Well this morning, as we look at this, the title of the sermon today is called Shepherd the Flock. And I've really just got two sections, like you just say two points. The first one, verses one through three, would just be serving shepherds, or you could call it under shepherds. And then in verse four, we're gonna look at the chief shepherd. So, talking about shepherding the flock. I want to just back up and give you the context because when he starts, he says, therefore, for for the entire chapter four and even before that in chapter three, we've been looking at Peter's been teaching the church. He's been exhorting. He's been warning them that in a time of suffering, it's going to get worse. He's been teaching us how to suffer. And when he says, therefore, in verse one here, He has just told us that if anyone is to suffer as a Christian, we're not to be ashamed, but in this suffering, we're to glorify God in this name. And that name is the name that we are Christians. And he goes on and he says in verse 19, the last verse of chapter four, he says, therefore, those who also suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right. So when we're going through those sufferings, and like Rodney just gave an exhortation there, when things are not going well for you, where do we go? What do we turn to? And in a time of suffering, a time of persecution, when The church can easily be scattered. We want to draw together in unity, but we want to entrust our souls to God because he's faithful. And then he says this, he says, therefore. And he says, I exhort the elders among you. Now up until this point, we could be looking at everything that we've learned so far, we could be just looking at it as an individual basis. How these individuals were going to suffer and this and that, but now we're gonna try to bring this collective individuals into a body, the church. And when hard times come, so much of where everything is going to fall is going to be on what you'd say is the leadership of the church. Think back, if you will, just to when the coronavirus hit and all of a sudden the world that we knew to be what we called normal, kind of getting, we're close to that, but don't know if we'll ever make it again. But I remember the men of the church calling a meeting and meeting out here and saying, what are we going to do? Now, why did they do that? because people are looking to those that are in leadership, those that are leading. Went through the same thing as Sovereign Grace over in Ada. Everybody's texting, calling, saying, what are we going to do? Are we going to have church? Are we not going to have church? So there's a lot that rides on being a leader in the church, being one of the elders. Now, he says, I exhort the elders among you. I just want to say something. The word elder can mean it can mean older men in the church. And it also can refer to those that are in leadership. And in this context, we're talking about those that are in leadership. Now, the word elder in You go in the book of Acts, in chapter 20, and Paul says he calls them elders, he calls them overseers, those that are watching over the souls of the church. He calls them shepherds there, or he at least gives the description to shepherd the flock of God. Chapter 3, he says, if any man desires to be an elder, I think maybe in the old King James it might say a bishop. The word bishop and overseer is pretty much synonymous with one another. Other places are called pastors. It seems like there's one I'm forgetting right now, but any of those words, any of those names to describe that is talking about the same people. Here in Bowlegs, we would say that I'm the pastor of the church, or you could say the shepherd, or elder, or overseer, or bishop, any of those terms. What it is, it's not that there's all these different things, it's different names given to describe a different function depending on the context of what you're reading at that time. Was that too wordy? I actually thought it made sense in my head, but I feared that it didn't in yours. So just hang with me. The point I'm trying to make is that the elders that he's talking to here is what you would say is the leadership of the church. Another thing I want to point out, just you know, if you can't do nothing else, just stir the thing up. When it always talks about elders, it never speaks in the singular. It's always in a plurality. And so, like when you go to Acts 20, and Paul was at Miletus, and he called for the elders of the church of Ephesus. There was just one church in Ephesus. And he called for the elders. There was more than one. And church, I'm just gonna say this. I remember the very first meeting that I ever came here for, I was asked if I would come over and just visit with the search committee and the deacons, and I said, yeah, that'd be fantastic. And one of the questions they asked me, they said, can you just talk to us about this plurality of elders? And I guess it had been discussed a little bit, and I said, sure. And some of the things I pointed out is this. Oftentimes in a church, when you have just a pastor, The question is, you know, everybody is to be, according to the Word of God, is to be subject their self to the leadership of the church. But who is that man subjecting himself to? Who's he submitted to? Well, you could say the Lord, but everybody could say that, right? Well, one of the things is this. When I began to explain to them how we operated over at Sovereign Grace, I said, not only am I in leadership and I'm one of four elders, I said, but I'm also submitted to three other elders. Those guys that were my co-elders, I also looked to them for guidance, to be held accountable, just counsel at different times. And each one of those felt the same way. So there's always an accountability for everybody. So I'm not gonna belabor that point. If you wanna listen to that, get on Sermon Audio, go to our church page there, And listen to Eric Cross's sermon on the leadership in the church. I'll just be honest. It's one of the absolute best messages I've ever heard on this subject. And I'm not going to cover it the way Eric did today because this isn't the way Peter was writing to us. But he says, I exhort the elders among you. So here's what what Peter's doing. To exhort someone is to give a caution. There's an encouragement there, but there's advice, there's warning. And he's saying, OK, as we're going forward, elders, listen. And then he does this. He identifies with them, he says, as your fellow elders. So he's coming alongside and he's saying, look, to the elders, I'm also an elder. And he says, I want to encourage you. I want to exhort you. in some things here. But then he does this. He gives some qualifications. He says, not only am I an elder, but I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Now, this would even allude to Peter's apostleship. But what he's saying is this, as I'm exhorting you, it's not coming from nothing. He's saying I was there. When Jesus was betrayed, I was there when he was arrested. I was there for the mockery of a trial. I watched him be beaten, slandered, slapped, spit upon, ridiculed, scourged, and crucified. I was an eyewitness to these things. And he's saying, I saw the sufferings of Christ. And not only could Peter talk about that, but he was also a witness in this manner. Peter, in Acts chapter 4, had been threatened. In Acts chapter 5, he had been beaten and jailed. In Acts chapter 12, he was jailed again. Peter knew what it was to be a witness to the sufferings of Christ, just like the church that he's writing to would have been going through. Y'all see what I'm saying? Does that make sense? I hope it does because sometimes I don't make any sense in my head and somebody goes, that was awesome. Today it feels like it's making sense and I have my fears. So the thing of it is, is this. Peter is, he's exhorting them. He's a fellow elder with them. He's been a witness of the sufferings of Christ. But then he gives this encouragement. He says, and also a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. Now, we can look at this in two ways. One of them is this. Peter, if you So like we're in Peter chapter five, if you look at second Peter chapter one, and my Bible's laid out really sweet, it's just right here. If you look at verse 16, look what he says. He says, for we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but listen, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We live in a time when there's many preachers on TV that come up with fantastic stories of going to heaven and seeing God and just different things. And man, God told me to come back and tell y'all I need your money. You hear that a lot. And it's just these incredible stories that they're the only one that was witness to it. But Peter says, we didn't do that. He says, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. What he's talking about is what we call the transfiguration. When Peter and John and James went with Jesus and He was glorified right in their midst, and I mean, so much so, it makes you go to the ground in fear. And Peter goes on and he says, for when He received honor and glory from God the Father, this is verse 17 of 2 Peter 1, He says, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Now, Peter leaves off one thing right here. Don't you hate to be that guy when something important is taking place and you're talking and everybody has to be quiet? Well, Peter was actually talking when that happened. He was wanting to do great things, build tabernacles, And God said, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased, listen to him. It's like Peter, be quiet. Now he didn't, Peter didn't add that here, but if you go to Matthew, it's recorded over there, so. Yeah, you hate it when that happens to you. But here's the thing, not only did Peter see this glory, but he talks about a glory that is to be revealed. And this is what we read about when, in like Matthew chapter 25, and you look down around verse 31, and it says, and when Jesus comes with all the holy angels and all of his glory, and he says, and everybody's gonna be gathered before him, all the nations, And all of those on his right hand, those that are accepted, those that are saved, He's going to say, enter into the joy of the Lord. And you know the passage I'm talking about. I'm not going into all that. And those on the left are going to go into judgment for eternity. And so there's this, listen, even though what I want you to understand today is this, no matter what suffering you're going through right now, whether it's suffering a persecution or like Rodney said, it could be loss of loved ones. We've dealt with that in the past year. It's touched every one of us in this church, some in a very personal way and others in a way that it reached unto you because we're brothers and sisters, one of another. And even if it's that suffering or whether it's going through a sickness or an illness or like Rodney said, it could be financial problems. Church, listen to me. The Bible says that this life is like a vapor. Your life is so quick, it's going to be so short when it's over that it will seem like nothing in eternity. And the glory that is going to be revealed, the glory that is coming to us. Listen, if you've lost loved ones today and they know the Lord, man, just think about that reunion that we'll have when all of God's people are gathered in and just glory, I mean, just perfection. I mean, where there's no more pain, there's no sorrow, there's none of these things. And so what Peter's doing here is he's trying to encourage them as the elders, he's getting ready to give exhortation and instruction to them. But what he's doing, he's saying, look, I'm like you, I'm also an elder. And I've been an eyewitness of these sufferings. And what Peter's really saying is this, no matter what we're going through, Jesus is worthy of it. For his glory and his namesake, he is worth anything that we would have to go through. So we get to verse two, and he says to the elders, he says, shepherd the flock of God among you. I want to turn over and read in Acts 20 because this is a pretty good detailed account. Paul is never going to see them face to face again. He comes to Miletus and he sends to Ephesus and he calls to the elders of the church to come to him. And I'll pick up in verse 18, it says, And when they had come to him, he said to them, You yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of the Jews. You see, Paul's saying, look, in all this stuff, I'm going, I'm suffering, I'm dealing with things. And he says, I want you to know, he says, I did not shrink back from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house. Paul was giving them everything that God had declared to him. He wasn't holding anything back. Why? Because he wanted to see the church grow, not just numerically, but he wanted to start with you on the inside. That we would grow individually, and as we grow individually, that we grow corporately. And when we do that, then we see the numbers start growing in that. We don't want numbers just for numbers sake, church. We want numbers because God is saving and sanctifying lost sinners. But he goes on here and he says this. He says in verse 21, he says, I'm solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions await me. What would your life be like if you knew right now that if you were told by the Lord, if you go to such and such place and I'm sending you there, this is what's awaiting you. See, a lot of times we think we want to know the future, don't we? I think it's best just to trust that God knows exactly what he's in. It goes back to that entrusting our soul to a faithful creator. If God's leading you into a fire of affliction, then he's leading, he's there, he's with you, he's our comfort. Okay, so he says this. In verse 24, but look what he says, he says, Paul's saying, if I die for the Lord, I don't count my life as anything, but he is everything. I'm nothing and he's everything. So if I die for his namesake, praise and grace to God, glory to God. But listen to what he says, and now behold, this is verse 25, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face. That's tough, isn't it? The man that has discipled you, had mentored, taught you, suffered, I mean, was the example, and he's saying, you're not gonna see me anymore. And he says, therefore, I testify to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all men. I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Then he says this. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock. You elders be on guard, you be watching, you're constantly as a guardian. He said, among which the Holy Spirit has made you what? Overseers. You're not only to be on guard, but you're to be watching over. Listen, I can promise you this. I think sometimes there's a romance of what is perceived as the glory of being a pastor or an elder. I can tell you from much experience, that really goes out the window pretty fast. You begin to find out that there isn't this glory thing as far as like, wow, I mean, I've heard people say, yeah, the pastor, he did that because he just don't want to work or do this. I wish I could transfer to you sometimes the difficulties that come along with it. and guarding, and overseeing, and watching over. Because I can promise you this, if you think that everybody's just always like, hey, whatever he says is good, it's not always that way. It's not. And so it can be a difficult path to take. And that's why there's a calling upon a man that would do this. But he says he's made you overseers. And then he says to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. You see, to be an elder, to be a pastor, an overseer, a shepherd, you're to You're to guard, you're to watch over, you're to protect. You say, well, that's guarding. No, guarding is making sure, protecting is when the attack is on, that you'll be right there in the front of the battle. You are to provide, you are to feed. Primarily, a pastor's main job is to feed the sheep. It is to be in prayer. It is to be preaching the word of God as it ought to be preached. It is to try to teach, to equip, to build up. And in that, we are protecting, guarding, watching over. Now, before you panic, he's going to describe that back over here in First Peter. But let me finish this. He says, here's why. Now, remember, this is his church that he purchased with his own blood. And he says to do these things because he says in verse 29, I know that after my departure. Savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Listen to this, and from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Even amongst a body of elders, we see this happen at times, where one will rise up and then there's this tension and this division amongst the leadership, and one will rise up to try to draw away disciples. It's not always just in the elders, it could be right there in the congregation. But he's saying these are the things you need to be guarding against, watching over, protecting from, caring for the sheep. And then he says, therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Paul knew, he knew the dangers that were out there. So we come back over here to 1 Peter chapter 5. He says, shepherd the flock of God among you. Now here's what he says. He says, exercising oversight. This is the overseer, this is the watching over. So they're to exercise oversight, he says, not under compulsion. If you have to force your pastor to be the pastor because he's lazy, because he's not willing to do the job that he's being called to do, he probably shouldn't have been called in the first place, should he? He says, look, I want you to take this oversight. I want you to, if God has given you that gift, then exercise that gift. Church, let me say this just real quick about whatever God has gifted you with. If you will exercise that gift, you will find a joy that is really, it's unspeakable, because it's the gift that God has gave you to do. And I can promise you, not everybody's been gifted to lead, and nor should they have been, because it's just not God's plan that way. But if He has called you to lead, if He's calling you to lead, know this is the way to do it. It is not some just lay down, be lazy. I worked my tail off this week just trying to get some things together for Reformation Day, things of just historical significance and stuff. I'm not a writer. It kills me. It kills my brain, my fingers, everything. But you have to stay the course. You have to apply yourself. It's just, I would rather just talk, you know? Somebody recorded, I guess, I don't know. So look, he says, I want you to exercise oversight, but not by compulsion. You're not to be forced to have to do it. He says, but I want you to do it voluntarily. I want it to be in you that you want to do this, that it's a desire to do this. And then he says, and that, that voluntary, according to the will of God. The will of God, what does that mean? It means to do it according to what God has instructed us. What does the scripture, how does he tell us to do these things? We've seen abuses amongst leadership more times than we would even want to count in churches possibly here, other churches. I mean, there's been these abuses and sometimes it may not exactly been intentional on the guy, the pastor of the church, but nonetheless, it was an abuse. It happens. But that's what Peter's trying to exhort here. He's trying to warn against. He says, he's given this advice, this encouragement, but he's saying, be careful how you do it. You need to do these things according to the will of God. This is exactly why we have qualifications in scripture of who to call. It starts with a desire. He says if a man desires this work, he desires a good thing. There's going to be a desire. There's not only going to be that, but there's going to be the church body is going to see this. in the men that are called to this. They're gonna see it long before that they become that. They're going to see that this work, this gifting is in them. So there's gonna be this internal witness, there's gonna be an external witness to these things. But know this, that when we are exercising oversight, it's not to be forced, but it's voluntary and according to the will of God. Then he says, and not for sordid gain, meaning, Oftentimes, we see leadership use their position and what they would think is their authority or their power basically to make money off of people. TBN is full of those guys. And I mean, not just making a little bit of money, but making millions. One guy claimed that he had already claimed the million flow. These are words they just make up. And now he's claiming the billion flow, but you know what he's saying? I'm fixing to be a billionaire because of all of you. I'll just leave that for now. He says, I don't want you to do it for that. I'll tell you this, until basically July, I have never been a full-time pastor. I have always worked. And then I started probably pastoring at probably about the age of 25 to 27, somewhere around there. And I've always worked. When I went preaching, like what we would call revival type things, nobody ever paid me to come. I worked, I paid my own way, my own gas, whatever it was, there and back. Now sometimes people would, Kind of give you what would be considered a love offering a little bit. Usually it was a $20 bill handshake, you know, something like that. Sometimes there's a little more, but the point I'm trying to make is this. The man that is truly called to this, whether he was gonna be given a dime or not, he would still do this. Because it's not a job, it's a calling. And I hope that anybody that ever wants to enter into leadership understands this is not a job like you go out and get a job. This is a calling. And so he says, I don't want you to do it for that reason, but I want you to do it with eagerness. There's such a desire. And listen, where does the desire really stem from? I mean, why would somebody have a desire to do this? Well, here it is. There's really two reasons. The first one is you want to obey God. You want to see God glorified in his church and the work that God is doing. The second thing is, as you look out amongst the congregation, As he said over here, the flock of God among you, you look out and you see the people before you and there's a love and a care for them. And that's why you do this. It's not to say if you're not an elder, you don't love and care for people. It's not to say that at all. But there's an authority that God has given in a way to try to teach and try to lead in all of these different things as a pastor, as an elder in the church. Let me stop right there. He said he wants us to do this with an eagerness. Verse three says this. He doesn't want us lording it over those allotted to our charge. What's he talking about there? Well, he's talking about this. There are ones that when they try to lord it over, they're trying to like be a dictator. They're trying to control. And I will promise you this. These guys want nothing to do with the plurality of elders. They want to be the sole authority. I know of churches where a man built the church, paid for, I'm talking about the church building. Everything is his. Everything is his. Every decision is his. I mean, it's just, I rule it like this. Listen to what he says in 1 John. Let me read, let me read this, finish this verse right here. He says, not as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be example to the flock. If you'll turn your Bibles over to 3 John, You got 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and then 3 John. It's one of those little books. I want to read to you something right here. John, the Apostle John, is writing. to an elder named Gaius. In verse 1, he says to the elder, the elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, he said, beloved, he said, I pray that in all respects, you may prosper and be good and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. He said, I was very glad when the brethren came and testified to your truth. That is how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this to hear of my children walking in truth. He says, beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers and they have testified to your love before the church. He says you do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. He says, for they went out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Now listen to this. Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we may be fellow workers with the truth. So those that have been sent out like in mission fields, we want to support them. We want to be fellow workers with them. But then in verse nine, he says, I wrote something to the church. but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds, which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words, and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren either, and he forbids those who desire to do so, and he puts them out of the church. In some of the translations, it says that Diotrephes loved to have the preeminence. He wanted to be that one that lorded it over the church. He was the one to say what would happen, what wouldn't happen. And even when those that wanted to come, he wouldn't receive them and forbid his church from receiving them. Brethren, can I tell you something? Do you know that this happens in churches today? Now, I'm not talking about in a church discipline situation where somebody's been put out of the church for unrepentant sin. We're not to fellowship with somebody like that, but we're talking about faithful brethren. And John, the apostle, had wrote, and this guy says, throw it in the trash. See, that's what Peter's talking about over here. He says, I don't want you lording it over. Listen, you need to understand something. I need to understand this. I'm not the boss. I'm not the authority, the definite article. No, that's Jesus Christ. This is His church. He has purchased this church with His blood. I'm just an under-shepherd. That's all that I am. Not that that's anything to be taken lightly. Don't misunderstand that. But he says, but proving to be examples to the flock. This is again, this is why we have qualifications for elders. I want to show you something. Elders. In no uncertain terms are held to a higher standard. That's just the facts. When elders mess up, it has much more far-reaching effects than when somebody else does. There's reasons we need to guard. Remember, he said, guard yourselves and the flock which God has placed you over, which he's purchased with his blood. When he talks about being examples, remember that we're talking about Peter. Peter is the one that wrote this. See, to be an example, we're going to go back to the two things that we always have to deal with. Our speech and our conduct. Do you remember, right before Jesus was arrested, Peter, with his words, he says, I'll follow you wherever. I will go to war with you. I will die for you if I have to." And everybody else said, yeah, we're with Peter. We agree with him. And Jesus said, you're going to deny me three times today. And then when the testing came, three times he was accused. You're one of them. I'm not going to pick on Bowlegs. I mean, I could have threw Stratford in the way we talk over, too. It's no different than here. We all a little twangy, OK? But he said, they said, you're from Galilee. You're one of them. We can tell by the way you talk. He says, no, I don't know him. He began to curse and to swear. He swore with an oath. I don't know the man. This is Peter writing and telling the elders, you're to be examples to the flock. Peter blew it, didn't he? What about when Paul came to Galatia and he had to confront Peter to his face in front of the entire church? He said, because he was to be blamed. What was he to be blamed for? Well, Peter had come down there and he was fellowshipping with the church. He is Peter. He is the first of the apostles that we look in the book of Acts. The first half of Acts is mostly about Peter's working through the Holy Spirit. And Peter, comes down there, and then when there's some Judaizers, those that profess to be believers, but yet they're trying to mix the law in there, you've gotta keep all the law, you've gotta be circumcised. When they came down, Peter got scared, and what'd he do? He pulled away from the Gentile brethren. He would no longer eat with them. And when Paul showed up, well, Paul was looking for some ribs. And he said, what's going on? And then he looks over there and it wasn't just Peter, it was also Barnabas. He had even been pulled away in this stuff. And what did he do? Right in front of everyone, he got right up in Peter's grill and he says, you're to be blamed. You know better than this, Peter. My point is this. On one occasion, Peter failed with his speech. On the other occasion, Peter failed with his conduct. So what do you do? If you're an example, did this disqualify Peter? No, he's an apostle of the Lord. What do we see? You see, here's the good thing. We love Peter because of this, don't we? Peter, we can all relate because we've all blown it at times, right? And that's a lot of the reason we all, we love David because he blew it, he was a man for God's own heart. Peter blew it, so we love that. So we wanna be the example without blowing it, but just like when Peter, what happens when you do? Well, you do like Peter, you repent, you stand up, you make things right, you take up your cross and you begin to follow Jesus. That goes for everyone. Here in this particular passage, he's telling the elders, you need to be proving to be examples of the flock. Now, that's not like saying, hey, lookie here, I just proved to you I'm a Christian or something. That's not what he's saying. He's saying he wants you to be demonstrating the qualities that should be in an elder in the church. That's what he's saying to do. And why is he saying that? We come to verse four. Because when the chief shepherd appears, when the chief shepherd appears, It is a very awesome thing. And when I say awesome, I'm not talking about in the skateboarder, hippie way of like awesome. I'm not meaning like that. I mean, it is it makes you stand in awe to really understand that God has called you to proclaim his word. It amazes me when I hear preachers disdain the word in a manner of like, I don't worry about that. Just get up here. Here, I got a sermon. It should never be that way. It ought to be this thing that just grabs a hold of you. To know that God has called you to proclaim this, that God has called you to lead his church, because he says in Hebrews 13, 17, I'll just read that real quick. He says this, he says, he's talking to the church first. He says, obey your leaders and submit to them for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. When that chief shepherd appears, we'll have to give an account. Well, did I do it as a lazy man? Did I do it for money? Did I do it? Was I trying to be a dictator over God's people? Or was I enthusiastic about serving God's people? Did I do it, you know, willingly, not whether I made anything? Did I do it in a humble way, being an example to the church? How did I do this? Well, The point is this. He says, the chief shepherd, when he appears, he says, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I'm going to go to 2 Timothy, the last book that Paul wrote. And I'm going to read Paul's instruction. The reason I want to read this, and there are several places in the New Testament, it talks about receiving crowns, crowns of righteousness and different things. crown of life. But I want to read you this because this is commonly called a pastoral epistle. It is Paul writing to Timothy right before he dies. Paul is in a cold prison cell and he's awaiting execution. He knows that he has just a few days before he is beheaded. They're going to cut his head off. And he's told Timothy, you're not going to see my face again. Now he's told him, if at all possible, get to me, bring me some things. Here's the last charge he gives them. He says in chapter four of 2 Timothy verse one, he says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, whether it's popular or not popular, whether you feel like it or don't feel like it. You preach the word. He says, I want you to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. And we see that today. People find a church based on what fits them. It's according to their own desires. People aren't looking for churches that preach the word of God. They're looking for churches that fit the bill for them. And he says, they'll turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, Timothy, you be sober in all things, meaning you be aware, you be alert. You endure hardship. It is a hard work. It's a difficult task. He says, endure it. Do the work of an evangelist. Even as a pastor, he said, I want you to do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. Don't hold anything back. Because listen, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. You know what he's saying? I'm dying. It's about over. I'm already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. To receive this crown of glory. And God glorifies us. We have just a limited number of days. Our days are actually numbered by God. And when it's over, listen, everybody's immortal until you die. You're not going to die one minute before God says that you're supposed to die. I can tell you that right now. But what are you doing with that time right now? Church, the whole thing of what we're dealing with here in First Peter is we're trying to get the church unified because when suffering comes, we're going to need each other. Sometimes you look at things that are immediate and good or bad. You can look at it as like, we've got to get this done. And you can be trying to force your way inside them, but not be seeing the bigger picture of something. And in the negative way, we can have issues or whatever going on, but we're not seeing how detrimental it could be to the church as a whole. We've got to look up close and we've got to be able to look distance wise. And in that, we want to be striving for unity in the church. And as elders, we must, we must be so careful. Because we're dealing with God's sheep. Sometimes you have tough weeks. Sometimes they go good. If you don't know the Lord today, if you're not part of the body of Christ, I want to tell you right now, today is the day. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. If you don't know him as Lord and Savior, and you've been sitting here and you've been wrestling with this for some time, don't delay. Come to him today. Rodney and I are going to come sing a song If anybody does not know Christ as Lord, come. I'll meet with you. There's other men that can meet here with you, Rodney, Nathan, Rick. I mean, there's different ones. Our deacons, Bob, Dean. We're willing. Because the ultimate goal is to see people, God's people saved for His glory. That His name is made great. Father, I just pray God today that you just bless each one. Father, give us strength, give us grace. To you be the glory, amen.