And then we'll spend a little bit of time in the book of Proverbs, so let's pray. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you so very much for your son, Jesus, who's come and died on the cross for our sins. We ask that as we look into your word, that your spirit would be leading us and guiding us, that we would see the truths that are found here, and because of the things that are found in this text, we would your spirit would encourage us and empower us to live for your son Jesus and that we would confess those things which we are doing wrong and that we would then be dedicated to living in obedience based upon the filling of the Holy Spirit. We just thank you so very much for everything you've given us in your son's name, amen. So, This past week, we had some guests over, we had some missionaries come in, two sets of missionaries, and as is the custom, we reminisced about the past, and one of the things that we reminisced about was our favorite superheroes when we were kids. And the weird thing is, is that the superheroes that I liked as a kid, my kids also like, and We were talking about the Power Rangers. I know everybody loves the Power Rangers and knows who the Power Rangers is. Anyways, I was talking with AJ and Ezra, and I shared with them a story one time when I met one of the Power Rangers in a store. And AJ said, Dad, you're my hero. And I thought, man, kid, you have a really low bar. for what is a hero, I mean, let's be honest, to me, someone who's a hero is confined the exit to an Ikea. No, all kidding aside, a hero is normally what somebody who is better than us, somebody who gives us hope, somebody that we can emulate, someone who does something on behalf of others. And as I said before, I'm so very thankful for those who have served in the military and have put themselves in harm's way. I'm very thankful for them and in many ways I think they are heroes. Jesus is the real hero, right? Jesus is a better hero. He's the best hero. Last week we talked about it. We said, man, I don't know if you've ever met any of your earthly heroes. It's really disappointing because you find out that they're just a little bit better than me. And you go, well, I don't wanna, I look up to somebody that's a little bit better than me? That's a weak hero, right? Some weak sauce there. Here, when we look at Jesus, Jesus is the opposite, right? The more I look at him, the more I'm enamored with him, the more I realize, yeah, there's a lot of similarities, right? There's a lot of things that he can empathize with, but man, he is altogether something different, right? Perfectly righteous. And so last week, as we were looking in Proverbs 28, we were talking about Christ our hero. We're gonna continue that. We're gonna look at Jesus as our hero. So go with me to Proverbs chapter 28. We're gonna see a couple things about righteousness. We're gonna look at Christ, who is the embodiment of righteousness. And as we look at this text, I wanna encourage you to look at this and consider how Christ is each one of these and how Jesus is our hero, the one we look up to, the one that we emulate. So in verses 4 through 5, what we're going to do is we're going to see Christ-like justice. We're going to revisit that subject again. Christ-like justice. We're going to see in verses 6 through 11 this Christ-like obedience. That's one thing that's super impressive about Jesus is this undying obedience to do the will of the Father. to the point that he would go to the cross and die, and that's gonna be emulated here. We're gonna see that here. Then in verses 12 through 14, we're gonna see the stability that comes with righteousness. There's great stability, so we're gonna say Christ-like stability. So, go with me to Proverbs chapter 28. Before we start breaking up the text, just wanna remind you again of this chapter. This is an interesting chapter. We could say that chapter 28 is the chapter of the lions, right? So in verse one, remember last week, it says, the wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. So that's the first lion, and this first lion describes the righteousness, right, this boldness of a lion. So here's the first lion from verses one through 14, that's the first line. Then if you go notice in verse 15, it says, like a roaring lion, like a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. So from 15 to the end of the chapter, then you have the second lion, right? The bad lion. So the first one's the good lion. The second one is a bad lion. And so we're looking at this saying we need to be like a lion, right? And I can't think of anyone more like a lion than our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a lion. He was a lion of a man. A lion of righteousness, right? Let's go to verse four, and let's look at this justice. A little bit of recap last week, but there's always things that we can learn. So notice in verse four, as we look at Christ-like justice, it says, those who forsake the law praise the wicked. Now, this isn't some great mystery. We all understand this. A person who rejects God's word, who rejects listening to God, a person who distances themselves from God's word, probably because of what is said in verse one, right, the wicked flee when no one's chasing them. So why would they flee? Well, they would flee because of the guilty conscience, right? Men love darkness rather than light because if they come to the light, it will expose their deeds. And so this forsaking of the law is this combination of not knowing God, incapable of knowing God, this extreme animosity and this extreme fear that if I get closer to God's word, everything I do will be exposed. And so last week in Romans 1, we looked at what they do on righteous men, suppress the truth, right? They suppress the truth. And so what happens when you suppress the truth? You start praising wicked. You start praising the wicked. Why? Well, it's obvious. You don't care about God's word. All of your values are that which is opposite of God's word. So when it comes time for you then to start applauding and celebrating, you're gonna celebrate all of those things which also forsake God's word, right? Makes logical sense. What's interesting is the next part. It says, but those who keep the law strive against them. So you see that keeping the law automatically then cuts against those who praise the wicked because the righteous do not praise the wicked. In fact, what do the righteous do? The righteous condemns the wicked. We call sin, sin. And so we condemn the wicked, right? We say, no, you gotta follow God's law. That's what you have to do. You have to find grace, which is found in Christ. You have to be obedient. The wicked would go, no, you don't. No, you don't. We're gonna forsake it. And so there's just this, This nature of butting heads, right? The Apostle Paul talks about this, that battle, even within ourselves, between the flesh and the spirit, right? The spirit doesn't want to do these things that God's word is asking us to do, and it's only because of the power of the spirit that we can even begin to resemble obedience. And so there's this constant conflict. Now, when it says strive against here, I imagine many of us would love it if I said the striving against means we go and blow them all up or go hunt them down or yell them down in the street. If I see them, I'm going to yell at them. I'm going to contend. I'm going to be belligerent. That is not necessarily wise, and that's not necessarily what Solomon is saying here, nor do I think Jesus necessarily embodies that. Now, there are times where Jesus, being the Lord of the Sabbath and being God, did get pretty gnarly, right? I mean, he did overturn tables twice. So we can't say that there is no such thing as standing up. But don't use this verse as an opportunity for the flesh, for you just to be belligerent because you think you're right. Know this, if you want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be automatically against the culture, no matter what culture that is. In the history of man, any culture that you've lived in, you are countercultural, even our own in the United States. And guess what happens when you're counterculture in a culture? you will suffer persecution. And so the Apostle Paul says, all who desire to live godly will suffer persecution. Not we might, or not, if the conditions are right, no, you will suffer persecution. There will be some head butting. Be careful how you react when you go against the culture. Because remember, we're here as ambassadors. This place ain't our home. We're here on behalf of another, giving a message of another, speaking the message of reconciliation. Sometimes we can be so belligerent that we close doors that could have been a great opportunity for the gospel, but because of our belligerence, we might create an extra barrier, right? But do know this, do know this, that the two are incompatible. It is impossible for these two to function in the same space. It is impossible for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to both forsake the law and celebrate righteousness. That doesn't happen. When you set aside God's word, the natural result will be celebration of wickedness. and when you have God's word at the forefront, you don't celebrate wickedness, you celebrate righteousness. I think Jesus was a great example of this, that he was able to walk in a world that was riddled with sin and dealing with people with all these really bad ideas and he's able to navigate this and he's able to talk to them. Now, notice verse five. Because we're still thinking about Christ like justice, right? So just know this, that those who walk away from God's word, those who reject it, there's really nothing in common with us and them. And here, Solomon kind of explains a little bit why. Evil men do not understand justice. That is really important for us to remember. Evil people do not understand justice. Why? Because they've forsaken the source of justice, which is God. Of course, it makes the most logical sense. If they celebrate wickedness, and then it comes time for them to make a judgment call, they're not going to make the right call because they don't care about righteousness. I know it's shocking whenever we turn on the news and we see a whole bunch of wickedness on TV and we go, where's the justice for this? Where's the justice for that? We live in a world of people that just don't understand it because they don't know Christ. But notice the next thing that it says, and this is probably the most difficult part about it. It says, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. Completely? Really, that completely? I know the law, and now all of a sudden I now know everything about justice? Remember, this is a principle, and the principle is this. Wicked people do not understand justice because justice is found in God. Those who seek God and know God have this sense of justice, right? We have this sense of justice which is Strong, right? You spend time in God's word, there are strong feelings and opinions that happen. Why? Because that's what God's word does. The right opinions. And what ends up happening is you start hearing stuff and you go, but that doesn't sound like the character of God, right? Remember that this isn't a rule, and so is it possible for somebody to seek the Lord and Not completely understand everything about our legal system? Yeah, that's not what's being said here. Is it possible for us to know that something is wrong but not fully understand why it's wrong? Of course. But this is this idea of I know what's right because I know the one who determines the standard of what is right and wrong. When you read Christ and the story of Christ, this is something that's so overwhelming, that sense of justice and right and wrong, and this development of loving what is good. This is part of what the Holy Spirit does. This is what Jesus does. He loves what's good. And his standard of what is right and what is wrong is God himself and his word. It's a shame, many believers, or many of those who claim to be believers, they don't look to God for the sense of justice. For many of us, what, it's a political issue. What is this political party saying is justice? We as believers need to remember, it's Jesus. It's Jesus or bust, right? It's God's word or bust for us. That's what it is, okay? That's it. Now, Let's move on from justice and let's talk about this obedience. This text was really challenging to me, just in my spirit. One of the reasons it was really challenging for me is this sense of doing what is right regardless of how it impacts you, impacts you financially, impacts you in society. The sense is you do what's right, You're obedient to God's word, and let the chips fall where they may. But as for me and my household, we're gonna serve the Lord. And this is hard. This is hard. It's hard being principled. It's hard walking with character. It's hard to be a person of integrity. It's hard to be a person of principle. It is. It's so easy to It's so easy to say, you know what, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna let bygones be bygones, and I'm not, yeah, I'll compromise myself just to get along. Not thinking through it biblically, not thinking through it in a way that's right, but saying I'm gonna get along, okay, I'll get along, but I'm gonna compromise me. I'm not gonna, I don't wanna get into this, and I don't wanna get into that. it's easy for us to make decisions going, well, this is financially the best thing for me to do. It may not be the most righteous thing to do, but I get a lot of stuff out of it, right? So as believers, this is a great text, especially as Americans. sometimes we just have this view that if you're rich, you must be smart, you must be wise, you must have all this stuff together, and I've listened to a lot of people talk about how they know God and they give financial advice that Christians are writing it down, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you just go, yeah, but that's not right. That's just not, that's not what the Lord would ask. So let's kind of go through this, because this is Christ-like obedience. I'm gonna follow the Lord regardless. I'm gonna follow Jesus, whatever that means, right? Even if that means I have to remain poor, I'm gonna follow Jesus, right? So notice what he says. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. So here it's comparing, and it's comparing what? It's comparing the integrity and the crookedness, right? So integrity is far more valuable thing to invest in than anything else. Now, we must remember that just because somebody has a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean that they gained it through crooked means. But what it does mean is if you had to pick between one or the other, integrity is the one you pick. That's it. It shouldn't even be a question. Like there shouldn't even be a pause of which one's, it's integrity, righteousness, that's better. And so therefore it's better to have nothing and to walk in integrity than to have everything and be crooked, right? and have these evil ways. And notice, notice what he then does. Notice how he then talks about it because, yeah, we would go, of course, it's better to have integrity than money, we would say that. But what about the company you keep? Notice what it says. It says, the one who keeps the law is a son with understanding. This is one who has discernment. This is one who's able to walk through life skillfully, wisely, like Christ did, right? Thinking like Jesus. Jesus was able to navigate really sticky situations because he was obedient to the Father. And he had this incredible discernment. That's our example, is to have the discernment, to keep the law. But notice it says, but a company of gluttons shames his Father, meaning, It's possible that the friends I make and the company I make could make me a bad son, make my parents go, oh, that kid, oh, what a terrible, terrible thing, and it brings shame to the family. But you see how he's comparing the two, right? Because it's keeping the law, being obedient, and then being around people who are not. So the sense is I must walk in integrity regardless of the people who are around. And part of walking integrity is making sure that my closest companions and friends are people who are not given to all the desires of their heart and of their mind. Not having lots of fleshly people speaking into my life. This is part of integrity. Who am I hanging out with? Who's my friends? Who's the one that I rely on? Who's the one that I listen to? What's the company that I keep? Am I around the gluttons who just give in to all sorts of desires? Now, this isn't saying, by the way, that you shouldn't be around people who are sinners. We live in a world where there's sinners. If it's saying only be around those inside of the church and go live in a monastery, that wouldn't make any sense. Because you'd have to start outside of the monastery, and who would hear about the monastery, right? It's like a weird fight club type of thing. You only know about it because of the people that are in it. Well, how are people supposed to know about it? They just find out. That's impossible. And the Apostle Paul would say, if we are to leave the sinners, then we would leave the world. We'd have to get out of this place. We'd have to just leave. No, we must interact with those who are gluttons. in order to share the gospel with them, that Jesus loves them, and that Jesus came and died on the cross for their sins, and he was buried and rose again on the third day, and that only faith in Christ, only faith in Christ, is the way that you have a right relationship with God. Only faith in Christ is the answer. Is it possible for us to come in to not the wisest counsel, keep the wisest friends, of course. But this is part of integrity, right? I'm gonna be around those who are like me, and even if there's a whole bunch of people around me who are giving into this, I'm gonna stand up against the crowd. I'm gonna do what's right. No, no, it's the next thing. says whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor now this is a kind of an interesting statement most likely what's being said here is you see that whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit, this is a bad thing, okay? This isn't telling you to go out and be really business savvy, though the book of Proverbs does tell us to do that. This is most likely one who gains their wealth in seedy ways, right? By charging too much interest. and focusing too much on getting everything you can through greed. Then the second part then is a little strange, because it says it gathers for him who is generous to the poor. And I understand this, that the sex is this, is that there are times where there are people who gain wealth in ways that are not right. And God in his providence will at times take from them and give to those who are needy. That God will use them in his providence because God is sovereign and he's in control. And so you get the sense that these people are gathering for themselves thinking, I'm going to get this for me, I'm going to get this for me, I'm going to get this for me. And God goes, no you're not. because I'm in charge, and I'm going to give this to somebody else. I think it points to the fact that God's in control. Now, some might say, well, this speaks about how you should use your wealth in a way, be smart with your money, use it as a good steward, so that you can gather it for the purpose of being generous. Of course you should, and both are theologically true. Both are theologically true, but I think this is talking more about the sovereignty of God and how even when we watch some of these people who accumulate wealth through unrighteous means, we remember God owns everything. He owns everything. He's seeing what's going on, and guess what? That stuff, is going to go to someone else. Think about this. Think about, remember when the children of Israel left Egypt. What happened? They plundered Egypt. God put it in the heart of the Egyptians to give away their stuff to the Israelites. That's an example of what this is talking about. Now, notice the next thing. says, if one turns away his ear from hearing the law. So a lot of talking about the law, obedience, the walk, right? The walk with the Lord. And here, this hearing of the law isn't just listening to it on an audio Bible. This is the obedience and living for the Lord, right? Having a life which is worthy of the calling with which we've been called. So one who forsakes that, one who turns his ears, who has a hard heart, right? Notice what it says. It says, even his prayer is an abomination. As a young guy when I read this, I got so scared. Because I thought every time I'd sin, that means God now thought of my prayers as being vile. And so every time I'd sin, it would be like this overwhelming panic of, oh no, God now hates my prayers. And he doesn't listen to my prayers. So how do I talk to him if I can't pray to him? So there was this overwhelming confusion because of my immaturity of the sovereignty of God, my immaturity of God's grace. You gotta understand, this isn't talking about when somebody sins, God goes, that's it, you can't talk to me anymore, you're done. This is talking about those who refuse to listen to the Lord. He's talking about those who have a foolish heart, to which we as believers can spend some time not walking with the Lord. And because our heart is not filled with scripture and not influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the things we say and the things we ask for are wrong. The way we approach Him is wrong. That's what I think is talked about. It's talking about this wrong perspective. I've heard plenty of people who are wicked pray, and the things that they've said, you just go, oh my, that is, God never wants us to have that, or that's not part of his will. And so you can imagine how that would then be an abomination to him. Then notice the next thing in verse 10, because remember, we're all talking about obedience, and Jesus was obedient to the Father. Jesus was one who had integrity, and he didn't really let the culture or financial decisions sway his character. And so notice this next one in verse nine, or I'm sorry, verse 10. It says, whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit. but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance. Amen, right? Amen for that. Amen that there are people who are willing to tempt the righteous, and this passage teaches us what? The principle is what? The trap that they set for the righteous, they will fall into it themselves, right? This is like the Wile E. Coyote proverb, right? Just think of that. He sets that trap for that poor roadrunner bird, and what ends up happening? The rock falls on his own head, right? That's what's happened, right? That's what happens. And so these people who are misleading the upright into these evil ways, they will fall into their own pits. Is there not a lot of wicked people trying to mislead people today? Are they not around us? Are they not in places of influence? And what do we normally think? Let's go get them. Let's go get them. What does God do in His sovereignty? The traps that they set for us will happen to them. So what does this teach us about us? Be obedient to the things that are found in God's word. Focus on the right things. Stay in your lane. Don't get distracted. Be a person of integrity and of character and focus on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Those traps which are set, which are serious and can be very detrimental, those traps will come back. They'll come back on them. And so all of the things that we hear on the news, and all the things we hear about politicians, and all the things we hear about the school boards, and all the things that we hear about that, guess what, friends? That won't last forever, and that trap will come back on them. They are setting the trap for themselves. We must stay obedient. And then notice the great promise. It says, but the blameless, so those who aren't misled, those who aren't tempted away, what will happen? Good things, a goodly inheritance. For the Jew, this was the land, right? Great things happen to those who are obedient to the Mosaic law. For us as believers who walk by the Spirit, we realize that we have it better because we have all of these incredible inheritances in Christ that are ours regardless of our performance. The moment I place my faith in Christ, I'm already accepted in the beloved. I'm already a child of God's. I'm already going to be co-heir with Christ. All that's happened because of God's grace. And I am made blameless because of Jesus. And I can walk blameless because of Jesus. And because of Jesus and what he's done for me, guess what? This is the worst it gets. Right? This is the worst it gets here on this earth. Everything's up from here, right? I get to be with Jesus? That's better. I get to have this eternity with him? That's better. You see how this helps us walk with integrity? I don't have to listen to the temptations because I realize what I have in Christ. Why would I satisfy for a McDonald's burger when I have the steak, right? Like, why would I be Twitterpated with the thing that's so much far lesser than the thing that I have already in Christ Jesus? No offense to anybody who loves McDonald's cheeseburgers, by the way. This is what integrity is, right? Now, there's stability that comes I think Christ was the most stable person that's ever walked the face of this earth, right? Yeah, he was. And there are things that come from that stability of righteousness. And notice what Solomon says here in verse 12. It says, when the righteous triumph, when righteousness is celebrated, when something good happens to the righteous, what happens? There is great glory. It's good. It's a good thing. It's a good thing when righteous people triumph, right? That's a really good thing. So from this stability and this righteousness as a believer that I've received from Christ, I know that Christ will triumph. Amen. That's going to be great. And there's going to be great glory when he comes back. But even on this side, when righteousness is celebrated, that is always a really good thing. We should always celebrate righteousness. But notice what happens. It says, but when the wicked rise, meaning when the wicked come to power, what happens? The people hide themselves. So the one, when righteousness triumphs, what? Everybody says, this is great. When the other team gets on, people go, this is bad. This is really bad. Why? Because they don't care about righteousness. Because they don't care about what's right and what's wrong. They're willing to pervert justice. They're willing to do all of these things that we've just talked about. They're willing to walk in a way that's not pleasing. And so all these people become what? Victims. They become victims. Notice the stability, glory with righteousness. Notice the other, people hide themselves from wicked. The one is stable, the other one is really unstable. Have you ever been around a really unstable person? You really don't wanna be around those people, right? Now notice the next thing, verse 13. Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. What a great passage to talk about what happens if there is sin, and the stability of the righteous, because the righteous can repent, and we can find mercy, right? Woe to the one who has sin that you are hiding and you have not confessed that to God. That is not a good thing. And the continual not repenting of those things is a really bad thing. Bad things happen when we do not repent of our sins. My advice, you repent as soon as possible. Even if it's a little thing, repent as soon as possible. Always be repenting. Always be asking for forgiveness because I guarantee you this, you've done something bad. And notice this, if you conceal your transgression, you don't bring this to the Lord, that is a bad thing. Do not think that things will go well. If the only thing that happens, by the way, even if it is you start fleeing when no one pursues and you start getting super hyper-paranoid because your conscience is pricked, that isn't fun. That's not fun at all. But notice the incredible, the incredible promise. But he who confesses, this is, I admit, I admit about my sin what God says about my sin. Right? I admit it. The way God views my sin is how I'm viewing my sin. I'm admitting I committed that sin. I am in agreement with God. Yep, I done stepped in it. And then notice then there's this next part. And then forsakes them. There has to be a part inside of the believer that when we confess our sins, and we know that there's forgiveness when we confess our sins, but there has to be something inside of us that says, I don't want to do this again. And you say, well, what happens if I do that thing again? You start the process over, friends. You say sorry again. Now, I know I'm younger than some of you. Not by much, right? I think the biggest gap between me and the next person is 12 months. I'm joking. But I know in my life, the things that I struggled with when I first was a believer are still the same things I'm struggling with now. You know the only difference? I just hate them now. When I was a younger believer, I kind of enjoyed it. Now, I just absolutely hate it. I can't look at myself in the mirror. Just go, how could you do that? And you might look at some of those things and go, Caleb, don't beat yourself up over that. That is nothing. But you have to understand that as we get closer to the Lord, we get this view of sin. We get this view of what it costs our Savior. We get a view of perfect holiness and righteousness. And when we see that, and then we see what we do in comparison, how could you not go, that's the worst thing I could do right now? And so this desire to forsake it. There's a lot of sins that I've confessed, I've asked for forgiveness of, and then I turned around and just did the same thing again. Just do it over and over again. But the Lord knows this. We as believers should have a life that's marked by holiness and obedience and more and more obedience. But notice this, that if you do this, if you have this, what does it say? Will obtain mercy. You're struggling with sin. I get it, I get that struggle with sin. You confess that sin. You ask for forgiveness. Though there still might be some regret from that sin, brothers and sisters, you must believe God when he says that you are forgiven and you must believe God that there is mercy. You have to. If you don't, now you're in a whole different type of problem. But when God's word says that you confess it and you forsake it, when you repent of it, when you say you're sorry of it, you will find mercy. God is nothing but merciful and gracious, even to us believers in Astoria, Oregon. He is, and you will find it, and you will find how sweet that mercy is. So then notice the stability that comes from this. The stability that comes from a believer that wrestles with sin and confesses that sin. What's the great thing that happens? The next verse. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always. There you go. The great blessing. The great blessing that comes from this. taking your sins serious, this great blessing that comes from this hard work of obedience. What's the payoff? The payoff is this divine blessing. And what's this divine blessing? It is such a blessing that you could have nothing and still be the most blessed person in a town. You could have no friends and still be the most blessed person in the town. You could live in a cardboard box, be the most blessed person. Why? Because you fear the Lord and you understand something. You understand because of God's word. You understand this is the most important thing. Everything else secondary to this and my obedience and my walk with the Lord is the most important thing. And there's great blessing to this. And notice this, it's not just that you do one good thing one time. Notice he puts in that phrase, always, a lot. This is the consistent thought in your mind that you take God serious. Oh man, but then notice this next one. But whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. What's that calamity? All kinds of calamity. The Bible's full of that type of calamity. So what's this hardness of heart? This hardness of heart is someone who's not willing to listen, someone who's not willing to obey. So notice, one comes with great blessing, the other one comes with great calamity. So as I think about this text, we go, okay, well Christ is our hero. He's the greatest hero. He's the one that gives us the most hope. He's the one that embodies this the best. He never had to confess his sins, because he never sinned, but he was one that was righteous, but he does demonstrate the mercy of God by dying on the cross for our sins and dealing with our sins. So what do we do with this? Well, it's obvious. If you're here right now and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, there's never been a time in which you placed your faith solely in the person and work of Jesus Christ and trusted him and him alone to have the right kind of relationship with the Father. You need to do that. Yeah, before you even try to be righteous, you can't. You need Christ. For those that do love Christ, For those who have placed their faith in Christ, spend a lot of time in the Bible. And if you go, well, how much time? Trust me, you can always spend more, right? Trust me, we can always spend more. Especially since we have these handy dandy little things that are always in our hands. You can get the Bible on this too, it's great. Always be looking at it. You really, and even if you have a bad memory like me, there you go, it's right there. Spend time in the Word. Spend time yielding to the Spirit. Spend time considering Christ. Spend time confessing your sin. Spend time saying, okay, Father, I don't wanna do that again. Help me, teach me how not to do that again. Give me the discernment not to do that again. and then pray, God, give me the boldness, that holy boldness that only you can supply to be like Jesus and to stand with integrity, to stand for true justice, to have that stability that only comes from righteousness. Help me not cave in. It's kind of interesting how movies are now with superheroes. You get all these backstories of how the superheroes are flawed. It's almost like today we love flawed superheroes. And it's almost like everybody likes a superhero that's just a little bit better than them because they like to think of their heroes as having serious flaws so they don't have to think about their own flaws. He's just like me. As believers, we have the greatest savior who has no flaws. He has no kryptonite, right? He doesn't have any of that. There is no arch enemy that he fights that you go, oh, he's not gonna win. We'll have to wait for the next episode to see how he's gonna solve this one. Nope, he wins. It's it, he wins. He's a sovereign God. But he also added on humanity. And he lived, he not only offers salvation, but he also offers an example for us. It's also important that we look to our hero, and that we make Jesus our hero. Much better than a superhero, he is the hero. That's it, he's the hero. And may God help us emulate him in all that we say, think, or do. Let's go ahead and let's close in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so very much for your son, Jesus Christ, who's come and died on the cross for our sins, who was buried and rose again on the third day. We thank you for all that we have in him. Wow. Thank you that we have mercy. Thank you that you are merciful and gracious. Father, we ask that you would help us be people that stand firm for you. stand steadfast for you, help us be people of character, help us be people of the gospel and people of the book. We thank you for everything you've given us in your son's name, amen.