Well, if you open your copy of God's Word to 1 Peter chapter 5, the passage we'll be looking at this evening, 1 Peter chapter 5. Again, like other letters in the Scriptures, it's a letter written to a group of people who are suffering, a group of people who are suffering persecution, and Peter wants to see the people persevere to the end, and so he's giving exhortations to them. And as he comes to the end of his letter, we read in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 1, Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Now I just want to say by way of introduction that there's a particular commentary that was very helpful to me, and after I'd read all of his exposition on this, I said this gave me the perfect structure for doing this, and it's Alexander Nisbet from 1 and 2 Peter in the Geneva series. So if you're someday reading that, you say, oh, that sounds really familiar. Oh, he must have listened to Pastor Carlson. I say, well, no, Pastor Carlson read him and shaped my thinking as we come to this passage. You might be asking the question, just first of all, is this even the right thing to do, to take some time and to focus on setting a man apart within the worship of God? Here we are to worship God as the people of God. Should we do this? And should we have a charge given specifically to a man out of all the people who are here, should we focus something on him and what he is about to enter into? What's very interesting is Peter writing to these scattered believers in Asia Minor. He's writing to them and in the process he then, as he comes to the end of his letter, he says, I want to address the elders. And he does this in a very public way. Elders, like all people, need to be stirred up in their duties. They need to be exhorted from the Word of God as to how that they should fulfill their roles. They, like other sheep, need to guard their hearts above all else, for out of it are the issues of life. Remember, even Jesus with his disciples when he was in the garden, what did he have to do? He had to exhort them to keep watching and praying. Here they are, the 12, the 11 at that point, that have been set apart by Christ. and yet still they needed to be exhorted to watch and to pray. And so we have here Peter, as he comes to his letter, he actually turns and addresses himself to the elders, to the ministers, as this man says, Nisbet, he says, the duties of ministers and other office bearers of the church ought to be pressed upon them in the hearing of the people. so that those officers may be the more engaged to their duty, and the people the more able to discern between those of them that are conscionable, those that are suitable for their job in their duty, and others that are not. So it is appropriate within the context of God's people, like Peter did for the people then, to address the elders, and in particular on this case, the elder to be, Pastor Zeitz, and address them about their duties within the very company of God's people. With that introduction, I want to look at this passage under three simple heads. And the heads are identity, duty, and motivation. Identity, duty, and motivation. The identity is found in verse 1, and I'm going to use something of the analogy of dressing for the job. You should dress specifically for the job you're engaged in. If you're going out into the garden, don't put on your three-piece suit and your wingtip shoes. If you're going to the White House for a press conference, don't put on your dungarees and your holy t-shirt, right? You dress for the job. You may have heard back when I was back in school, it's called dress for success. They told you exactly these are the things you dress for, that you look right for your job. Well, Tim, this evening I want to tell you, dress for your job. And the first thing you should always do when you get ready to dress for your job is put on a pair of lenses. Put on your lenses. Now, as we come to this, this is what I'm going to talk about, the identity in verse one. Notice with me, first of all, that Peter addresses these elders as a fellow elder. He could have addressed them as an apostle. He could have, because he starts the letter by speaking of himself as an apostle. But now he takes a different hat, as it were, and he says, I'm addressing you as one of you, as one among you. I am one of your fellow elders. And one of the things that's very obvious that we learn right from this is God expects, or at least the general pattern is, to have more than one elder in a church. And by God's grace, that's going to be the case as we lay hands on Tim this evening. You will have a plurality. And that one letter, S, at the end of the word elder, makes a big difference when you're standing to say, thus saith the elders. because it's now something of a decision's been made by a group of godly men and not just one particular man. And in our society, one particular man, though in God's grace has not been a problem here in this congregation, is usually thought of as being suspect. So thank God that he has given you this plurality. Elders exist, as we saw even this morning, for the helping of the people of God on their way to heaven. That's why Peter addresses them here at the end of this letter. He dresses them as elders. The identity is that of being mature. I don't think that's a problem for Pastor Zeitz to be considered somebody who is mature, not just because he has gray in his beard and his mustache, but because he carries himself as a man who is mature, a man who knows how to think seriously about life and how to address various people in various categories. He's not an immature, childish individual. He's a man of maturity, a man of experience, a man that is obviously worthy of respect. Peter then comes as one of these fellow elders and says in the company of the people, this is what I want you to be, this is how I want you to act. But notice not only is he a fellow elder, a fellow man who is a mature man into the congregation, but Peter actually comes to him and says there's two things about Peter. He says, he is an elder, as your fellow elder, a witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. Here are the two lenses. You know, when you get dressed in the morning, you start getting older in life, you have to put your glasses on first so that you can get the rest of the stuff right. If you don't put your glasses on, everything else comes out a little bit blurry. These are two glasses you must always keep on as an elder for your job. The work of Christ that he has done, the tomb, and the work of Christ, what he will do when he returns. Peter was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Peter highlights that for us at this point as he addresses these elders. That is, Peter knew what it was to see Christ suffer. Now, it was unique for Peter. He was one of the disciples who actually saw the Lord Jesus Christ and his suffering, saw him as he suffered, as it were, on the cross, saw him being mistreated, saw him going to the tomb, as it were. He saw him suffering. He literally and physically saw that. But every true servant of Christ, should have a sight of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Because if you've not come to see Christ suffering in your place, you have no place in the ministry. And if you ever lose sight of the fact that you are only where you are today because Christ died for you, you shouldn't be in the ministry. You must always keep before your mind's eye, this is who I am. I am one for whom Christ has died. He went to that cross for me. He went into that tomb for me. He rose from the dead for me. He sits at God's right hand for me. It's all accomplished by him. That's what the words of Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. You need to keep before your mind's eye this constant reality that Christ died, and it's his work that alone gives you a message to proclaim. It is the message that you need to always have as a foundation for what you're preaching to others. Christ died for sinners. For if Christ did not die for sinners, you have no gospel, no good news to tell anybody, or no ground on which to ask anybody to do anything. for apart from God's grace in Christ who died for them. They could not come and do what God calls them to do. Keep those sufferings always before you. Keep that tomb, as it were, etched on one of the lenses of your glass, that you will always have the reality of Christ's death and Christ's sufferings in the place of sinners before you. But not only should you have one lens with the tomb, as it were, but you should also have one lens with the clouds. I remember Pastor Martin preaching on this particular text and making this illustration, having these engravings, as it were, on the lenses. One is the tomb and the other is the clouds. Constantly realizing that Christ is going to return. Peter says, I'm not only one who has seen and witnessed the sufferings of Christ, I am a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. I am one who is going to partake of that when he comes. I am one who is going to be taken up with him. I am one who is looking forward to his return. But I'm already sharing in something of that because he has already ascended to God's right hand and has already made it clear to me that I am one of his and will be part of that company. Keep before your mind's eye the fact that Christ is going to return again. It will help you when you don't feel like doing your work. Your Savior is going to come back and the account will be made. Are you ready for his return? But it also is the thing that gives you hope that he's not in the grave and that he is going to return one day and he is actually going to bring everything to an end. I find it particularly difficult in the pastoral ministry counseling people. You know, it's not like building something. You go to your house and you build, well I build something, it falls apart, but if you know what you're doing and you build something, you put it up and it's done. And you can say, you can step back and say, it's done. But when you're counseling people to live holy lives and to walk worthy of the calling with which they've been called and you're telling them this is how a husband ought to love his wife and a wife ought to love her husband and you're trying to get those things sorted out in their lives and it just seems like it's on and on and on again. There's a day when all of that work is actually going to come to fruition and bear fruit. It's when Christ returns. It will bear fruit. Christ is coming back. Even while, Nisbet writes, even while they are in the midst of much outward misery and in the expectation of more, they have a right and may attain to some real participation in glory why they are by faith united to Christ, the Lord of glory. That is even now being united to Christ, even in the midst of the misery and the difficulties of this world, even in the midst of grief and pain. You're a partaker of the glory because the Lord of glory who conquered sin and death dwells within you. By faith, you are already partaking of something of that glory as he conforms you from glory to glory. Keep the cross, keep the cross before you, keep the clouds before you as you think, as you go about your work. And I would just say this to summarize this particular point or end this particular point, and that is the more certain you are that you are serving a risen Christ who is coming again, the more convinced you are in your own heart that this is not just religious language. but it is your, that it is truth from God and it is your experience that you're going to be able to anticipate and be part of. The greater you are certain of this truth, the more effectual your ministry can be. If you're waffling around, well, maybe there's something more I need to do to make my salvation secure. Say, no, no, Christ paid it all. Then you've got a confidence in the gospel. And if you're waffling around a little bit, well, maybe he will come back for me, maybe he won't. It's really hard then to convince others, well, persevere to the end. But if you're convinced, and the more you're convinced, the more certain you are, the more acceptable your message will be. Peter, in his letter in chapter one and verse 11, summarizes these two things again. He says, as to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. Tim, keep searching the scriptures. that you might see and know and proclaim and live in light of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that are to follow. That's the identity, an elder who has witnessed the sufferings of Christ and who's anticipating the coming of Christ. Duty, verses two and three of chapter five, duty. Peter now gets to the very heart of it and he says, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily. He says, shepherd the flock of God, exercising oversight. Well, if I could summarize the first point with a really kind of quaint stating, I would just say, keep both eyes open. Keep both lenses on. I'll summarize this point, or introduce this point by saying, button up before you go out. But what are you supposed to button up before you go out? It's a cold, we've had these cold days, and maybe you've got, now just imagine you've got a pea coat, it's got three buttons on the front, that comes with three buttonholes and three buttons, and this is the garment you need to put on. Well, what is the specific garment that you are putting on today? It's the garment of a shepherd. It's the garment of one who has the responsibility to direct, care for, and comfort the people of God, the sheep of God's fold. This is your specific comfort. This is your specific garment. Psalm 23 should become far more precious to you because it now then tells you not only the confidence that you have in what your shepherd does for you, but is the model then for you how you ought to shepherd God's people. How you ought to lead them into green pastures. How you ought to bring them beside still waters. How you ought to walk with them through the dark valleys of the shadows of death. How sometimes you'll have to use the rod and the staff in order to direct them in the paths they ought to go. How you ought to give them hope and confidence of the mercy that is yet to come. And how God, with his two sheepdogs, goodness and mercy, tracks his people down and directs them. Psalm 23 then can become, as it were, something of a model. Just John chapter 10 that was read this evening, again, highlights this. Are you going to be a faithful shepherd? One who points people to the true shepherd? Or a hireling? When things get rough, you want to run and leave them to themselves. You're a shepherd. You're one who is to care for the people of God. And so I would say specifically, feed them with God's saving truth. This is what God promised. There's a promise in Jeremiah which the people of God should lay hold of and frequently pray to God. And the promise is this, I will give you shepherds after my own heart. After God's own heart. How does God feel about his people? What is God's heart toward his people? We read in Zephaniah, he sings over his people. He sent his son to die for his people. He has a deep and passionate concern and love for them, but in particular, who will feed them in knowledge and understanding. Feed my sheep, Jesus said to Peter, and I would say Peter says to these men as he tells them to shepherd, feed God's people. But don't feed them science even, good as that might be. Don't feed them your knowledge, feed them God's truth. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately, cutting a straight course in the word of truth. 2 Timothy 4 and verse 2 exhorts pastors to preach the word. And Ted Donnelly in a message speaking on that passage said this, make sure you're preaching the word. Make sure you know what the Word is, what God's Word is from God's Word. Study it, make sure you're preaching His Word, not your ideas, not your thoughts, not your perspectives on life. Preach God's Word. Acts 20 and verse 20, when Paul has that first pastors conference, what does he say to them? He tells them that he goes house to house bringing to them the Word of God. that which he calls the gospel of God's grace, that which he describes as the whole counsel of God. But it all comes back to this, got this little phrase at the end, of God. Feed them God's saving truth. Soak your soul in this so that it's on the edge of your tongue, so there is gospel truth that comes out. Be like John Bunyan, as John Owen described him, that where you prick him anywhere, he bleeds biblene. lead the gospel, lead gospel truth. But then with regard to shepherding them, lead them with God's wisdom and compassion. Not only feed them with God's saving truth, but lead them with God's wisdom and compassion. These two things are talking about the same thing. When he says shepherd the people of God, exercising oversight, That participle is describing part of what he means by shepherding the flock of God. And exercising oversight means acting as one who oversees, who looks out over the people of God, who knows the flock of God. Take diligence, or be diligent to inspect the manners and the several conditions and necessities by frequently conversing with and visiting the sheep, If you're going to feed the sheep, you need to know what the sheep need. You need to know that this one's hurting over here, this one needs comfort. This one's hurting over here, he needs rebuke. This one over here, he needs somebody to come alongside. This one over here, he needs somebody to boot him along. You need wisdom. You need to constantly be studying God's words. You'll have the wisdom necessary to exercise oversight. So you need to talk to the sheep. You need to know the condition of your flocks and pay attention to your herds. So, they're herds. You're just a bunch of cows. Just quoting the Proverbs. So that you might be able to minister to them. And to do this with wisdom and compassion is going to require that you pray often. Thank God verses are not erased by frequent use because 1 John 1-9 would have been gone from about all of our Bibles, I would suspect. And the next one is James 1-5. He gives wisdom to those who ask. Plead with him for wisdom. Don't go into any meeting without asking God to guide and direct you, that you might know and understand what they're going through and might be able to address them. Take up the Word of God as like Proverbs Chapter 2 describes and dig around in it like a silver mine that you might draw out what you need to find. And as you find the knowledge of God, remember that one of the things you should always come away from your study of God's Word is the fear of the Lord for yourself that you might minister to others. This is the foundation for wisdom. Of all you're acquiring, acquire this, acquire wisdom. Shepherd. The flock of God exercising oversight. And one last point about this garment, this specific garment, this shepherding garment that you're putting on, and that is this. Remember, it's God's flock. It's always God's flock. It's those for whom Christ died. It's not Tim's flock. It's not Lush's. It's not Mitch's flock. It's God's flock. And so you need to care for this flock as though it were God's flock. Don't find yourself in Ezekiel 34 and seeing your picture as the one who's using the sheep for yourself or thinking they're yours. They're not. But then as we look at this duty, I said there was these buttonholes because there's these three buttonholes and there's three buttons. because Peter gives three contrasting statements here. Not this, but this, not this, but this. And he says, first of all, it's not to be forced. This is the manner in which you should wear this garment, if you will. It's not to be forced. The first buttonhole is this. It's that of doing what you're doing out of constraint, just pressed to it, just compulsive to it, compulsion. You're pressed underneath it and driven to do it, not because of love, not because of concern, but just because it's the weight of the charge that's been given to you. Now, there's nothing wrong with feeling that way. If you don't feel the weight, you shouldn't be in the business. You shouldn't be in the job. You're going to account for the souls of the people in this place. And there's a weightiness to that. But you're not to be living with this compulsion driven from without. without a passion and concern for the people you're serving. Because the button that goes into this buttonhole is that of willingness. And the word literally means something like intentionality, purposefully, deliberately. And what I would say is this, as you look at this, it says, basically, don't wait to do your work as a shepherd until you feel like it. Sometimes you just won't feel like it. I have never felt like I wanted to really go exhort somebody about their sin. That's not something that I really find great joy in. And if I wait till I'm feeling like it, it's not gonna happen. Don't wait till you feel like it. Go about your business purposefully and deliberately. I would say that the key verse here in my mind is 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14. where Paul says the love of Christ constrains us. Love for Christ, yes, constrains me to do what I'm called to do. But the love of Christ for me should be even more constraining, because my love for Him wanes, His love for me never wanes. And if Christ loves me the way that I know He does, and He's put me where He wants me to be by His sovereign activity, as our brother prayed earlier, the sovereignty of God has put you here, if that's the case, then go about your job deliberately, willingly, constrained by Christ's love, moved to do good to others, because God has sovereignly put you in this place, and he will make you adequate. Your adequacy is not in yourself. As Paul says, it's considering anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Determine to be a faithful shepherd. Do it willingly. Second, buttonhole and button, not greedily, but eagerly. Not greedily, but eagerly. Filthy, a filthy frame of spirit is to go into the ministry for the money. Now, I don't know a whole lot of people who've gone into the ministry for the money. But you know, there's other reasons why people go into the ministry. You go into the ministry, for recognition. They go into the ministry to satisfy something that's missing psychologically in them because people will now look up to them. They go into the ministry because they want to feed something in their own souls. They're looking at it merely for themselves. In that sense, greedily trying to grasp position, greedily trying to grasp a role among God's people, That's not why you should be in this. That's a dangerous place to be. That's where Balaam was when he was looking to make a profit out of being a prophet. But the button here that should fill up this hole is doing it eagerly. Doing it eagerly. In other words, Labor to get your heart into and keep your heart in a right frame of mind toward the people of God and toward God whom you're serving. You see, sheep aren't the only ones who can get disaffected. Pastors can get disaffected. They didn't treat me the way they should have. They didn't give me the respect that I deserved. They didn't listen to my counsel when I gave them counsel. Why should I ever talk to them again? No. Labor to keep your heart. in the work, to do Christ's work, to do good to the people of God. Nismet put it this way, he is to keep himself in some fitness of disposition for every part of his calling. Keeping your heart right for every part of your calling. This word is used in the Old Testament Septuagint to describe the Levites in 2 Chronicles 29, 34 in the days of Hezekiah. And it said that they had all these offerings and the priests, there weren't enough priests. But the Levites were more willing. They were saying, we gotta have this. We wanna get back to worshiping God, right? The temple has been cleansed again, let's get back to it. And the enthusiasm that they came to it made them more available to do the work, to offer the sacrifices. If I were to put it some way, don't long to stand here unless you're eager always to sit there. Unless you can come into this place thrilling at the joy of being able to worship God, whether I ever get to stand in front or not. Not greedily, but eagerly. And the third set of buttonholes and buttons is this, not domineeringly, but exemplary. He said, oh, I could never think to put myself up over somebody else and start to puff myself up. Look at me, I'm a pastor. That would never happen to me. What happened to the disciples when they were walking with Jesus? Which one of us is the greatest? And two of them said, ha ha, let's get there first. And the others didn't rebuke them for being, what are you doing? You're supposed to be humble. They were all saying, oh, they beat us. It's so easy. For our deceptive hearts to want to promote ourselves and to dominate people that are under us for the sake of saying, look, it makes me feel good that I've done something. But keep your heart in the right position of being first and foremost an example to the flock. It's an interesting parallel that he puts here. Rather than promoting yourself, he says, set yourself out as an example. Live in such a way that people can look at your life and say, now there's a holy man. J.C. Ryle has a comment in his book on holiness, and he says basically this, let each Christian run the race in such a way, and I'm paraphrasing, that he might be the most holy Christian he knows. So if you're really striving to be the holiest person you know, then you're gonna always get excited when somebody else is ahead of you. Right? Because now I'm not all about myself, I'm about, oh good, they're following Christ. Good, I'm gonna get closer. We're gonna have the Whitefield approach to Wesley, right? You're gonna see him in heaven? No, no, I won't see him in heaven. Because he'll be too close to the throne. Thinking of others is more important yourself as we heard this morning. You're about this work for the good of God's people. You need to be an example of faith and love. What does faith look like? What does love look like? What does patience under personal injury look like? And Paul could say, therefore, I exhort you be imitators of me in 1 Corinthians 4.16. Can you be patient while you're being abused, spoken ill of, unappreciated? Be an example of humility, self-denial, and of doing good to others. As Paul could say, be imitators of me, just as I am of Christ. Not seeking, he says in another place, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. Tim, strive to be an example of what a Christian ought to be in every way, at every point. Humble yourself. to lead by example. I end all this with a motivation, verse four. And there's three parts to this motivation, I'll be brief. The first is labor with authority. The motivation is this, verse four, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Labor with authority, it's the chief shepherd, the archipoemain who has set you apart for this task. You did not put yourself in this task. You have not chosen this path. God has called you. It's been recognized by the body of Christ and now you are going to have hands laid upon you and set apart by the church of Christ to do this work. Do your work as one set apart by the chief shepherd to shepherd. But labor in hope. The chief shepherd is coming back. So you put your glasses on in the morning and you remember the sufferings of Christ and you remember the return of Christ. And you take up your garment of shepherding on the particular day and you button it up where you're going to do this willingly, eagerly, and for His glory as an example. You button that jacket up and then you go out and you say, is it going to be any good? Well, yes, it's going to be good because Christ is returning. And when Christ returns, He's going to make all things new. When Christ returns, everything is going to be summed up under Him, and everything will be made right. You can have hope. Here's the crown now that you're going to put on. You don't put the crown on, He'll crown you later. The last part of your garment comes when He returns, and He gives you the crown of glory, unfading crown of glory. Labor in hope. that you will one day see your Savior and you will hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. Labor and hope that those of you labored to shepherd will one day be made perfect. They will be among the spirits of just men made perfect. And they will rise with Him or to meet Him in the air. They will either come with him or meet him in the air when he returns. And they will make it to the end. You are one of those means. And as difficult and as impossible as it seems at this point, labor and hope. Labor and hope for the people. Whatever you're going through, Christ's coming. It's going to be made right. Christ will return, there is no question about that. Peter over and over in this epistle emphasizes this matter of hope. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 21 of chapter one, who through him are believers in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 4 and verse 13. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation. Give people hope. The hope is that their Savior died, they're forgiven, and he's coming again. That's the hope. Oh, it seems so dark, it seems so impossible. No, there's always hope. The hope is seated at God's right hand. And he's coming again. And then labor, this phrase tells us labor until he comes. Labor until he comes. Until he comes to take you home and answer to Christ's prayer that you will be with him and see him in his glory. Or until the people of God recognize, you know, Tim, you've really lost it. I think you better have a nice seat now and just join the rest of us in the old folks' home and say, okay, well, be able to say that's, my race is finished. Christ has come and he said, now I need to step aside. Or until Christ returns in his glory and says, it's all done, well done. Labor with authority, labor in hope. Labor till he comes. Keep doing business until Christ returns. Fight the good fight of faith and never give up. How in the world can you do any of this? That's all in the glasses, isn't it? It all begins there. Christ has already made it possible through his death and resurrection. And he has promised as he sits at God's right hand to give you all the grace necessary to serve him faithfully. And he's there at the right hand. Ready to return. Keep your eyes on these things. Wear the garment in the right manner. Anticipate the crown when Christ returns. My friends, you here sitting here tonight, maybe some of you, I don't recognize your faces or I've seen them a long time ago and you've grown up and changed. The fact of the matter is, this is a glorious thing. These people are excited. They've been given a gift from Christ Jesus who sits at God's right hand. And you're sitting there going, eh, big deal. Okay, so he gets a little bit of honor because he gets a job. No, you don't understand. You see, the very task that he is engaged in is the task of bringing the gospel to those who sit in their, and they're dead in their trespasses and sins. His role is to bring that good news to each and every human being that he has opportunity to do so. He is a one who serves up the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is one who comes to see the people of God get safely to heaven. And if you're not really excited about a shepherd coming to take care of your soul, well, then I'm concerned whether you really are concerned about your soul. You say, well, I'm not really concerned. Well, I am because Christ Jesus said that he's going to come back. And if you're not eagerly awaiting like Pastor Tim and Pastor Lush are waiting for him, Then when you see him, you will call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on you, because you'll come in wrath rather than in mercy. And the only way to avoid meeting him in his wrath is to heed the message of these men, to heed the message of God's word, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of your sins. Turn to him. You say, oh, that sounds so boring. You know, life gets really boring after that. Oh no, life gets glorious after that. Because then you have a purpose for living for the glory of King Jesus. I urge you, think about the reality of who you are and the sin and the guilt and think about how that's ever going to be dealt with. Pastor Tim has a message for you. Ask him sometime. He'll tell you it's Jesus Christ who lived and died for sinners. And if you embrace him, your sins will be forgiven too. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word, and thank you for these pastors that you have raised up in this place. Continue to bless their labors among the people of God here for the glory of King Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.