Well, I trust you have your Bibles with you this morning. Once again, you'll reach for them and open to two texts as has been our practice these past few weeks. Matthew, Chapter 24 and the Book of Revelation, Chapter six. When will these things happen? The disciples asked our Lord in Matthew 24, and we are pausing to consider his answer and the subsequent detail given by John's vision, as well as the rest of the testimony of Scripture. One source lists the nine most common phobias among people. Fears is another way of addressing these. Tied for first, not surprisingly, is bugs, mice, snakes and bats. pointed out that bugs would include spiders. That's for my oldest daughter. She would find herself at the top of that list, afraid of spiders. Other things people are afraid of. It's interesting, isn't it? Heights, water, public transportation, storms, closed spaces, tunnels and bridges, crowds and speaking in public. Phobias. Fears, unusual reactions to ordinary circumstances or sometimes overt reactions to extraordinary circumstances. But this is considered a phobia when it becomes an unhealthy fear. I wonder this morning, what are you afraid of? Most all of us have fears, there's plenty of fears to go around, some legitimate, some not legitimate. I find that the problem is not that people don't fear. I find the problem is that people don't fear the right thing. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 31, it is a terrifying thing. It is a thing worthy to be frightened of, it is a frightening, horrible, terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And we should remember the context of which this verse was penned. We looked at that context actually last week. The previous verse says, For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine. I will repay. This isn't talking about the fear of God that we like to kind of couch in the in the attitude of reverence and awe. And we like to soft sell the fear of Scripture. But this is fear. This is the terrible thing of falling into the hands of a holy God as he responds to his promise to avenge sin. There's a lot of reason to fear in the response of God's vengeance, in the response of a living, almighty, powerful God. Or we could simply deny the reality that a loving, gracious God could be capable of horrific vengeance. It's very popular to do that. It's very popular just to deny that that is a part of the nature and character of God. Well, reputed professor of theology and a noted evangelical scholar, Clark Pinnock, concerning the vengeance of God, writes this. How can Christians possibly project a deity of such cruelty and vindictiveness whose ways include inflicting torture upon his creatures, however sinful they may have been. Surely a God who would do such a thing is more nearly like Satan than like God, at least by ordinary moral standards. And I submit by the gospel itself in quote. Well, that's one approach I guess we could take. We could just deny that a loving, compassionate, the God of the gospel of grace is capable of doing anything. truly to be feared in the context of vengeance. But we saw last week that the reality of a holy God who will, on behalf of His own children, be moved to set things right, to finally and fully judge sin, is the reality of Scripture. There is that powerful prayer, we saw it last week, the prayer of the saints, begging for God. to enact vengeance. That was, we saw last week, the fifth seal. It was opened and that seal was the prayer of the saints, begging God, how long, O Lord, will you wait until you enact vengeance? Let's take just a quick minute here and review where we are. We're studying the seven seals. We are studying this scroll. And we've already established that this scroll is the title deed of the universe. John had a vision in heaven, and this scroll was in God's hand. He was seated on the throne. He handed it to the Lamb, the only one who was worthy to open that scroll. And we've identified that as the title deed of the universe, containing not the specifics of the universe or the details of the owner of the universe, but rather the details of how that universe will be taken back by its rightful owner. And we are opening those seals one by one. The Lamb is opening the seals, Christ is bringing about that redemption of God's creation. The first seal that was opened was peace. There was this attitude, this temperature of peace that that will prevail during the seven year tribulation period. It starts on a very soft note. False Christ. abound, and even the Antichrist himself will lead the world to peace. And in particular, there will be a peace extended, we know, to national Israel. They'll be welcomed again back into their homeland. Worship again can be established there in the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem. And so peace prevails, but only for a brief season because the second seal is opened and the force, the power of war moves quickly across the globe. Conflicts break out, most would agree, orchestrated by that world ruler, the Antichrist. He's protecting Israel. He has that peace treaty with Israel at the beginning, and he'll guard that peace in the Middle East and probably at the expense even of the other battles and the other wars that are breaking out. It's described as a war of global conflict, and it ushered in the third seal, which was famine. Famine as a result of the war, the supply chains are broken. Famine as a result of people being marshaled to fight. Famine as a result of the devastation of this global conflict. And then the fourth seal death, overwhelming death, overpowering death, pervasive death to the degree the Bible tells us 25 percent of the population of the earth will die. The war has brought it about. The famines have brought it about and included in that fourth seal we know were diseases and pestilences. And our Lord points in Matthew 24 to natural disasters, cataclysmic events, all bringing about this wholesale death. And then the fifth seal was opened and the fifth seal was the prayers of the saints under the altar in heaven. Those saints who had died for their testimony during that seven year tribulation at the beginning of that time. Yes, there was that peace in Israel, that peace guarded even by the world ruler. But but people need to blame somebody for these conflicts. We need to blame somebody for the famine, somebody for the devastation. We got to blame somebody for all of this death. And God's children have always been a worthy scapegoat. Let's just blame them. And that force, we know that force of prayer carried us through the midpoint of the tribulation where our Lord pointed out, Matthew 24, 15, that the treaty will be broken. The world ruler will realize that global peace is greater advantage to him than some minute peace in the Middle East. And so he'll set himself up in that temple and the Jews, God's people, will be excommunicated, as it were, from that house of worship. And then our Lord said the real trouble comes, the real great tribulation, the likes of which have never been known. That's where we are. That's where we are this morning as we arrive at the sixth seal. There's been incredible, incredible devastation already. Now, I have a question for you. What do you think will be the attitude of people by this time, past the midpoint, past the peace, the war, the famine, the death? What would be the attitude of the people? This is the time of Jacob's trouble, the Old Testament calls it. Antichrist now has established himself well as a world ruler. We'll see that in the future studies of Revelation. And now when he breaks that peace and ushers in maybe a hush around the world, he's working on the world's behalf, he's quieting God's people. What do you think the attitude will be? Fear? You think people will be afraid having lived through three and a half years of such horror and devastation? I wonder what the attitude would be and the Bible tells us. So you're open in Matthew 24. I want you to look at what the attitude of the people is. Look at verse 37 of Matthew 24. Jesus says. We've had war, we've had famine, we've had disease, we've had earthquakes, we've had natural disasters, we've had widespread death. Verse 37, the coming of the Son of Man, will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. And they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. This is really incredible to relate to. And our Lord gives us this illustration for our purpose, for our understanding. We've often heard it'll be like it was in the days of Noah. And our mind switches there. The time of sin and debauchery. And the time of wholesale immorality. The time when Scripture says God wouldn't always strive with man. And He would be sorry even, the Bible says, that He had created man. Well, that's one element of the time of Noah. But our Lord seems to be pointing to a different element of the time of Noah. Right up until the moment of the devastation of the world being swept away by the flood, the attitude of the people is what? Life is normal. Life just goes on. We're marrying and we're giving away in marriage. It's a time of eating and drinking, of celebration. Life is normal. Normal? Global wars, famine, devastation, 25% of the population of the earth gone and this is normal? Well, some might admit, not necessarily normal, but You have to admit, right, that that first piece was brought in by man. And the global conflicts, well, they're always man's fault. You know, somebody couldn't get along with somebody else. Men have always fought. And of course, because of the global conflict, well, we have famine. That's just the offshoot of the global conflict and that famine and that war and all the other things, like maybe an earthquake here and there or some natural disaster. Well, sure, they're bringing about death. That's what happens. But Beyond that, I mean, I'm still alive. I have been affected. Do we think that way? We think that we think that way today. You know, today our nation issues warnings and we've got all different colors. I mean, take the time to learn the colors. I wouldn't know if we're supposed to be afraid or not, would you? Oh, I'm going to impact me. It's not going to affect me. It's always somebody else that it affects. And this is the attitude right up until this moment, right through the fifth seal. Oh, let's just blame it on Israel. Let's blame it on God's people. But any real impact to me? No, no, not likely. And don't miss this. All of these events can be attributed to man. Man did it. So I can imagine discussions like we have today. Do we have a global famine problem? They would say in the tribulation. Sure, we do. What do we need to do? Increase spending on global famine, right? I mean, increase the budget for national defense and international defense. We need to fully fund the United Nations so they can do a better job at keeping the peace. These are the discussions. This is the attitude. Life is just normal. Peter talked about this attitude. Look with me at Second Peter, chapter three. Turn in your Bibles there. And again, I understand Matthew 24, Revelation six. Please add to that. Second Peter, chapter three. Just look at this text. It's an important one. Peter said, here's the attitude. Chapter 3, 2 Peter, verse 3. Know this, first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of His coming? All this talk about the end of the world, where is that? For ever since the Father fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. It's just normal. Now remember, they have been warned Because we'll see. And we've tried to kind of always dovetail this together. There are Christians who have responded to the gospel at the beginning of the tribulation period there. is we'll see next week in Revelation 7, the 144,000 faithful, godly, born-again Jews who become the messengers of the Gospel. Missionaries to reach the world. We're going to have two witnesses that God brings back supernaturally. And they're proclaiming the Gospel. There's an angel in the heavens who proclaims the Gospel to every man at every time. And the warnings are going out. The warnings are going out. Hey, can't you see what's happening here? Peace, then war, then famine, then death. It's right here in Scripture. The Bible says knowledge will increase. They're being warned. They're being warned. They're being warned. But they say, where is all of this talk going? What's up with that deal? No, no, no. This is just man doing what man does. And back in Matthew 24, notice what it said. They were doing that, eating and drinking, right up until the flood. Right up until the moment that they were swept away. A constant denial of the warnings. And they had warnings then, too, didn't they? For 120 years, Noah warned them. And they wouldn't listen. They wouldn't listen. Right up until the moment when it was, what? Too late to listen. Too late to listen. It's kind of a gripping verse. Verse 39 of Matthew 24. They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. They did not understand Beloved, until it was too late, it was too late. This is the attitude that will be at this point of the tribulation, what point of the tribulation at the end of the fifth seal, the attitude will be it's all right. But now we arrived at the sixth seal and the attitude will change. Look with me at Revelation, chapter six, verse 12, and let's watch as the lamb breaks open the sixth seal. I looked when he broke the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then The kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come. And who is able to stand? Well, ladies and gentlemen, things are definitely not normal now. No, there's no way that you can just explain this away. Yeah, peace can be at the hand of man. So can war. So can famine. So can those natural disasters just be the way the planet is evolving. But you cannot take the wrath of God in response to the prayer for vengeance that is poured out in this sixth seal and explain it in human terms. It can't be done. Our Lord has already said, this is the likes of which has never happened. And that has never happened includes, well, great events that have happened, like supernatural creation and miracles and axes floating on water and our Lord walking on water and the dead being raised and judgments even coming down from heaven against Sodom and Gomorrah and against the people of Egypt. Great events have happened, but God says, our Lord says, nothing has ever happened like will happen Here you see, God begins to move. He begins to move to bring about swift judgment. His wrath has been kindled. And folks, it is frightening. It is frightening. Now, as I said, there's no way we can describe this in human terms, but it does help us, I think, to get some commentary on the detail. We will fall far short, but let's try Revelation chapter six, verse 12. Look at it again. He broke that sixth seal and there was a great earthquake. Well, folks, it all starts with shaking. By the way, it's important to note in the Greek that is simply one word and it is seismos. It means to quake or to shake. The word earth is not there in the Greek. It's a bad rendering in your English New Testament. No, this is a wholesale shaking. This isn't just the earth shaking. Everything is shaking. Everything is shaking, the earth is shaking, the heavens are shaking. This is a universal upheaval that begins the judgment and wrath of God. The prophet Haggai wrote of this. He said, For thus says the Lord of hosts, once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. This is a shaking, beloved, the likes of which has never been seen. Everything is moving. Every time I study this text, every time I teach this text, I'm reminded of an illustration, and some of you have had a shared illustration, perhaps, or shared example like this of deep sea fishing with some men from the church. We did that a couple of years in a row in a row, and we had one gentleman who spent the nine hours on the boat with us and never got a hook in the water because his world wouldn't sit still, right? Everything was moving. And you can't stop it. That is a horrible sickness. If you've ever had that, the only way to to get the sickness to go away is to get on dry land and let things stand still. But nothing is standing still here. Everything is moving. Everything is shaking. It's a violent quake. Even if it was only on the earth, we know from our own geological understanding, the earth's plates would shift. under such a violent shaking. Volcanic upheavals would be common. The ecosystem would be devastated under such a shaking. Gas and smoke and lava would pour out. This would be unimaginable. And again, we only have snippets of understanding here because we can't put this into some historical understanding only by way of some example to press us into a greater fear. The heavens are shaking and then it says, look at the rest of that verse, the sun and the moon become altered. The sun becomes black and the moon becomes like blood. What does that mean? Well, we don't know what that means. Some have surmised that the shaking has brought out the volcanic activity and the ash and the soot has risen to the degree that is blackened out the sun. And clearly that could be an explanation. Whatever happens, however, will be something like as which never has happened before. a blackness that again seeks to devastate this creation as we know it. Things are being altered as the universe is being shaken. And notice the language. Some of you have learned from years past as a child, even that the moon would turn to blood. Much like today, the moon is cheese. Well, the moon is not cheese today and the Bible doesn't say it will turn to blood. It will be like blood. It's descriptive language and very important. We were taking a literal approach to our understanding of revelation, granting figures of speech where figures of speech are appropriate. And most of the time, John just tells you this is a figure of speech. It's like unto blood. It looks like that. And again, we can't describe it. Some have surmised, however, that again, the volcanic activity because of the shaking of the earth. would share in an understanding of all of this because of the fires and the lava and the red clouds. And that would form a different reflection of the moon than the reflection that we get now, which is of the sun reflecting our light from the moon. We just don't know, but understand what we do know about geological upheavals is enough to frighten us. And it gets worse, look at verse 13. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth. Like a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. Well, the heavens were shaken, Haggai said, and now they're falling. Your English word there is stars, the Greek word is asteros, which can be any heavenly body. And again, we don't know what's falling, but something's falling from the heavens. It might well be stars falling from the heavens. It might well be asteroids. In any effect, it is absolutely devastating. When these heavenly bodies begin to fall to the earth. This is a bit unusual, but if you'll allow me, I think Hollywood has tried to illustrate some of this for us, and I want you to watch just a two minute clip here and we'll kind of get some idea of what it might be like to have such heavenly invaders. Why are we not going? Well, you know why? Because this is New York City. Anything can happen. Listen to that. Uh, let me see. Could have been a terrorist bomb. Could have been a dead body. Somebody shot there. And there's probably a payday, too. Somebody probably jumped. Let me get that pen check. I want to go shopping. Me, too! But we ain't going nowhere, because this is a traffic jam. Little Richard! Hang on, Little Richard! Hang on, Little Richard! I'm coming! Don't you worry about it. We'll get you out of there. You okay, buddy? Don't worry about hanging there. Somebody dial 9-1-1! My screen's full! They're all over the place! Bogeys are breaching the atmosphere from Finland down the North American seaboard. Whoa! Look at that! Hey! We're at war! Son of a bitch! He's bombing us! Well, there was a time, I suppose, when imagining such a catastrophic event would frighten us. Today, we call that entertainment. Probably some measure of joy, even, for those that produce such films. Some satisfaction, some happiness, even, that they could show such special effects. A couple of things I think are interesting about that, and I'll move on off of that, but I think it's always interesting to notice that the animals are never hurt. It's a part of our cultural problem today. We can show devastation to human beings, but the little dog really does need to survive. But beyond that, I love the cab driver. He listed about I counted them yesterday, about 13 reasons that this might be happening, 13 sources of that devastation from Saddam Hussein to somebody not getting their paycheck because it's Friday. And you know what, that's a pretty good indication of the attitude, I think, going into such a travail. But that attitude is going to change. Look back at your scripture. Verse 14, the sky will be split apart like a scroll when it's rolled up and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. First, John says it's as though the sky was split apart and I can sense even and I think we can understand a little bit of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit desiring to communicate to us the unimaginable and the words that we might relate to. And the only thing John can use to describe this is a scroll which is stretched out, unrolled from two directions and the middle splits and it just flaps back on itself on both ends. Whatever he witnessed in the heavens, it looked as though they were rent apart. Everything is being changed. Everything is being devastated. And I want to repeat again, there's no way we can relate to this phenomenon naturally, because this is the supernatural judgment of God. And notice the mountains and the islands are moved every mountain, every island. That's the the extent of the quaking here on this earth. It is global. We'll see later that our Lord, it appears, is bringing about a reconfiguration of this earth back to its pristine original state in the Garden of Eden, which did not include mountains, did not include islands, did not include the sea. Time itself is even going to be affected, and it would be, as we understand our ecosystem, Zachariah wrote of this. He says it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. Time has been altered by this devastation, time as we know it. An important verse, I think, if you still have your finger in Matthew 24, flip over there and I want you to kind of reference this verse in the context of this unique approach to time. In Matthew 24, verse 21, our Lord was talking about this great tribulation. He said, for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved. Even the very elect would have been at risk. Now, clearly, that might just mean that the days are numbered when it will all end. But Scripture also seems to indicate that time itself has been shortened, not to limit the judgment and not to diminish the scope of the devastation, but to protect the elect, to protect God's own who are still alive during the onslaught of this vengeance. We'll see that in much greater detail later on in Revelation. Now, it'll help us to get our bearings real quick. Where are we? You say we're in the sixth seal. You're right. Where are we in the grand picture? We are right at the end, right at the end. You say we got there awfully fast. Well, that's how it happens. We're already at the end. That seventh seal has yet to be opened. But the seventh seal is, by definition, the second coming. And it carries a lot of vengeance. Rapid fire judgments and vengeance all squeezed in. But understand, when the sixth seal has been opened and those devastations have been poured out, we are at the end. And you get that timing again from Matthew 24. Look at verse 29. Our Lord is giving us the chronology. He helped us mark the midpoint with verse 15. Now in verse 29, He marks where we are now. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he'll send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they'll gather together his elect from the four ends, from one end of the sky to the other. Where are we? We're at the end. It's only Revelation chapter six, we've got 14 more chapters to go and he'll come back and add detail, he'll come back and fill in blanks. He wants us to understand it. He wants us, as he said at the beginning of this study, to be blessed by reading and understanding the warnings that are given here. Well, I want to ask my question one more time and then I'll sum it up. I asked earlier, what do you think the attitude of the world is now? at the end of the fifth seal. And we saw what it was. It was indifference. It was passivity. Everything was life as usual. And then God does this. Now, let's see what their attitude is, look at verse 15, Revelation, Chapter six. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slay and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the rocks, excuse me, to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. First of all, meet the people. See the list there? Look at your Bible. The kings of the earth. That's the despots, the monarchs, that network of leadership that undoubtedly the great world leader has established. He then calls to our minds the great men. Most would say that's either the politicians or the entrepreneurs. They're the ones who kind of really make things happen. The commanders are there. That's the military geniuses. That's the joint chief, perhaps, as we relate to it in our country. The rich are there. The money grubbers. The movers and the shakers. The bears and the bulls. The strong are there. The aggressive. The management. The upper level management. The white collar. The slaves are there. The blue collar. The working class. Just in case we missed anybody. The free man. Everybody else. What does it say? It says everybody. That's what it says. Everybody. And in case you think I left anybody out or in case you think somebody deserves a free pass, he gives us the detail of what everybody means. Everybody what? Look at it. Everybody hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They hid. Why did they hide? They hid because they were afraid. That's why they hid. That's why we hide. That's why Adam and Eve hid. That's why little children hide. They're afraid. And as staggering as it is to imagine, they all have one wish in common. Suicide. That's how afraid they are. They're so afraid they hide and they're so afraid there's only one pervasive thought on everybody's mind. I just want to die. They're begging to die. Luke says. Speaking of the same time, many of them literally will be scared to death. Here's what Luke recorded in Luke 21, 25, there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth dismay among the nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men feigning from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I hope you're seeing that this isn't some rare account in Scripture. Closing revelation, refusing to understand it won't help you hide from the wrath of God. It's here, folks. He said it. He said it. He said it. It's going to happen. And notice the phrase, verse 26, men fainting from fear. That word fainting literally means in the Greek drawing their last. Men will be scared to death, literally frightened to death. It's a horrifying thing. And those who don't die from fear, well, they're begging to die, they're begging to die. And notice, please, again, back in the Revelation text, who are they crying out to? Please don't miss this. Who are they crying out to in the midst of this fear? The rocks and the mountains. They're crying out to nature. Because they refuse to submit to the Creator. They've exchanged the truth for a lie. And they worship creation and they will not repent no matter how scared they get. That's their condition. But please don't miss beloved. Now they know. Oh, before it was just the Christians telling them, I'm warning you, I'm warning you, I'm warning you, this is the judgment of God. This is the wrath of God. And they said, quiet, hush, kill those people. But now they know. Now the whole world knows that the Christians were right. This is God doing this, they say. Hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, they say. Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb. Hide us from this great and horrible day of judgment Hide us because nobody is going to survive this vengeance. Hide us. Rocks. Hide us. Mountains. Silent now will be anyone who will deny the wrath of God. And so they beg to die. Why? Why this global call for suicide? I want to tell you why. Because they believe if they die. It will be all over. And they're wrong. Remember, our Lord's words in Luke Chapter 12. I'll warn you whom to fear. Fear the one who after he has killed. has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Be afraid, Jesus said, be very, very afraid. And please don't lose sight, this warning in Luke 12 came from the heart of a loving Lord. He loved people enough to say, I warn you, what you should be afraid of. Listen to me, Christian. The world today is in dismay. Your friends today are in fear. People outside of the Lord today have questions and doubts and discouragement. And with a heart of compassion, we are moved to counsel, aren't we? We do that. And our counsel, well, it's usually like, it'll be all right. God loves you. God's gracious. God will forgive you. Just trust Him. Good counsel. Don't misunderstand me. Good counsel. But not enough counsel. Folks, people who are in fear and dismay, listen, they need more than anything else the grace of God. Amen? But they will never understand the grace of God. Unless they understand the wrath of God against sin. So beloved, when you counsel those who are in dismay, who are discouraged, who are afraid. Please don't stop short of telling them what they really need to be afraid of. And help them to see. That God's judgment. is the final full and complete act of grace. It's what a holy God must do. Folks, that fear is not reverence, no, no, that's fear, real fear. I pray this morning that this brief look at his wrath. Will serve to increase your gratitude. of so great a grace as is ours in Christ. Let's pray together. Oh, God, thank you for saving us from the wrath to come. Father, this is fuel, this is fuel for those who've been charged to go, and that's us. This isn't, this isn't, Father, a text that says, Glad I missed that. This isn't a text that we can say as believers, it's really not applicable to me because I won't be here. No, this is a text that should grip us and move us and engage us in the purpose for which you left us here. To participate in your divine plan to redeem people from the wrath and judgment of God against their sin. Instruct the church today, Father, I pray. Instruct us all. And, Lord, if there's one here today who's afraid, who's truly afraid, may the grace and love that is yours in Christ be ministered to them by your Holy Spirit. And may they come to realize a perfect, whole and complete forgiveness that is found by faith as we trust in him. Thank you, God, for your word. We commit this to our hearts, to your service. For his glory in Christ's name we pray, Amen.