Brothers and sisters, I invite you to turn in your Bibles yet again to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 7. We are nearing the end of the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, the portion that we are in today is really the beginning of the conclusion. Jesus is winding down his great famous sermon here, Matthew chapter 7. We will begin at verse 13, verse 13, and we'll read through verse 23. I ask you to stand, if you would, for the reading of God's word. Matthew chapter 7, beginning at verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit. But the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them. I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray and ask God to bless our time meditating on his teaching. Lord, as we contemplate this word, it is a sobering word for us. We would desire to know whatever it is that we need to know to avoid this great fate. We ask that you would grant us what we need to know by your Holy Spirit, that you would be with those who are prone to fear, be with those who are prone to doubt, be with those who struggle to be assured of your great love for them. Would you minister to us through this word in whatever fashion we need it? We commend this to you. Do as you will. In Jesus name we ask it. Amen. Please be seated. A couple of years ago, Emma and I got to take a really wonderful trip to Italy. It was a great trip, and one of the things that one does when you go on a trip like that is you want to figure out some good souvenirs to bring home. And our grand idea is that we were going to bring home some beautiful Italian street art. We were very excited about this. If you've ever been to Europe, you know that this is a big thing. the city centers, there are all sorts of painters hawking their wares everywhere. And so one evening in Florence, we were in Florence, we were headed to dinner, we were a little hungry. We walked by one of these vendors and this beautiful oil painting caught my eye. They spread them out on the ground, on the cobblestone pavement. And of course, as soon as you look at one of these paintings, these very pushy vendors get in your face and they're immediately trying to sell you this thing. And so before I knew it, I had said yes to buying this painting. I'd spent my money and I was walking away with this, what I thought was a great buy, this great, beautiful oil painting that I was going to enjoy. Except of course, that it wasn't an oil painting at all. The man had seen us American tourists coming a mile away, and he had spotted his chance. And as we were going to the restaurant, I began to have the thought, I should have really looked at the painting a little longer and a little more closely. I was starting to get a little anxious about that. And then when I finally got to the restaurant, under the better light of the building, unrolled this painting, and it was very clear I'd been sold a fake. And I felt very dumb. And now you feel that I'm very dumb. I tell you this story to illustrate that sometimes it is very hard to detect the difference between something that is genuine and something that is a fake. Something that is false. It's not just true in the world of paintings. It's actually true in Well, things like truth and falsehood. The difference between truth and falsehood is not always so obvious. It takes discernment, takes close scrutiny. Oftentimes it's imperceptible to the untrained eye. Difference between that which is true and that which is false. And many things pass off as the real deal, when in fact they're counterfeit. And it takes a trained and wise and discerning eye to be able to see the real deal. Now, why do I say that? Well, I say that because in the passage before us, here at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wants us to know what true spiritual life is. He wants us to know what true spiritual life is, and he wants us to be able to distinguish between that and what is false spiritual life. Now, you might think that should be a very obvious thing. You all should be able to detect that. What is the truth versus that which is the counterfeit? How could you miss such a thing? But I think as we look at what Jesus teaches us here, it's sometimes imperceptible. The difference between that which is true spiritual life, that which is false. There are ways that Jesus will teach us to discern it. But it takes a discerning eye, it takes a wise eye, to be able to see the difference between true spiritual life and false spiritual life. Jesus wants us to have that discernment. He wants us to know the real deal so we don't fall for cheap counterfeits. So as we unpack this text and we look at this, I want to talk about three things. This text is easy to divide up, falls very naturally into three parts. First, I want to look at the counterfeit path. Secondly, I want to look at the counterfeit profit. And then thirdly, I wanna look at the counterfeit profession. Counterfeit path, the counterfeit profit, and the counterfeit profession. In verse 13, Jesus gives us this image of two paths. One is a narrow gate, and it's a narrow gate leading to a hard and narrow trail. The other is wide and inviting, Jesus says, and he makes this little note that many pass through the wide and inviting gate into the easy path. But the path that Jesus would have us take is this narrow path. It's this hard path. Now, what's Jesus talking about? Jesus, as he sometimes does, he doesn't really explain it for us. He leaves it to us to surmise what his meaning is in depicting these two paths. But I don't think it's especially challenging to get to Jesus' meaning. For one, he gives us a little hint. He gives us a hint in that word that is translated in your Bibles as hard, the hard, narrow path. That word there has a variety of meanings. It's translated in a wide variety of ways in the New Testament, and it's the word that is often associated with tribulation, with persecution. It's often translated as affliction or oppression, and it's used to describe, well, the persecuted church in other texts of the New Testament. This is not the first time, of course, that Jesus has brought up the topic of persecution in the Sermon on the Mount. You remember way back at the beginning at the very opening of the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, that famous opening of this sermon, Jesus had said in chapter five, verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I think that gives us a very direct line into understanding what Jesus is talking about here when he speaks of a narrow, hard path. He's telling us that the path of the Christian life is one of opposition. It's hard. There are enemies. There are those who are opposed to how Christians walk and how Christians think and what Christians believe. It is a path that will be encumbered by affliction, by oppression, by opposition. This point, I think, well, it really needs to impress itself upon us. Christian life is hard. Jesus' basic point here, the Christian life is a hard life. There are many good reasons to embark on the Christian life, but one really bad reason to embark on the Christian life is thinking that the Christian life is a life of ease and comfort. It's important that I say that, brothers and sisters, because there's all sorts of misunderstanding in the church at large on this point. It's a huge error in our day. These days in the church at large, there are many so-called pastors and preachers who will try and teach you that if you follow Jesus, your problems will go away. You know, you have all these problems in your life and one way to deal with them is just give your life to Jesus. Suddenly you won't have problems in your marriage. Suddenly your children will all just grow up and turn out. If you follow Jesus, you'll be healthy. If you follow Jesus, you'll be wealthy. If you follow Jesus, you'll be a respected businessman in whatever industry you find yourself in, a pillar of your community. It's just simply not true. It's not true. It's a lie. And it's peddled often. It's the exact opposite of what we find here in Matthew 7. Jesus could not be more clear. You are not signing up for a safe and easy and boring and conflict-free life when you embark in the Christian life. You should know that. You should know that before you sign up for it. I'm not signing up for a life of ease. The reason we're tempted to believe otherwise is that we live in a culture and a time where for many years now, for my entire life and before it, being a Christian has been relatively easy. And it's easy to think that because that's the case in my life and in your life, that that is going to continue on indefinitely, that that is the norm of Christian life. Brothers and sisters, it is not the norm. We need to know that we are the exception, not the rule. The rule of what Christian life has meant for many who since Jesus have put their trust in him and sought to be faithful to him has been a life of oftentimes incredible persecution. You wanna look at what a normal, well, maybe not normal, but what a Christian life looks like that fits the description that Jesus is offering here. You look no further than the news story that was emerging last week out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Did you see this news story? It's this Islamic State affiliated group, the ADF, the Allied Democratic Forces, They came to a village called Mabah, and according to the sources, they abducted 70 Christians, brought them to the Protestant church, and executed them in the church, beheaded them, men, women, and children. You know, those men, women, and children were not executed because you are blessed and Jesus loves you, and they are not. and Jesus doesn't love them. That is a incredibly perverse way to think. No, he called it here in Matthew chapter seven when he said the Christian life is a hard and narrow path, path of oppression and affliction. That is the norm. That's the rule. I don't say this because I want you all to feel really guilty about how good you have it. No, the Lord is the one who has given us the freedom, gather for worship. He's the one who's blessed us in this land. We don't need to have a weird false anxiety like those are the true Christians, and we're not. That's not what I'm asking from you. But Jesus would have us be very clear-eyed about what it means to walk as a Christian in this world. it will mean trouble for you, even in our own land. It is good to remember, brothers and sisters, we don't know what awaits us. It's notoriously difficult to understand the times that you live in. We're just a little too close to it. But if trends hold, as they have been sort of seeming to over the last several decades, it's not unfathomable to think that those, especially those of us who are very young in the Christian life, before our lives are out, we'll face some manner of persecution. It's very possible. I don't know. Could be that we're on the cusp of a spiritual revival, another reformation. You pray for that. But let me remind you that the first Reformation was not a bloodless one. Even in that, as we recall what we learned in Sunday school about the Dutch Reformation in the fall of last year, about men like Philip II bringing inquisition to reformed Christians in Holland for no other crime than having the Bible in their own tongue so they could read it and no Jesus will for their lives. Men and women died for that, and it wasn't because Jesus didn't love them. It's because that's the life that Jesus called them to. You know, there's a reason Jesus says many choose the other path, the wide and easy path. It's a tremendous temptation to say, you know, not in it for trouble like that. I just want an easy, conflict-free life. We need to weigh that temptation. We need to understand its power over us. Many choose the path of the many. Well, because they want a life that is affirmed by whatever majority consensus is. You know, if you pull the issues and you come up with whatever is not rocking the boat too much, whatever convictions won't cost you your job or your livelihood or your country, just, you know, take that position. Walk that easy path. I wanna say a word to those of you who are young in the Christian life, those who are in the teenage years. You know, I think this is an especially powerful temptation if you are a young person. I know this because I was not too long ago, your age. And this temptation is a powerful one because you desire to fit in. The world knows this about you, that you don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. You don't want to be weird. You don't want to be different. You just want to be embraced and accepted and understood. It's a powerful human emotion to desire that in your life. And you are, well, you're freshly aware of this human emotion and the world knows it. And so it promises all sorts of ways that you can be cool and accepted and fit in and you could just dress this way and listen to this kind of music and try on this lifestyle that's cool and acceptable and fine. I want you to know that when you feel the power of that temptation, what that temptation is, is the temptation to the broad path. It's the temptation to a safe, easy, boring life where you never hold a controversial opinion. And where your life will, as a result of that, be quite easy. You want a courageous life, though? Then look at the life of faith. Look at the life of those who like the martyrs in Congo, like the Christian saints of old who stood against the tide of even the most extreme oppression because they considered, as this almost says, steadfast love of the Lord was better even than life. It's better than life. Here's where the broad path leads. Jesus says its end is destruction. It's a safe, boring, easy path to hell. You know, if you're going to hell, it will be a rather resistance-less fall. It will feel easy. Satan won't bother you. Why need he? You're already going where he wants you to be. The road to hell is paved with gold. It's an easy path. The other is a life of courage. That courage is the courage of our savior. You know, it shouldn't be lost on us that it's Jesus who's describing the narrow path. After all, the narrow path, the hard path, was the path of his life. The men of our church have been reading through a portion of Calvin's Institutes, the golden booklet of the Christian life. This past week, we were reading a portion on this feature of Christ's life, that he walked a hard path, that his was the life of the cross. Listen to what Calvin has to say. Those whom the Lord has chosen and condescended to welcome into fellowship with him should prepare themselves for a life that is hard, laborious, troubled and full of many and various kinds of evil. It is the will of their heavenly father to test them in this way so that he might prove them by trials. Having begun this way with Christ, his only begotten son, he continues similarly with all his children. For although Christ is the Son beloved before all others, the one in whom the Father's soul delights, we nevertheless see how little ease and comfort Christ experienced. Christ walked the hard path. And it's why, brothers and sisters, he can call you to walk the hard path, because Christ knows something about the hard path, and that is that the hard path leads to life. It leads to glory. It leads to being well, in his case, exalted to the right hand of the father. It leads to victory over all his and our enemies. It leads to blessed eternal life without end in the presence of the father. That's what lies beyond a hard and narrow path as it was for Christ. So it is for you. We need to fix our eyes on that goal, even as we look at the hard path of the Christian life. Second, I want us to look at the counterfeit prophet. Counterfeit prophet. Verse 15, Jesus warns us about false prophets. Beware of false prophets, he says. And there are several things he wants us to see about these false prophets. He wants us to understand about them. First of all, he wants us to expect them. False counterfeit prophets, we should beware them, he says. Pay attention, watch carefully. In other words, this is going to be a problem. Christian, pay attention. Beware false prophets, we should expect them. I think this counters sometimes naive or idealistic views that we have of the church where we long, of course, for good reasons for a day when those who teach in the church will, of course, be free of any kind of corruption and error. Brothers and sisters, that has never existed since the inception of the church until now. From the beginning of time until now, the people of God have been afflicted by false prophets. And when I mean the beginning of time, I mean the beginning. You go back to the garden. What is it that Satan really is? As he comes to Eve and he begins to talk to her, well, he's someone who claims to interpret the word of God. Did God really say? Satan's a preacher, a false one to be sure, but he's a preacher. He is telling her what God's will for her life is. And Eve, well, she listens to it. She's deceived. And there's really no new tactic that Satan introduces in attacking the church all through the Old Testament. What do we see over and over again? Well, we see false court prophets. And then we see in Jesus' teaching here, beware them. They're gonna continue to be a problem. What do we see in the lives of the apostles and men like John, men like Paul? Well, they're continually needing to rebuke false teachers. false preachers, those who claim the name of Jesus and who teach falsehood. So we should expect it shouldn't be naive or idealistic. Second thing that Jesus wants us to see about false prophets is that they're very deceptive. They're in disguise. It's a very vivid image that Jesus gives us a memorable one of a wolf that's dressed up in the garment of a sheep. sort of ridiculous image to picture in your mind. But the point that Jesus is bringing across here is that they look like the real deal. Beneath the surface, beneath what's presented, they are in fact evil. But to the eye, they look like true teachers. They look like you or me. They look like sheep. No, brothers and sisters, we shouldn't imagine that false teachers, they walk around with little horns that kind of stick through their hair and cloven hooves that if you examine their feet, that's what they look like. No, it's just absurd to think that it will be an obvious thing to see one. We should expect that they have charisma and gifts. This is true. False teachers. They even appear to have successful ministries. You know, look down at verse 22. Did we not prophesy in your name? They say to Jesus, cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name to the visible eye outside looking in. These are men with successful ministries, booming overhead budgets. They're doing well for themselves. Third, Third thing that Jesus wants us to see is that they're dangerous. You know, he's not kidding when he calls them wolves. Wolf is a wild animal you don't want to run into while out hiking by yourself without anything to protect you from it. It's a dangerous animal. It's the ability to kill you. Stronger than you. The implication of this is that there are casualties of the ministries of the ravenous wolves that Jesus calls false teachers. They've successfully devoured some of the flock. Fourth, Jesus says about false teachers, they can be known. We can spot them. May be difficult to spot, but we can. But the way he calls us to spot them is rather surprising. You know, we might think if Jesus were wanting us to see false teachers, he might go to the content of their teaching. It's very interesting. He doesn't go there. He doesn't say, you know, examine them for right orthodox teaching. What does he say we need to look for in a false teacher? Well, he says we're to look for their fruitfulness. Now, some think by fruitfulness, perhaps he's talking about the fruit of their ministry in some fashion, that they're bearing fruit. But I think that's false. After all, there are all sorts of false teachers who have been seen to be utterly bankrupt, that their lives have disqualified them, who yet have had very public, successful ministries. I don't think that's the kind of fruit that Jesus is describing. I think the fruitfulness that Jesus has in mind is the fruitfulness of godliness. Godliness. That's how the Bible oftentimes speaks of fruit is Godliness. In other words, teachers are not simply to be those who know the true stuff. No, they're to teach the doctrine that accords with godliness, as Paul describes it in 1 Timothy 6 and in other places. That is to say, their doctrine flows out of their lives. It flows out of their lives in a type of holiness and good works. You know, you should be able to look into their lives and see that. You should be able to see it at work in their families. It's godliness, or the lack thereof, that determines the difference between a false and true prophet. Now, you might be thinking, OK, that's great. I know the standard, but I'm just a Congregant. I just sit here. I didn't pick you. Well, in a way, you did. I don't choose. I didn't hire the presbytery. I'm not part of the presbytery that determines who gets to preach and who doesn't. So it's good information. But what do I do with that information? Well, Jesus intends this word for you. He's not talking just to presbyters. He's talking to the Christian. And I think there's a very direct application that you need to Keep in mind, and that is this, you have a responsibility for who is influencing you, who has your ear, who you listen to. This is broader, of course, than just the pastors of the local church. It's true of pastors in the local church. If the pastors of the local church begin to preach that which is contrary to God's word, find the door, be gone, and find a new church. But it's also true of every sort of influence. You know, we live in the time when the internet is still a rather recent invention. And with the internet has come the time of celebrity. There are celebrity preachers, celebrity podcasters, celebrity gurus, and we read their books, and we beam their words through our earbuds, and we listen. And all of that feels rather passive, brothers and sisters. It feels like, well, is God gonna hold me responsible for listening? Jesus says, beware. That doesn't mean you just flirt with the ideas, that you just, you know, you're curious. I'll check out the YouTube channel. Now, I'm not trying to curate for you who you pay attention to online. And the fact is, there are many godly people within the confines of the OPC, beyond the confines of the OPC, who are doing godly work to put edifying stuff online. But even as those people have enjoyed the microphone that's been handed to them with that sort of online platform, so has it been good business for falsehood and false teachers. And it is your job not to give your ear to false teaching. We don't often think about that, that there are multiple ways in which one can wander outside of the kingdom of God. We often think about things like big sin, being the thing that gets ahold of a person's life and grips their heart and drags them away from Christ. That's not the only way. It's never been the only way. Another way for Christians to wander out of the kingdom of Christ is by reading and listening their way out of it. It's just factually true. Which means, brothers and sisters, you have a responsibility for what you listen to. How do you avoid False teachers, how do you possess the discernment necessary to know when you're listening to one? Very simple answer. It's been true of God's people in every age. It's found in your knowing the word of God. It's what the psalmist says, Psalm 119 verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. If you would keep yourself by right discernment, out of the grips of fashionable doctrines that would grab your heart and pull you away from love of Christ, the antidote is found in your rootedness. The word of God. Listen to how J.C. Ryle, the Anglican bishop of the 19th century, he comments on this passage and he has this to say. It is the neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear. These would have us believe that they are not learned and do not pretend to have decided opinions. But the plain truth is that they are lazy and idle. Gotta love grumpy Anglican bishops giving it to us. They are lazy and idle about reading the Bible and do not like the trouble of thinking for themselves. Nothing supplies false prophets with followers so much as spiritual sloth under a cloak of humility. You see what he's saying? He's saying, you know, a kind of trust to the experts way of walking through the Christian life. You know, that guy went to seminary. He really knows what he's talking about. I don't really need to test what he's saying according to the word of God. I could just sort of check out and absorb it. He seems to have the right ideas. That will just not work. It will not work in your Christian life. And it's a spiritually slothful and dangerous place to be. You are not exercising the discernment that God has given you by giving you his word for you to study and absorb and deep in your life so that when you hear a lie, you know it. It's false. I'm out of here. That's what Jesus would have us do. Beware them and do so by knowing their fruits. and knowing our Bible. Third, the counterfeit profession. Verses 21 to 23, Jesus begins to address a different kind of counterfeit, counterfeit profession, I'm calling it. And he paints for us a scene. It's a scene from heaven on judgment day. where he will stand as judge and everyone will come before him. And he has this rather terrifying thing to say that there will be some actually many who come before him and say, Lord, Lord, we not know you. We prophesied in your name. We cast out demons in your name. We did all sorts of mighty works. We know you. You know us. And Jesus replies, I never knew you. It's a troubling passage. It's one that easily unsettles us, especially if you are someone who is really wrestling with assurance of salvation. It's the kind of passage that really rattles the cage. You know, whatever we need to do to avoid that, that outcome, that we have some sort of false assurance, false relationship with Jesus Christ, such that he would say in the last day, I never knew you, that's a troublesome thought. Is it not? What do we do with it? What is Jesus trying to teach us here? I think there are several things that Jesus is trying to teach us here. First of all, he's trying to teach us that a merely outward profession of faith, is a really weak assurance of salvation. Merely outward profession of faith is a really weak foundation for our assurance. It's very plain. Those who claim, Lord, Lord, it's the title of master servant. No, we are your servants, Lord. We have a relationship with you. There will be those who believe that and whom he will say, I never knew you. A merely outward profession. Another thing that I think Jesus wants us to see is that outwardly spectacular works of Christian piety are a really weak foundation for our assurance. Notice who these people are who come to Jesus. They have quite the resume. It's amazing. I prophesied in your name. cast out demons, did mighty works. Most commentators believe, and I think I agree with them, it's not apparent they're lying. You know, they're not making stuff up that didn't happen before Jesus. They truly did some spectacular things and did so in the name of Jesus. I need to remember, brothers and sisters, God, by his power and spirit, can use really anyone to accomplish good in this world. He can use anyone, and his simply using someone for good in this world does not mean, necessarily, they belong to Christ. Listen to how Herman Ritterboss, a Reformed theologian of the last century, says it in his comment on this passage. He says one can be an instrument of God's spirit, even though he does not personally belong to Christ. Merely having a spectacular out outward ministry. It's not enough. It's not enough. Remember when this point really settled home for me a couple years ago when I was in seminary One of the prominent scandals that rocked the church during my time at seminary was the fall from grace of Rabbi Zacharias. Remember that name? Famous YouTube evangelist, kind of guy that would pack out stadiums, who would come to hear him, would debate people, present arguments with faith. He went his whole life with this outwardly successful, remarkable ministry. And shortly after his death, it all began to fall apart as the details of his private life began to emerge the public eye. And what quickly everyone learned is that underneath all of that outward success was a life of slavery to sin. It's a really grievous sexual sin. By all accounts, he took to his grave, never confessed, never repented of. And we don't have good reason to have strong confidence in Rabbi Zacharias's profession of faith. It would be a wrong thing. By human judgment, Rabbi Zacharias is in hell. Of course, human judgment is limited. But by all extensive intents and purposes, the man brought friends of mine into the faith. His arguments worked on people. I remember a conversation that I was having with a minister friend of mine as I was marveling of this day after the news broke. Just marveling, you know, how could it all be fake? How could it all be fake? This pastor friend of mine said, God could use a man mightily for the purposes of his kingdom and dismiss him to hell. and still be just. It's a very sobering thought. Stuck with me, God could use a man mightily, dismiss him to hell, still be just. How could that be so? You wonder, how could that be so? How could that be just? He did so much good. You see, if you think that way, brothers and sisters, you got it all wrong. Because the way to gain admission to heaven is not found in monumental piles of good works. That is rubbish. He could have had mountains of them and come before Jesus and claimed them and still have not fulfilled the debt that he owed because of his sin. Because we cannot pay the debt we owe because of our sin. And if that is what you have for Christ's great outward righteousness, You have nothing. Nothing. What do you need? What do you need in that day? Here's what you need. You need Jesus to know you. Notice what he says. and never knew you. You don't have a relationship with me. It doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know about them. He's God, he knows who they are. It means he never had a relationship with them. There was never a time in which he died for them. They were his. His children didn't exist. The only thing that you need in that great and last day, when everything's on the line, there's heaven, there's hell, there's Jesus, and His deciding is for Him to know you as His child. Which means, brothers and sisters, what you need is a personal relationship with Jesus. A personal relationship with Jesus in which you have given your life over to him. You have put your trust in him. You've received from him his spirit, the Holy Spirit. You need to have a vital relationship with Jesus I don't know where all of you are at in that limits of human judgment mean that all we know of each other is the outward profession of faith. There's good reason, strong confidence in outward professions of faith. But the critical thing, the thing that you cannot go without in your Christian life is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So I ask you, what is your relationship with Jesus Christ? Evaluate it now. Think soberly on it. Does it exist? Do you pray to him? Do you read his word? Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ beyond mere externals, beyond just hanging out with Christians? and hoping you get numbered with them in the end. You need a relationship with Jesus. And you know, it's not complicated, brothers and sisters. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you put your trust in Jesus, you won't be wondering. You know, notice that when they come to Jesus, These men are wondering. Jesus hasn't said anything before they're saying, you know, see all my stuff. See, I have this ministry over here. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you won't be wondering. Because you will come before his throne. I mean, put your trust in him. And he will say, I know you. died for you. You were mine. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, help us. Help us to gain a true assurance relationship with you. Lord, we thank you for the the union with you we possess by faith. I asked Lord that you would grant it any lack faith and yet who desire to know you and to be known by you. I ask the Lord that you would give faith for those who lack it, but they might be fully assured they are yours, that you are their savior. Read this to each of us. Oh, Lord, we pray. Ask it in your holy name. Amen.