We want to thank you for listening to this week's sermon from Harvest Bible Chapel, Kansas City. We pray that you will be encouraged and challenged by God's Word today. If you would like more information about Harvest, please visit our website at www.harvestkansascity.org. So we have been going through first period. The theme here is standing firm. We saw that in 1 Peter 5. And so Pastor Jeff unpacked the first three verses. And he told us about, talked about identity, the reason why we can stand firm. And then last week, Sal was able to unpack the great salvation we have. And so he gave us the details that was ultimately what we need, the truths that we need to be able to stand firm. And so now as we get into 1 Peter 1, 13 through 25, we're moving. And if you see those first couple of words, it says, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded. So there is an assumption that you took truth from the first 12 verses, and now it's to put action to it. And so the foundation has been laid for us, and now we need to take these steps towards living like Him. And so there's some things in our life that I'm sure you have to prepare for. One thing that's not for me is if you guys invite me over for a Chiefs game, say, we're gonna have some wings, I'm not having to prepare for that. I am there, I am excited, I'll eat wings to, my stomach's full, and I'm gonna enjoy the Chiefs game. You don't have to tell me to enjoy the game. But there are times in my life where I've had to be more prepared. One of those times is when in my late teens and early twenties, I went backpacking regularly. My dad and I would make an annual trip to Rocky Mountain National Forest, and we would set out on a hike with all our gear, but we had to be prepared. Because there is one thing about Rocky Mountain National Forest, if you don't bring it, you ain't gonna have it. And so we had to make sure that everything was packed in our bags, and we had to be ready for the action that laid ahead of us. And so with that, it took several things. First, it took the right focus. So we would always have a destination camp to get to. And so there are some great sites. We saw plenty of animals, and there's so much thing to see. But if we stopped, and we lingered, and we stopped for hours just to gather in our scenery, we would not have made it to camp. You see, our focus had to remain that we had destination to go to if we were successfully going to get to that destination. So the second thing we had to have is we had to have the right method. So we would put on 50 to 80 pound backpacks. They were heavy. And there was a lot of load. And you're going up a mountain. It's not these paved, nice trails. No, they're rocky. They had different elevations. And so we had to go about it in the right method. So instead of walking and skipping like you might normally do, no, we would have to take short, steady steps. We had to take the path of least resistance. Because we knew if we got hurt, or if we expend our energy too quickly, then we would fail in our focused mission. Third thing is we had to have the right perspective. We weren't walking in the middle of Olathe streets. We weren't walking into towns or cities. No, we were walking into the wilderness. And so a couple things, we knew that there's no stores along the way, we forget it, that's too bad. We know there's wildlife and there's animals. So we have to be careful and we have to be aware. They're not dogs running up to be pet. No, there's mountain lions, there's moose, there's all kinds of things that you just don't wanna mess with. There's also the perspective if we get hurt, that it's a long haul out. It's not that there's gonna be a car driving by. No, it's that we will be carrying each other out. So we have the right perspective of our circumstances. And we had to have the right attitude. What I loved about going on these trips, it was always with a group of people. And so if my attitude was that I was going to be a loner on the trip, that the only things that I'm worried about is my food, my camp, my tent, my water, the trip would have failed miserably. And we all had duty to serve each other and love each other. And all our actions had a reason behind it. This isn't something we came up with on Willard's map, this came from experience. And we had to have reasons that drove these things if we were going to have a successful journey. And our journey in perseverance with Christ is the same thing. So as we dive into this text, and as we reflect on the truths we already have, is we're gonna see that the unity of identity that we have in Christ means that we have a unity of living like Him. So before we unpack these truths from 1 Peter 1, 13 through 25, let's go in the Lord in prayer and ask Him to prepare our hearts for this journey. Father, I'm just so thankful this morning that we all can come here together, that we can focus on Your Word. that we can dwell on your word. And that Father, I just pray that you would prepare our hearts, that you would prepare our minds, that Father, that there would be, we would see the action that you call us to, and we would be ready to take steps of faithfulness. So Father, I don't know where everybody lands today, I don't know where their heart is at, and so Father, I just pray, I pray that the Holy Spirit would just use your word to move on the hearts of these people, and that you would use your word to move on my heart. So Father, help me have clarity of thought, clarity of speech, so that Your Word can be honored and that You can be upheld for Your glory. So Father, just work mightily today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Alright, so the first thing that we have to see is that in order to persevere in this journey, we have to have the right focus. And so turn to 1 Peter 1, we'll start in verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." So we see the reason and the action that we have to take. And so in light of the future reality, we have to live in hope. Again, look what he says. It says, set your hope fully on the grace that is yet to be revealed. So hope is a word that's used a lot in our society, but it's often not in terms of biblical hope. See, hope, biblically, is an eager expectation of a promised reality. And when we consider ourselves as believers and followers of Christ, there is a promised future reality that we are looking forward to. And so when it says the grace that is revealed when we see Christ, is that ultimately that's gonna be heaven, that's going to be eternity. And that's gonna be our ultimate rest. And so, so often though, we get caught up in the things of this world that cause us to be distracted. We live in America. We live in one of the easiest societies to live in. I know there are hardships, but I'm pretty sure you guys have refrigerators, keeping your food cold, right? You have water coming into your house. You probably have indoor plumbing. You probably have jobs that are more than sufficient to meet your needs. And so we are a blessed society, but sometimes what can happen is we get so caught up in the present that we forget our future reality of staying before Christ. And so instead of setting our hope in the journey, looking for the destination camp, we get caught up in the scenery. We get caught up in the comfort and the blessing. That's not what God wants. And I know it's hard to wait. I know for a fact that it is hard for me when I work to wait for my paycheck, right? It's like, it'd be nice if you worked, got paid, worked, got paid, and that was the rhythm, right? But no, it's not, right? You work, work, work, and then eventually for most of us, we get paid once a week, twice a month, whatever, maybe once a month. So we have to wait for the reward. And so our reward isn't immediate oftentimes. We're gonna suffer, we're gonna hurt, we're gonna have, we will get blessings in life, but the ultimate reward is when we stand before Christ. And the grace that's going to come from being with Him, full fellowship, all suffering's gone, all that's taken away. And hopefully for you, if you're faithfully walking with Him, is that you're gonna hear these great words of well done. good and faithful servant. So that's the hope we have to set fully on and completely. It can't be that we're struggling with the peripherals of this world and getting distracted. See, if we have the right hope, the right perspective, the right destination, then we're going to hope in eternity and that should lead to holiness in our life. So the next thing we see is that you need to have the right method if you're gonna follow Christ. So in light of your present call, live holy. Look at what verse 14 says. It says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy. And so notice, the first thing it says is that, obedient children, hey, we no longer can live for ourselves. We no longer can live for our passions because we're changed. And before you're a believer in Christ, you really don't understand or don't know God. You don't know the meaning of life, the purpose for your life. And so you just live according to what you think is right and what you think is best. But if you're a believer, that's no longer true. So you can't claim former ignorance. You have to claim that you can live holy because God has provided you with the ability to live holy. You see, holiness means that we're set apart, we're consecrated, that we were taken out of the sinful way of life and we were put into a holy life where we can have the ability to live obediently to Christ. And so the power of sin is taken away. The power of this world is taken away. Your fallen nature is removed so that you can have a new nature, a new mind, new heart to walk in with Him. And the reason that we need that is so that we can experience communion with God. Do you realize that God is still holy? God, the reason that we are holy is because He's ultimately holy. And if we're going to have communion with Him, we also have to be holy. And so yes, our relationship with Christ is that ultimately you are brought into a new nature, new life, but there is a pursuit and a work to it. That you do need to live righteously increasingly so you can experience more harmony, more communion with God. Kevin DeYoung says, to be holy as God is holy includes a fully and pervading holiness that reaches every aspect of our personality. It involves not only avoiding outward sin, but also maintaining instinctive delight in His holiness as an undercurrent of our heart and mind through the day. And what the problem is, is that that's typically not our heartbeat. We typically get caught in this world and we really treat holiness that God has given to us as a young boy treats nice clothes. Right? If you, I know there's a lot of mothers, you guys go to great lengths for Easter to get your child and your boy into these nice clothes for that picture, right? For that moment. And the little, if you don't do it instantaneously, you know what's gonna happen, right? There's going to be dirt because a boy has the nature to play. To play with food, play with mud, play with dirt, fine. He's not going to give care to those nice, precious clothes that you gave him, right? And so our holiness sometimes can be the same way. We say, yes, we have it, we understand, but we continue in the spiritual filth that we lived in before. And we don't give the concern and aren't infatuated with the holiness that God has given us. So we have to examine our lives to make sure that we are holy. And this is just not holy in behavior. I think sometimes we look at, we say holiness, it's all about outward. So that it's, that you talk nicely to the kids and talk nicely to your coworkers and you be kind, tender hearted. And those are things are all true, but that's not the only thing. is that ultimately there is a heart that has to be holy. Because the Pharisees, if you remember how Jesus confronted them, he says, hey, you guys are whitewashed tombs. That's a great compliment, right? What he's trying to say is you guys look great on the outside. You do all the religious things, you look great, but guess what? You are dead on the inside. You're spiritually hopeless. So we have to remember that we have to have not only holiness of behavior, but holiness of heart. And yet there are so many times that we have holes in that holiness and we fail to address it. One example is just, sometimes we have pornography of the mind. We'll sit there and say, hey, we don't look on things on the computer, we don't watch bad movies, we don't do bad. How many times do you continue in lust in your mind? When you see an individual, what kind of things are you playing in your mind? When you think about past memories, do you play with them and dwell on them? Or do you cleanse them and let them be captured for Christ? So another way is that sometimes we have holiness of heart, or hate of the heart, is that we sit there and we will be kind, we'll talk nicely, we'll do all those things, but in our hearts, man, we can hate people. We can think about what sins they have done to us and dwell on those things. We can think they're no good, rotten, despicable human being that would like to walk with a bat right now, but no, I'm gonna be kind and put a smiley face on. And then there's a pride, the hopeless, there's just a judgmental pride too in life. You know, people, we set them to measure up to us, right? That oftentimes what can be a temptation is that if you are faithfully in serving your church, I'm so thankful, I'm so thankful for everyone who's faithfully living for God, but what happens when you think about people and you see people who are struggling? and sin, or maybe they're not serving you. You get that judgmental pride and you're saying, yep, I do all this, and yet this guy just sits here. Come on, man. Here, and so what you do is say, hey, how are you today? Good, good. I noticed you haven't got a place to serve yet. Here, let me plug you in. It sounds nice, it sounds kosher, but there's judgmental pride in the heart. That's not holy behavior, because of your mind and your heart. Some of you have hopeless pride. You've walked in today and therefore you have circumstances in your life. Maybe you're struggling with the sin. And so you're saying, I need help. But nope, I don't want to be vulnerable. And so you sit there with people who are around you who can help you with God's Word, direct you to a way to live differently, but you are too prideful to get help. So why don't I encourage you today, be humble, seek the help you need, we all need help. We all have struggles and we need other believers coming alongside us. Don't let your hopeless pride prevent you from hearing the truth. So you need to examine your heart, you need to examine your mind and think about how you need to change. So given our holiness, God expects us to live faithfully to him, and he will reward us. So we need to have the right perspective of who God is. So in light of the perfect sacrifice, we need to live reverent. So if you know, in verse 17, it says, if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. See in 21st century Christianity, guess what? When we talk about fear that this is talking about, we have no understanding. We think we have t-shirts that say Jesus is my homeboy, right? We think he's just, oh, he's a passive God. But what we see here is that God is still judge. You see that? It says the one who judges impartially And so when you came in salvation, it's not like God was sitting on a throne of judgment and say, you are condemned to hell. Because it scares me, right? I was scared. And when I heard that for the first time, I was like, what? I'm going to hell? And in that fear, I responded to the Lord. But it's not when I respond to the Lord that now God's like, all right, I'm off the throne of judgment in your life now. Now I'm going to be this father who's just going to let you do what you want. No, no. You see, God is still judge, and He is still judging our works for Him as followers in Christ. The judge becomes your father, and he will reward you for your blessing, but he will also discipline you for your sin. And that is something you cannot take lightly. So you need to live in fear. This fear is not like you're scared and that you're just afraid to go before God. That's not the fear. It's godly fear. When you consider godly fear, that's really reverence and worship and obedience to Him. It is great that we have the almighty judge that we now call Father, but we still have to understand we deserve to give him a deep respect for who he is. And we need to make sure we're upholding his ways. Because guess what? The salvation that you were given was free, but it came with an enormous cost. And so what God's going to show us in these next verses is just how enormous the cost was. Look in verse 18. It says, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. So as I read that, one thing that just came to me is, you know, We have Peter saying, hey, you know what? It wasn't ransomed, right? We were bought out of slavery, okay? Ransom means that we were bought out of slavery. When we were bought out of slavery, you're saying we were bought to holiness and the control of that life. And he says, it's not done with perishable things. And I don't know about you, but when I think of perishable things, what are you thinking of? Think of it, yeah, I got milk in the refrigerator. I got some meat in the refrigerator. I got some salad in the refrigerator. Those things aren't gonna spoil, give it a week, right? That's our mindset of perishable. But what does Peter say? Perishable things such as silver or gold. I'm sure if I went into your home, opened your refrigerator, I don't think you're gonna have pennies and quarters sitting in your refrigerator thinking, oh man, we're keeping them in here so they don't spoil. We're afraid that they're gonna break down, they're gonna lose their value. That's not what you think, right? Because in those two terms, silver and gold, for us, those are pretty imperishable. But what God is pointing out to us here is that in the light of eternity, those things are gonna go away too. That they will burn up, they will come to a finish. So he had to pay with something that was much, much better, something that was eternal. Notice what he says, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. See, salvation wasn't paid with monetary value. Salvation was paid with a sacrifice, and a perfect sacrifice, because he had to use spotless blood. It couldn't just be any spotless blood. That'd be spotless blood of a man. And it couldn't just be man, it had to be God-man who was able to sacrifice so that he could take on our guilt first, so that he could pay sufficiently for it. And so if you know anything about the land, if you go back in the Old Testament, the land played a very important role. You see, every year there was a spotless lamb sacrifice so that Israel could be purified from their sins and delivered from the penalty of it. And so for us, when we think about lamb, we're not sacrificing lambs anymore. I don't think we're going to put an altar up here and say, hey guys, bring your spotless lambs. We're going to make some sacrifices. Why? Because the eternal lamb did it. He put an end to sacrifice. He paid. It says that he was known before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake. What significance about that brings greater significance to is that the fact is that God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, when they set down the plan for creation and humanity, they knew what was coming. They knew that man was going to sin and that Christ was going to have to pay that penalty. And they still went through the plan. Prophets described it, yet did not understand who was coming. It was the God-man. And so when we sit there and contemplate, does salvation give you goosebumps? I like to watch Facebook every once in a while. There's certain things that make my hair stand up, give me goosebumps, and make my eyes watery. And one of those is when I see a military dad or a military mom urinate with their kids. Man, there's something precious about that. There's a love, and so I get those goosebumps and tears. But sometimes, there's tragic stories that happen, and I hear about believers' calm and steadfastness in that. There's one particular story of a man named Kent Whitaker. And Kent Whitaker, in December 2003, experienced a tragedy that I could never imagine. See, he had an intruder come into his home. And that intruder shot him in the chest, and it only came six inches within his heart. And he survived. But tragically that day, his wife of 28 years was killed. One of his sons was tragically killed. The other son was shot, but he survived also. And so for me, my tendency or my response to that would be, I'd be angry. I'd be bitter. I would want whatever happened to, I would want that intruder to pay with his life. But that wasn't Kent Whitaker. Kent Whitaker was ready to forgive this intruder, because he knew about Romans 13, 19. It says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And Kent was able to continue in a trial and continued with that perspective of giving forgiveness. And so as time went on, it was exposed who the intruder was, but it was also exposed that the son who survived was the one who coordinated the whole murders. The son was out to destroy his family. What's amazing to see is Kent still responded with love, still responded with forgiveness and kindness, just like he had said he would do. And unlike Kent, God knows who's responsible for his son's death. You see, God, before he sat on eternity, he knew that the sons and daughters of him, the ones who would be spiritually safe, would be the ones who would kill Jesus Christ. And so our sin is the reason that he had to die on the cross. We are responsible, we are guilty, and he still went through with salvation for us. And so we should have goosebumps. We should be crying out to him and have reverence for the salvation we are given. Because God never left his throne of judgment. But he knew and had compassion and weeped for the fact that he knew there was no other way for man unless Christ made that sacrifice. Because now the judgment, it doesn't get taken away, it gets placed on Christ. And he had to pay for it. And as believers in Christ, there's still a judgment happening. We are still going to be judged for our works. And we're going to still be judged for sin. But no longer is it punishment, now it's discipline. The difference between punishment, punishment means that we're guilty and we have to pay, right? You do the crime, you do the time. If you believe in Christ, that is removed from you and put on Christ. And so now you move into discipline, which is really, he's still giving you pain, but it's order for you to grow. It's in order to help you change and become more like Christ, and really to experience the joy and the peace and the comfort that Christ had. That's what he does it for. And as a judge, he will also give you the proper reward. He will give you the blessed, there will be blessings in this life, but there's even future blessings that we get a hold on to. And so instead of us just remaining as we are, remaining ignorant, is that we need to be conscious of this and be ready to conduct ourselves with fear so that we can live for His glory. Because with the proper reverence of our Father, the perfect Judge, we need to live a reverent life that looks like obedience to the powerful truth, increasing our love for brothers. Because ultimately, we have to have the right attitude. What is that right attitude? Well, in the light of the powerful truth, the reason we live loving. So if you're with me, again, we're gonna be reading verses 22 through 25. It says, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. And the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So as I was reading this passage this last couple weeks and studying and trying to unpack, it was really hard for me to understand all this stuff that was going on. He says, all right, you purify your souls by obedience, okay? Now that's moving you to love, okay? And then he goes on this long section about his word, and I was like, wait, what? What is happening in this passage and the reason that God addresses it in such a way? Well, as I studied and as I unpacked, God brought clarity to this, is that we are on a path of holiness, right? So we're purifying our souls. That's what it means by your being. It's not talking about you're working on your salvation. It's that you were saved and put in standing in holiness, and now you have to live out holiness. And that's going to be a continual purifying process. And as you purify yourself, you're ultimately going to grow in your love. But what does that have to do with the Word? Well, oftentimes holiness and love are disconnected in our lives. Is that when we come to Christ and realize, man, we're broken before him, right? That there's the judgment and we realize there's nothing righteous about us. I mean, there's a brokenness to it. But then it seems like for some reason we start following Christ, that we take steps of obedience. And years pass, and we grow in God's work, and we get down the road far enough that we look back and say, for some reason we start thinking, man, this is a product of me. You know, this is a product of my effort, that I've been trying hard. And so when we see that, and when we get that, we get prideful about it. And then we get judgmental. And then we don't love and care about people. And that can be a temptation. Really, our increased obedience, our increased holiness, should push us to love others and to do it because God's Word is working within us. So one thing I do here at Harvest is I do a lot of soul care. And a lot of the soul care I do is marriage counseling. And I've been a part of many marriage counselings and most don't start out with two individuals coming to me and saying, you know what, we're having problems in our marriage. And we're just trying to figure out, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't know what sin I'm doing that's causing this trouble in our marriage. And the other ones are like, me too. I just want to know how I need to live righteously so that we can just have more unity in our marriage. That's not how most go. How do most go? First one comes in and says, yeah, our marriage is crumbling, but it's because of her. And she's sitting there and she's like, yeah, well, if he would just become a good husband, then I could become a good wife. And it's this back and forth of how if the other one improves, then I will improve. And so, you know what I do in marriage counseling? What I'll do is sit down and I was like, all right, let's give you some techniques to help you guys serve each other. And so that you guys can live selfishly happy, right? No, that's not what I do. No, what I do is I first go to their salvation. Because I want to say, okay, if you are saved in Christ and we establish that, then that means you live like Him. How are you doing in that? And no longer am I pointing that the fact that they can change because of who they are, they can maybe communicate better. No, I'm pointing because it's the salvation that's within them that's ultimately going to take them out of their struggles. And how that's going to happen is when they start believing and living according to the living and abiding Word of God. Exactly what that passage says. Because this Word is still active, it's still moving, and it's around forever. It's not going anywhere. There have been truths that have helped marriages in the past that don't exist anymore because they were bad. That's not God's word. God's word will be the solution for your life, in your struggle, and in any sin that you have. And so through that word, you were saved. It's not because you were good, you were good enough in God's eyes. Nope, you were still a wicked sinner, but he let you hear these truths, and the power that came from him ultimately saved you. So when we consider how we are going to help others, it's not to give them our opinion. It's not for them, just roll up your sleeves and work harder. No, it's got to be Christ. Because if people are going to live holy and remain faithful and come to a knowledge of Him, it's got to be this commitment to follow Him. So true love means you stand firm on truth and how you live and what you say, no matter what slander, no matter what reviling, no matter what harm comes. So my question to you, is that the truth you're standing on? Or do you get derailed when things go hard, when things go bad? Or are you committed to the forever truth and the thing that's changed you? Another thing is true love means seeking God's best for the person, whether they love or hate you. We do good, right? We do good at loving people that love us. We do good at people who serve us. We do good in those things, but that's not true love. In fact, the world will do that. They will love in the same way. But then talk about loving your enemies. and loving people who are out to hurt you, who want to see you cry, to see you in pain. That's not. We still have to love them and pursue them. See, true love recognizes God's ever-pursuing, ever-patient, ever-serving love, and we are to be ready to pass that love to others. We need to pursue people with God's Word. We need to make sure that we're giving them the, or showing them the truth about their living, but also show them the truth about the Redeemer and the fact they need Him. See, true love will be patient, it'll be kind, and it's forgiving to your best friend as well as your worst enemy. True love does not look like you becoming a holy judge. Now, we do expose people to the Holy Judge. We do show people the way they live is they will stand before an Almighty God. But that's who we show them. We do not become the judge in their life. We will discern what truth says. We will discern what's right and wrong by what God's Word says. But that doesn't mean we're the ones executing the judgments. That's for God and Him alone. And so we want to make sure that yes, our words and the truth does come about him being judged, but doesn't show up as us being judged. True love does not mean you passively overlook sin. Sometimes you can counter people and you're like, man, there's no way that that guy's going to be saved or that lady's going to be saved, right? Because they're so bad. They're so wicked. That's not true. We were so bad, so wicked. And so we want to make sure that we are ready with the truth in those moments, even if it doesn't look like there's going to be a good outcome. And even if there is a bad outcome to it, we're still going to give the forever truth because this was the word. This is the good news that was preached to you for you to be saved. So true love desires to bring the same message of deliverance of Jesus Christ that broke your bondage to sin and do it with the same with others. See what holiness is ultimately meant to do is that as we grow in holiness is that we should be able to get a better picture of the brokenness of this world. See, we consider Jesus Christ and how he weeped and had compassion is because he saw the brokenness and the hopelessness that the people have. And so when we go up in holiness, we shouldn't become people who are too proud or who are too good to help others. No, we should have increased passion, increased compassion for the people who are still in sin and who have no hope. And if it's true holiness at work in your life, that means you're going to say, plead with them and say, you need Christ. So what is your motivation and how do you love people? Because when you make that evaluation, then you'll have a greater understanding of your holiness before God. Let's bow our heads for a time of reflection. So we've looked through 12 verses today, and we, being honest with you, we didn't even scratch the surface of it. Do some more study, dig in some more, because these are rich verses, but hopefully what you got today was the scope of exactly what God has for you and what He expects of you. And so, you know, we have a journey in our relationship with Christ. We have a journey in our perseverance. And so we need to make sure we have the right mindset and we are going to carry the right actions for this journey. So my first question is, do you have the right focus? Are you focusing on eternity, your ultimate destination, the ultimate place you can find rest? Or is it more about the dream job, the dream home, dream family, dream vacation, dream whatever, that you're setting your focus on. I promise you, if you continue that path, setting your hope on those things, it's going to fail. And you're going to fall into trials and you are going to be broken. But if your right focus is being before Christ for eternity and living with that focus and with that hope, that you will never be dissatisfied with what's happening in your circumstances in life. It'll be hard, you'll be crying, but you won't be dissatisfied. So the next question is, do you have the right method? Are you living your way in how you think is the way? Or are you living the way that the holy God, perfect God wants you to live? So your method should be to live wholly like God's word instructs you. That should be your guide. And do you have the right perspective? God has graciously made you a child of him. But are you treating that with reverence? Are you treating that with worship? Or are you just continuing to live in sin, just disregarding the holiness he's gave? Do you have the right attitude? Is life about you? Is it life about the world and everybody else loving and serving you? Or is your life about loving God and serving others? Because God loved us, Christ loved us, sacrificially. He loved us earnestly and persistently. And that's why, if you're a believer in Christ, you have any salvation. because of God's dedication, dedicated love to you. The great truth is that if you don't believe in this truth, you don't believe in Christ, is that God, even in your rejection, is trying to love you because you're hearing this word today. You're hearing about him, Almighty Judge, and you're hearing about your future reality. What's that future reality? Well, you will stand before the judge. Are you going to repent today? Or are you going to sit before the judge and hear your sentence? Just guilty, guilty, guilty. Because if that happens, you will spend eternity paying for it. So my encouragement, stop your current journey today and turn. Don't think for a moment about it. Trust in Christ as your perfect sacrifice. That is your only hope. And that's what's going to change you and give you joy and give you peace and give you contentment in a life that is hard. You need to believe that you can be saved because of His, Christ's holiness and perfect sacrifice. So all of us are at different points today. And so I want you to be able to think about and dwell on the truths that God has impressed on your heart today. Instead of doing a corporate close of prayer, I want you to sit in this moment, personally reaching out to God and doing business with Him. And so what He's recalled today, if it's salvation, repent and trust in Him. If there's an area of life that needs holiness and greater holiness, repent and turn. and make a commitment to Him. So we're gonna take a few moments as the worship band plays so that you can have this personal time, just you and the Lord, and reflect on the truths and reach out to Him. So take this moment.