Please return your seats and turn with me to 1 Kings, 1 Kings and chapter 2. And while you are doing so, I would like to say that the weather, our bodies haven't been sanctified that much that we cannot feel the weather. So what will you do if you are in Shima for lunch? For you, we will doze. but we pray that that will not be true. And then, this part of the month of November and December, our interns will have opportunities to preach God's words, at least each starting with this morning, each will have a service to handle until the end of December. So that's why our brother David was preaching this morning, And then hopefully, the Lord willing, our brother Fikati will preach next Sunday, just like that, up to the end of December. And then I also noticed that our brother Fikati is from Trinity Baptist, now it's called Nkana West Baptist. That's where I got saved. And I noticed this morning, when we used to sing hymns, we used to sing them while standing. So you notice that this morning you did stand quite a bit. And so one of our elders did call Fikati and tell him, now, Trinity, they are young men. Here, they are old men. So we only stand the first hymn, the handover, and the closing. And so you've noticed that that's what you've done this afternoon. Well, let's turn our Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 2. We'll read the first four verses, and that's where we'll center our thoughts. this afternoon as we are slowly drawing closer to the end of our studies in the life of David. 1 Kings 2, if you are there, I commence reading from the ESV. When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. Let's seek light from above. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we are a God who daily continue to remind us that we should not lose heart whatever our challenges, circumstances may be cause us not to lose heart for ours is a God who is alive a God who's interested in the affairs of life a God who's interested in us and so we pray that if there's anyone who's discouraged this afternoon If there's anyone who's going through a difficult time, O God of heaven, cause them not to lose heart and to look up to you, that that's far you've brought them and you've been with them. And we now ask that as your word is being opened, we pray that you'll cause us to be alert and that we'll not be defeated by the weather, but that we'll fill our minds with the beauty of your word and that we've been beat our minds to pay attention so that all of us would testify God spoke to us through the vessel that he chose. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. What we've been making our way in the life of David for about two years now and some months And this character study has been quite interesting for me, challenging, heart-searching. And also, I pray that it's been challenging and heart-searching for you as well. And one of the things that you see when you're doing a character study is that these are real individuals. These are real lives that lived on Earth. And so, what they went through, was not just unique to them, but it's something that we go through. It may be at different levels or measures, but we can identify with them that what they are going through, we too have gone through. But also we've seen from time and again why David is called a man after God's own heart. He is a man who knew what it meant to trust in God, to have fellowship with God, and to depend in God, whether in good times or bad times. Two weeks ago, we considered 2 Samuel 24, verse 1 through to 15, and we looked at the subtle power of a sinful motive. And three things we did consider. The first was the tragedy of the sinful motive. We saw how that David had this sinful motive in numbering the children of Israel. The second thing we saw is the pain of the sinful motive. The pain that came as a result of David sinning against God. And the last thing we did was the lesson that we drew that were in the form of application from this episode in the life of David. And one of the things that you see and keeps on coming every time or the time that we've been looking at this lesson from the life of David is this. Sin always has consequences. Sin always as consequences. Sometimes the consequences of sin may simply affect the sinner himself. But there are other times when these consequences of sin will affect the sinner, the people around them, even a community at times. And we saw this the last time in the life of David, when he had numbered the children of Israel. God revealed to David, through his prophet God, that what David did displeased God. And David was an old man at this particular time when he sinned against God. And one would be tempted to think that the older you grow, the less temptations that you face in life. But this is not true. The older you grow, the more temptations you have, and sometimes you face subtle temptations. And that's what we learned last time we were together. This afternoon we continue in our studies of the life of David, and this is the second last sermon from the life of David. The Lord willing, maybe between now and the next time I preach, the Lord might just reveal something more. But I would want to believe that this is the second last. And what we see now is that David is an old man. The days of valor are long gone. He has achieved true greatness in his life. And now he is on a downward spiral to the grave. It was time for David to die. The once mighty king was now a mere shell of his former self. The strength and the resilience of olden days have fled away. And the man who knew prowess in battle now trembles on his deathbed. Our passage records for us the parting words of David to his dear son Solomon, who was going to be his successor. Even though life was heading away from David, David's mind was still on duty. David realized that he can still be a source of blessings to the people of Israel if he can only instruct his son Solomon and charge his son Solomon the would-be king of Israel. That would do a great service to the people of Israel. For David It wasn't enough that Solomon was simply or merely on the throne. Solomon needed to know how to reign from the throne. And David gathers the remnants of his strength and all that was in him and he marshals the faculties of his being and sits up and begins to instruct his son Solomon. He speaks with agency. He speaks with solemnity. And he begins by using words or a language of a warrior. He begins by telling David, Solomon rather, that this is what is going to happen to me. I'm about to die. I'm about to go the way of the earth. But you, my son, be strong and show yourself a man. And before he could show Solomon the framework with which this charge was going to be carried out, he wanted his son to know that he needed to be strong and to show himself a man. And these words of David are not simply words. They are a summary of what has been a divine guiding principle in the life of David. David is not simply saying these words because he knows he's going to die. He knows that even in the moment of death, he sums up his life and he looks at what has been the guiding principle and that's what he instructs his son to do. Be strong. Show yourself the man. And keep the church. of the Lord your God. And this has been true of David in his life. And this must be true of every mature Christian. Whether on the deathbed, or going through a difficult time in life, or whether in good health, you must instruct younger Christians on being strong in the Lord and showing total obedience to the divine will and commands of God. And if this is your guiding principle in life, you see to it, you make it a personal goal, a personal agenda to instruct those young Christians, those that are behind you in faith. You see to it that you train the next generation to be obedient to God's divine statutes. And as we open up this passage, I would just like us to consider three things, and then we'll apply these things. The first thing is the calmness of a godly mature Christian in the face of death. And we see this in verse 1 through to verse 2b. The Bible reads, when David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, I am about to go the way of the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man. The second thing I would like us to see is the care of the godly, mature Christian for the well-being of young Christians. And you see, that's why David is saying to his son, be strong and show yourself a man. But it doesn't end there, and he says, keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rule, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses. And the third thing that we'll see is the conditional nature of divine promises. And you see this in verse 3 and verse 4. The Bible reads, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn. That the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their work, to walk before me in faithfulness, with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." Or at the first point, the calmness of godly mature Christians in the face of death. The last words of a dying man or a dying person naturally have weight upon those around. When a person is about to die, and they are standing on the borderline between life and eternity, they have fewer temptations to disguise the truth. They have fewer temptations to keep and hold back the truth, and they are more likely to see things in their proper state and proper perspective. People will obey the wishes and the words of a dying person more if they can relate to the words and to the life that has been lived, which is just slowly passing by. The last words of a dying person must be a summary of what your life has been. And people often times have difficulties and challenges to relate to your last words if your life was contrary to what you are saying. And so when you are on your death bed, or when you are about to die, the last words that come out of you must simply reinforce what has been your guiding principle in life. And this is what we see in David. There is a calmness in him as he talks to his son Solomon. He calls his son and he tells him, I am about to go the way of the earth. There is this calmness in David. David is so sure that he is going to die. He is not bitter with God. He is not bitter with life. He is not bitter that he is going to leave this majestic kingdom where he has been king. he has run his race and is now passing on the baton to the next generation. And there is a tone of quiet composure and satisfaction in the words of David, a remarkable feature which shows us how a sense of awe used to die. And so David is He is very composed. He is very satisfied that he has lived his life on earth and time for him to die has come. And he doesn't look back at anything, probably that you will see and regret. He is there standing and he sees his son Solomon. He knows that this is the next generation that should obey God. This is the next generation that will be a king on the throne. My son Solomon is going to be the king. and I'll be no more. And I have to pass on what I've experienced and learned about this great God. And this calmness in the life of David was brought about because he knew who God was. David knew the God that he saved. He knew that from the time he became king, God had been by his side. He knew good times. He knew bad times. He knew the times to look back when he sinned against God and how that God brought discipline upon his nation. And he can look back at his experience of life, his experience with his walk with God. And he can now pass on that information to his son Solomon. And he is very calm. He is not bitter. He is satisfied that God gave him an opportunity to live life on earth and to be king of God's chosen nation, Israel. David had lived a life by the inspiration of a divine purpose, service to God. He saved his own generation by the will of God. And now he is telling his son, I am going to my eternal home, the home of the redeemed. And brethren, this ought to be the attitude of any mature Christian, regardless of age. When you are facing death, what you say in the midst of difficulties, trials, even in the midst of death, must be a summary of your life. People should be able to see that this has been the heartbeat of this person. People can look at your life and they can summarize it in those last words that you are saying. When time for you to leave earth draws nigh, or when it's time for you to leave earth and God by His grace gives an opportunity to speak, to say the last words. Let that calmness fill your heart and your soul. Let people see in you that all these things that this person has been saying about God is true. Our words, manos, must not be a mere oriental carriage. Our words, must not be simply mere passive submission to the unseen God. Our words must come from the depths of our hearts. Our words must be the fortitude of the soul. The words that come out in the midst of death, in the midst of difficulties, must be words that come from the depths of your heart. And those are the words where your soul anchors on. Even if everything around you seem to be giving way, your faith will become brighter and brighter and brighter, because you are going home. In the midst of difficulties, even in the midst of death, let our minds be filled with the glories of God, and the promises of God, and the beauty of God, and what God says about heaven. and that will refresh your soul. Yet you're going to leave this world that you've known for years. You're going to leave your family, your loved ones, but you're going home. And what the way you be-eth, the words that come out of you, who speak more to those around you, if they can relate your life to the words that are being said. Our conduct in the midst of death must be the summit of the earthly life, illuminating as it were a pure radiance that is coming from the highest sphere, from God Himself. And this has been true of saints of odds. I have a book entitled, The Last Words of Saints and Sinners. And this book shows you the way people behave in the moment of death. Those who know God, and those who do not know God. Let me read a few quotes. A man by the name of James Burns was a faithful minister who was burnt at Smithfield in England in 1540. And as he was being committed to the flames, he addressed the onlookers with the farewell words. And these were his words. I trust in no good words that I ever did but only in the death of Christ. I do not doubt through Him to inherit the kingdom of heaven. But imagine not that I speak against good works, for they are to be done. And verily, they that do them not shall not enter into the kingdom of God. Here is a man who has been bent but there was this calmness in his heart. Another man by the name of George Carpenter, who was a renowned martyr in Munich, was killed in 1527. And while he was dying uttered these words, My wife and my children are so loved that they cannot be bought for all the riches of the Duke of Barivia. But for the love of my Lord, I willingly forsake them. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Now these are the words of a man who knew God. A man who knew that, yes, even in the midst of death, I love my wife, I love my children, and I'm about to die, but as I'm going home to be with my God, my wife and my children, if they continue to live in faith, they continue to obey God, if they believe in the God that I believe, they too will be with me in heaven. But listen to the words of two sinners. One of them is a man called Dante Rosti, a poet and an artist, and he murmured these words when he was about to die. I believe I shall die tonight. Yesterday I wished to die, but tonight I must confess I do not want to die. Another man called Colony Chatteris, who was one of those people that lived denying the realities of hell. At the end of his life, he was not so blunt in his denial of life after death. And he said these words, I would gladly give up everything to have it proved to my satisfaction that there is no such a place as hell. Now here is a man, he is in the midst, he knows that he is going to die. He has lived denying that there is hell. And when you read his story and his account, he was so bored to speak in public that there is no such a place as hell. But in the moment when he is about to die, as it was like his view is enlarged, And he now sees that there is life beyond the grave. And he is hoping that if there could be someone who could come, he would give up all the riches that he had, if someone can prove to him, to his satisfaction, that there is no such a place as hell. And you don't see calmness in such a person. because it knows that there is life after death. I've lived my life denying that there is no God. Now that I'm on the borderline between life and eternity, I can see that I'm being drawn to the bottomless pit of hell. But those who knew their God, those who know their God, can have that composure, and satisfaction as they face death. Not that they are happy that they are leaving their families. But in that moment, they look at the life on earth and they realize that it has pleased God that my life should come to an end at this point. And now there is this eternity ahead of me in the presence of the God who I have saved my entire life and I'm going home. And this ought to be true of every mature Christian in the face of death. The view of God must be enlarged. Such as when people come to us, they should be encouraged. And you see this in David. He's telling his son, I'm about to go the way of the earth. The second thing we see is the care of godly, mature Christians. David's charge to Solomon had this double value. He spoke as a dying man. He also spoke as a wise and loving father. David was so anxious of the moral and spiritual welfare of his son. I mean, he wasn't just satisfied that Solomon would be king. In as much as the physical aspect of caring for Solomon, him being king was going to be okay. But David is anxious. He cares about the moral character of his son. He's also concerned about the spiritual character of his son. And to David, what is of paramount importance is his son's character and not his son's circumstances. or what his son would be. And he believed that if only Solomon was going to believe God and obey God in everything that God has commanded and instructed, Solomon's life as a king was going to be well. David knew that if only Solomon's heart was right with God, his circumstances would be right. And as David is speaking to his son, he inculcates two important things to Solomon. The first thing is the necessity of personal resolution. The necessity of personal resolution. David says to his son, I'm going about to the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man. And David is saying, I'm giving you this personal resolution. I want you to see the necessity of it. You are a young man. You will be on the throne. Many people come to you and say, let's do that. Let's go this way. Let's not obey the God of Israel. But David is saying to his son, but for you, Make this personal resolution that you will be strong and show yourself a man. And show yourself a man could be translated appear to be a man, be established as a man, or continue to be a man. And the word man does not imply male as opposed to female. That's not so much what David is interested in. But what David is saying to Solomon is this. You need to demonstrate characteristics that are foundational to God's design for men. You must show those characteristics, even in the midst of challenges and difficulties, especially the fact that you will be king. David is not saying, Solomon, I'm not so sure whether I'm a man or not. That's not what he's saying. I'm sure he knew that his son was a man or was male. But all he's saying is that God has designed you as a man and show yourself, bring out those characteristics that are foundational to biblical manhood. David was talking more of Solomon's inner character, rather than his physical appearance. Death's charge to his son is that he must act as a man of God while on the throne. When power begins to get to his head, or when challenges begin to come, and he's being tried and tested, Solomon needed to be a man. He needed to have the inner strength to show himself as a man after God's own heart. David knew that his son, who faced challenges, he's a young man, he hasn't been tried, he hasn't been tested, but he must be strong and show himself a man. David is saying, have strength of character, Prove yourself to be wise. Prove yourself to be courageous. Prove yourself to be upright. Prove yourself to be upright, courageous and wise. And as you do so, you must live in obedience to God. And these things were going to manifest themselves in Solomon's moral character. and strength. David is more concerned of the inner strength and courage David wants his son to make this resolution, to be resolved in his beliefs, in his character, and in his integrity. He needed to be famed, to stand for what is right, and to carry out justice, to stand for God, even in the midst of the oppressing people, or even in the midst of people that are rebelling against God. David is saying to his son, you must make this resolution, that you will be strong in your integrity and in your belief in God. And as he do so, if Solomon was going to obey what his father said, God was going to prosper his kingdom. And part of being mature in your faith is to be strong in Christ. Part of being mature is not because you got saved 40, 50, 60, 70 years ago. It's being strong in Christ, recognizing as Paul would say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And this you see even in David, when David defeated Goriath, he was a young man. In fact, he was considered a boy. And you see that it had nothing to do with his physical strength, but it has everything to do with the strength of his character and his faith in God. He was able to say, this man defiles the name of the Lord. And I will face Him, not with my strength, but in the God of Israel." But sadly, Solomon's moral decline showed that he was a weak man. He was not resolved. He did not follow. David's words. So that's the first thing that David inculcates in his son, that he shows this care, the necessity of personal resolve. But the second thing is the importance of complete obedience to God. And this is what the Bible says, be strong and sow yourself a man. Be strong and keep the charge of the Lord your God. Walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses. And David is saying, I do not just want you to make a personal resolution, but I want you to show you the importance of complete obedience to God. and obedience to God is foundational to biblical maturity. If you are going to be mature in the things of God, you must obey the statutes of God. And so David is saying to his son, I'm giving you this church. Obey God. And David's charge to his son, that his son must obey God. And you see, when he uses those words, keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his words, keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ruies, his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses. David is not simply using vain reputations here. No, what he's saying to his son is that you, there must be a thoroughness in your obedience to God. I don't want you to have a partial obedience to the things of God. I want you to obey God in everything that He says. Even when the time comes, when the masses are finding it easy to float with the streams of worldly wisdom, you, my son, must be complete in your obedience to God. I do not want a partial obedience. I want you to obey the commandments, the statutes, the rules, the testimonies of the Lord your God as it is written in the law of Moses. David is saying to his son, I know what it is to be a king and I'm afraid that a time may come when your peers may tempt you to do something, or maybe the riches may tempt you to do something, and you may begin to look at God's Word and begin to ask yourself, should I obey this or should I not? But you, my son, I want you to see the importance of total obedience to God's divine commands. I don't want you to partially obey. I want your heart to be right with God, such that even as you respond to God's commandments, you will be living in obedience to the divine statutes of the God that has saved my entire life. And this must be true of mature Christians. Show care to the younger generation. You know what you've gone through in your Christian life. You know the challenges. You know what it means to be in a working environment, the temptations that come. And when you look at these young men and ladies that are coming behind you, and you can see that these have never been tried, and you must show care to them by showing them the importance of living in obedience to God. Show these young men and women who are in their colleges, in their universities, show them that even when everyone is saying there is no God, obeying God is useless, living as if there is a divine person up there is useless. Show these young men and women that they must obey God and not listen to the wisdom of the world. And by doing this, You are showing care to the next generation. You are showing maturity in the things of God. You know that when I'm long gone, there will be a generation of boys and girls, young men and women, that will be living in obedience to God. Even when the streams, or when the tides and the waves of temptation come, you know that they will resist because of this personal resolution, and because you've shown them the importance of complete obedience to God. And this must be your goal. This must be your passion. You've been a Christian for so many years. You've been tried. You've been tested. You've gone through the valleys. You've been on top of the mountains. Pass on the baton to the next generation. Train them. to depend on God, never to give up, because there is a God out there. And the last thing that we see is the conditional nature of divine promises in verse 3c to verse 4. The Bible reads, let me read the whole verse 3. and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways, and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rule, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do, and wherever you turn, that the Lord may establish His words, that is spoke concerning me, if your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." Godly mature Christians must always point young Christians to the conditional nature of divine promises. Day thereafter has given Solomon the charge. He now moves to the reasons as to why Solomon must keep the charge and obey God. He says if Solomon obeys God and keep the statutes that God has given through Moses, then God was going to prosper him. And we have the historical fact to believe that this promise to David was fulfilled in Solomon's life. Solomon's kingdom was prosperous. God prospered Solomon. And Solomon increased in wealth. Solomon had more riches than any king at that time. Probably he had more riches than any man we can ever think of in the world. But this was as long as Solomon continued to live in obedience to God. God's promises are contingent and not absolute. The promises of God are attached to the implied conditions God attaches conditions to His promises. Man does not merit the blessings of God by his obedience, but man's disobedience makes him unfit for the promises of God. And the obedience which David calls his son Solomon was an issue that Solomon could not be relaxed and casual about. David wanted Solomon to know that this is very important. As long as you live in obedience to God, God is going to be faithful to his promises. And Solomon's success as a king would hinge upon it. And the continuation of David's household on the throne depended on whether his sons lived in obedience. Now, God's promise to David in 2 Samuel 7, verse 12-16 was an unconditional promise to David. But now when David is telling his son, he makes that promise to be conditional. He's saying, it depends upon your obedience. And a man by the name of Howard Faust gives a very good comment on this verse. He says, and I quote, The implication is that, though the covenant is perpetual, it does not necessarily promise that it will be visibly operative in every generation, regardless of the conduct of David's family tree. And this manor is saying, yes, God gave David unconditional promise. But that did not mean that even if they lived in disobedience, there still was going to be a man on the throne. No, he's saying, if they lived in disobedience, for that particular moment, the promise would be visible as it were. There may be someone on the throne, but God's promise was going to continue. If someone was raised from David's family, who lived in obedience to God, God was going to restore them to the throne. And ultimately, we see that it was in the line of David that the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Brethren, God is going to prosper us as well in the way that He sees fit if we live in total obedience to His Word. God is going to pour blessings upon us if we live in total obedience to Him. He knows the blessings to bring along our way. And what you must do is to seek to keep the charge which came out from the mouth of the sweet musician of Israel, David, when he was dying. Keep the charge of the Lord your God. Keep His divine statues. Keep His commands. This charge, in a wider application, is to you and I. The immediate recipient of this charge was Solomon. But it's an application to all those who fear God and call upon God from an upright heart. Keep this charge. And as I come to a conclusion, I would like to bring a few things in a form of a pointed application. The first is that there is no rite of initiation or a strange set of circumstances that a young Christian will go through or will pass through before they become mature in Christ. There are many young Christians who appear to be more mature in their resolve to be obedient to God. They stand for righteousness. They act in strength. And they live in obedience to God's Word. And this is maturity to the max. You don't have to go through some process then to finally realize that you are mature in the things of God. You must develop a strength in Christ. You must have this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must have this character. that will reflect the commands and the righteousness of God. Even though you may be young in age, but the way you treat and honour others, the way you respect your parents, and your willingness to share the gospel with others and to stand for righteousness, may show to us that you are mature in the things of Christ. Older women and mature women in Christ, you have a task You have the responsibility, you have the duty to teach young ladies to become mature in their faith, so that when you are long gone, you know that you have lived young ladies, young women, who will love their husband, who will stand for faith, who will keep their chastity for the glory of God. You have young women who will be pillars of their homes, and their family will rise up. and call them blessed, as we read in Proverbs 31. And young ladies, learn from these mature women who faithfully served God. These are supposed to be the role model of our communities. Not those people you watch on television. These are the women that have kept themselves for the glory of God. They've given themselves to the service of God. And God has been pleased that your paths may interact. Learn from them. follow them, look at their lives, learn and learn and learn so that when they are long gone, you can remember the principles that they taught you and that you will grow just to become like them. Learn from these women who personifies wisdom. Learn from them. When they rebuke you, it's because they care for you. and you can see that their faith has a tangible impact upon the life of this church. Learn from them! And older men, mature men in Christ, you have a huge responsibility to train the next generation of men Men who serve God, men who live in obedience to God. Older men show these young men that are coming that you don't have to be a man after the way the world says. Show these young men that marriage doesn't make you to be a man. Even if you get a job doesn't make you to be a man. What makes you to be a man is if you live according to what God says as men ought to live. Show these young men that they are made in the image of God. Show these young men that they should live in fear of God. Show these young men that as they conduct themselves, they must have their higher vision, they must live in obedience to God, and everything they do should be in view of these great gods. Oh, older men, you have a responsibility to do. Show these young men how they should love their wives as Christ loves the church. Show these young men how that when God blesses them with a family, they should train and nurture their children in the admonition of the Lord. Show them that they should provide and protect their family. Show these young men that they must be godly men. They must develop a godly character. They must be men after God's word and heart. Show these young men that they should spend time reading the scriptures and let God's word saturate their lives. Show them that when God gives them a family, they are there to protect their families and they must be willing to give up their lives for the sake of their wives. Show them that when they're in a relationship or courting or courtship, they must honor that young lady and try to maintain their relationship pure. Show them that they must treat her in a way of understanding. Show them that they must show her how to be a man of the home. And this can only be done if you yourselves take the interest to show these young men, the next generation of men, what God requires of them. Show them that they have a huge responsibility to direct their homes. They have a direction to give to their homes. Show them that when they have wise and the heads of the homes. It doesn't mean that they are kings and whatever they say goes. They must show them that their wives are there as co-heirs to the throat of heaven and they are there to help them. They should listen to their wives and they should be willing to apologize when they are wrong. Show these young men that when God gives them jobs, they must do their best to work and provide for their homes. Show them that when it comes to service at church, they must be willing to use their gifts to save others. Even when they are in the position of leadership, they must show confidence in Christ, and people must respect them and trust them, and they must stand for the truth and make right decisions. Show these young men that even when it comes to temptation, they must stand and resist the evil one. Teach them to be generous, to be merciful, to learn to forgive others. Teach them to be gender-hearted. Let them study God's Word. Teach them that when an opportunity comes for you to teach God's Word, teach faithfully, and let them be men of prayer, men that will go on their knees and call heaven, as it were, to come down. Order men, some of these young men that you see around, Some come from homes where they don't have the father figure in a biblical sense. And the church is used as a body and as a family of believers. And it is your responsibility to get them, to train them, to pray with them. And as you are doing so, you are showing care for the next generation. You are saying to yourself that I'm not here to stay forever. But when the time comes for me to die, I would have passed on the truth, the things I've lent in my life, to the next generation. And when I've gone home to my reward, I know that the Church of Christ will continue to exist, because there are young men that have been taught to be biblical men, according to the scriptures. And when you go home, you know that there is hope for the Church of Christ. because you took your time, you invested your time, and you trained young men to be biblical in their thinking, to be biblical in their actions, and not simply to be traditional and culture in the way that they look and perceive things. And brethren, this can only be done if you see that this is your responsibility God has given you that huge responsibility to train the next generation such that when your time comes to die, your last words will simply be a summary of the principled life. And then when you die, And as you all be taking you to the grave, we can say, here lived a man who invested his time for the next generation. When you've gone that last mile of your way, you know that, yes, I will rest at the close of the day. And you know that there are not just great joys waiting for you in heaven, but you've left young men that are biblical. You've left young women that are biblical. May God help us to rise up to the challenge. And may God bless these words to our hearts. Amen.