Acts 20, verse 28, Bible says, There's a famous bank robber of yesteryear. His name was Willie Sutton. And he was one of the first guys that made the FBI's most wanted list. And he was a master of disguise. And he used very innovative robbery techniques. You know, he'd dress up as a mailman or, you know, a police officer. And I think one time in one of his bank robberies, because he actually wrote some books after he got out of prison. He was dressed up, I think, as a security guard or police officer. And during when it looked like he was going to get caught, they didn't know who he was yet. And so he says, no, everything's fine. And so then, you know, they left and they went on and he did the bank robbery. And so he'd carry a gun, but he writes after he gets out of jail, he says, you know, I just had the gun as a prop. Like, I had no intention of ever hurting anybody. He was just an ingenious bank robber. But when they asked Willie Sutton, by the way, he escaped prison twice. And every time he escaped, he'd go back to bank robbing. And so they asked him, they said, hey, look, Willie, why do you keep robbing banks? And he gave a really deep theological answer to that. He said, because that's where the money is. He went to the banks to rob, because that's where the money are. Now, you know why grievous wolves, you know why they come into the church house? Because that's where the sheep are. You go, if you're a wolf, you go where the sheep are. And if you're a bank robber, you go where the money is. And so there's this picture that I'm trying to get us to see is that we're all sheep, all of us. And our great shepherd has a watch over us. But down here on earth, when his church is down here on earth, We have to be watchful of the wolves that come in. And they're ingenious in their disguises, like Willie Sutton, the bank robber. And so we have to be mindful. And the sheep's clothing is what makes them the master of disguise. They're wolves in sheep's clothing, but they're not sheep. So they're not going to feed the flock. They're rather there to feed on the flock. In other words, we're dinner. And we have to be mindful of that. And so in verse number 28, you see the phrase there, there's overseers. And the overseers, part of their job is to feed the church. John chapter 10, it'll be a while till we get in there on Sundays, but it's about the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you know what He did for His sheep, right? He gave His life. He gave His life. There is a picture for preachers, pastors, any type of leadership in a church, there's a picture of that, that we stand ministering for Jesus Christ to protect the flock. So we When we get to 2 Timothy in a minute, it's a charge to preachers to be watchful, to be mindful, to oversee, to watch. So we stand as under shepherds. So that's a picture here in Acts chapter 20, verse 28 and 29. Those grievous wolves, they're not going to spare the flock, but there are overseers and they have to feed the flock. Now go to 2 Timothy 2, or 2 Timothy chapter 4 rather, And we'll see this tie in on verse number 5, 2 Timothy 4, verse number 5. Watch what it says. but watch thou in all things. So as an overseer, as an under shepherd, as a pastor, as a preacher, as anybody that's in church leadership, we have to watch in all things. And look, we learned in the book of Timothy, we are to be soldiers and we all need to march in battle following our commander in chief's command, right? And we also learn in 2 Timothy 2 that we're husbandmen, you know, we are farmers, we're tilling ground, there's that aspect. We serve the Lord of the harvest as we sow seed. And as a husbandman, we're going to trust the Lord to bring forth the spiritual fruit. We're trusting Him. But also here in chapter 4, we see that we must be watchmen. Me as the pastor specifically, I have to watch and I have to warn souls. That's a command that God gave to his ministers. And we are all fighting the good fight of faith and all of us should try to help folks lay hold on eternal life. And meaning it's not by earthly merit, we know that. And we know that we've been given the title to eternal life We know our title has been cleared and we have access to the throne of grace and all that's there But also we have to watch and warn As a pastor, I have to watch and warn souls but as brothers and sisters in Christ We need to watch and warn each other that we're laying a hold on to eternal life in other words those eternal things because if not We can get so anchored down or tied down to worldly affairs, worldly things, that we're really not laying hold on to the eternal life that we're so looking forward to enjoy. In other words, we don't live with eternity in mind. Every two years I get invited to a preacher's meeting, and it's a really good meeting, and the pastor that runs it has been doing it for a long time. He's been pastoring for a very, very long time. And he said this year, he said, how are you going to watch if you're not around to watch? And he was warning us preachers that, look, it's a blessing I get to go to a meeting But if I go to too many meetings, I'm going to get disconnected from you and from you and from the family that isn't there because, well, the pastor's not around. And if there aren't men especially, if there isn't a pastor especially that can watch and be involved, that's not a good thing. That's not a good thing. So we have to be wise in our time. Some people think it's a good thing. Some people think it's a bad thing. Some people don't think it's a thing. But I know we're a small church, but I'd like to hope that if we were a big church, a bigger church, that you don't have to call to make an appointment three weeks in advance to get with the pastor. I know people are busy. I'm busy. But I know you're busy too. I know you're busy. I know you're busy. I know everybody's busy. So, as much as we love the Lord, and as much as we want to learn doctrine, and as much as, you know how it goes, the more you're around people, the more you can, well, they can rub you the wrong way sometimes, right? But we have to be willing to invest in each other, and I just believe it's right, for the pastor has to be involved in the lives of the people, or he can't watch and warn. He doesn't know what's going on. He's just leaving it up to, well, you guys just figure it out, and that's not a good thing. And I know that there's, to me, there aren't trivial jobs to be done. To me, every job is a spiritual job that's important. To me, cleaning the bathrooms is important. It's just as important as teaching the Word of God, because sweeping the floor, or cleaning up the track rack, or doing the sound, or playing the piano, or just name something. None of those things are trivial. And if someone is to be in charge and have a position of leadership, it shouldn't just be, well, you're here, just go do it. There has to be a watching and an understanding that this person is fit to lead. and he's fit to watch. Does that make sense? Watching is something that we lose sight of because we don't think it's that big of a deal. The preacher's on full-time guard duty. Now, Brother Eric might be in charge of the security, the physical security. Somebody comes in, he's going to tackle them down, and they come after somebody, he's going to be there. And that's a physical picture of what the pastor should be. He has to be the spiritual guard dog. He has to watch and make sure sin doesn't get into the camp, and false doctrine doesn't get into the camp, and we don't apostatize, and we don't have devilish wolves sitting every other pew, and all of it's the protection of the flock. But if we just close our eyes or we turn a blind eye to it, none of us are going to be able to watch. I'm sure the moms can fill in the blank quicker than the dads. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the dads will get it and the granddads will get it quicker, but fill in the blank. If you see something, say something, right? If you see something, say something. Why is that such an important phrase? Yeah. And if I got my eyes over here and I got my head wrapped around an issue over here, well, I don't know what's going on over there. And the same with you, brother. Same with you. Nobody can see everything. This is why we work together as watchers. The Lord has watchers, by the way. We won't get into that tonight. We'll just state it as a matter of biblical truth. He has watchers. And His preachers, at least down here on earth for the church, serve that position. All right, verse number five, when we see, let's move on, but watch thou in all things. And then we have this third set of threes of what and how the preacher must watch. The first thing he has to do is endure afflictions. Now, affliction is a state of continued distress. Psalms 34 says, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Have you received God's imputed righteousness? We have. So to make practical application, guess what we are going to have to endure? Affliction. We're not going to be able to get away from it. I'm not praying for you to have affliction, but I'm certainly not praying for me to have more affliction than you have. Don't we do it? Don't we think like that? We do. And I always feel guilty When I see somebody going through something and I don't have to go through that, I feel guilty for some of my selfish thoughts that I've had over time because it's like, man, that Christian's just enduring some stuff and they got a better attitude than I do and I don't have to go through half that stuff. But look, we're going to have to endure some stuff. And the answer here to the question I'm going to ask is right in the text. Concerning afflictions, what do we all need when we face the affliction? It's endurance. Endurance is what we need. I'm telling you, what we have lacking in our day is all-weather Christians. We have Christians that do fine in the springtime. But once fall hits that reflective time, you know, they like the new beginnings of spring, but when it's kind of a little gloomy and that reflective time and fall, they don't like that. They don't have endurance. They don't have the endurance of the extreme sweltering heat in the summer. And then the frigid colds in the winter, they don't have the endurance. They're not all weather Christians. But look, in order to endure afflictions, all of us have to really consider how can we become better all-weather Christians and just endure the seasons that come our way. We need to replace the superficial with the supernatural. You know, the superficial endurance is, you know, your child that sweeps the floor once and thinks that they've proven good behavior. It's like, okay, you did it once because you smelled the fresh cookies that mom baked. You know, it's like one of those things. It's like, don't expect to be bad, youngins. Don't expect to have bad behavior for three weeks. And then all of a sudden you figured out, you know what, if I do one good deed, I bet you I'll be, it don't work like that. You don't prove your character by doing one thing, right? It doesn't work that way. Nobody shows up for karate class one time, and then all of a sudden, you know, they're put into the big tournament. You have to prove yourself to the team. You gotta be there, and you gotta put the road time in. And older brothers, you can listen to this one if you're the older sister. Matter of fact, all the little kids look up here. You can't be nice to your sibling once, and think that all is good. You have to work at being nice to them consistently. Put the same effort you put into, you know, the E's of T's, put the same effort in to make it, it should become easy for you to be nice and kind and helpful to them. And, you know, for us gentlemen, you know, we don't prove ourselves when we bring our wives flowers or chocolate one time. We don't prove ourselves by doing one act that's nice. It's a consistent overtime thing. and that helps weather us, that gives us that all-weather endurance that a true Christian should have. Anybody know any couples who have been married for 50 years or more or have met them over the years? There's a reason why that should be honored. Endurance. Endurance. You ever meet a pastor who's been pastoring for 30 or 40 years? There's a reason that should be honored. Endurance. It's just endurance. Endurance. Why does the military have boot camp? Because they're going to see who's got some endurance. That's an application where, look, we got a bunch of guys, and in a short period of time, we're going to weed out the guys that don't have any endurance. And it's not nice. It's not supposed to be nice. It's supposed to figure out who's going to be the all-purpose military man. And the endurance, the all-weather Christian, it's Something is spiritually wrong in my life, or there would be something spiritually wrong in your life if everything has to go positive. Every song can't be in the major key. There's lamentations. Everything can't be a rebuke, but everything can't be a great praise either. There's warnings, there's encouragement, there's suffering, there's comfort. It's summer, it's winter. It's spring, it's fall. It's all of it. What does that do? That helps weather us, make us all weathered, endurance, Christians with some endurance. And if everything always has to be the same way for us, we are just, this is what we are. We're light switch Christians. It's like when the light comes on, man, that works for me, that works for me, but when the light goes off and something, the mood changes or the season changes, man, I just like summer. Yeah, I get it, but we're not in summer now. and we can't get to summer for a while. So we have to be able to endure the sweltering or the frigid cold, and then we'll get to the nice sunny days. It makes sense? Sunny days are coming, but you can't live in sunny day land when you're in the middle of freezing cold reality. So the endurance is what's gonna help us. Let me just give you one other side of endurance this evening, and that's this. It may be the Lord that wants to test your endurance. Embrace that. The Lord may be trying to make you better fitted for His service. We can't lose sight of that, and so that's the last point regarding endurance. A soldier, a shepherd, a husbandman, a watchman that we're looking at here has to be able to endure. And if we're going to endure afflictions and the Lord's going to maybe exercise us or test us a little bit, it's because if Eric's heading up security, if he's never handled a firearm or he's never, if the only thing he has is one of Barney Fife's single bullet in his pocket, he probably isn't going to be ready to lead the team or be a help when a bad guy comes in. In other words, you're preparing before the affliction comes. Does that make sense? And so when we go through things, the Lord might be preparing us for something bigger that's coming down the line that He wants us to be ready for. So Christians, we are a ready people. And if we're going to have some endurance, we've got to start working on it. We can't run a five-mile marathon if we never get off the couch and start practicing and exercising. So don't despise the Lord or somehow think that the Lord's out to get you if you've got to go through a season that maybe you don't like. He's preparing you for something. Don't lose sight of that. So that's the first of the threes. The watchmen and all Christians need to be able to endure some affliction. And it's to the preacher, but it's application for all of us. Now watch the next thing in verse number five. Not only do we need to endure afflictions, but we need to do the work of an evangelist. Now I'm going to say this. When I say this, it's not that I'm against this happening. I'm just trying to bring out a more biblical side to this point. Biblically speaking, an evangelist isn't the guy that comes in for three days, preaches some fiery messages, gets the troops rallied, and then leaves. I know that's what they are called today in Baptist circles. Say, we're going to have an evangelist in. I get it. Now, we've had an evangelist in, and he goes by the title of evangelist, and when he sees me, he always says, I know, we use this title evangelist, but And the Bible, what I'm doing as an evangelist isn't what they did in the Bible as an evangelist. The guy that comes in for two days or three days or what, they're really just a prophet. They're coming in and they're prophesying what the Word of God says. The root word of evangelists, do the work on evangelists, the root word is evangel. That's the gospel. So an evangelist isn't one who comes in to a church house where the saints are. He is evangelizing. He's going out of the church house into the community and he, guess what he is proclaiming to them? The gospel. He's the evangelist. So all of us, the preacher included, should be doing the work of an evangelist. We are to stay in an area for more than two days, win souls, and then we are to disciple those souls. We declare the good news. Missionaries. Missionaries are evangelists. I mean, biblically speaking, I'm not saying it's wrong to call them a missionary. They certainly are missionaries. But they are also evangelists. And all of us need to get that truth settled, is that the primary work of an evangelist is to preach and to teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't lose sight of that when you go outside of these four walls. a church like ours and the churches that we fellowship with, those preachers study the Bible, and you all study the Bible, and you're learning some doctrine. I mean, you know your Bible. But that world out there, they don't know what a dispensation is. They don't care. They don't need to care. What they need to know is, that Christ came and died for their sins and that they're a sinner and Christ loved them enough to die for them and that Jesus is their only their only way so you gotta you gotta help them walk through the door and and if we don't do that we're losing sight of we're just losing sight of the main work and we gotta keep the main thing the main thing All right, so that's do the work of an evangelist. Now the third one here is to make full proof of thy ministry. I'd like to run a couple of cross-references. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 10, 2 Corinthians 10, this one, verse 13, 2 Corinthians 10, Bible says in verse 13, Bible says, But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reach not unto you, For we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labors, but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. This is, it's great to go out and preach the gospel, isn't it? Look at this last verse. For not he that commendeth himself is approved. If you want to make full proof of thy ministry, look at the last part of this chapter and this verse. But whom the Lord commendeth. You better make sure you're commended by the Lord, not by yourself. Because if you or I try to do something in the power of our own flesh, you might as well forget about verse 17. We're not glorying in the Lord. We're glorying in our own self, and our own strength, and our own power, and our own personal persuasion, our own charisma, And if you want to make full proof of your ministry, because I know I do, I want to make sure that the Lord has commended what we're doing. I want to be commended of the Lord, not myself. Lord knows I'll make a mess of it, and you would too. And concerning the gospel, I don't ever want to stop doing public evangelism. I believe a New Testament church, foundationally, should be out in the public. But I may have to stop for a week, for a month. You may have to stop for a week, for a month. Why? Because if you're getting bitter or you're getting ugly or you got something in your heart that you haven't gotten right, that's going to go out onto that person. And yeah, you gave them the truth, but you gave them a truth with some extra toppings that they didn't order. I mean, you're already bringing them a dish that they don't want. And now on top of that, you're going to give them you. I mean, it's like, you're going to ruin it. I'm going to ruin it. And one of the dangers with a church like ours is the more that we get out in the public and the more that we deal with the public, the more danger we have with getting bitter at people. Because you get rejected, you get laughed at. How many times do you want someone just shutting the door on you saying, I don't want to talk? You know, how many times can you put up with somebody giving you the dirty look, or you know, you see the tracks in the trash when you finish an outreach and you just keep that in your heart and you don't get it out. It can bother you. And there's been... I think street preaching's right. I think we should do it right, though. And many, many, many street preachers just end up being bitter and mean because they never took time to get off the street and let somebody else take the baton for a while. And if you want to make full proof for your ministry, like I know we all do, we're going to have to watch our hearts. Who are we wanting the glory in? Because the Lord wouldn't want us to glory in being happy that somebody is going to hell and getting bitterness in our heart. The Lord wants us to have a tear in our heart for the lost. And I know you got to bring stuff in a different tone when you're dealing with a different crowd. But most times, most times, you don't need a hard full court press. Not most times. Most times when you're out in the public, it's pretty calm. It's pretty relaxed. It's pretty, hey, you want to chat? Would you like a track? Hey, can we talk a little bit? You're standing on someone's doorstep and they answer the door and they're willing to talk to you. Most of it's pretty calm. So just keep that in mind that you're commendeth of the Lord. Look at Colossians 4. Colossians 4, look at verse 17. It's a nice little verse at the end of this book, Colossians 4, 17, "...and say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it." The warning here for Archippus in Colossians 4 is that you were commended of the Lord. You did receive something of the Lord. Now, we've got to get old Arkie over here and make sure he's doing what he's commended to do. Does that make sense? So a lot of us have, man, we've got a clear call from the Lord, you know. We're supposed to do what the Lord called us to do. It's just that we won't do it. And so there's that part of the fulfillment too. It's not just figuring out if we're glorying in the Lord and we're commending the Lord. It's also, once we are commended, we better make sure we're doing it. And so there's that. Don't be negligent is the warning. Don't be negligent. There's a balance to this too, like we talked about the summer and winter and spring and fall Christian. We don't want to be negligent of making full proof of our ministry because Some guys like to defend the truth. You know, it's that battle, it's that manly side of it. Guys would rather defend the truth and point out error and be a conqueror. I'm not saying that's bad or wrong. I'm like that. Men are like that. But we need to be all weathered, foolproof Christians. That means we may need to visit the sick. But I want to point out error and I want to... Hold on there, cowboy. You want a foolproof ministry? There's someone that needs a visit. You better be able to get down on your knees and pray with somebody and make sure your ministry is not... there's too many Christians carrying around a one-sided sword. A one-edged sword. There's two edges. There's two edges for a reason. I know some of you can relate to this, probably most of you here. If you're negligent in feeding someone a properly balanced diet, their health is going to slip, right? It's the same with church. The brother and I were talking before church, and you go through Romans, and he was saying how it's just amazing how it starts off, man is just wicked, and how it ends, and just the tonality is a complete contrast. And what he pointed out, too, which I didn't think of until he brought it up was, man, it'd be really bad if it was the other way around. You know, it started off good and it ended bad. But that's not our God. He gives us the bad and then we end up with the good at the end. So that's a good point. And look, the idea of making full proof of your ministry from the preacher's standpoint is that the people want to know that there's going to be some fruit and that you're not a hireling. So, when people come, that's what they're trying to figure out. Is there fruit here? Has the preacher been proved? It's on both sides. Go to 1 Thessalonians 1. It should be right there. Probably don't even have to turn the page for verse number 3. in 1 Thessalonians 1. Watch what it says. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 3. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God our Father. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. and ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost." So, as we just go through a few more verses, look, you have followers, they're receiving the word. Look at verse 7, "...so that they were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." Followers, they're receiving the word, they're ensamples. Look at verse 9, For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God." That whole discourse there that we read, is about people being able to see that fruit was produced. You say, well, I'm a Christian, but they don't see anything in your life where you turn from anything idolatrous to God. How are you going to make full proof of your ministry if you're not receiving the word, you're not an example, you're not turning from idol, you're just living the same manner of life you've always lived? No one's going to believe you. And you're not going to make full proof of your testimony, for sure. And also, your personal testimony, my personal testimony, it does reflect our local church family, too. It's no different for fathers. If we have a poor personal testimony, it reflects our home. It can't not. And it's the same with our church family. We should have an upstanding personal testimony that has been made full. We should be an example, and we should make it foolproof. We want fruit to be produced. Church members want to see that whoever's preaching the Word of God, that there's fruit in his life. And on the other side of it, I'm a member just like you're a member. I'm a member of the same body of Christ and the same local church you are. We all want to see each other have fruit. And fruit goes both ways. Both ways. Ephesians 4, verse 14. Ephesians 4, verse 14. Alright kids, pay attention to this one. That we henceforth be no more children. Now I want you to enjoy being a child when you have the chance to be a child. Many times I think, man, I wish I can go back and be a kid again, but that's not happening. But while you are a child, enjoy it. But look at this, this is about maturity. Henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love that grow up, that's maturity, into Him in all things. Not just a few things over here that we've decided, I'm okay with that, Lord. But He wants us to mature and ripen in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, making increase of the body under the edifying of itself. In love, edifying is a building up. This is all about maturity. This I say therefore, verse 17, and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. Don't live in the past. That's what you were. That's how you walked. That's how you lived. That's what you followed after. Don't be a child anymore. Grow up. Mature. Be a ripened piece of fruit. And that's the idea of the Christian life. The same way, the same reason why they don't make the desks... Every time you move up in a grade, they make the desks bigger. Because the idea is that you grow and you mature. And we don't want to stay baby Christians and weak Christians our whole life. We don't want to just be a child, a babe in Christ. Mature. Mature. Go back to 2 Timothy 4 and we'll start to wind down here. Just a few more thoughts before we close. 2 Timothy 4. Bible says, make full proof of thy ministry. Just one last note on that verse. To minister is to serve and to help under the authority of Christ. And there are hundreds of ways to minister to people. How are you going to do it? Whatever way you're going to do it, make sure you make it full proof. And your ministry isn't going to look exactly like my ministry and vice versa. That's not the point. Do we have the same Lord? Do we have the same gospel? Do we have the same doctrine? Then make full proof of the ministry that the Lord would have you do. Because you're going to have a different opportunity. You're going to have a different gift. You're going to have a different sphere of influence. You're going to have different ways of relating to people. The Lord's going to put different stuff in your path. that he's not going to put in it. It's all different. Whatever it is, whatever sphere of influence you're in, make full proof of it. Now verse 6 says, For now I am ready, I am ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Now, here's something for the older saints, and some of them aren't here tonight, but The older saints, it says here, for now I am ready to be offered. One way the older saints can make full proof of their ministry is by teaching the younger. Parents, there's a reason why we're charged by God to teach our kids. Because if it was the other way around, well, it is the other way around in a lot of aspects in our country. It shouldn't be that way for Christians. The parents raise up the children because they're older. And that's how God set it up, right? Well, He set it up the same way in the church. And one of the best ways the older saints can make full proof of thy ministry is to spend time with the younger ones. I'm trying to find the right words to make the point. I understand that there's certain things that are age-specific. The senior saints that are in their 60s and 70s probably aren't going to come to bowling night, for example, right? But that doesn't mean we don't find ways to have fellowship and interaction and learning, because you want to learn from them. And you want to find opportunities outside of the corporate preaching and teaching for those things to happen naturally within a local body. So that's one way. Man, I remember having instructors and coaches and my parents just saying, hey, good job. Keep it up. Just to be an encouragement. If the 50s and 60s and 70s generation is fading away, we better have somebody to hand the baton to, right brother? We better have that. So we gotta be mindful of that. He said, my departure is at hand in verse number six. Timothy tells, Paul tells Timothy, look, my departure's at hand. And he says, you're up. It's like, Boarding at gate 18, you know last call for flight 247 Ready for departure. Woo! But look, that airplane guy, they're calling from the gate. They're preparing. They're making ready. And there's all these steps that they have to go through to make ready for departure. I'm telling you, there's a picture of that here with the Christian life. Are you making ready? Are you getting ready? It's almost like you can hear our captain saying, boarding, all boarding, last call, and then We're going to be out of here. I hope we think of it. I hope we think of the Christian life and I hope we're getting ready for departure. Look, Paul's been offered. He offered his self up many times and. Well, we're all right, I want to look at this verse, I want to look at two verses, actually go to Philippians 2. This just quickly, because I want you to read them. rather than me just mention them. Philippians 2, I wrote down, look at verse 14. Look at verse number 15 in Philippians 2, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain." Watch this, "'Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice, and service of your faith. I joy and rejoice with you all." Paul was ready. He offered his life just to live for Christ. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation and nation, we can be living sacrifices. And here's something else, and I think we miss this in 1 Corinthians 13. Go there, 1 Corinthians 13. Because it's a beautiful chapter on charity. But I think we miss this phrase. I miss this phrase. But it's applicable for what we're talking about this evening. Making ready, having your time of departure at hand and being ready. Watch what it says in verse number 1. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, I have not charity, and I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, now watch this, and though, this is Paul writing in the Holy Spirit's inspiration, and though I give my body to be burned. That's the phrase. Paul did that. He offered his body as a living sacrifice. You know what Paul did? He burned out like an Old Testament Levitical burnt offering. That's the picture of Paul's life. But we don't just have the letter of the law like the Old Testament. What do we have in the New Testament? The spirit of the law. And that's where that charity comes in. But Paul basically burnt his life out like an Old Testament. There's a picture there, spiritually speaking. His body to be burned. Better do it with charity, but look, our bodies as a living sacrifice. And then the last thing we're going to look at is this, in 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, he says, for now I am ready, and we should live with the time of readiness. When we have an opportunity in front of us, we get excited to live for that opportunity. In 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, he says, for now I am ready. The only picture in front of him is death. Now, how many of you still want to live your life as a living sacrifice for Christ when the only thing offered in front of you is death? Because if we got a big opportunity to do something big, we kind of tend to get all rallied up for it. But there's a picture here of living for eternity. And there's a lot of safe people. But there aren't a lot of safe people that are living a life of readiness. We're not making ourselves ready because we're attached to the world. And we have too many tie-downs. We have too many things that tie us down. And those tie-downs to the world cause us to not really be ready to depart. We don't have eternity on our mind. It's not having a death wish. It's not being suicidal or anything. It's your living with eternity in mind. You're making ready. Look, they're calling you to the gate. Are you ready? No, I've got to clean my boat. Come on, they're calling you to the gate. Last call. We're boarding. We're boarding. No, sorry, I'm in the woods. I'm going to be playing Rambo for a few weeks. So I'll come back later, Lord. You know, it's like all these things. I've got to throw that in there when it's hunting season, gentlemen. There ain't nothing wrong with hunting. There's nothing wrong with having a boat. I mean, if you can afford one, but... It's just that... Is it tying you down? See? Is it tying you down and making you forget to get to the gate? We gotta live a life of readiness. And if you a prisoner in a jail cell, and if you've got to get to that point to say that you're ready to give your body to be burned, you've got to be careful that you're only saying that because you've got nothing else going on. It's like, well, you know, if we're like Paul and we're in jail, it's like, yeah, Lord, I'm ready to go. Why do we say that? Well, we're in jail. I've got nothing better else to do. Let me go home with you, Lord. It's better than sitting in this cold jail cell, right? Well, what if we do have a lot of opportunities? You can take a big job. You can go become a famous person. You can give your life to just about anything nowadays. I know, I did it. I did it. I did it. Paul wasn't a great Christian because he was a great theologian. Paul was just a great Christian because he was a living sacrifice. That's just one of my pet peeves when people say, well, I'm not really a theologian like you. I'm not a theologian, man. I'm not a theologian like Paul. Why would you want to be? Be a living sacrifice like Paul. That's what made him a great man of God. We're moving, folks. We're moving. And by the way, our departure as Christians isn't death. It's life. And it's not annihilation. We don't cease to exist. We're moving. We're moving. Our Great Shepherd is basically going to help us change pastures. He's going to move us to greener pastures. It's called the shadow of death for a reason, because the shadow can't hurt you. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil. Thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me.