Please turn again with me to 1 Kings chapter 17 and looking from verse 29 through to 17 verse 1, we'll be looking at the depravity of Ahab's reign, the depravity of Ahab's reign. Now we, last time we look at 1 Kings, we left Ahab as king there in Israel, he was the eighth king of Israel, that is counting from Jeroboam. Now, with Ahab becoming king in Israel, we could rightly say that a new era, a new period had commenced in the history of Israel, both religiously and politically. a very new era had begun. Regarding the religious, we know that his father Omri had already prepared the way for further, if you like, terrible progression in Israel's apostasy, because Israel had forsaken the true and the living God. In verse 25 of 1 Kings chapter 16, We read there Omri, that is Ehab's father. Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did worse than all who were before him. That's how terrible he was. That's the legacy that he laid, even for his son. And we have Ehab here. And it would appear very clearly that Ehab far outdistanced his father when it came to evil. When it came to wickedness, Ehab surpassed his father by a great margin. First, scripture says he did that by entering into this marriage alliance with the princess of the vile dynasty of the Cydonian, the dynasty of Ethbel. This wicked dynasty of Ethbel in Cydonia, the princes of that kingdom who were worshipers of Baal. That was the thing. And scripture says, as if working in the ways of Jeroboam was not evil enough. This is what he added. He married Jezebel. And then by formally making the worship of Baal, the established worship in Israel, he took Israel to another dimension. He established the worship of Baal in Israel with all its vileness, with all the persecution that came against the people of God, the true worshippers of God. He embraced it and established it there in Israel as a religion. And politically speaking, when we get on with the study of what we're told of Ahab here in the scriptures, we'll notice that whereas Israel and Judah had been in continuous state of warfare, When Ahab came, an alliance was formed eventually between Israel and Judah. There was a new alliance. So that when we look at Ahab's rule, Ahab's reign in Israel, we can say that Ahab's reign was unique. And it was unique not in a good way. Unique in a very evil way, in a very bad way. Because with the coming of Ahab came a new departure from the worship of the true and the living God, a new departure from the God of Israel. That was what it brought. And when you think of the chapters given to the story of Ahab here, because from now on, right through until the end of 1 Kings, we'll be dealing with the time of Ahab. So that the number of chapters that are committed to him in scripture, and here in 1 Kings, what we have is a kind of concise report of all these kings and the histories of the nations. And none of them seems to go beyond a chapter. And in one chapter, sometimes we have many kings reported. But here, Ahab has many chapters devoted to him. And we're going to consider them as we go ahead. And that tells you of the importance and the significance of Ahab as king. And as I've said, not in a good way, but in a very bad and in a very evil way. So as we look at the depravity of Ahab's reign, I want us to consider just two things. And the first thing I want us to consider tonight is evil growing worse and worse. And that, as you know, is from 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 13. And the second thing I wanted to consider is God's foundation And that also is from 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. So those are the two things that I want us to consider this evening by the grace of God. So let's begin with evil growing worse and worse. Ahab ruled over Israel in Samaria. We are told here in 1 Kings chapter 16 and verse 29, he ruled for 22 years. 22 years. And what that speaks of, it speaks of stability. So there was stability for 22 years, unlike the ones who had one ruling for a week, others ruling just for two years, or thereabout, or even less. Here, we have one who ruled for 22 years. So that speaks in itself of stability in Israel. And then we have this marriage alliance that also brought in some kind of peace, at least with the Sidonians, so that there was no enmity between them, as it were, in that respect. And if there was to be anything, at least they have allies in the Sidonians to support them and be there with them. And by marrying the Sidonian princess Jezebel in verse 31, Israel's goods now had access to different ports of the then known world. They had access to the port through the Phoenician seamanship, because the Sidonians were the Phoenicians and they were very good at sea and in trade. Remember, even Solomon used them. So with this alliance, The goods of Israel now had access to the different ports of the then known world through the seamanship of the Sidonians and Venetians. And the alliance also profited both countries. Israel and Sidon, remember Sidon and Tyre together. So that Israel and Sidon prospered at this point in time because this alliance profited them. The economy was booming. And when the economy of a nation is booming, who can argue with prosperity? After all, that's what everybody yells for, praise for, prosperity. And when prosperity comes, who can argue with that? What could possibly go wrong? Israel is doing very well, it will appear. But in verse 30 of 1 Kings chapter 16, Scripture tells us very simply and clearly, now Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. A moment ago, his father Omri held the record. We saw that in verse 25. It was his father that had the record. Now we are told that Ahab, the son of Omri, had passed and so passed his father. He was now the most evil king Israel had ever known. For in the sight of the Lord he did more evil than all who were before him. This surely is not good. In verse 33, in the second part of verse 33, we are told that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. So we have a new record. Omri was no more the record holder. His son, Ehab, had the record. He did more evil to provoke the Lord God of Israel into anger. And in verses 31 to 33a, That's where we are told very clearly that as if walking in the sins of Jeroboam was not bad enough, was not evil enough, Ahab goes further. He goes to the land of Baal and worshipers, idol worshipers, and he marries their princess, who herself was an evangelist of Baal. for she came and wanted to promote. She was evangelizing for Baal in Israel. That was her mission. And so we read from verse 31, and it came to pass, Although it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ekber, king of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the Temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. In Israel, among the people of the true and the living God, a temple is built, not for God, not unto the Lord God of Israel, but for an idol, for Baal. And there it is built in Samaria. which he built. And in the first part of verse 33, an Ahab made a wooden image. That means he made Asherah, the goddess, who acted, as it were, like the wife of Baal in the mythology of the Canaanite religions. So he not only marries the princess of the Sidonians, a country of Baal worshippers, No, he imports bear worship. He builds a temple for bear in Samaria, in Israel. And he also makes a wooden image, an asherah, to complete the package, if you like. This is what Ehab does. And as we saw last time, having married Jezebel, of course, he was going to embrace her God. And this is exactly what he does. Ahab's Baal worship, we're told here by Scripture, was by far worse than Jeroboam's Boon worship. The golden images of gold that he made, which were supposed to be representative of the true and the living God, that we had seen. It was horrible in itself. But here, Ahab went for a completely foreign idol god, brings him with all the package, and establishes him. It was worse than Jeroboam. And Jezebel actually forced the people through her husband the king to worship her and she kills the prophets of the Lord who resisted. Because here in 1 Kings 18, first of all in verse 4, it says, for so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord that over there had taken 100 prophets and hidden them, 50 to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water. And then in verse 13, it says there, this is over there speaking, saying, was it not reported to my Lord that I did, what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid 100 men of the Lord's prophets, 50 to a cave, and fed them with bread and water. That's how terrible it was. That's how evil it was at the time. The prophets of the true and the living God were the ones that were now persecuted. They were murdered, they were massacred, they were destroyed. Because Ahab married Jezebel. And Ahab had to embrace Jezebel's evil God and evil worship. So that so far we have seen, if you like, a summary of Ehab's reign. This is what we've been given here at the end of 1 Kings chapter 16. We have seen a summary of the reign of Ehab and the evil that marked that reign. This is what we are given here in 1 Kings chapter 16 from verse 29. Now, what we have in verse 34 is a sample of how things were during the time of Ehab. It is a sample of how evil and how terrible things got during the reign of Ehab. It says in verse 34 of 1 Kings 16, in his days, that is in the days of Ehab, here of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram, his firstborn, and with his youngest son, Seagab, he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken through Joshua, the son of Nun." So as we have seen, in his days implies, of course, in the days of Ahab, the king. And when he says in his days, it also implies that here did not undertake this project on his own private initiative. He could not have. That's what it implied. That he did not do it on his own private initiative, but he did it under Ehab's direction. No individual will undertake the rebuilding of a whole city without the king's approval. And in this case, without the king's support. in the case of Ahab, of course. Because after Jericho was destroyed in the time of Joshua, Joshua put a curse on anyone who rebuked him. Last time we saw that, but let's remind ourselves, in Joshua chapter six, and there in verse 26 of Joshua chapter six, Joshua 6, 26, it says, then Joshua charged them at that time saying, cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds the city Jericho. He shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest, he shall set up its gates. And we saw what that implies. It means right from the beginning of the rebuilding, the setting of the foundation of the city, he will lay down with his past born. In other words, his past born will die. And by the time he's completing it, his youngest son will die. And this is exactly what happened to him. And that's what we are told here in verse 34 of 1 Kings chapter 16. And this is what he'll have to pay in order to do it. The curse did not forbid people from settling or living in the city, but it forbade them from rebuilding it. And that's why in Joshua chapter 18, we're told in verse 21, that it was given. In Joshua chapter 18 and verse 21. Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families were Jericho. Jericho was the first city to be given to them. Beth, Pogla, Emek, and Kedez. It was given to them for a habitation of the people, but not to be rebuilt. So they could settle in it, but not rebuild it. The curse was on anyone who rebuked it as a fortress that it was, remember, before the children of Israel got in. It was impregnable, remember? The Lord himself broke down the walls. Not the children of Israel. It was the Lord himself that broke down the walls. And the curse was that it was not to be rebuked as a fortress or as the fortress that it was. However, it will appear that because it was a strategic city, and it was strategically positioned in the southeastern corner of Israel, perhaps because of that, Ehab wanted it fortified. He wanted it rebuilt for defense purposes. And so he either commissioned or allowed Hiel to rebuild it and to fortify it. Hiel did that at the cost of his first and younger sons according to the curse that was put upon it. And I want us to see what the text is saying to us here. The text is saying here that open defiance of God's word was typical of Ahab's time. It was typical of Ahab's regime. Not only that here sons died according to Joshua's words. That's not what scripture says. It wasn't Joshua's words. And scripture makes that clear. It doesn't say that here's sons died according to Joshua's curse. What it says here is they died according to the word of the Lord. which Joshua had spoken, or which he had spoken through Joshua, the son of man. It was God's word. The curse was God's word spoken by his servant, Joshua. And here, the people were deliberate. Under Elam, and through here, going against the word of the Lord. which he had spoken through Joshua, the son of Nun. So the word was confirmed, not because it was Joshua's word, but because it was the word of the Lord, which he, the Lord, had spoken through his servant, Joshua. So the word is saying here to us, This time, the time of Ahab's reign, it was a time when people thought nothing of flying in the face of the word of the Lord. Because this was the word of the Lord, which was spoken by his servant, even Joshua. They had no qualms. They had no fear of the word of the Lord. And there were no qualms in them, none in Ahab or here or those who were with him. in going again the clearly spoken word of the Lord, which he spoke through his servant, even Joshua. This is what scripture wants us to understand. This was what was typical of the reign of Ahab. This is an example, a sample of how bad things got in the reign of Ahab. And this is an example that is given to us. evil growing worse and worse. Secondly, God's foundation stands solid. God's foundation stands solid. Now, in the circumstances with such a king as Ahab and such a queen as Jezebel, the circumstances were extraordinary, to say the least, in terms of evil. The times were extraordinary, and that meant an extraordinary agency from God was required for such times, if things were to change, if things were to happen. In the past, spokesmen of God had spoken But their words have not produced even a passing effect upon the rulers, the kings, and the people there in Israel. More than that, more than those words were needed, more than that was needed to effectively check and to effectively stop the worship of Baal in Israel. If the children of God were to continue as the children of God, And if the worship of God was to be restored among the children of God, in this and under this extraordinarily evil times, an extraordinary urgency is required from the Lord to stop it, to check it, and to bring a change in the hearts and the minds of the children of God. So prophets came. They came in order to keep God's knowledge alive. Prophets came to display the power of God. Prophets came to perform miracles to prove that the idols that the people were worshipping were dead, dumb idols, who had no powers, who could do nothing at all. And at this time, just as when Baal, Baal seems to have his way, he seems to be in control. It seems to be well established in Israel and everything seems to be going according to Baal, according to the dictates of Jezebel, according to the thing that the Baal worshippers will like and will embrace. Evil was growing worse and worse there in Israel. Just when it seems as if Baal was in absolute control having his way, we're told that the prophet Elijah suddenly appears. He suddenly appears. And when he appears, we're told here his confession of faith is simply his name. Look at verse one of 1 Kings chapter 17. And Elijah, the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain this year except at my word. So Elijah appears suddenly and he says, in essence, my confession of faith is simple. My name, Elijah, which means my God is the Lord. That's the meaning of his name, Elijah. My God is the Lord. And as he comes, remember what he says, he appears to before Ahab. And what does he say? As the Lord God of Israel lived, before whom I stand. I come in that name of the Lord God of Israel. Remember, they have killed and they were killing prophets, the prophet of God, the servant of God. They were killing the people of God. And here, suddenly, this man appears. And you can imagine him in the old typical stereotype image of the prophet of old, coming, perhaps with something wrapped around him, perhaps a skin, or whatever. And then he comes. And here he is, in the middle of Susquehanna, a beautiful city at the time. And he comes to the king. And what does he say to him? I come in the name and in the authority of the Lord. And it is in his name that I speak to you. No fear. He comes suddenly and he confronts the king. My God is the Lord. That is my dream. And that tells Ehabu that he needs to know. We're not given an introduction about Elijah. It's not the typical introduction of a man who was raised perhaps somewhere in Tishbite, in Gilead, and his mother's name was this, his parents' name, and he grew up and did this and that, and then by the time he got to this stage, now the Lord sent him, and no. He suddenly comes He appears, no introduction, except the fact that he is a Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead who comes to Ahab. He comes to the king in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Who are you? Who is this? Ahab may have asked. All you need to know is that I come in the name of my Lord, the Lord God of Israel. And my God is the Lord. It's not a lie. So he comes to them, he comes to Ehab, and he says to Ehab that the Lord will inflict as it were all the covenant curses that he warned the children of Israel of through Moses, his servant. If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 11, you'll see in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and there in verses 16 Deuteronomy 11, verses 16 and 17, where it says, this is Moses speaking from the Lord to his people. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and he shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you." So Elijah comes before Ahab, and he says, I am bringing you this horrible news, this terrible news that I would not like ordinarily to bring to a people, that the Lord, because of your evil, because of your sin, because of your wickedness, has decided to invoke the curses that he promised he would invoke if his people depart from his way and serve a foreign God. This is what is happening, it seems to be saying. In chapter eight of 1 Kings, and there in verse 35 of 1 Kings chapter eight, there, We've heard indeed from Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 30, by the way, he says, when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you. And it's a reference again to the curse that was pronounced through Moses. He's reminding the children of Israel, but he's bringing it in prior before the Lord. And he says, when the heavens are shut up, When that curse is inflicted on the people and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, when they pray towards this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you afflicted them, then he says in verse 36, hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants. King Solomon again was surprised to this curse. He said, when that happens, Then Lord, when they come and they pray, please hear their prayer, especially when they look to this place that you've enabled me to build in your name for your namesake. Then please hear their prayer and answer and forgive them. And so, as he pronounces that, what he says is simple. He says to her, There will be no dew, no rain. The other thing to notice is, he announces this, the absence of dew and rain, he announces it before it happens. So that when it happens, nobody can explain it away. He doesn't come when it is happening or after it has happened and says, oh, that is just as the Lord promised. No. He tells Aha before it happens, so that when it happens, there is no confusion. This is the Lord. There is no explanation, no other explanation. There cannot be. Because the prophet of God announced it before it happened. And he tells the king that this curse will be inflicted now. upon the people of God. He announces it ahead of time, and he also insists on the fact that dew and rain will only return at his word. So these were clear and specific pronouncements. Elijah says very categorically, there shall not be dew nor rain this year, except at my word. He announces it before time so that there will be no confusion when he comes. But he also insists that dew and rain will only return at his word. He didn't leave anything to chance, none whatsoever. You could never explain that away. And when Elijah announces the suspension of rain and dew and everything, he announces it as a direct blow on the ability of Baal. And it is, if you like, an open challenge on the alleged powers of Baal. He was openly challenging the powers of Baal. And he was openly saying to Abraham, I want you to see and to know who is God. You see, Bel was supposed to be a fertility god. He was the storm god, brings storm, brings rain. And among his other life-giving activities as the fertility god, he will send rain to fructify the earth and to make it good for planting and for harvest. That's what his name implied. And that's the God that he was supposed to be. So that when Elijah says there will be no dew, no rain in this years, he was openly and directly challenging Baal. And he wants Ahab to see and all Israel to know and to understand that this your so-called fertility God is no fertility God at all. This so-called God, who is the strong God, the God of rain and everything, has no powers whatsoever to bring rain. This is what he was saying to him. And this is what he wanted the people to see and to understand. And he wanted them to see and to know and to understand then that if bear cannot produce in the area of his expertise, he's supposed to be the strong God, the God of rain. If he cannot produce in the area of his expertise, in that area that is supposed to be his specialty, he's supposed to be the expert when it comes to bringing rain and everything. But if then he cannot fulfill, if he cannot produce in this area, then what kind of God is he? Certainly his reputation then and all his claim to deity will be shattered. He's not God. He's fake. It's a nonsense God, if you like. Elijah was essentially saying to Ahab, the Lord has decided and the time has come when the Lord has decided to shut up Baal's imaginary so-called powers as the fountain of rain. The Lord has decided that the lie must be exposed. so that you and the children of Israel will see and know and understand. This is what Elijah was saying to Ahab at this point in time. And what the Lord seems to be saying very clearly and simply here is, Satan's throne may be installed in Samaria among the children of Israel, But God's foundation still stands solid. It is sure. He is the one who is in control, not Baal. He wants Ehab and all the children of Israel to know that and to understand. Baal may seem to be having his way, oh no, but the great power is still there. and shake it. Cannot be moved. So let me make two applications then as we close this evening. First of all, when we look around, we see our cultural decadence as we've been praying. Evil is not called good. And good is regarded as evil in our society. today. So yes, we see a cultural decadence today. We see the vanishing of our standards, those standards that were founded on the solid word of God. Those standards are vanishing in our society today. We have a godless government. Spiritual compromise is rampant everywhere. No spiritual standards whatsoever. And when we see this thing, what do we think? We think it's so bad. It can't get worse. It can't get worse than this. And the scripture is saying to us, the Bible is saying to us, yes, it can get worse. Evil can get worse and worse. Evil is capable of exponential growth. is terrible. It can wax or grow worse and worse, as scripture says, even as it did in the time of air. This is what scripture is saying to us so that we'll see and understand. There may be times when perhaps you sit around and you think, and somehow you think, wow, The Antichrist himself has come. He is in our country. He is in our community. He is perhaps even in our family, especially when you see the attitude of some of your family members. Sometimes you think the Antichrist himself has come. And he has taken over our communities, our families, and those we know, and perhaps those we love. And what this passage is doing is giving us hope. It's saying, don't lose hope. You cannot and you must not lose hope. And what it says here is that God's Word has told us and is telling us even now, the Lord has always known that these times will come. He knew that the times of Ahab will come and he has always known that this time will come in our day and in our generation and he knows the peculiar circumstances which we are facing even at this point in time. The Lord knows them all. He knows everything concerning us. He knows when the heat is turned up against us. That time when we cry, I cannot take He knows. And he shows us in his word that this is exactly what will happen. Evil will grow worse and worse. When Satan comes like a flood against us, he is telling us here, we must remember his word. Remember his word. He knows it. And if you have forgotten, let me remind you of what he says. to the church at Pegamos in Revelation chapter two and verse 13. In Revelation chapter two, verse 13, the Lord says to the church there at Pegamos, he says, I know your wealth and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr who was killed among you where Satan dwells. I know your situation. I know Satan dwells. He seems to have established his throne in your community, in your cities, in your country, in your families. I know. The Lord says to the church there, and he's saying the same to us here. I know. I know. Don't forget. that the Lord knows. Secondly, look at the sudden appearance of Elijah. And that reminds us here of the fact that the Lord is saying to us, we must not despair. When we see movements of evil achieving great success here in the world, When we see evil seemingly taking over our cities, our communities, our countries, our societies, do not despair because we can be sure and we must be sure that the all-seeing God knows and he has already secretly prepared his counter-movement and it will come from the least expected place. It will come from the place that we have no idea of, we did not even suspect before. That's where his help will come from. God always has his ways of working underground to undermine what may seem like the stability of evil. When evil seems to have established its ways, remember, the Lord knows, and he is working secretly on the ground to counter whatever stability evil may seem to have established. And the Lord can raise men for his service from nowhere. From nowhere. The situation is never hopeless. It is never, ever hopeless with God, because at the height of evil, God will be there, and he will be ready with his man. God will be there with his man, and he will never fail. God never fails. When the time comes, he will act, he will raise his man, and he will not fail. Ahab had established idolatry in Israel. Idolatry, Baal worship, seemed to be winning the day. It seemed to be extinguishing God's remnant in Israel. And then, from nowhere, when Ahab least expected it, when everything seemed to be under control with Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah comes to Ahab. They had no news of him. They didn't know anything about him. They had no idea that there was anybody like that. Suddenly, he appears. And he comes to air. And the third thing I want to say is this. The sudden appearance of Elijah, in a way, foreshadows. It foreshadows the sudden appearance of our Lord and our Savior, the promised Messiah. You see, in Malacca, at the end of the Old Testament, in Malacca, there in chapter two and verse 17, a prophet tells us that Scoffers had wearied the Lord God Almighty, saying to him, evildoers seem to be good in your sight. Nothing happens to them, they're doing quite well in your sight. Where is the God of justice? They were saying to the Lord God. There in Malachi chapter two and in verse 17. Let me read it. You have wearied me, the Lord. Sorry, you have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, in what way have we wearied him? In that you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord. They are accusing the Lord of evil. Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord. And he, that is the Lord, delights in man. How could that be? Or, where is the God of justice? This is what they're saying to the Lord. Where is the God of justice? And then the Lord responds. He responds, in verse 1 of chapter 3 of Malachite. And he says, behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before you. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord. The Lord responds, and he says to them his essence, here is the God of justice. They have asked him, where is the God of justice? And he says to them, here is the God of justice, the long-expected Messiah. He is coming. I am sending you. Before him, I will send one to prepare the way for him. That's a reference to John the Baptist. but he is coming and he will bring justice for judgment. In John chapter nine and here in verse 39 of John chapter nine, this is what our Lord Jesus Christ says. John chapter nine and in verse 39, and Jesus said, for judgment I have come into this world that those who do not see may see. and that those who seek may be made blind. Where is the God of judgment, the God of justice? The Lord says, it is for this, for judgment, for justice, that I have come into this world. I am the one that the Lord promised, even through his prophet, Malachi. I have come, the God of justice. And the New Testament makes it very clear what we have here, because it picks up, as it were, from the Old Testament, and then it links it up here in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Mark, there in chapter one, and in verses one to three, this is how Mark begins his gospel. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. This is the beginning, he says, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is one that has come in fulfillment of that which is written in the prophets. And it is a reference to Malachite chapter three here at this point in time. He has come in fulfillment. So let me remind us of the religious leaders at the time of Herod. The religious leaders and Herod himself missed the sudden appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared suddenly to them, he came suddenly, and they missed his coming. They missed his appearance. The wise men came from the east, a very long distance, seeking Him, having been led by the Spirit of God and by His chosen star. But those in the land missed His appearing. They missed Him. He appeared suddenly, and they were taken unawares. They did not expect Him that way, and they were not prepared for His coming. My prayer is that We may not be among those who will miss the true coming of Christ. Or yes, we may celebrate Christmas. We may join others in partying at Christmas, but we can still miss the coming of the Christ, the Savior of the world. We might see that as a seasonal occasion to enjoy ourselves to party and to exchange gifts, as is done in our society. But unless we receive him who came more than 2,000 years ago, unless we receive him into our hearts, unless he becomes our lord, our god, our savior, then we have missed his coming. We have lost him. And I pray that none of us will miss the Christ and embrace all the other things that are done in this world. May we get the Christ. appropriating for ourselves and live for His glory and honour. Then it will be well with us. Amen. Let us pray.