sang about songs that speak about kind of the Lord is our shepherd and his leadership in our lives and somewhat entitled the message on this chapter, the Lord is my shepherd. because the Lord talks about in this passage in chapter 10 of Zechariah about shepherds who didn't do their job, and then though he does not refer to himself specifically here as their shepherd, he does back in chapter nine in verse 16, the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people. picturing himself as their shepherd. And in chapter 10 and verse 8, the Lord uses the analogy of a shepherd when he says, I will hiss for them, has the idea of a shepherd whistling to call his sheep and they would come, they would know the shepherd's whistle as well as his voice. and they would come, so there is kind of that picture there, but in looking at the text, I came up with a different title, Dealing with the Dereliction of Duty, because the Lord is dealing with prophets and leaders who didn't do their job, and what resulted from that, so we'll look at that in just a moment. Let's pray, and then we'll get into the message tonight. Again, we do thank you for the opportunity of being here. Thank you for bringing us. Thank you for giving us safety and coming. And for each one that is here, those that are watching the live stream, we thank you for the freedom that we have to assemble. And Lord, we do again tonight pray for those around the world who don't have the privilege that we have and yet are meeting, meeting at risk of their lives and their livelihoods. and Lord trusting you and we pray your blessing upon them for their efforts and their determination and their desire. And Lord, help us not to take for granted the freedom that we have to assemble. And may we have hearts tonight that are open to your truth, to receive it and to rejoice in it. And Lord, even where needed to change, as you might show us something in our life that is not right, that we would look to you for the strength to be able to make a change that needs to be made in our lives. May you be glorified, Father, tonight is our prayer. and we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. There's a saying that everything rises and falls on leadership. There is some truth to that, although I appreciate a pastor friend of mine who doesn't, he says yeah, but you think about like in a baseball game, the manager There's a lot of pressure on him, and if a team fails, the manager often gets blamed, but he's not the one out there swinging the bat or making the catches and making the outs. He's just sitting on the bench and trying to manage the game, and yet he can be blamed and lose his job if the team doesn't do well. even though he's not the one actually doing the job, but there is some truth to the importance, at least, of leadership. And when leaders fail to stand for and declare truth, when we're talking about spiritual leaders, to those that are following, what's going on with the mic tonight? You wanna switch to this one and just, maybe that'll work better. And so in the days of Zechariah, we read about spiritual leaders who didn't stand for truth and the result that came to their followers. All the punishment, the trouble, the captivity of Israel was due to the failure of their spiritual leaders to tell them the truth. And the Lord in this chapter exposed the problem and then he expressed his anger and then he promised to restore his people. And so tonight I want us to look at the problem and the passion of the Lord and then the promise of the Lord that we'll close with. But notice the problem really begins in verses one and two when the Lord says, ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain and so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field. Come to the Lord and ask for his help. But they didn't do that. The people didn't do that. They didn't ask of the Lord. He says in verse two, for the idols have spoken vanity and the diviners have seen a lie and have told false dreams. They comfort in vain, the people instead of looking to the Lord and asking the Lord for direction they listened to the spiritual leaders of their day who were telling them lies or they went to the idols that the nations around them were worshiping and asking them for advice and counsel. They're following those who some of whom said they were speaking for God but they were telling lies, they were not preaching truth. And it's unfortunate but true that men are prone to listen to any voice but the voice that gives truth. We read that in John chapter 3 when we beginning in verse 16 the very familiar verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. They don't want the truth. because they want to continue in their evil ways. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 as Paul was admonishing Timothy he said he commanded him in chapter 4 to preach the word and reminding him that the time will come when they'll not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts, their own desires they'll heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. They'll turn away their ears from the truth and be turned unto fables. They would rather hear preaching that pleases them than preaching that gives them truth, especially truth that cuts across the grain of the way that they are living. Even, you know, Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, which you have not received or another gospel which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him." In other words, they were questioning Paul's authority, many of them. Paul's defending his authority and his apostleship in 2 Corinthians when he's saying to the church, you know, there are those within the church that they'll embrace anybody that comes along and tells them things that aren't true, that preaches another Jesus or another gospel, but they don't want to hear the true about the true Jesus and the true gospel. And he would even write to the Galatian churches. In Galatians chapter one, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel, which is not another, that is not another the same kind. Paul had no doubt gone to Galatia in his first missionary journey and many had been saved and churches had been established there. And then along came the Judaizers preaching that it's not faith in Christ alone that saves, you have to also keep the law. And they turned from what Paul had preached, the grace and faith alone to save and began to embrace this other gospel of works. And Paul marveled how quickly they had turned from the truth to embrace that. But that's the heart of men, that we're easily turned from truth to error. And if we are living in disobedience, We're comfortable in our disobedience, many times we don't want to hear the truth and we'll turn away from the truth. And so the Lord notes the fact that there are preachers in that day that were preaching error and the people were following them. I don't want to be political tonight and so sharing this example, I'm not intending to be political but it is interesting that this came up at the National Prayer Service, this Bishop Marion Edgar Buddy is the way I think your name is pronounced. I only read the news. I don't watch it. So if I'm pronouncing it wrong, I apologize. But that's what Google pronunciation or whatever said. But anyway, Representative Josh Breachan, in an article on foxnews.com, wrote about what was said. And he said, and this is his quote, he says, as a believer, I attended the service of prayer for the nation for the purpose of praying for our nation, President Trump, the president's family, and the success of his administration. But I purposely left the prayer service early after realizing how the pulpit was being used for left-wing activism and not for true worship unto God to seek his will and his wisdom." Bishop Marion Edgar Budde distorted the truth and this is why I'm sharing this. I'm not intended to be political tonight. It's her distortion of truth that I'm emphasizing. And it begins with the fact that she's a woman bishop which contradicts the scripture 1 Timothy chapter 3. We can just stop right there but she goes on the fact she's preaching and what she said. She's ignoring biblical teachings, again I'm quoting, that God made humans distinctly male and female, Genesis 127, that we must go to someone in private before accosting them in public, Matthew 18, 15-17, and that we must obey the law of the land, Romans 13, 1-3. But he ignored biblical truth. In her sermon she cited a Bible verse that says we're to be merciful to the stranger, However, the Hebrew word stranger describes a foreigner who fully submits to the customs and culture of their country of refuge. Illegal aliens are not submitting to the laws of the land, they're defying them. And so Buddy's sermon promoted principles that inherently contradict the biblical truth. And again, that's what I'm trying to emphasize to you tonight, not that it was political because you're dealing with biblical things and though politicians have taken moral things, biblical things and try to make them political, they're biblical. But here's someone whom people are listening to and many are listening to more followers now because of all this uproar about this service, but they're listening to error because that's what they want to hear, that's what they want to believe. and so they're embracing the error. There's an older illustration of this that Erwin Lusser noted in a book, Pastor to Pastor, he talks about Robert Schuller who wrote a book entitled Self-Esteem, the New Reformation and in that book Schuller defined sin this way, sin is any act or thought that robs me or another human being of his or her self-esteem. It has nothing to do with sin is a violation of the law of God, an affront, an offense to God but it's just about man, it's a man-centered gospel and a man-centered Christianity that Robert Schuller was promoting. I realize not everybody's following these people but there are people who are willing to listen to that and follow that and he had a large following in his day. Whenever we listen to lies instead of the truth it leads to trouble. And so we read here in Zechariah 10 and verse 2, again, the people, instead of going to God, they're looking to their idols and they're listening to the false prophets. And therefore, the latter part of verse 2 says, they went their way as a flock and they were troubled because there was no shepherd. That is, there was no true shepherd. And because they were following the lies of the false shepherds, then they were led astray and it led to trouble. And it's always the case that when we follow the lies of men who proclaim to be speakers of God and yet are telling lies, it's always going to lead to trouble. And you're sitting here tonight and you're thinking, but I would never follow Robert Shuler. I'm not in agreement with Bishop Buddy, I'm not, this doesn't apply to me. Well, we are probably safer than some, but we're not immune to the danger. We may not be led away from the Lord entirely or embrace another gospel, but we can be led away from truth, especially when it comes to life issues. And we end up listening to the advice of others instead of seeking the counsel of God. Pastors can tell stories of people that came to them because they were having problems in their life and the pastor sat down and gave them biblical counsel but in order to follow the biblical counsel they would have to make changes in their life and they didn't want to make those changes and so they walk out of the pastor's office and they've heard the truth but they rejected the truth because they didn't want to make the changes that were necessary and they continue to have trouble. or it led to more trouble, divorce and wayward children, financial troubles, things like that because they wouldn't listen to the truth when there's somebody often out there who's telling them something else. There was a young lady that came to us one time years ago with marital issues and people at her work were telling her, you just need to get a divorce and she didn't have any biblical grounds for divorce. And we obviously did not give her that same counsel and that marriage did end But you know, there's often going to be the case where there's there that there are false shepherds if you will who will tell you what you want to hear and Then there are true shepherds. He'll tell you the truth but we can find ourselves following the false shepherds because we don't like the truth and it just leads to more trouble and The danger exists for pastors to compromise the truth to be acceptable to men, of course, again, Paul wrote to Timothy, preach the word, men will not endure sound doctrine but Timothy don't let that sway you, don't change your message to make it acceptable to men. Again, Erwin Lutzer in his book, Pastor to Pastor, in that chapter where he dealt with this issue said, men such as Schuller know what the people want to hear and give them something positive. The pastor, he says, of one of America's largest and most innovative churches says he can't preach on holiness because no one is interested. Lutzer goes on to say, can you imagine Isaiah asking the people of Judah what they'd like to hear before he prepared his sermons? Or Christ tailoring his message to suit the Pharisees' hunger for personal glory? It's easy to recognize the extremes, he says, but we as pastors ought also to plead guilty to preaching what is popular rather than what is true. We sometimes skirt church discipline. the biblical standards for church leadership, and the scripture's denunciation of materialism for fear of rocking the ecclesiastical boat. Why alienate those who pay your salary? A bugle call is an unwelcome irritation to those at ease in Zion. Many pastors who would die for the doctrine of the infallibility of scripture never preach on the doctrine of hell. Instead, many pastors who profess allegiance to the scriptures no longer believe in eternal punishment. They've adopted the theory of annihilation. They believe the unsaved will be thrown into the flames and consumed. Apparently, this kinder, gentler punishment is not based on a careful rethinking of scripture but on our natural abhorrence of the doctrine of hell. How easy it is to exchange thus saith the Lord for thus saith psychology or thus saith the church and board or even thus saith society." So this danger that the Lord spoke of that happened to Israel can happen to us today. if we're not careful. As pastors, it can happen to us. We can become false shepherds because we're afraid to tell the truth because how will it be received? As God's people, we can embrace error because we don't like the truth because it cuts cross grain of how we live. But whenever either of us do that, it always leads to trouble. And so there's the problem, false shepherds and the people who follow them. But secondly, I would note the passion in verse 3 where the Lord says, my anger was kindled against the shepherds and I punished the goats, the shepherds in verse 3. would no doubt be those prophets and priests who were called of God or appointed by God, they were in an office as a representative of God but again they're the ones who are preaching error and the goats are probably the political leaders and in Israel's case the political leaders were also spiritual leaders. David is the king, he's a man after God's own heart, he's a king who is the king of Israel was to lead the people in the ways of God. The king was to have a copy of the scriptures that he was to read every day so that he would lead the people in a way that was acceptable to God. So the Lord is angry with the priests and the prophets who were telling the lies, who were preaching false doctrine, and the political leaders who were also leading the people astray. Jezebel and Ahab. Ahab is the king. He's the one that introduced Baal worship. He married Jezebel and brought her worship in and led the people in worshiping Baal instead of God. And so the Lord is angry with the leaders who led the people astray and it's an intense anger. That word anger, much of Hebrew is picturesque, it's a picturesque language so the picture is of somebody so angry their nostrils flare out. just that real intense anger. Does the Lord care that there are shepherds and goats who are telling people lies and leading them astray? Does it matter to him or does he just say, oh, well, no, he cares. And he is angry when men stand up and profess to speak for him and tell lies. You know, does God care? Well, ask the false prophets of Jeremiah's day. They were telling the people there would be no Babylonian captivity or after it came, it would be short lived. And Jeremiah is declaring what God says, that the captivity will last for 70 years. The people that were in Babylon in the captivity were to settle down and build houses and plant gardens because they're going to be there a while. That's not what Israel wanted to hear. And so the false prophets were saying, hey, this is not going to last. Within two more years, it's all going to be over. And so the Lord said about these false prophets that were saying Israel would not experience the sword and famine, he said, by the sword and famine, those prophets would die. And the Lord said he would feed those prophets with wormwood and make them drink the water of Gaul. In Jeremiah 28, we read about a prophet named Hananiah, who said that within two years, the Babylonian captivity would end and all the people would return to Israel. And the Lord told Hananiah through the prophet Jeremiah, The Lord has not sent thee, but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, I will cast thee off from the face of the earth. And this year thou shalt die because you've taught rebellion against the Lord." And that year Hananiah died. Does God care when a bishop buddy preaches lies or a Robert Schuller preaches lies or any other pastor or or preacher preaches lies or when anyone who professes to speak for God or tries to give counsel is supposed to be godly counsel and they tell things that are not true, deliberately telling things that are not true. Does God care? Yes, he does. He is not pleased. And he will deal with those who knowingly, willingly preach error. Now we're all subject, even as pastors, sometimes we think we got it right and we got it wrong. We've all had to change messages, as D.L. Moody said, when he would hear men preach and he would be sitting there on the front row and somebody else is preaching. They're preaching a passage he's preached, and they're preaching it different, and he realizes he was wrong and they were right. He says, oh, there goes another sermon out the window. We've all made those mistakes. We thought we had it right, and we didn't, and we change. But this is not those who are trying, honestly, to give truth and just made a mistake. These are men who are deliberately telling lies. They want people to accept them. They want to preach what's popular instead of what is right. And I would just note here, we have to be careful about judging motives, but sometimes it is necessary to name false prophets. We don't like that. But Jesus didn't hesitate to denounce the scribes and Pharisees to their face, even. In Matthew 23, eight times, Jesus said, well, to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, and then he denounced some particular thing that they were doing. And he said they were, they were, they were doomed to hell. Now, obviously they could have repented. and been saved, but in the path they were walking, they were doomed to hell because they were believing and preaching error. And he said at one point, you know, you are leading others to hell. And they're standing right there as he is declaring these things. He didn't mince words because again, when men preach lies, it leads to trouble. And when men follow those who lie, it leads to trouble. Jesus cared about the souls of the men and women of the day in which he walked on the face of the earth and he did not want them to be led astray by the Pharisees. It was necessary that he condemned them because they were leading people astray. He said, you search heaven and earth to make a convert. And when you do, you make him twofold more a child of hell than yourselves. That's why Paul wrote in Galatians chapter one, that if an angel or any other come and preach another gospel to you, don't believe it and let them be accursed. Let them be condemned to hell because they're preaching another gospel because in preaching that other gospel, they are condemning men to hell. Because if they, if men believe the false gospel, that's where they'll end up. They're not going to heaven by believing error. The truth must be preached if men would be saved. And if we would walk in obedience to God, we must hear the truth, even when it's not popular and even when it hurts. And so sometimes it's necessary to point out error and even those who are promoting that error. You know, Paul mentioned Hymenaeus and Philetus. two men who were teaching that the resurrection had already occurred and people were abandoning the faith because of that. Because they had been taught that there's a resurrection coming and these guys come along and say, no, it's actually already happened. And they're like, wait a minute, we were led, we were lied to. And they were turning away from the faith that they had professed because of the false teaching of these two men. And so Paul had to name them. He had to say, be careful, watch out for these guys. They're not preaching truth. And so it's necessary sometimes to point out error and those who preach it. And so as pastors, sometimes we have to do it and we have to be careful. Again, we can't judge a man's heart, we can only judge what is being said. But sometimes it's necessary and and as God's people, we should never. Be upset when a pastor names names if he's trying to help us not be led astray by error. Because again, when we follow error, it always leads to trouble. Thank God for somebody who cares enough about you to tell you the truth, even when it hurts or it's not popular. So that's the negative part of this passage. The wonderful thing is God doesn't leave the negative, it doesn't end on a negative note, it ends on a positive note. And I want to encourage you tonight in thinking about all this, everything that we said is true and it is all a concern for us, but there is a promise that the Lord gives to Israel. They followed the false teachers, they followed the false shepherds and the goats who are leading them astray. and because of that there was trouble, they went into captivity, they suffered. Jeremiah as he writes about the Babylonian attacks against Israel, he's writing in the book of Lamentations, he's writing out of a broken heart as he's watching people being slaughtered by the Babylonians and being enslaved and carried away into captivity and his heart is broken to see what's happening to his people and it's because of those false shepherds. But in the midst of that, the Lord makes a promise. Notice what he says in verse 6. And everything from verse 4 on really the last part of verse 3 and through to the end of the chapter is all part of this promise of God. But I think it's summed up in verse 6 when he says, I'll strengthen the house of Judah and I'll save the house of Joseph. Now, let me stop just a moment and remind you that before the captivity, after the days of Solomon, the kingdom divided. and there was Judah, the two southern tribes made up the kingdom of Judah and they were always ruled by a descendant of David in order for God to fulfill his promise to David that he would always have a son on the throne. The ten northern kingdoms always had other than sons of David as their kings and they were always bad kings. They were known by many things, Ephraim, Israel and in this case the Lord calls them the house of Joseph because the dominant tribe in the northern kingdom was the tribe of Ephraim which was one of Joseph's sons. So that's why, and so the Lord is saying, I'm gonna, both parts of Israel, I'm gonna strengthen them and save them, and I will bring them again to place them, for I will have mercy upon them. That's a blessed truth. I will have mercy upon them, and they shall be as though I had not cast them off. For I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them. There is a promise from the Lord to be merciful to Judah and to Israel. They had listened to the false prophets, they had disobeyed God, they had suffered his chastening, but the Lord promised them mercy and blessing. He promised them, in verse four, that he would establish them and stabilize them and strengthen them. Out of him came forth the corner, that is the cornerstone, who is ultimately is Christ. But the whole building is built off the cornerstone, so what the Lord is saying is, Israel's a mess. like a building that's falling apart. But I'm going to come and I'm going to establish a new cornerstone and rebuild my people. And it's going to be right. And I'm going to be their nail. Now, the nail here is not holding the building together. It's a nail like you would have a hook in your house to hang your coat on or something like that. And the Lord at one time described one of Israel's leaders as like a nail that didn't hold. But the Lord is saying, I'm going to be like the nail that holds. In other words, not only am I going to rebuild you right, but you're going to be stable and secure like that nail that's not going to fall. And out of him the battle bow, and every oppressor together, the Lord is going to strengthen Israel to be a mighty army, and they will put down their enemies. They'll be as mighty men, verse five, and treading down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they'll fight because the Lord is with them, and the riders and the horses shall be confounded. The horsemen of the enemies will not be a problem for Israel. They'll trample them down like just stomping them down in the mud of the streets. They're going to win a great victory over their enemies because God will strengthen them. God will bless them. God will help them. They've been at the mercy of their enemies because God was against them because of their sin. But now he is going to be merciful to them, forgive their sin and restore them. And so verse seven, they have Ephraim will be like like a mighty man. And then he promises not only will he establish them and stabilize them and strengthen them and enable them to defeat all their enemies, but he would regather them. Again, in verse six, he said there that I will bring them again to place them. And in verse eight, he says, I'll hiss for them, I'll whistle for them and I'll gather them because I've redeemed them and they will increase as they have increased. They will grow larger and larger. You remember at one point, the Lord promised that they would be so abundant matter of fact he says that again here in verse 10 that there would fill up the land until there's no more room for them. I'll sow them among the people and they'll remember me in far countries and live with their children and turn again and I'll bring them again out of the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria and bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon and place shall not be found for them so numerous will they be. God will bring them out of every place that he has scattered them and he'll pass through the sea with affliction like It's like picturing like Israel came out of Egypt and they passed through the Red Sea, the Lord's going to remove every obstacle that would keep them from coming back to the land and bring them back into the land. And then he says in verse 12, I'll strengthen them in the Lord. And they'll walk up and down in his name, saith the Lord. They will be his people. They will come back to the land. They will enjoy blessing there. And verse seven says, then they will rejoice. Their heart will rejoice as through wine and their children shall see it and be glad in their heart shall rejoice. And the Lord, the day is coming for the nation of Israel. When God is going to be merciful to them and forgive their sin. and restore them to the land and bless them again. And they are going to rejoice and they're going to dwell in safety. And they are going to walk up and down throughout the earth in the name of their Lord, in the name of their God and represent him. And they will be welcomed by all the nations of the world. This is God's promise to them. But it's a promise that is based on mercy. What is mercy? God withholding from us that which we deserve. When we find ourselves estranged from God, is there no hope? And the answer is yes, there is always hope with God because God is a merciful God. Jeremiah, again, is watching his people being slaughtered and enslaved by the Babylonians because of their sin. But it's in the midst of that that he wrote these familiar words. This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Even as he's watching the chasing of God and he's watching this terrible chasing taking place, but he says, I still have hope because I know that my God is merciful. And he's faithful and he's compassionate, and he is the same with you and with me when we. go astray from God, whether it's a large mistake, a large sin, a small sin, whether we walk a long ways away from God or a short ways away from God, whenever we find ourselves estranged from God, we've gotten away from God, we've gotten off the right path. What do we do? Well, I guess there's no hope for me. God doesn't love me anymore. God's not going to hear my prayer. God doesn't not going to care. I've messed up and there's no hope. No, that's a lie of the devil. There's always hope with God. Just admit, Lord, I messed up. And I, I listened to the wrong counsel, whether it's somebody or whether it's just the counsel of my own heart. that said, I don't want to do right, I want to do wrong. I listened and I did wrong. But Lord, I admit it. You know, we're going to see in Zechariah the day will come when Israel will admit their sin. They will look on the Lord whom they pierced and they will mourn when they realize what they had done to their Messiah. And that's the key to this mercy. Now, God's going to be merciful to them, but it's going to come on the heels of their repentance. Proverbs 28, 13 says, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. God delights in being merciful. And there is always hope with God because he's a merciful God. All he asks is that we admit that we have done wrong. And we turn from our wrong. And by the way, it's not just turning, it's confessing and turning. confessing and forsaking. God's not just asking us to turn over a new leaf, he's asking us to admit that we have been wrong and then turning into the right way and God will be merciful and will forgive us and bless us. We are not beyond the blessing of God. Do you remember, you know the story, how David would commit adultery and murder and hide it for months and when he's confronted by Nathan, David deserved to die but because he confessed when he's confronted by Nathan he said, I have sinned and that's when Nathan could say to him, you will not die. There's going to be consequences David for your sin but God has forgiven you, you won't die and David went on to write scripture. David wrote some of the Psalms, many of the Psalms after he had committed adultery and murder because God had forgiven him. Again, he lived with the consequences. There was trouble in his family for the rest of his life, but God forgave him and God blessed him and God used him and he can do the same with us. It was to the people in Jeremiah's day that the Lord said, Return, thou backsliding Israel, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the stranger under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Just admit that you have done wrong. I will forgive you. Just return to me," backsliding Israel, and confess your sin. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Philip Bliss wrote, Jesus Loves Even Me. And the second verse says, though I forget him and wander away, still he doth love me wherever I stray. Back to his dear loving arms would I flee when I remember that Jesus loves me. He never stops loving me, and he will never not forgive me and restore me and bless me when I go astray, if I will just come back and confess my sin, receive his forgiveness, and get back on the right track, and God will continue to bless and use me. He was angry, and the people suffered trouble, but that wasn't the end of the story. And it's not the end of our story either, because he's the same God today that he was in Zechariah's day. So we need to recognize the lies that we hear about how we can live and please the Lord when people are telling us we can live in ways that aren't pleasing God and it's OK. We need we need discernment today, how we need discernment, because there's so many voices out there. And they're not all telling us the truth. And we need discernment to know and to recognize the lies. And then we need to not give into those lies. Don't listen to it. But when we do, then we just need to admit it. Lord, I messed up. I went astray. Again, it might be the lie of my own heart. It might be the lie of some person who tried to counsel me or direct me. But I messed up and I went astray and forgive me and restore me. I need your mercy and God will be merciful. There is always hope with God. That's the promise tonight. Well, let's stand together. We'll pray. Father, we thank you that you are a merciful and gracious God. The devil would try to tell us when we mess up that it's no use. That you don't love us anymore. You don't care that you could never bless us or use us again. And Lord, we know it's not true. You have told us in your word that you are a merciful and gracious God. Lord, you will always forgive and you will always restore and there can always be blessing again. Lord, give us the humility to admit when we're wrong. We sometimes struggle with pride because we don't want to admit it. And yet, that's the beginning of receiving your mercy. So humble us, Lord, and help us to be honest before you and to confess our sin and to receive your forgiveness and to believe your promise. Not only that you forgive, but that there's restoration and blessing still for us because you have forgiven us. Lord, if there's one here even tonight or maybe watching the live stream and they've never accepted Christ as their savior. This message of hope and mercy is for them, but it's for them and salvation. That's where it begins. And father, may your Holy Spirit cause him to understand that they're lost. in a need of your forgiveness and your salvation available in Christ and may they believe on him. And we pray it in his name. Amen.