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now this is not specifically talking about the man who Peter is, as if this is supposed to transcend over a period of time. This is talking about the confession that Peter just made. What did he say? You are the Christ, the Son of living God. It is not on what man, what God has created that will be the promise. It is on what God has done, that God has revealed this to His church. God will hold his church secure. His children will endure. His kingdom will have no end. And let me tell you, when you think about the truth that we live in difficult days and God's kingdom will have no end, I hope that brings joy and delight and goodness to your life. It should. It's good news. No one's going to prevail over the Lord and his church. They will not get very far. Their folly will be plain to all as was that of those two men, false teachers. They will ultimately fail what they are presently sowing. They will soon reap for eternity. 2 Corinthians 11, 14 and 15 says, For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, so it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. The disguise of Satan and his servants will one day be known to all. Their end will correspond to their deeds that they did. These words should bring great comfort to us. To be surrounded as Timothy was in a sick church and to hear that our Lord is sovereign and that the Lord, He determines what the enemy can and cannot do. This surely brought a smile to Timothy's face and it surely strengthened his heart in the days that he was living. What a delight the enemy shall not prevail. Their success is limited. In the words of Mark Dever, a person can wear every form of godliness, but be filled with rancidness. The foolishness of false teachers will be plain to all. So the elders of the church must not allow falsehood. There is great danger in doing nothing. There is great danger in doing nothing. Not only for the church, not only for pastors and elders in the church, there is great danger in the children of God doing absolutely nothing. The Word of God must be preached so the church has a biblical understanding of today. Because one of the understandings of today is that we do not live in difficult days. Some understandings of today is God is sovereign and God's going to do whatever he wants to do. So I just need to sit back and I don't have to do anything. That's not a biblical understanding of today. God is sovereign. Yes. God's children have a mission. Yes. The word of God must be preached so the church has a biblical understanding of today. Because what happens when the word of God is not preached and taught is that God's people will not have a biblical understanding of today. Now praise be to God that some people are actually saved when truth is not being taught. The fact that one verse from God's word being read, God can save a soul. One verse being taught, God can bring that individual out of that wickedness. We must also as a church avoid false teachers. We as a church are called to be holy. Yes, we're going to suffer. Yes, we're gonna go through trials and hardships. Yes, you might even lose friends or family members who said, if you're gonna believe this, I can no longer walk with you. Praise be to God. Jesus suffered, we're not exempt from that. We're going to suffer. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, they will be persecuted. They will suffer. We must avoid false teachers. We as a church are called to be holy. Yes, we're going to suffer, but everything false will end and truth, it will last. It will last. Here are three closing questions for consideration that we've discussed as we walk through these verses this morning. Question one, are you able to recognize false teaching when you hear it? Are you able to recognize false teaching when you hear it? Question two, are you a good steward of truth in these difficult days? And I understand that all these questions connect together. Because if we're not a good steward of truth personally, you're not going to recognize false teaching when you hear it. You might pick up on some of the truth that you were taught when you were a child, but you're not going to recognize all the falsehood that's connected to that truth. Are you able to recognize false teaching when you hear it? Are you a good steward of truth in these difficult days? In question three, are you praising the Lord for His omnipotent hand that will one day very soon finish growing His kingdom and bring eternal torment to the enemy? We need to praise God for that. The enemy will be defeated. One day they will all be under His perfect glorious unending wrath. And we as his church will be with Christ forever and his eternal forever kingdom with no need but the holiness and brightness of Christ. I'm looking forward to that day. But if we're looking forward to that day, we need to be ready for these difficult days that we are in. Amen. Father, we thank you for this morning. Lord, we live in difficult days, Lord, and we confess to you that so many days we forget that because we're so focused on all the difficulty that we forget to find joy and savor you. We forget to hide truth in our hearts. We forget to abide in your truth. We forget to fulfill the truth that you have called us to do. We become so overwhelmed and so beat down with our difficulties and things that are going on that we forget that you promised that we would live in difficult days and you forget that we would struggle, that we would fight, that we would fail. You're such a good God. Lord, help us to focus our minds and our hearts attention upon you. May our greatest treasure be you above all things this week. All the things that we are struggling with, all of our concerns, Lord, all of our present trials and circumstances. Father, I pray that we would bring those before you. We would let go of them and trust you with those things. That we would have faith in the one who made the universe, the one who saved us. That you can handle these small things. How great you are, Lord. Thank you for your salvation. You provided through Christ. Thank you for the promise that your church, your church will continue. Your church will grow. Someone from every tribe and tongue and nation will be in heaven. Father protect this church. Guard this church against false teaching and false teachers. Guard this church and may we as your children do our job of knowing the truth and teaching the truth and recognizing falsehood. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. This is our time of silence and solitude that you would reflect upon what you have heard this morning through the preaching of God's word. As I say every week, if you have a question about the gospel, if you're unsure of your salvation and you need to talk to somebody, I'll be available if you want to speak with me after the service. In a few minutes, we'll have our closing benediction. We'll be dismissed, and I encourage you to attend one of the three groups concerning the statement of faith that we're about to study. Let's spend some time with the Lord right now and meet with Him.