Well, if you turn to Matthew 27, this will be our last week in Matthew 27. This chapter is the second longest chapter in Matthew, and we've been in it a while. It began with the Jewish leaders bringing Jesus before Pilate to begin Jesus' religious trials. Two of the three religious trials are recorded here in Matthew 27. Luke, however, records Jesus' second religious trial, which is before Herod. And to rid himself of a political nightmare, after Pilate questioned Jesus in his first trial, he sent Jesus to Herod, hoping that Herod would deal with Jesus, so he didn't have to. But when Jesus remained silent before Herod, Herod just sent him back to Pilate, and then Pilate, under extreme political pressure from the Jews, caved in to their demands to have Jesus crucified. Then after Herod's soldiers mocked and beat Jesus, they led him to Golgotha, to be crucified along with two robbers. Then after six hours on the cross, being mocked by the people, the leaders, and even the two robbers, Jesus died. And what we've been looking at over the last few weeks are the different reactions to Jesus' death. Like any other event, the event of Christ's death was looked at in different ways, resulting in different reactions, depending on who had observed what happened here in chapter 27. The people, along with their leaders and the robbers, acted with contempt as they mocked Him on the cross. We saw that several weeks ago. And then we saw the soldiers who voiced their confession of Jesus as the Son of God when they saw how He died. And then, thirdly, we saw the women who acted in love toward Jesus as they stayed by Him till the very end. And then last week, fourthly, we saw the courage of Joseph And that was in verses 55, or actually verses 57 to 61. And we said that all four Gospels recorded the burial of Christ because of its necessity to the Gospel message. And this is important because Jesus' burial is just another layer of evidence to show that he really died. That's the reason we have so much emphasis in the Gospels on his burial. And I read to you from 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4, where Paul includes Christ's burial in his comprehensive gospel message. He says, for I deliver to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And last week we looked at Joseph the man, we saw that He came to the cross. Apparently at the end of Jesus' time on the cross, it says in verse 57, Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, So that possibly could mean that he came to Pilate at evening after that. But we know that he was from Arimathea, a city we really know nothing about. Some believe it was about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. We also see that Joseph was rich. It says that. There came a rich man from Arimathea, which really explains why he owned a costly piece of land where his tomb was. in Jerusalem, or at least on the perimeter of Jerusalem. Any property in or near Jerusalem would be expensive property. We also saw that he was a Jewish council member. We didn't learn this from Matthew, but Mark and Luke tell us that. which meant that he was a member of the Jewish Religious High Court, which is called the Sanhedrin, or which was called the Sanhedrin. This was the court that actually sentenced Jesus to death earlier that day, and tried him the day before. It was the same court that brought him to Pilate for execution at the beginning of the chapter. And then we saw that Joseph was a disciple. It says here in verse 57, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. That means that sometime during Jesus' ministry, Joseph believed in Christ. But we also noted that John 19.38 tells us Joseph was a secret disciple. Meaning that he attached himself to Christ, he followed him, but he was living a lie. How long that went on, we don't know. He kept his faith hidden. Particularly, he would have to keep his faith hidden from the other council members in the Sanhedrin. Was he saved when he first became a secret disciple? We don't know. It doesn't tell us that. But by the time he claims the body of Jesus here at the end of Matthew 27, we can be sure that his faith is real. And with secret disciples today, people who hide their faith in Christ from others, only God knows if they're really saved or not. We don't know. But there obviously came a time for Joseph, possibly at the cross when he saw Jesus hanging there, when he came all the way over in his faith and truly confessed Christ, before everyone, at least everyone who was there. But not only do we look at the man Joseph, we looked at his request. And that would be in verse 58. Out of all those in Jesus' family, out of all of his disciples, it was only Joseph who went to Pilate to request Jesus' body for burial. After Pilate confirmed that Jesus was truly dead, he released Jesus' body to Joseph so that Joseph could give Jesus a proper burial. Remember, I told you last week that normally those who were crucified, they would be considered criminals because those were the only ones they did crucify. They would just normally take them down from the crosses and throw them in the Valley of Hinnom, which was the garbage dump right outside the city, which continually burned. And the bodies would just decompose and burn in that place. We know from extra-biblical writings that the Jews, people would come to Pilate, the Jews who had family members or friends crucified, and they would ask if they could have the body. In this case, Joseph came. to claim the body of Jesus. And here we see that Joseph went from a man of fear, hiding his faith, at least previously, to a man of courage who now really doesn't care who knows if he's a disciple of Christ or not. We asked the question, what changed his heart? Where did this courage come from to face persecution, obviously, from the Jews, particularly from the Sanhedrin, possibly even discipline or incarceration from Pilate, depending on what kind of a mood Pilate would be in when he approached him. But obviously God changed his heart. This is what God does with His people. He gives them courage when they need courage. And we saw last week that this was the case all through Scripture. And we looked at some examples. But courage for Christ doesn't come naturally. I mean, it didn't come naturally for the disciples. You remember that the night before they all left Jesus. God has to work in the heart for us to be bold for Christ. And he does that. But then we finally looked at the burial. Not just Joseph the man and the request, but the burial. And Joseph went back to the cross. that would be in verses 59 and 60. He went back to the cross with Pilate's permission, I'm guessing probably around 3.30 or so in the afternoon. We know that Jesus died at 3 o'clock. and Joseph needed to get the body buried before six because that's when the Sabbath would start and everybody had to be home by six o'clock. So Joseph doesn't have a lot of time, he goes back to the cross, he takes Jesus' body down, prepares it for burial, lays it in his newly hewn tomb, and almost certainly with help, rolls the stone in front of it. It was a huge stone. And then verse 61 tells us that the two Marys were sitting opposite the tomb, watching all of this. as Joseph and as John tells us, along with Nicodemus at this point, dressed the body of Jesus for burial. Couldn't complete the whole process because the women were going back on Sunday morning to complete that process. But they had to cut it short because of the Sabbath. And we see the women again in verse 1 of the next chapter coming back to the tomb and doesn't mention it here. I think it mentions in Mark they come back with spices so they can finish what Joseph and Nicodemus had started. But this week we want to look at the fifth reaction here in the chapter. in verses 62 to 66, and that would be the fear of the Jews. The reaction is of the Jews, fear. And we see here that even after Christ's death, amazingly, He is still a threat to them. They still feared Jesus even after He was gone. For three years, they feared Him and His popularity with the people. And for three years, they plotted to get rid of Him. But now, after they have succeeded in doing away with Him, they still fear Him. And notice that this fear moved them to monitor what happened to Jesus' body after He died, after He was buried. So they weren't just satisfied in killing him, that wasn't enough for them. They needed to make sure his body stayed in the tomb. How long did they plan on guarding the body? Well, based on their dialogue here in verses 62 to 66, three days. Because they remembered that Jesus had said, while he was still alive, According to verse 63, after three days I will rise. Well, let me go ahead and read these before we start. starting in verse 62, on the next day, this would be Saturday, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember, while he was still alive, how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. Therefore, command that the tomb be made secure until the third day. lest his disciples come and steal him away and say to the people, he has risen from the dead, so the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard, go your way, make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. Well, let's take a little bit closer look at this, and we'll look at first the gathering in verse 62, the gathering. The first thing we learn is who came to Pilate to secure the body of Jesus. It was the chief priests and the Pharisees. We need to remember that these were opposing factions. They were rival religious parties. They never had anything to do with each other, except here and one or two other places in the Gospels when they conspired together to get rid of Jesus, or as in this case, to secure the tomb. One group was liberal, the other was conservative, I'm speaking religiously here, theologically. And related to this particular event, one believed in resurrection and the other didn't. The chief priests were predominantly Sadducees who didn't believe in resurrection. They didn't believe in life after death. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in the spiritual side of man. They were liberal. The others were the Pharisees, the conservatives who believed in resurrection. And yet they're both here together to prevent any rumors of Jesus' resurrection if his body turns up missing. But they hated Jesus so much and loved their power over the people so much that they joined forces to get Pilate to secure the body. And we're told that they came to Pilate on the next day, which followed the preparation, the day of preparation. The next day after the preparation, preparation being on Friday, that would be Saturday, the Sabbath day, the Jewish Sabbath. So what we see here is that those who were so sanctimonious in meticulously keeping the Sabbath laws now have no scruples in breaking them to make sure Jesus wouldn't be any more threat to them. displaying no religious protocol at all, these religious leaders came to pilot on the Sabbath, which was a violation of their Sabbath laws. But it wasn't just any Sabbath, it was the Sabbath of unleavened bread. It was a high Sabbath, the Passover Sabbath. This violated their Sabbath laws. The law said there was to be no work done on the Sabbath, which included any religious business other than the duties of the priest and the temple. But because they had such hatred for Jesus and now such fear of him, even after his death, they broke the very law they accused him and others associated with him of breaking. at almost every turn in His ministry. You can't go through the Gospels without seeing that they were continually condemning Jesus for breaking the Sabbath laws. Examples, Matthew 12, in verses 1 and 2, tells us, at that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath. In John 5, in verse 10, when Jesus healed the man who was infirm for 38 years, it says, the Jews therefore said to the man who was cured, it is a Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. Mark 3 and verse 6 says, the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against him how they might destroy him because he healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Luke 13, 11 tells us that there was a woman with an infirmity for 18 years who Jesus healed in the synagogue. But the ruler of the synagogue said with indignation in verse 14, there are six days on which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. In John 9, 16, when Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees said, this man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath. And they're not keeping the Sabbath here. So the religious leaders who are so adamant about Jesus not breaking the Sabbath have no reservations about breaking the Sabbath themselves in order to keep His body secure. And of course, they only demonstrate their pure hypocrisy, which Jesus confronted them with continually during His ministry. Secondly, let's look at the request here in verses 63 and 64. These men came to Pilate saying, Sir, we remember while he was still alive how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise, therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day. lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people, he is risen from the dead, so the last deception will be worse than the first." Well, these opposing parties came to Pilate to request a guard for Jesus' body, again, because he said he would rise in three days after his death. But this is interesting. They are absolutely convinced that Jesus said he would rise three days after his death. And they're concerned that he will rise, and they're going to try and prevent it. But why did Jesus' enemies perfectly understand what he said about his rising from the dead and take him seriously for it, but his own disciples and friends didn't? Whenever the disciples reacted to Jesus teaching them about His resurrection, they either ignored it or they just didn't understand it. And I just haven't been able to reconcile this in my own mind. But the first time Jesus said anything about His resurrection was in John chapter 2 and verse 19, when He told the Jews, speaking specifically of His death and resurrection, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And then in verse 22 it says, this is in John 2, therefore when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this to them. And they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. This is after he rose. They didn't believe it before then. So it wasn't until after his resurrection that the disciples understood that he would rise. His resurrection convinced them. Right after Jesus' transfiguration, when the disciples came down from the mountain, in Mark 9, in verses 9 and 10, it says, Jesus commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. I know I wasn't there, but I understand what it means when somebody says, I'm going to rise from the dead. How complicated is that? They just didn't believe it. It wasn't a question of understanding. They didn't believe it. So whenever Jesus taught them about His resurrection, they didn't understand what He meant until He actually rose, until after He actually rose. But in contrast, to the disciples, Jesus' enemies perfectly understood what He meant from the very beginning of His ministry when He told them that He would one day rise from the dead after three days. We've already mentioned Jesus telling them at the beginning of His ministry in John 2.19 that when they killed Him, He would rise again in three days. That was just a few weeks or months after he began his ministry. They remembered what he said all the way back then, three, three and a half years prior to this. On one occasion when the scribes and Pharisees were gathering evidence against Jesus, they tried to trick Him into doing a miracle. You remember that. And they wanted him to do a miracle so that they could use it as evidence against him when they brought him to trial. And they did this more than once, but in Matthew 12, verses 39 to 40, Jesus said, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He's talking about his resurrection. They understood it. Just a couple of chapters later in Matthew 16, in verse 4, they asked Him the same thing, do a miracle for us. And He said to them, a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He left them and departed. He didn't even repeat, you know, just like Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights. He didn't repeat it because he just told them that just a little bit before that. He didn't need to clarify it. They understood what he meant. So, his enemies, perfect, understood perfectly what he had taught about rising from the dead three days after he died, where his own disciples didn't understand it, or at least didn't believe it. And this is why they're standing before Pilate now, to request a guard for Jesus' body. It was because of Jesus' earlier teachings This was a prolific teaching. This was not something hidden in a corner. All through his ministry he taught that he would be killed by crucifixion and he would rise three days later. And they're coming to Pilate and said, that ain't happening. We're going to make sure it doesn't happen. But look at why they wanted Jesus' body guarded. It was because they saw Jesus as a deceiver of the people and that his disciples could be just as deceptive as he was, possibly even planning a theft of the body. In their minds, this could be a well-thought-out plan by Jesus and his disciples. And they called him a deceiver because they saw him die a criminal's death. And to them, he got what he deserved from God. Only a deceiver could end up the way he ended up. Now, why would Pilate care if the disciples stole the body? He's dead. Everything's over with. Well, and again, I'm speculating. But I don't think there's a whole lot of options here. I mean, if the disciples did steal the body and claim that he had risen from the dead like he said he would repeatedly, it might create even a worse situation politically for Pilate than he was already in with Rome because of the uprising and him not handling the whole thing correctly. After all, if Jesus' body went missing and the disciples started to spread the news that he had risen from the dead, it wouldn't be good for Pilate. And that's probably one reason why he's even cooperating with them at this time. He might even see it as an opportunity to squash something before it actually occurs. And he's got some free help here, so he says, yeah, go ahead. So, they told Pilate that Jesus' missing body would be a greater deception than his prediction of his actual rising from the dead because it would actually be true in the people's eyes. I mean, you steal a body and you can't find it. What are people going to believe? So, they asked Pilate to secure the tomb so Jesus' disciples won't steal the body. I have to admit I actually thought about this and I thought it was kind of a crazy idea. But Mr. Spurgeon confirmed that this was a possibility. At least he gave a pretty rational argument for it. Was this all they feared? Was the stealing of the body by the disciples all they really feared? Now, they knew that Jesus said on several occasions that He would certainly rise from the dead after three days. But you have to remember, they also saw Jesus' miracles. I mean, Jesus wasn't just saying something without any evidence to be able to pull it off. They also knew that He had raised people from the dead. They couldn't deny that. They even acknowledged that He had raised people from the dead. Immediately after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, John 11, 47 says, then the chief priests and the Pharisees, now these are the same men who are standing before Pilate now, or the same groups of men that are standing before Pilate, they gathered a council and said, What shall we do? For this man works many signs, or miracles. They acknowledged that he was doing miracles among the people, one of which was raising people from the dead. So when they're coming before Pilate here, I'm not sure that they're only fearing that the disciples are going to steal the body. At that point, they couldn't deny His miracles. Even later, when you read in the book of Acts, you remember when Peter healed the lame man in Acts 3. Him and John are hauled before this same council, the Sanhedrin, in Acts 4, verse 16, and the leaders say, for indeed that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it." They are willingly admitting that Jesus and even His disciples were doing miracles. These were not just slights of hand. These were miracles. So the religious leaders knew Jesus had done real miracles in His ministry, even raising the dead. So, was there the slightest possibility in the back of their minds that He could really rise from the dead? I don't know. They knew that He had done it for others. But if this was the case, doesn't it show how delusional they are? I mean, how would they ever be able to stop Jesus from rising from the dead by placing a guard at the tomb if, in fact, they had seen His power doing other miracles? I mean, that just doesn't make any sense. But concerning their argument about the disciples stealing the body, why would they do that? Why would the disciples steal the body? Why would this even be a concern to these religious leaders. I mean, the disciples had run out on Jesus when he needed them most, just 24 hours earlier. Why would they muster courage now to steal his body after he was dead? Why would the Jewish leaders think the disciples were a threat at all? And if they did steal the body, what would they do then? Would they preach a lie for the next 60 years? Would they preach that Jesus rose from the dead which would confirm His gospel message when He, in fact, didn't rise? And these are all arguments that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 15. I mean, it makes no sense. The only way it would make sense is if they profited financially from the lie. And we know that they didn't. They didn't take money for preaching. Not like so many people do today. Well, we see thirdly here the answer in verse 65. Pilate said to them, you have a guard, go your way. Make it as secure as you know how. It seems that they had convinced Pilate that it was a concern. He might not want any more publicity on this event concerning Jesus than he had already gotten. He wants to forget about it and he wants everybody else to forget about it as soon as possible. Pilate also might have been concerned, and really until reading through this I didn't even think about this before, he might also have been concerned because of what he learned from his centurion when he came and told him that Jesus had died. I remember the centurion and the three soldiers with him confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. He may have gone and told Pilate everything that happened at the cross, all the supernatural stuff that happened, and how Jesus died. And remember, Pilate's wife, in the book of Matthew, had told Pilate, don't have anything to do with this righteous man, because I had a dream about him last night. Pilate would also be a somewhat religious man, believing in the pantheon of Rome, right? So none of this is beyond Pilate to have information about. And if he's the governor, I'm sure he had as much intel as he could have of what happened at the cross. Did Pilate fear revenge from Jesus or from God if in fact he did rise? or would rise as he predicted. So possibly Pilate's got as much at stake here as the Jews do about keeping the tomb secure. Other speculation, maybe he's humoring the Jews. Really? You worried about this guy coming out of the tomb? I don't know. But one of these is, they're all possible. One of them is probably right. Maybe Pilate was even humoring Joseph when he came. You want to give this guy a proper burial, really? Go ahead. Don't know. We don't have enough information. It's all speculation. I mean, he could have been humoring, The hope of Joseph in Christ's resurrection and the fear of the Jews in Christ's resurrection. He might have been doing both. Wouldn't it be fascinating to find out what these men were thinking? I mean, we have no idea. But, one thing, we do have a little bit of a clue here. It's possible the pilot is just out of patience with this whole incident and wants to dismiss these Jews as quickly as possible. And it would be in verse 65 in the three verbs, the three imperatives that we have here, which would be take, go, and make secure. Those would be the three verbs. Because in the original text, we don't have any particles in front of any of these verbs, which means it's written very tersely. It's almost like take, go, and secure. Just do it. Get out of here and get it done. Almost like he's throwing up his arms and saying, I want this thing over with as quickly as possible. So he gave them a guard to protect himself from more political fallout, told them to make the tomb as secure as they knew how. And as to whether this was a temple guard or a Roman guard under Pilate's command, a temple guard being under the Jewish command, it's probably a Roman guard since even though this guard reported to the chief priest in Chapter 28, verse 11, after Jesus' resurrection, they were ultimately answerable to Pilate in verse 14 of chapter 28. Also, it must have been a Roman guard since these Jewish leaders wouldn't have any reason to get permission from Pilate to get a guard to secure the tomb. since Jesus was buried in a private tomb. But we'll look at verse 66 now. Fourthly, the securing, the securing. How many went to the tomb, we don't know. There were probably several religious leaders and several soldiers. If you look at 2811, it says some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priest. That indicates that there's probably a handful or more of guards, and there's probably a handful or more of religious leaders who were accompanying them. Now since the guards were not posted until sometime Saturday, remember, and might even be later in the day, the tomb had been unguarded for 12 to 24 hours already since Jesus was laid in the tomb Friday about 5.30 or 6 p.m. But since the guards' lives, being Roman guards, since their lives depended on the fact that they were to keep the body secure, this was a command from Pilate, we have to assume they checked the tomb before they sealed it to see if the body was in it. So they probably had to at least crack the stone open from the tomb to look in and make sure Jesus was there. After they confirmed it, they sealed the stone. Probably with a, it could have been a Roman seal, could have been a temple seal, we have no idea. It's where you would put a blob of wax on the stone, a blob of wax on the face of the tomb, and you'd take this cord and you'd push it into the wax. And then, of course, when it dried, if anyone tried to move the tomb, it would break the wax and you'd know that somebody had tampered with it. and it would break the seal. You could obviously reheat the wax and put the cord back, but you couldn't recreate the seal. That's why the seal was important. When Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, a stone was laid on the mouth of the den and then sealed with the king's signet ring. You can read about that in Daniel 6. It would have been basically the same type of procedure that was used on Jesus' tomb. But what do we learn from this post-burial event of Jesus? And there's probably a few lessons here, but I think the greatest lesson we learn is that there are many who don't want Christ out of the tomb. I think that's a pretty good lesson to take away from this. The greatest threat to many is that he's not still dead, but he's alive. But if he never rose, he's no threat, just like he would be no threat to these Jews and to Pilate. But if he did rise, it means that they are accountable to him. See, there's a lot of unsaved people who understand this. I mean, if you have conversations with them and you talk to them enough about this, that they will say that. I mean, it's a no-brainer. If He did rise, it means everything that He said and did was true. It means that everything in the Bible is true. I remember right after I was saved in Chicago many, many years ago, I didn't know any better. But I was trying to share Christ with a black Muslim at a bus stop. And he got very agitated. And he said to me, Jesus is dead, man. Kind of took me back a little bit. And I didn't know what to say. I said, that's not possible. I just talked to him. I mean, it was obvious to me that if this man truly believed that Jesus came out of the grave and was alive again, that he would have a lot to fear. Why do many unsaved people fear even talking about Christ? Because they know if He's really alive, they are in eternal trouble. They understand if this is true, they're in trouble. Okay? Unsaved people aren't as dumb as we make them out to be. They know if Christ is alive, they're in trouble. At least many of them. They've thought it through. If they believe If they're forced to believe, if they're coerced to believe, if they come on their own to believe that Christ is still alive, they know that they're going to stand before Him one day in judgment. Because that's what the Bible teaches. They can process this. They can say, if this is true, the Bible's true and I'm in trouble. That's why they dismiss it. It's all a myth. And if they can convince themselves that it's not true, they've got nothing to worry about. They know that if he's alive, the Bible is true and there will be a judgment. And I think that many people tremble at the thought of Jesus being alive, even though they say they don't believe in him. The coming judgment is real. Christ is coming to judge sinners, and only He can save them from their sins. So what if it's true? What if He is alive again? Well, it means that John 3.36 is true. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. It means what Jesus said in John 8, 24 is true, that you will die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. means that 2 Thessalonians 1.8 is true, that Jesus is coming one day in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It also means that what Jesus said in John 5.24 is true. He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life. and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death into life." It also means what Jesus said in John 7, 37 is true. If anyone thirsts, thirsts for salvation, let him come to me and drink. And it also means that Acts 16, 31 is true. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Everything really hinges on the resurrection of Christ, and even His enemies understand that. Thank you, Lord, for this time, and for these folks here today, Lord. Thank you for their desire to learn the Word of God. to submit themselves to it. Lord, if there's someone here that doesn't know Jesus, that has never believed that He rose from the dead, that has never understood that they are a sinner, and understood that they will one day stand before Him, I pray that You would convict that person now, Lord. Convict them of their sins. I pray that they would repent. and truly trust in Christ and His work on Calvary as a substitute for sinners, one who took that coming wrath that would be on the sinner but has been placed on Christ at the cross. I pray that person would truly believe in Jesus and that they would have everlasting life. Lord, thank you for our time, and I pray that we would be changed to live more for Jesus this week. Amen.