If you would remain standing for the reading of God's word, turn with me to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13, I'll read verses 24 through 30, and then we're going to skip, and I'll read 36 through 43. So Matthew chapter 13, beginning in verse 24. He put another parable before them saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, no. Less than gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. In a harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Now go to verse 36. Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us a parable of the weeds in the field. He answered, The one who sows a good seed is the son of man, the field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out his kingdom, all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. Praise God for his word. Please be seated. This morning as scripture was being read in our call to worship and as songs were being sung, I don't know if you struggled. I did. because I was constantly being reminded by the Word of God and the hymns that we were singing that Christ is to be my greatest treasure, that Christ is to be first and foremost in all of my life, and I struggled singing that because that's not always the case. What a great privilege we have as the body of Christ to gather together each week to study the Word of God, the very words that He has breathed out for us to know as well as to live by. No matter our spiritual or numerical age, we need a daily intake of God's Word accompanied by meditation as well as prayer. Let us never take for granted this local church in which God has established for His glory Let us continue to have thankful hearts for the Lord, His work, His church. Let us not harden our hearts or live with unbelieving hearts because of what we see in this world. Let us use our gifts to edify this local body. Let us exhort one another with love and patience. Let us obey the word of God, faithfully serving Him. As we continue our study in the parables today, I'll remind you of the twofold purposes of parables. Parables reveal mysteries to the children of God, and parables conceal mysteries from those who are not His. So the parable of the sower revealed that God's children bear good fruit. The gospel is to be spread by us, and when it is proclaimed, different responses will come, some immediate, some over time, but His children will bear good fruit and persevere to the end. If we have new life in Christ, we can, as the people of God, and should, enjoy the Lord, amen? Seeking to please Him with an increasing level of obedience. As we saw last week, some produced 100-fold, others produced 60, and still others produced 30. The truth is God's children love Him, and they have a desire in their heart to please the Lord. Now sure, at different times and different seasons, that desire is gonna increase and that desire is going to decrease based on our personal walk and how we are struggling. But God's children, they view the commands of God, not as a burden, but as a divine blessing, because they get to love the Lord. I don't know if you've thought much about that, but we, as the people of God, we have the opportunity every day to wake up and to love God. So over the span of a Christian life, maturity happens, and good fruit is a byproduct of maturity. Jesus tells another parable today, and as he does, by his grace, may he grant us eyes to see and ears to hear as we look at the parable of the weeds. Point number one, this parable provides a clear focus. a clear focus, Matthew 13 verse 24. He put another parable before them saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. So today's parable, the parable of the weeds, it begins an important focus that the rest of the parables in Matthew 13 will focus on, a clear focus on the kingdom of heaven, a clear focus on the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parable of hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the net, they all have the words, the kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is like. So there's a clear focus upon the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, they are one and the same. The same location, the same subject, just with different names. The gospel of Matthew alone has already discussed the kingdom of heaven numerous times. Matthew 3 verse 2, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 5 verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5, verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5, 19, therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, they will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Verse 20, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 7, 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Matthew 10, verse seven, and proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 13, 11, to you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. So overall in the gospel of Matthew, we find kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God discussed 37 times. 37 times. This should be a great signal to us that Jesus is all about the kingdom of heaven and God's children should be all about the kingdom of heaven. This is what we should be about. Matthew 1 verse 21, she will bear a son, you shall call his name Jesus, and he will save his people from their sins. So the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, he came to this earth to save sinners. He came to populate the kingdom of heaven. This is what he does when he saves sinners. He's transferring them from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of heaven. He's bringing his children all the way home because they needed salvation. So as the kingdom of heaven is clearly a great focus for Christ and his teachings, it should also be a great focus for us as his children. As the children of God, for us to have a spiritual focus upon the kingdom of heaven, we need a consistent walk with the Lord. We need a daily renewed mind so that our focus and thinking is not upon the things of this world, We need the wisdom and reminder that we get to have a daily relationship with the divine king. So it's not God's fault when our focus is not the kingdom of heaven. It is our fault. It's our fault because we think so much about the things of this world. Our eyes are open to the things of this world. Our mind is processing the things of this world. And if we don't spend time with the Lord, we will not think about the kingdom of heaven. Our relationship with Christ as his image bearers is a relationship of spending time with the divine. So we as children, we get to fellowship with the divine. So our relationship with Christ, that is to be the greatest of all relationships. When our mind is not upon the kingdom of heaven, when our mind is not upon Christ, that means our greatest relationship at that point is not with Christ, it's with the things of this world. So may the Lord help us to have a clear focus today and in the upcoming weeks, specifically upon the kingdom of heaven, because that's all that Christ is speaking about. May he bring about lasting change in your life and this church. May our minds and eyes be upon his kingdom and not the temporary fading kingdoms of this world. Maybe a good starting point for us this morning would be asking ourselves the question, how often do I think about the kingdom of heaven? How often does our thinking of the kingdom of heaven cause us to please the Lord in this life? Because it's not just hearing God's word, it's also obeying God's word. So we have a clear focus. Point number two is a clear explanation. Look at Matthew 13 verse 24. So he put another parable before them, saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and they went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? And he said to them, An enemy has done this. So the servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No. Less than gathering the weeds, do you root up the weed also with them? Let both grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. So the Lord is comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man who is sowing good seed in his field. This is a simple comparison with great spiritual and eternal truths. Now skip to verse 36. Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And the disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed, this is the son of man. The field, this is the world. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the clothes of the age and the reapers are angels. So as Jesus spoke this parable, the crowd listened, but not even his disciples understood what he was saying. They needed clarity of what was being told, and Jesus, he helped them understand. His clear explanation, and I love it, it's very simple and to the point, the one who sows the good seed, this is the son of man. The field, this is the world. The good seed, they are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds, they are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed the weeds, that is the devil. The harvest, that's the clothes of the age. And the reapers, these are angels. How will it all end? Jesus tells us that too, verse 40. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The son of man will send his angels. They will gather out his kingdom, all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. So the weeds at the end, they're going to be burned in the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now the weeping and gnashing of teeth are those of the unconverted, that is those of the lost. And the reason that they're weeping and they're gnashing their teeth is because they hate God. And they will always hate God. The sons of the kingdom, the righteous, what happens to them at the end? They will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. What a glorious picture. That God's children will shine like the sun. And they will be with Him in His kingdom forever. So with this great explanation, Jesus provided a clear understanding of what will happen at the close of the age. So Jesus has given a clear focus on the kingdom of heaven, as well as a clear explanation of the parable of the weeds. In the remainder of our time, we're gonna focus on a clear orthopraxy. A clear orthopraxy. Now let me define orthopraxy for us. It's the correct practice or application of a correct biblical belief. The correct practice or application of a correct biblical belief. In other words, we are called to have a correct belief, orthodoxy, and a correct practice, orthopraxy. So you have orthodoxy and orthopraxy. So the Lord calls us not just to know His Word, but we are called to know the Word and to live by it, right? Now, most of the time in the Christian life, you and I don't struggle with doctrine and understanding doctrine. Most of the time in this Christian life, we struggle moving this doctrine over to our practice. We know what we should be doing, but we fail to do it and we sin. Or we struggle understanding how do we make this a reality in my life? And we struggle moving this truth over to practice in our life. If you don't struggle with that, we should probably have a conversation because I need some help in some different areas of my own life. So find me after service. James 1, verse 19. He says, know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. For everyone is a hearer of the word, not a doer. He's like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. He looks away and he goes away and once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. So the Lord calls us to not just know his word, but to live according to it. Hearing only what God has said, that is not our calling. We are called to hear and obey. We go to his word to know him, to know his commands, to know his truth, and we enjoy him, and we respond by living to the praise of his glory. Is there pain in that? You better believe there's pain in that. There is struggle in that. There is a fight in that. We're in a spiritual war. Your flesh wants to do one thing, your spirit wants to do another. Like, you are struggling because there is a constant war and friction going on in this life. Even Paul himself said, the things I don't wanna do, I do. And the things I want to do, I don't do. Wretched man that I am. And Paul said that as a Christian. He said that as the apostle Paul, there was a massive struggle that he was constantly fighting. The flesh was battling the spirit of God. We are in a war. So we go to the Word to know the Word, to know His commands, to know His truth, and we enjoy Him, absolutely, but we respond by living to the praise of His glory. We respond by applying the truth that we have gone to the Word to know. So we strive to have correct beliefs based upon the scriptures, correct thinking, as well as correct living. It's a practice of following the truth and not just knowing it. For most of us in this room, I could probably pull out an area of doctrine and ask you a blank question, as you could me, and we could give a really sound response. If not, you can pull up ChatGBT, and it'll do that for you. You put in some parameters. and some things will flow out. What our struggle is, we don't think about a truth long enough, we don't meditate upon a truth long enough, our mind isn't full of that truth, we know the truth, and then we struggle to apply it, because honestly, that truth is probably not that important compared to the other things in our life. The spiritual truths that we learn in this parable need to be known by us as well as applied by us. It's a practice of following the truth. And you may be thinking, well, I've got this one practice figured out. Great, you might have it figured out this year and next year, you don't have a clue. You will struggle with it. So he says, the one who sows the good seed, this is the son of man. So the son of God, the son of man, that is the savior of the world. So Jesus provided the payment for sin, which was himself, his own blood. He left heaven, he put on flesh, and he freely laid down his life on the cross, and he died for his children. And he faithfully applies salvation to those that he came to save. So the sower of good seed is Christ, the son of man, and the Lord is sowing good seeds. If you've been born again, you are so because of what Christ has done and what Christ has accomplished in your life. The field, this is the world. The world belongs to the son of man. Matthew 13 verse 38, the field is the world. So Satan is absolutely the prince of the power of the air, but he does not own the world, God owns the world. And for Satan to do anything in God's world, he must ask God's permission. The Lord created it and it is his. Concerning Christ out of Colossians chapter one, he, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. So the field is the world, the good seed. They are the sons of the kingdom. God is sowing good seed. God is saving his children, Jews and Gentiles. God is sowing good seed in his field, in his world. So the son of man is sowing good seed. He is building his worldwide kingdom. Revelation seven, verse nine. After this, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the land clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. God is growing his kingdom. He is growing his kingdom. The weeds, they are the sons of the evil one. So in the field, in this world, there are good seeds and there are weeds. There are God's children and there are those who are the devil's children. Matthew 13 verse 25, If you remember in the parable, After a while of growth was happening in the field, his servants came back and told his master, master, you sowed good seed, right? There's weeds everywhere. So even among the good seed, there are false believers. Even among God's children, there are children of the devil. And they are growing weeds among the good seed. And these weeds have fooled the fold. They are great actors who play the part, and they cause many problems and divisions. The enemy who sowed the weeds. This is the devil. The son of man only spreads good seed. Weeds are the work of the enemy, the devil. Christ is growing his kingdom, but the devil is also growing his. The harvest. The harvest. This is the close of the age, it says. Matthew 13, verse 30. Let both grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, bind them in the bundles to be burned, but gather the weed into my barn. And then Jesus explained this in verse 39. The harvest is the close of the age. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. So there are weeds in this world as well as among the visible church, but come harvest time, there will be a great separation. The reapers, The reapers, these are angels. The Son of Man will send his angels for two great purposes. Two great purposes. Purpose one, to gather all the weeds and cast them out. To gather all the weeds and cast them out. And purpose two, to gather his children and bring them into the kingdom of heaven. This is where every Christian should say amen. That is beautiful. that God's going to send his angels and gather his children and we're going to spend forever in the kingdom of heaven. At the end of time, eternities will be set. Look at verse 41 from Matthew 13. The Son of Man will send his angels They will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin, all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. So the weeds at the end, they will burn in the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, while the sons of the kingdom, the righteous, they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. So when it is harvest time, at the end of time, all will be gathered and they will be filtered into one of two places. Unbelievers, the lawbreakers, they will be bound and thrown into the fiery furnace. Believers, the righteous, they will enter the Father's kingdom where they will shine like the sun. There is a time coming in which time will stop and this world will be no more. Living life will be over, God will separate the weeds and the good seeds, and this separation will be permanent, it will be everlasting, it will be eternal. God's children will shine like the sun, and the devil's children will suffer for all of eternity. There's weeping, there's gnashing of teeth, there's isolation, there is darkness, there is fire. The orthopraxy is this. The orthopraxy is this. Number one, Christ will apply salvation to his children. There is great joy in having this knowledge, and it should cause us to give thanks to the Lord daily. Christ will apply salvation to his children. Salvation will go to every tribe, tongue, language, and people. We have that promise. Heaven will make up every tribe, tongue, language, and people. Number two, right now the Visible Church consists of believers and unbelievers. Now let me explain what I mean by Visible Church. The Visible Church, this refers to those who are members of a local Bible-believing church. Members include the saved as well as the not saved. And every generation, and this generation, there are those who proclaim Christ, and they may even be behind the pulpit, or they may be a deacon, or they may be a church member, they may be someone who's an original in a church, has planted a church, they may be a Christian author who says that they are saved, and over a period of time, you realize they were never saved to begin with. That's what you find in a visible church. The invisible church, The invisible church refers to only souls who are truly saved. That's the invisible church. Augustine declared, the church in the world is always a corpus per mixtum, which simply means the church in this world is always a mixed body. The church is a mixed body on earth. The visible church consists of believers and unbelievers. This should cause us as a people of God to not only keep a close watch on our own life, but to keep a close watch on those lives in this church. We should care for one another, know one another's spiritual journey, as well as their present struggles. So right now the visible church consists of believers and unbelievers. Orthopraxy three, a great separation is coming. A great separation is coming. 1 Samuel 16, verse seven. For Yahweh sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks on the heart. So the Lord cannot be fooled. You can have everybody else fooled, just like there are people in every generation who have everybody fooled. I remember as a young youth pastor, there was people that I naturally gravitated to because of their passion and their love that seemed to be for the Lord. And over a period of time, you realize they really didn't love the one true living God. And their fall was great. But the Lord cannot be fooled because he doesn't look at the outward appearances. He doesn't look at the words that you're voicing. He doesn't look at the job that you do. He doesn't look at who you are in front of everybody else. He looks straight at your heart and he knows your heart. The visible church may be mixed. The kingdom of God is not mixed. The kingdom of God is not mixed. A great separation is coming. Number four, the kingdom of heaven is good, perfect, absent of pain, sin, and death. This is why God's children long for the kingdom of heaven. Revelation 21, four, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Who will do that? Who will wipe away your tears? Christ. Death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away. Christ is making all things new. The kingdom that the Lord's children will enter will never ever change because the kingdom of God is not mixed. It will be forever perfect when they enter and it will remain that way for all of eternity. Something that you and I do not understand because so many things in this world change and are ending. Number five, the kingdom of heaven will forever stand and the enemy will fail. I love saying the enemy will fail. Matthew 16, 18, I tell you, you are Peter on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Christ is King. He has divine authority. His church, His church is forever. Why? Because His kingdom is divine. He is divine. He has all authority and no one rivals the Lord. The devil's kingdom, there's already preparation for that. It's called hell. And it was prepared for the devil and his angels and all who follow the devil. Number six, the kingdom of heaven is the eternal home for his children with Jesus Christ. One of the things that bothers me the longer I live is so many people talk about heaven, but they don't mention that Christ is there. We have a problem if we're constantly speaking about heaven and Christ is not the center of heaven. Revelation 21, two and three. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. You see? The bride is for who? The husband, Christ. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Believers, we will dwell with Christ. So doing a quick review of the six, number one, Christ will apply salvation to his children. There is great joy in having knowledge, this knowledge, and it should cause us to give thanks to God. How thankful are you to the Lord? Have you been thankful the past seven days for your salvation? Have you been thankful for what Christ has done in your life? Have you been thankful for all the promises that God has given to you? Are you reminding yourself daily of what God has done? If you're not, that's a good sign that you need to spend time with the Lord and you need to unplug from the things of this world. Number two, right now the visible church consists of believers as well as unbelievers. Are you keeping a close watch on your life? Before the Apostle Paul passed away, he told a young Timothy, keep a close watch on your life as well as your doctrine. Are you keeping a close watch on your life? Let's go a step further. Are you keeping a close watch on the souls in this room? God adopted you into a family, did he not? Your brothers and sisters in Christ, are you keeping a close watch not only on you, are you keeping a close watch on the lives of those in your home, and are you keeping a close watch on those in this room? Because right now the visible church consists of believers and unbelievers. There is a great reaping that is coming. Number three, a great separation is coming. Are you ready for that separation? Are you ready to give an account to the Lord for your life as well as those to whom the Lord has entrusted to you? And here's a reminder during this separation. Man is not the judge at the separation. God is the judge at the separation. So base your readiness upon standing before the Lord. Do not base your readiness based on you standing before man. You're standing before the Lord, are you ready? Number four, the kingdom of heaven is good, perfect, absolute pain, sin, and death. You're only ready for heaven when you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's the only time that you're ready for heaven. And those who are ready for heaven, they bear fruit because they're living their life for the Lord. Those who constantly talk about heaven without mentioning Christ, they love the idea of heaven, but that means they don't love Christ. Number five, the kingdom of heaven will forever stand and the enemy will fail. Heaven is eternally secure. God's enemies and your enemies, my enemies, they will suffer. We should rest in that good news. So often we want justice here. We want justice now. We want things to happen on our timetable. Jesus will take care of everything. Look at it this way. Look at when the Lord saved you. You brought nothing to the table. He rescued you. He's gonna come back, he's gonna gather his children, and he's gonna take care of everything his way and his timing. We should just trust him. The king of heaven will forever stand, and the enemy will fail. But yeah, it seems so much like the enemy is winning right now. Okay? But we know the end. You may think the enemy is winning. Do you not think the Lord is wiser than the enemy? Do you not think the Lord knows what he's doing? His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. So much of how we have grown and matured as Christians, it would not have happened according to your ways. It didn't happen that way. It happened differently. It wasn't your plan. It wasn't your thought. The kingdom of heaven will forever stand, and the enemy will fall. Number six, the kingdom of heaven is the eternal home for his children with Jesus Christ. God's children, you will dwell with Christ forever. The remaining of these parables in this chapter, they're all talking about the kingdom of heaven, and they're all talking about Christ as the treasure. that we go and sell everything that we had to go buy this field to find this treasure. And the idea is Christ should be our greatest treasure above all things. The kingdom of heaven is the eternal home for his children with Christ. Our trials, our hardships, our suffering that even is happening right now, we need to understand heaven is coming, which means we will spend forever with Christ and those things will be no more. The Lord knows your heart. He knows His children, and He knows those who are not His. I implore you, call on Christ if you're not saved. If you don't have Christ, there's nowhere else for you to go but to go to Christ. There is no other payment for your sin. You know that you are wretched. God's law is written on your heart. Have you fallen short? Yes. Have you lied? Yes. You're not standing before a man, you're standing before God. before a holy and righteous judge. At this very moment, if you don't belong to Christ, He is being gracious to you by allowing you to live because you are His enemy. Even right now, He is being gracious. Turn from your sins and trust in Christ while there is still time. Because the truth for all of us this morning is a great separation is coming. Are you ready for that separation? Are you satisfied with how you are living your life to the praise of God's glory? Or do you find so many things in which you want to change for the glory of God and the kingdom of heaven? That is our application. Those are our things for us to be thinking about. How am I living? Is God satisfied with how I am living? Is my orthodoxy, my correct biblical belief, actually transferring over to my orthopraxy, the application of my life? I constantly hear individuals saying, well, I don't see if that really matters that much. Or individuals might say, well, I don't think there's really any application for that in my life. Dearly beloved, everything you find in scripture, there's great application in the here and the now for you. Everything. Everything matters. It is all important. Because a great separation is coming. The question is, are you and I ready for that? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. Lord, we come before you saying we need your help. Even examining our own life, examining our schedules, examining our great loves and our pursuits, Lord, we need your help to determine what is godly and what is not. Lord, we need help in having priorities that please you. We need help managing our time. We need help managing our money. We need help managing every area of our life as fathers and mothers, as husbands and wives. Lord, we need your help. We need a mind that is focused upon the kingdom of heaven. We need a mind that remembers that a great separation is coming. Lord, help us. Thank you for sending Christ. Thank you for populating the kingdom of heaven. You did not need us. Thank you for all your promises. Help us, Lord, to rest in who you are and to rest in your promises. It's in the name of Jesus Christ we pray and ask all these things. Amen.