We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. We will. Amen. Tell me the old, old story of wonderful exhortation as we begin our service this morning. This morning as you came in, you probably received a bulletin. On the back table there by the globe, there is also a financial report for 2024. So you can see there what we received and what we spent all year long. You will also see on the back of that paper the fourth quarter report with more details. So we are looking forward to our business meeting next week. when we consider our budget for 2025. And you're welcome to read more about that in the bulletin there. So thankful for those of you who are in choir today. Go ahead and eat. We won't make you sing for your meal. but then stay to sing after your meal. As we ask the Lord to prepare our hearts to worship this morning, Mrs. Hendrickson will be playing Bright Thou the Bride of Life. It's number 284 in our handles. And of course, it's on the back of your bulletin as well. So, Today we are three weeks into the month of January. And we are trying to memorize the first three verses of John 15. As we did last week, I will say the verse in English, you will repeat it, Pastor Chu will say it in Korean, and we will try to repeat it as well. So that is there on the back of your bulletin, you're welcome to follow along. But we will stop at verse 3, not verse 6. John 15, 1 through 3. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. In English, please. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Together. Every branch you need that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Murat nege isseo gwasireul metji anihanun gajineun. Abojigyeso ireul jehe borishigo. Murat gwasireul metnun gajineun. Now ye are clean through the word which I've spoken unto you. Again. Now ye are clean through the word which I've spoken unto you. 너희는 내가 일러준 말로 이미 깨끗하였으니. 너희는 내가 일러준 말로 이미 깨끗하였으니. I encourage you to put this on your refrigerator. to practice this as you get your food, you can be reciting from the bread of life here, things in both Korean and English. Well, we've said the scriptures, now let's look to sing together. Hymn number 28, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Stand to sing. O thou fount of ev'ry blessing, turn from thy gifts of thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, calm the tides of love displaced. ♪ Stars are shining, stars are shining, stars are shining, stars are shining, stars are shining, stars are shining, stars are shining. ♪ Night and dawn to thee we come ♪ ♪ Hear the church bell and father's words sing ♪ ♪ Thou hast watched me watch this peace ♪ ♪ Hear the church bell and father's words ring ♪ ♪ Sing we pray thy holy praise ♪ Jeans on the summit with a stranger. Why come running to the fire? He's too blessed to be from danger. God be with his precious love. Lord, You praise how great a matter, Things with God and child to be, Let Thy goodness, life, fulfill, Born to wander, Lord, I'm weary. Up till the thresh I'll go. Here I lie, tired, waiting with seething. Seething for thy voice of love. Amen. You may be seated. Alright, please open your Bibles. If you turn to Ezra chapter 8, keep on going until you reach the next book, Nehemiah chapter 8. So we will be reading about Ezra in Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 8, we will read the chapter verses 1 through 18. All right, Nehemiah 8, verses 1 through 3. And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the water gate. And they asked, Ezra described, to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the square, which was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday. In the presence of men and women, those who could understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Look at verse four. We have people on the right hand and the left. Ezra, the scribe, stood at a wooden platform, which they had made for that purpose. And beside him stood Metatiah, Shema, Ananiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Messiah on his right hand, and Padiah, Nishio, Malkijah, Hashem, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshulam on his left hand. The Haksa Esra is located on the island of Namu Kangdane. On the right is Makdidiya, Sema, Anaya, Uriya, Hilgiya, and Maaseya. On the left is Budaya, Misael, Malgiya, Hatsum, Hatsubatana, Sugaya, and Musulam. Verse 5, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands. Then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also, Yeshua, Bani, Shuribaya, Jamin, Aqab, Shabathai, Hudaya, Messiah, Kelita, Azariah, Josaphat, Hanan, Helialah, the Levites. All these explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. They read from the book from the law of God translated to give the sense of so that they understood the reading. Verses 9 and 10. Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites, who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, send portions to him who has nothing prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved. For the joy of the Lord is your strength. I pray that the people of Levi, who teach the people, will say to all the people, Today is the birthday of your God, Jehovah, so do not be sad and do not cry. I pray that Nehemiah will say again, You go and eat what you have eaten and drink what you have drunk, and give to those who have not been able to understand. So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. All the people went away to eat, to drink, to send portions, and to celebrate a great festival because they understood the words which had been made known to them. Now verses 13 through 15. Then on the second day of the heads of the father's households of all the people, the priests, the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, that they might gain insight into the words of the law. They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. Of course, it is the seventh month. Verse 15, So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go out to the hills, bring olive branches, wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written. The next day, the chief priests, priests, and lay people gathered in the place of the scholar Ezra to reveal the Law. The Lord said to Moses, that the children of Israel will be saved in the beginning of the month of Judgement, and that you will go to the mountains and pick up the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the Mount of Olives, and the trees of the And now we'll complete the chapter beginning in verse 16. So the people went out and brought them, and made booths both for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts, and in the court of the house of God, and in the square of the water gate, and in the square at the gate of Ephraim. The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing. He read from the book of the law of God daily from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days. And on the eighth day, there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance. The people went out and took the branches, or on the roof, or in the field, or in the field before God, or in the hidden square, or in the Ephraim Square, and built a fence. The monsters that came back after being captured built a fence and went into it. From the time of your son Joshua until that day, the children of Israel did not have such a feeling, so they were very happy. What an amazing Bible conference. People heard God's word and they did it. The theme of our service today is hear the word and do the work. Let's now go to the Lord in prayer seeking his blessing. Father, we thank you that your Holy Spirit has given us the very Word of God. Lord, your son, Jesus Christ, has said, your word is forever settled in heaven. Not one word will pass away. Lord, your word, the book of James, has warned us not to be simply hearers of the word, but to be doers as well. Lord, it is good for us to spend time in your word. It is good for us to spend time listening to what you have to say to us through the Holy Spirit and your word. But Lord, as we look at the mirror of God's word, we cannot leave unchanged. Your word must conform our minds to the mind of Christ. We ask that your word would change our desire so that we would desire to do the will of God. By your word, we are warned against the dangers and deception of sin. So Father, we pray that today as we worship you, we would worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us We pray that you will be glorified. Unite our hearts together as one body, one church, to worship you. Give us the unity and love for one another that only you can give. Many of us are coming here today with heavy burdens on us. Some are not here for health reasons. Some are in other places serving you. Lord, heal the sick and bless those serving you abroad. Lord, we pray for those that are struggling with work-related challenges. We pray that you would bless our business endeavors and bless those who are looking for their financial needs to be met. But in this time, we pray that you would help us to look to things above. We pray that you would bless our missionaries and meet their needs. And bless our time of fellowship after the service. We pray these things in Jesus' name and with thanksgiving. Amen. Let's continue our song of worship with hymn number 23. We'll stand to sing O for a thousand times to sing. And we'll sing all five verses in English for the fifth verse, the Koreans can sing again in English, the first verse. ♪ For a thousand tongues to sing ♪ ♪ The hymn of God's praise ♪ ♪ The miracles by our healing ♪ ♪ The trials of His grace ♪ ♪ Gives us the new treasures of peace ♪ ♪ And gives us hope ♪ God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy, God's mercy ♪ That sets our hearts free ♪ ♪ Israel, in your countryside ♪ ♪ Tears will not fail or die ♪ ♪ If any man's desperation dies ♪ ♪ The curse of time shall never die ♪ Lord Jesus of Nazareth. Amen. Good singing. You may be seated. We're going to continue our worship with tithes and offerings. Let's commit this now to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we rejoice that you are the maker, the creator, our redeemer and savior. We thank you that we have the opportunity to worship you in spirit, with song, singing and with our tongues. And we also have the opportunity to worship you by giving back a portion of that which you've entrusted to our use. We pray, Father, that with the funds that are collected today, Lord, that you would be glorified, that the gospel would go forth strongly, powerfully unto the ends of the world through faith ministries, through GFA missionaries, through BMM missionaries, and Lord, here in Korea, through our ministry as well. Lord, we thank you for the privilege, for the joy of being a part of building your kingdom by our prayers and by our giving. We pray this in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving. We just heard a song based on Psalm 119, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. So we're going to continue singing, encamped among the heels of light, also known as faith is a victory. We will sing verses 1 through 3. Let's stand to sing. my issues of judgment. I addressed the battle-hardened, shattered the gloomy skies. I asked the holy bell to ring. Let our heart's dream be heard, It's the better way we know, That it's the easy way. There is a victory there, there is a victory there For the altruist victory, there is thy consolation He's ever on the race he's on. Our strength, our might, and our love. He's ever on the race he's on. His shouts go triumphant. I've lived my life all of the time. So watch for everything. Your days are richly wonderful. Your skills are shiny, too. Faith is a victory. Faith is a victory. that ends that lonesome day. On Ezra's hand of tapping, I'll hostage every word, but just have peace between us, and let good children stay. So you should say, Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, Amen. Good singing. You may be seated. Yes, it is time for the children to make their way out for Children's Church. As the child goes, please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4. You know, last week we began to examine the importance of God's Word in the Christian's life. Timothy had the privilege of seeing Paul's godly living that was in accord or by the Scriptures. He grew up with his mother and his grandmother's teaching from the scriptures. By his very own experience, he knew what God's word had wrought in his own heart and in his life. Many of us have similar testimonies. We've had godly pastors. We've had godly examples to look to. For many of us, our parents showed us what it meant to study God's word and to seek to live it out in their own lives. Some of us can remember our mothers going to early morning prayer meetings. Others remember their fathers studying the Bible in the kitchen in the mornings. Many of you can remember the sacrifices your parents made to forsake the world and to follow God's will in their lives. You may remember how generous your parents were towards people in the church or towards the church itself. And we can, we personally have felt our own hearts warmed in our quiet times with the Lord. You have communed with the Lord. You have met him in prayer. You read the scriptures seeking to understand them and you experience the Holy Spirit illumining or opening your eyes. He warms your heart and you enjoy sweet fellowship with God above in your own time with him. And your heart has echoed with Thomas's words. After he saw the risen Christ, my Lord and my God, we have seen him. So last week, we saw in the last two verses of 2 Timothy 3 that God has declared that his word is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was inspired by him. Ultimately, this word, the scripture, authored by the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who was responsible that the men of old were inspired to write in such a way that there were no mistakes. Now I'd like you to, before we turn to 2 Timothy 4, briefly turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. I'm sorry, 2 Peter 1. Yes, 2 Peter 1. I put the wrong one. In verse 16 it says, we do not follow cleverly devised tales when we may know to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And speaking of the Mount of Transfiguration, verse 17 says, for when he, Jesus Christ, received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased." And Peter says, we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain, the Mount of Transfiguration. Now focus here on verse 19. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. But men, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God." Look at what Peter is saying in this passage. Peter had the awesome privilege of witnessing Jesus Christ's transfiguration. One of the other witnesses, John the Apostle, John the son of Zebedee, said in John 1 14, we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Peter saw Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, he saw the Father's glory. Or when you have seen me, you've seen the Father, Jesus says. Now Peter also saw our Savior's sinless life. He was his companion for three years. He saw Jesus' compassion for the sick, for the shepherdless multitudes. Peter saw messianic signs, a blind received sight, John 9. Lepers were healed, the dead were raised. Most remarkably, Mark 2, sins were forgiven. Jesus could say, my son, your sins are forgiven. Peter had gone to Gethsemane. He had seen the weight of the coming cross weigh down his Lord. Peter saw the risen Lord. And again, as we saw there in 1 Peter, he had heard God the Father declare, this is my beloved son. Hear him, listen, pay attention. As Peter remembers that glorious moment, that glorious time on the Transfiguration Mountain, he says, we have something better. We have something more greater, more reliable than a word that he saw on a mountaintop. Can you imagine a more trustworthy, more reliable, more sound witness than seeing with your own eyes? What is more reliable than your own eyes, than your own ears? Here it is. Because people's eyes and ears can be deceived, but the Word of God is given by the Holy Spirit. It is inerrant. No misdeeds. There are times when we read our Bible and we say, that's unbelievable. Believe it. It's God's Word. It's true. Have greater faith in God's Word than your common sense. Please return to 2 Timothy 4. The Holy Spirit inspired men of God so that they spoke the very exact words that God wanted them to have. The Word of God will outlast time. It is forever settled in heaven. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 8, we're going to see that God's word is being shared to other people. Last week in 2 Timothy chapter 3, we saw our individual responsibility to study God's word in the Bible for ourselves. But there is a corporate, a communal, together listening to God's word being proclaimed by preaching that we see here in 2 Timothy 4, one through eight. So there are two questions. Number one, what kind of preaching should preachers do And number two, what kind of preaching should or how should I respond to the preaching I hear? So you all have your Bibles open to 2 Timothy chapter 4. I'll start by reading the first two verses. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound offering. But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. Because of this, people do not receive the right teachings, and because their ears are itching, they leave behind many teachers to teach their own teachings, and return their ears to the truth, Now verses five and six, again speaking to Timothy, but you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry for I'm already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. Verse 7 and 8. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearance. Let's pray. Lord, help us this morning to preach the word. I pray that you would help both Pastor Chu and myself. And Lord, I pray for those who are hearers of the word this moment. Do indeed give them ears to hear. And Lord, Help us all, preacher and listener alike, to be not only hearers of the Word, but doers also. And we will give you the praise for what your Holy Spirit does through His Word this As we see God's word shared by preaching this morning, I want you to understand that preaching from verses one and two is indeed mandated. We see in verse 1 that the preacher, the pastor is charged by God and his son, preach the word. The man behind the pulpit is responsible to say, thus said the Lord from God's holy scriptures. Now there is great accountability for this. Verse one says that God, our Savior, the Father and the Son are going to judge the living and the dead at His coming. There is going to be an account for every word that is said. Pastor's accountable to speak. Listeners are accountable for what they hear. God is the judge of the living and the dead. That is all of us. So if the charge is to preach, verse two, what do you preach? Some men, unfortunately, preach politics. You go to church and you only hear, vote this way, do this. Some men preach movies. You hear all kinds of things that they've learned or illustrations from movies or music or whatever. Maybe you've heard sermons like, Here are 101 ways to be happy, healthy, and handsome in 2025. My friends, that is not what the pastor should be Look for yourself, what does the word of God say? Should we preach? Preach the word. Verse two. If the preacher's not preaching the word of God, he really doesn't deserve a hearing. Now, how is this word to be preached? Well, we have some details here in verse 2. Pastors need to speak, need to preach, Seasonally. In other words, pastors need to be ready, you also need to be ready to speak in season and out of season. Prophets of old in the Old Testament spoke to kings and commoners. Now, there are times when God's Word does apply to politics. there are times when truthfully, to proclaim righteousness, we have to say what the Bible says about a particular political issue or political person. But you know that pastors who do this offend the world. you may find yourself censored on social media. But it doesn't just offend the world to speak about these things. It offends Christians who basically want to keep their Christianity and church kind of boxed away on Sunday. Now, the point I'm trying to make is not about politics. The point I'm making is that the Bible speaks to our lives, how we live, It speaks to the entire world. It speaks to every situation. If I ask, where is your citizenship, what's your first reply? Now, we may be Koreans, Americans, et cetera, but our first His primary loyalty and citizenship is to the kingdom of heaven, to the kingdom of God. Other places too. Every Christian is deputized, given authority to be an ambassador for none other than Jesus Christ the King himself. So that means that you and I, church, as pastors, as Christians, You and I have to be salt and light in this world in an appropriate way. Be ready in season when people like to listen to you. Be ready out of season when people hate to listen to you. Peter says, always be ready to give an answer for the reason and the hope that lies within you. So we are to be ready all the time. When is all the time, but how? Patient, with great patience, verse two says. Why would a pastor need patience? Well, the pastor is working with people. And the reality is God is still at work in all of us, including the pastor. The people in the chairs are imperfect people. The people behind the pulpit are imperfect people. So all of us are reasons for the rest of us to be patient. You need to be patient with me, I need to be patient with you. What we see here in verse 2 is that this is going to be patience as you reprove and review. Some of us are pretty, we don't like to be reproved. We don't like to be rebuked. I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but how many of you just like to hear, you are wrong? Is there anyone like that? And what we see is sometimes what happens is the thing the pastor says is what you have already heard as you've had or read the Bible yourself. And you might experience that the pastor is reinforcing or repeating or explaining what God is doing in your heart, in your life, in your own personal private time with the Lord. Now as you and I are the pastor with the people is patience. He is like His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Matthew 11, 29, we see our Savior's heart. We see how He feels about His people. And in this verse, Jesus is commanding, take my yoke upon you, because my burden is easy. And then he goes on and he says, depending on your version, you'll read different translations of the Greek, I am meek in the King James or others. I am gentle. And then it goes on to say I'm lowly and humble at heart. All of us have experienced times when we know we're wrong, we've said, and we experienced our Lord's gentleness and kindness as we come to Him once again for forgiveness. And there are times when that easy, light yoke seems so heavy, the burdens or the trials are just so much and we experience the gentleness and the grace of God just coming alongside and lifting that emotionally or doing something to enable things to get better. Jesus is gentle. Thirdly, I want us to see here that not only are we ready and patient, but we should also be encouraging. So there's this word, exhort. You can do it. Come on. Haven't we just sung, faith is a victory? Exhorting is rallying, cheerleading, encouraging people. The general saying, charge, go, do it. The captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, cries out, charge, as he leads a host of heaven into battle against Satan and the foes of God. Be strong and of good courage, fear thou not. And so we are told in Titus 1.9 that the pastor exhorts with sound doctrine. He's using the Word of God and saying, thus says the Lord, go. Now in verse 2, we're back in 2 Timothy 4.2, this pastor is preaching the Word with instruction. We need to be teaching A requirement of a pastor in 1 Timothy 3.2 is to be able or apt to teach. And in this very letter, in 2 Timothy 2.2, we see that these faithful men that Timothy ordains will be able to teach others also. And again, reinforcing what we've seen this morning, 2 Timothy 2.24, the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome but be kind to all, able to teach, patient. The pastor is, he should be, he must be a student of God's word. And as we learn from God's Word, we teach what we have learned. My prayer as I preach, and I think probably Pastor chooses as well, is that the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to understand God's Word his will and how to do it. So in verses one and two, we've seen that God's word mandated. Preaching is mandated. It's a required activity. But as we come to verses 3 and 4, we recognize that teaching, preaching is tedious to the ungodly. The time will come when they will just not endure sound doctrine, verse three says. So if we preach God's word the way it's meant to be preached, there will be those who hate us. They hate us because they hate our message. They hate our message because they hate our God. It's only natural. Think of 1 Kings 22, verse 8. In 1 Kings 22, we have a king wanting to go to war. And he gets all the religious guys together and they say, go fight. But one of the kings that he was in alliance with wanted to hear from a different kind of messenger. He wanted to hear from a messenger of God. And in 1 Kings 22, verse 8, there was a man that came to mind. Now look at 1 Kings 22, 8. The king of Israel, this is the northern kingdom, said to Jehoshaphat, this is the southern kingdom, Judah, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord. But I hate him. Right? But I hate him. What's this guy done to you? Because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah, the son of Enlil. You can imagine the tone he said that in. But Jehoshaphat said, I'm not the king's nephew. So Machiah summoned, brought to the kings. And on the way there, he gets some advice from a counselor. Verse 13, the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak favorably. Tell the man what he wants to hear. Or as 2 Timothy 4.3 says, do what his own desires, tell him to do his own desires in accordance with their own desires. Another Old Testament prophet had a similar issue. The minor so-called prophet Amos in Amos chapter 7. And so we're in Amos chapter 7 and I want to read verses 10 through 13. It's in the Old Testament there, near the end of the Old Testament. All right, Amos chapter seven. And once again, we're reading verses 10 through 13. So we have Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, the king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is unable to endure all his words, for thus Amos says, Jeroboam will die by the sword. Israel will certainly go from its land into exile. Then Amaziah, remember he's a priest, said to Amos, go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there do your prophesying, but no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it's a sanctuary of the king and of the royal residence. At that time, the priest of Bethlehem, Amasha, had to pray to the king of Israel, Elohim, and in the promise of Israel, Amos imitated the king, saying, Can't this land bear all these words? Amos said, Elohim will die by the sword, and Israel will be captured by the spirit and leave the land. Amaziah is an idolatrous priest. He worships idols. He's a priest in Bethel with a golden cap. And he tells this farmer Amos, your preaching is not in accord with state policy. Don't be so discouraging. Stop pronouncing God's judgment on Israel. So, everyone, what is the content of the sermon that points out and warns Israel that if they don't, God's judgment will come? It was such a difficult sermon to bear. Just leave the country. Go down to Judah instead. Don't bother them with your preaching. So preaching may be hated. It may be censured. Other people are looking for preaching that is just basically entertainment. It says there, we're back in 2 Timothy 4 now, verse 3, they're wanting to have their ears tickled. It's described as having itching ears. They want to put their message in the preacher's mouth. There's no interest in what God has to say here. So some people look for stories. Some preachers are great storytellers. Others look for great silliness, all the jokes, the one-liners, the humor. Others want a really charismatic creature, not charismatic theologically, but just someone whose presence There are some people who like excellent speech and speech techniques. So they don't just speak in a normal way, but they like to speak with passion or speech. Now, for sake of time, we won't go there in the scripture, but we do know that Old Testament prophets were sometimes treated as entertainers. And we know that Jesus, when he was being sent to Herod, was being treated as an entertainer by Herod. We want to see some signs. We want to see Herod. So people listen to the messages, but they critique the speaking or oratory and ignore the entire message. Paul used this vice to his advantage. In Acts 17, one of the Greeks, who always wanted to hear a new thing, got to hear the gospel. The final obstacle to preaching is just we're all human beings. When we get tired, like you did this and that, we fall asleep. And he fell out the window. That's Acts 20. You can read it on your own time. But we can struggle to stay awake. Sometimes, you know, it's before lunch and we get hungry. In Mark 8, Jesus had a Bible conference. And he talked about it for several days. And so he had great crowds of about 4,000 people. And before he lets them go, he says, we've got to feed these guys who don't think on the way. I mean, we're human beings, we need fuel. So we have these obstacles or these things that we must overcome as preachers, but notice in verse five, that teaching, preaching is something that God uses for salvation through the work of evangelists. In your hardship, because it's worth it for eternal souls, Now, the great theme of 2 Timothy is to be faithful. Why never quit? Verse 6 to 8 says we don't quit because we're sure it'll work. He knows he's going to die, the time of his departure is at hand, verse 6. But, verse 8, there's light at hand for me. I'm not going to watch this. I'm not going to stop. I'm going to do it. Preaching is one of the things that happens in church. If there's no preaching in church, it's not a church. The proclamation of God's word is vital to the health of the church. This morning we heard the prayer, Break down the red line. We all tend to forget to work very hard in the meditation that we should be doing. This morning you've had some of that Bread of Life given to you. That preaching is giving the Bread of Life, the Bread of Heaven to nourish our souls. The preachers You need your prayer as you come into a true church. Pray for our Sunday school teachers and children's church workers. Pray for our evangelists as well. commissioners. And as you pray, listen, delighting the proclamation of God's word, As you pray, listen carefully to the words of God as they are preached and accept them. As I mentioned in chapter 4, the presence of a pastor and the preaching that they do is actually a gift from God to the church. Father, we do thank you that you have given your church preachers a chance to preach the word. Lord, as Seoul Bible Church, help us to be hearers and doers of the word. Lord, I pray for all those who Proclaim your word by evangelizing. I pray that you will do the same. Give our evangelists boldness. Give our teachers the understanding of the word that we teach your people and children. With Jesus, we pray that you would sanctify You are comfortable through your truth because your word is truth. Jesus. Amen. So our final song as we encourage ourselves and exhort us to not be hearers only, is rise up, O men of God, 374. For a song like that, you have to stand up. I don't want to sing this today. Thy Son is with us now, and with us He leads. He'll walk this lonely, lonely street, to see the King of kings. Christ, Thou is man of God, this I can tell Thee so. Singing a joyful morning song, still the templars are gone. Christ, our yet man abound, how gentle you proclaim. As children of gold and interest rise up and lead the way, new targets not surprise, treasure Father, we do pray that you would make us hearers and doers of the word of God. Let us not be slothful, but let us be working and rising up to do the work of God. Now bless our time of fellowship, and may we all be further edified as we spend time together. In Jesus' name, amen. so so so so