All right? But anyway, let's take our Bibles this morning, and let's jump back to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter four is what we'll be, as we've been going through 1 Peter for some time now, looking at this epistle from the word of God. And as you're finding your place there in 1 Peter chapter four, I just wanna remind you again, the whole purpose behind the writing of 1 and 2 Peter. Be reminded that Peter is writing for this purpose, to strengthen the brethren, just as Jesus told him to do in Luke 22, 32, when Jesus looked at Peter and said, Peter, when they aren't converted, strengthen thy brethren. And so that's what he's doing. That's what he's doing in this moment with these epistles, these letters, because God knew In his great foreknowledge, he knew that one day these early believers were gonna need a lot of strength. Because these early believers in this first century were really going through the ringer. They're facing some terrible persecution. They're going through some horrendous treatment all from the cruel hand of Nero. And as you're facing those type of moments, uncertain days, listen, you need great strength to face them. You need great hope to face them. And I'm thankful that we can have that strength and hope even today. But where do we find it? Well, we find it in the same place the first century believers found it, from the Word of God. So if you need some strength and hope today, I encourage you, get in your Bible and let God strengthen you. Let him help you. As the old timers would say, let him hope you, all right? And, cause you'll find hope in the Word of God. Be reminded that hope is not a game of chance. I had a conversation with somebody this week. I asked him about that very word. As they're saying their hope for this, their hope for that. I asked them, what do you mean by that? You talking about a wish? You're wishing this works out? He says, yeah, I guess that's kind of what I'm thinking. I said, listen, when it comes to the Lord and it comes to his word, it's not a wish. It's not a cross your fingers, let's hope this works out, no. The hope that we have, we find in the Word of God is a hope that's based upon the person and promises of God himself. My friend, listen, God cannot lie. You can hope in him, you can trust in him, you can trust your Bible. So we need some strength and hope today. Dive into the Word of God. So that's what he's doing. He's writing to strengthen the brethren. Let's find some more strength for our journey today as we come to 1 Peter chapter four. And we'll be in verse number seven, and we'll read down through verse number 11, all right? Look at it with me, Bible says, but the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober, watch unto prayer. Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging, as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever, amen. Our fathers, we look to your word this morning, I pray it should help us to understand it. As the psalmist said, open thou mine eyes, may behold wondrous things from thy law. And God, I pray you help us do that today. Apply these truths for our lives to be better believers, more usable Christians, especially in these days in which we live. We love you. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, as I read this text and as I think of this portion of scripture, it seems to me that Peter really, as he pens these words, is trying to give and paint a perspective as he writes to these believers. But a perspective on what? Well, again, keep in mind, you gotta keep the context in mind. A perspective on this. You see, these believers, they were hurting. They were struggling, they were suffering, they were enduring a lot. And when you go through those types of times, understand something, our perspective, our train of thought, our mindset can be, well, let's just put it a little lightly, it can be scattered. Anybody ever find yourself scatterbrained every now and then? Okay, me too. I'm glad I'm not the only one. We can be a little scattered. We can find our minds being a little clouded. Our thinking could be absolutely wrong when you're going through such treatment and difficulty as these individuals were going through. And when your thinking is wrong, understand what else will follow that will be wrong. It will be your actions. Your thinking's wrong. your actions too will follow. And so in this moment, I believe in these few verses, Peter's trying to paint a perspective of what really matters when he says it this way. When he says, look at it again, verse number seven, the very first phrase there, he says, but the end of all things is at hand. Meaning, dear Christian, the things you're going through, especially in this moment for these believers, the suffering you are enduring, will not last forever, no, the end of all things. is at hand. Now, when you hear a phrase like that, the end of all things is at hand, what comes to mind? Maybe for some of you, you think when you hear that phrase, you think, well, the end must be near, or eternity is getting closer. It's all coming to a close. The end of all things is at hand. Well, when I see this phrase, though there's several things that come to mind, this one in particular came to mind as I was reading it, even again this week, is this thought. When I hear of things are coming at an end, I hear of this thought or think of this thought. We are nearing the finish line. We are nearing the finish line. Let me ask you a question this morning. Anybody here ever run track in school? Anybody run track? You ran track, a few of you. Don't be ashamed of that. Raise your hand. It's all right, you ran track. Okay, very good. It may be some surprise to you to know that your pastor also ran track. Why are you laughing? Well, I guess I probably should. Well, I didn't run. I was part of the track team, all right? I didn't do the running aspect of things, but I did shot put and discus, all right? I was still part of track, okay? I just didn't do the running part. And in just case you're wondering, I don't do a lot of running, and you probably can see that. But anyway, and if you see me running, just so you know, you probably run too. And you say, why is that, preacher? Well, something bigger than me and something I can't shoot twice is chasing me, all right? And so you probably should run as well. But some of you run track. Let me ask you this. Who here, you have competed in some kind of racing as bike racing, motocross, NASCAR, anybody? Anybody a NASCAR racer? No, cool, okay, I just want to shake your hand. Anyway, but you've competed in some kind of racing. Many people have. If you've not competed in it, then at least you've seen it on TV in some form or fashion. But when you're in a race, you're competing in a race or watching a race, when the finish line is getting closer, when the end of all things is at hand, what do you want to do? You want to Some of you say win, well of course you're going to try to win, but at the very least, you want to try to finish the race. I read a remarkable story of an Olympic runner from 1968. His name was John Stephen Akwari of Tanzania. He came to the 1968 Olympics as a top-tier marathon runner. He was a reigning African champion with an average time of two hours and 15 minutes. And in case you don't know, that is fast for a marathon. Over 26 miles, that means you're just over a five-minute mile running 26 of them. That's fast. But at these Olympics in 1968, he had a big chance of standing upon the platform and receiving a medal. Yet in his race, a podium finish turned out to be the least of his worries. It is said around mid-race, Aquari had a painful fall where he badly hurt his knee as well as his head and shoulders. With still more than half the race to go, he was forced with a mounting challenge but quitting the race was not an option for this Tanzanian runner. In a race where 18 out of 75 starters did not finish because of lack of oxygen, Arkwari, who was also struggling to breathe, decided to wrap up his knee and keep going no matter what. He kept running and running, but at some point he couldn't run anymore and was merely limping to the finish line. More than an hour after the Ethiopian winner reached the stadium, Arkwari limped his way into the Olympic Stadium. Medals had already been awarded. Most of the spectators had already left, but those who stayed back were cheering as loud as they could in support of Akwari when he arrived at the track. And lifted by the crowd and their cheers, he started running again, even with intense pain. He ran the last 100 meters to finish. the race. His time was three hours and twenty-five minutes and twenty-seven seconds, and yes, Akwari came in very dead last. Yet when asked what prompted him to keep going, Akwari said this, he said, my country did not send me five thousand miles to start a race. They sent me five thousand miles to finish that race. When it comes to a race, when it comes to knowing that the end of all things is at hand, I don't know about you, but I want to finish. I want to finish well. I want to finish strong. But the older I get and sometimes beat up I feel, I feel like Ark Warry and sometimes I just want to get to the finish line, you know. I just want to finish. But the question is, how do we do that? How do we finish well? Knowing that all things are coming to the end, how do we finish? Well, let's consider a few practical applications this morning as we look to the word of God from this portion of scripture and apply them to our life. All right, application number one. Here's how we can be and finish well and finish strong. Number one, look at verse number seven when it says this, be sober, but the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober. Now, when you hear the word sober, usually our minds automatically go to being sober from drinking or sober from drugs or something like that, which by the way, we should be sober from those things. Hello, y'all, okay, all right. All right, just making sure you're with me, okay? We should be sober from those things. But the word sober here is much broader than just speaking about addiction to drinking or drugs or any other vice, all right? You see, this word sober means to be sober-minded. It means to have a mind that is steady, to have a head that is clear, to be clear-headed. This is what it means to be sober. And for the Holy Spirit, listen, to put this word, put this phrase in here, to move Peter to write, that the end of all things is at hand. Be you therefore sober to instruct people to be sober. That means at this moment, these people were not sober, meaning they were not clear headed. They were not thinking straight. They were not thinking steady. They were not sober minded. And so if their minds were not clear, That means their minds were clouded. Their thinking was irrational, but as we consider what their minds were clouded about or irrational about, we once again got to keep in mind what they're going through. The persecution, the pain, the distress, the confusion, and so much more. When you're bombarded, listen, bombarded with that on a daily basis, understand our minds can be completely clouded and our thinking irrational. So in the context, it would seem their minds were clouded about their suffering. Now we're gonna look at this next time, but I just wanna give you a quick preview. Look at verse number 12, all right? Verse number 12, beloved, he's talking to believers, talking to the household of faith. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. Here in his text, he says this strange thing, meaning these people were thinking, man, what is going on here? Why are we going through this? What do we do to deserve this? This treatment, this fiery trial and testing of life is absolutely crazy. That word strange, it means bizarre. It means completely unheard of. They have never gone through this kind of treatment before. Let me ask you, you ever been in that kind of mindset, just confused about everything going on in your life because you've never gone through it before? Well, if so, you're not alone. You see, these believers are going through the same thing. They're facing the same confusion. They've never been through this before, ever. This is all new, uncharted territory for these believers to be eased and have your mind clouded. Yet Peter says, be sober. be sober, be clear-headed, even through this suffering. But the question is, how? How do we have a mind that can be clear? How do we have a mind that can be straight thinking through this type of treatment? Well, I believe Peter, I believe he looks back on his own life. I believe he looks back even on his own failures, which were many, but he remembers what Jesus said to him one night in the garden of Gethsemane, just before Jesus was about to face the most cruel and intense suffering known to man, as Jesus was about to face turmoil inwardly, outwardly, and yes, even spiritually. Peter remembered what Jesus told him on that day in the Garden of Gethsemane. And Peter wants to simply echo that instruction when he says to these believers, look at verse number seven again. By the end of all things is at hand, be you therefore sober, clear-headed, clear-minded. How do you do that? Look at the next phrase and watch unto prayer. Watch unto prayer. So what do we need to do knowing the end of all things is at hand? Be sober. Number two, watch and pray. Listen, in order to have right thinking when it comes, especially in the context of matters of suffering, when it comes to those things, really the only way to have right thinking, to have a calm, collected mind when it comes to matters of suffering is to be close to the Lord. I'm telling you, that's the only way. The only way to have the right perspectives, to be close to the Lord. Here's what Jesus told his inner circle that evening of his arrest and soon torture and certain suffering when he says this in Matthew 26, verse 36 and 41. Then cometh Jesus with them into a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even Unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter, What? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Understand, we understand. that Jesus here, we know that he is God in the flesh. Yet he allowed himself to endure suffering and sorrow and turmoil in his humanity. Why? For this reason. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter four, verse 14 through 15, Seeing then, we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. That word infirmities there meaning our suffering, our difficulties, our afflictions, our sorrow, our pain, all of that, he is touched. by those things. The Greek word touch there is sympatheo. It's where we get our word sympathy from. And it simply means to be affected with the same feeling as another, to sympathize with, to feel for, to have compassion upon. And listen, as you go through things, as you suffer, as you are confused, whatever it may be, listen, he sympathizes with those infirmities and has compassion with those infirmities. Why? Well, he endured a lot of those infirmities as well. While Jesus was enduring them though, he gave us the pattern of what to do while we go through them. What did he do in the garden? What'd he do? He would pray. He would come close to the Father. And I understand Jesus invites us to do the same thing. As you're going through different infirmities, whatever it may be, He invites us to come close to him. Listen, I read you those verses in Hebrews 4, verse 14 and 15, where it talks about our high priest, he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but don't miss, don't miss verse 16 of that same chapter. The Bible says, verse 16, let us therefore, because he knows that you're going through, let us therefore, because he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. We must, in times of difficulty, infirmities, suffering, when all things, listen, when all things are at hand, the end of all things are at hand, we must watch, and pray. And that word, that phrase, watch and pray, simply means to be alert in our praying, awake in our praying. There is no time for lazy, empty, sleepy type of praying. No, to finish well, we must come close and have that time with God and prayer. I encourage you to get close to God because the end of all things, as he says, He said, hand, walk closely with the Lord. So what are we to do? As we're nearing the finish line, all right, be sober. Number two, watch and pray. Number three, quickly, we are to do this, have fervent charity one to another. Look at verse number eight. The Bible says, and above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Now, charity here, is not speaking about just giving things to the poor. No, the charity here is speaking of love. We're to have love one to another. And listen, love is to be a distinguishing mark, or at least it should be a distinguishing mark of the followers of Christ. Here's what Jesus said. In John 13, 34 and 35, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another by this, by what? By your love one to another, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. So understand, when folks see the church, when they see believers, you know what they should be seeing? They should be people who have genuine love one for another. Would you agree with that? Amen. But understand the day in which we live, this word love can be very confusing. And to be quite blunt, the meaning and definition of it has been clouded and even blurred to say the least, because many have equated love with things that are not real love. For instance, some folks will say, I love my dog, or I love ice cream, or I love bass fishing, or I love my spouse, I love my wife. In those instances when I say I love ice cream or bass fishing and I love my wife, do you think I mean and equate that love on all levels with all those instances? Yes or no? You say it just depends on the ice cream. That's what it is, all right. And we're talking Blue Bell butter crunched and maybe, all right. Or homemade peach and strawberry, come on. But anyway, it just depends. But no, we would not equate that same love that we have for our spouse to love that we have for our activities as far as fishing or our favorite food or favorite animal, whatever. No, no, that's not equating at all. Yet we use the same word. So that's what I mean when I say that sometimes the word love gets a little clouded and a little blurred to say the least. Now understand, in the Greek language though, there are three Greek words for love. One, you have eros. This is where we get our word erotic from. It would be a more sensual or erotic love. It's really more like lusts and not love. That's that kind of love when I see young people say, we just love each other. I say, no, you really don't. You're just in heat. You need to calm down. But anyway, that's that kind of love, right? I probably shouldn't have said that. I'm so sorry. I'm going to blame it on the medicine that I'm on, OK? I've been sick. Anyway, okay, forgive me. There's eros. That's more like lust. Then there's phileo. This is a fondness kind of thing. It'd be a good friend, a type of love. This would be a brotherly love. It's where you get the, our word we know Philadelphia from, which means city of brotherly love. Or if you're from there, it's city of brotherly shove. But anyway, but that's where we get that word from. Phileo means brotherly love, a fondness. But then you have this one. You have agape love. Now this is a much deeper love. This is a holy love. This is a sacrificial love, a godly love. This is a selfless love. This is a one way love, expecting nothing in return. And this is, listen, this is the highest form of love anyone could ever give or receive. And this, my friends, is God's love for you and for me. this agape love. And I want to say I'm thankful that this is God's love for you and me. You see, we can never deserve it. We can never earn it. We could never, never earn God's love. Understand this wonderful truth today. There's nothing you could ever do to make God love you anymore. There's nothing you could ever do to make God love you any less. He just simply loves you. It's an amazing truth when you get your mind to wrap around and you say, yeah, I can understand a little bit because I'm so good. Okay. Yeah. Keep telling yourself that and lying to yourself. Listen, we ain't none of us good. There's none good. No, not one. All of our hearts are deceitful and wicked. Who can know? No, he don't love us because we're so good. No, he loves us because that's who he is. That's part of God's character. The Bible says in 1 John 4, 8, God is love. And because he is love, guess what he does? He just simply loves. And here's the best part. He loves us in spite of who we are. The Bible says in Romans 5, 6 through 8, for when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely a righteous man will one die. Perventure, a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth, meaning he showed, God commendeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, while we were in our ungodly state, while you're in the midst of your depravity, while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. It's absolutely amazing to think that we Filthy sinners will be the objects, recipients, and receivers of God's agape, holy, sacrificial, selfless, holy love. It's amazing. But it's that love that is used in this text, that agape love is this love that God says to have among yourselves, that type of love. And dear church, as we're nearing the finish line, we must show, have, give, and be people who love, especially amongst ourselves and amongst the household of faith. But it's an interesting word that comes right before this word charity, and I want you to say it out loud when I stop, all right? Look at your Bible. And when I stop, I want you to say the next word. And above all things, have. Okay, some of you listened, all right? And I'll give you a C minus on that one. Let's bring it up to at least a B plus. You ready? All right, look at your Bibles again, verse number eight. And when I stop, you say the next word. And above all things have. fervent charity among yourselves. Now this word fervent here, it means to be stretched out. It speaks of an eagerness, an intensity. It'd be like an athlete who'd be straining their bodies to reach their athletic goals, meaning they would do whatever it takes to be the best in their sport. And listen, to have fervent charity is pointing to an attitude that every believer must have amongst ourselves. to have fervent charity one to another, to be the best and better than anybody else. It's a pretty amazing thought when you start thinking about it. And I guarantee you though, if every believer would behave this way, do these things, have fervent charity one to another, a lot of fusses would stop. Bickering would cease, gossip would end. Because listen, if we would love one another, a lot of sin among believers would stop. How do you say that, preacher? Well, look at your Bible again. Look at verse number eight. What does he say? Above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves for charity. Listen, here it is. Charity shall cover the multitude of sins. So, as we near the finish line, we need to be sober. We need to watch and pray. We need to have fervent charity one to another. We need to do these things, and there's a couple more we want to give quickly. I'll add them together for time's sake. It is this. Number four, be hospitable without grudging. Number five, serve one another. I'm gonna put these two together though, all right? Look at verse number nine. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, if any man speak, let him speak as oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom he prays in dominion forever. Now, I want you to notice the word minister in verse 10 and also in verse number 11. If you like to mark in your Bible, I encourage you to underline that, highlight it, circle it, do something, all right? But underline that word minister. You see, this word minister here is not talking about the preacher, but rather it's talking about service. The Greek word minister here is, Deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon, deacon But that's what this word means. It means to attend to, it means to serve. It means to serve. And really in this little word, serve, we have this summation, a summary of all of the Christian life to serve. Yes, serve the Lord first, but as we do so, guess what you'll be doing? You'll be serving others as well, because listen, that's what Jesus did. He set the pace for that race of service. Again, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 through 3, we're foreseeing we are also encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every way than a sin which so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds." I understand Jesus set the pace for this race, and if you don't believe me, then I want to challenge you to read the gospel. according to Mark, and take note of his life in that gospel record, because in that gospel record you will find Jesus as the humble servant. And one of the key verses, maybe even the key verse of all the book of Mark is Mark chapter 10 verse 45. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, did not come to be served, but came to minister, to serve, and to give his life a ransom. for many. So if this is what Jesus did, if he came to serve, then why should we who are saved and claim to know Christ as Savior do anything less with our lives than serve one another? Now, I understand it can be hard to serve one another. Do you know that? Do you know that sometimes it can be hard to serve people? Okay, in case you didn't know, it can be hard, all right? It can be hard to serve people from time to time. When you find yourself finding it hard, rather, to serve other people, then I want to encourage you to change your focus. You say, what do you mean by that, preacher? Well, in our text here, when it says use hospitality one to another without grudging, sometimes we want to, or sometimes we do that. Sometimes we want to help, want to serve, but we're reluctant or grudging and begrudging about it. We murmur and mutter about it, you know, I don't want to do this today. Sometimes we do that. Why? Well, when we get into that grudging mode, it's because we're focused upon the wrong person. And who's that person? Ourselves. I don't want to go up there today and do this and that. Okay, why not? You focus upon yourself. You see, when we're focused upon what we want, what we want to do, our wants, our desires, thinking what we deserve, if we focus upon ourselves, There will be people who are always grudging, begrudging, murmuring, complaining, which by the way is nothing short of pride. And listen, the Bible says this about the presence of pride in any situation. Proverbs 13 verse 10, only by pride cometh contentions. So if there's any form of squabble or grumbling or complaining, surely there's pride in our midst as well. But to combat that, what do we need to do? Well, our focus must change. It must go from us to Christ. And when it goes to serving the Lord, our focus will simultaneously go from ourselves to others. You see, it's a natural flow to serve the Lord and serve one another. Another, understand pride in serving others cannot cohabitate. Even Jesus made that very plain when he washed the disciples feet. Do you remember that instance? You can read about it in Matthew chapter 20. But right before then, they were having an argument. Who's going to be the greatest? There's a lot of pride amongst the disciples. But they had an argument, who's gonna be the greatest? And the Bible says in Matthew 20 verse 24, when the 10 heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. You see, it was James and John that wanted to sit on the right hand and the left hand of God, and when he came into his kingdom. And even their mama got involved with that a little bit too. There were some mama boys, all right, but anyway. But there was some contention going on between the disciples. But what happened to calm all that? And it put that to silence. In John chapter 13, the Bible says in verse 12, so after he had washed their feet, he had taken his garments and sat down again and said to them, know you what I have done to you? You call me master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this servant is not greater than his Lord, neither is he that sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy ye if you do them. You know, I about bet that after Jesus washed all the feet of the disciples, the ones who were complaining and had indignation and wondering who's gonna be the greatest, I bet all that subsided. I bet they didn't care who's gonna be the greatest anymore. Seeing the greatest humble himself to the lowest servant in all the household and wash those feet. So I encourage you, serve one another. It's gonna take humility, yes. but serve one another. And when we do those hindrances, those begrudging, complaining, whatever it may be, they'll stop. Again, I know it can be hard to serve one another, especially when it's not received or reciprocated. It can be a little difficult, but we must keep in mind, we don't serve one another for one another's sake, nor do we serve in order to get something from another person. This is not how it works. It's not a scratch my back, I'll scratch yours kind of thing. This is not. in Washington, D.C. There is no political ladder to climb. That's not how the church works. We do not serve in order to gain from each other. That is not our motivation, no. Our motivation for serving one another is this, for his, that means Jesus, for his sake. 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us. We should serve one another expecting nothing in return. The Bible says in Luke chapter 32 through 36, for if you love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do this even the same. If you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again. and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. What are we to do? Knowing that the end of all things is at hand, getting closer and closer every day to the finish line, what are we to do? Well, we wanna finish. And I don't know about you, but I wanna finish well, and I wanna finish strong. But how are we gonna do that? Well, he gives us some simple instructions in this portion of scripture as he paints that perspective that sooner or later all this is gonna be over. But here's how we're gonna finish strong. Be sober. Watch and pray. Get close to God. Have fervent love one to another and serve one another. So let me ask you this morning, as you think of these points and think of this text here, Which one of these applications do you need to apply to your life today? Maybe more than one. Because listen, when we do, your race will be finishing stronger and stronger. God help us to finish