Our reading today from God's word is from the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 10. We will be starting at verse 25 and ending at verse 39. So let us listen to the word by God's power and grace. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as we see that day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy. on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much more punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, a common thing? and insult the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. but recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your own goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance. so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. Forget a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now they just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. but we are not of those who draw back to partition, but those who believe to the saving of the soul. You may be seated. Amen. Let's pray together. Oh, righteous Father, we cast ourselves upon you now as The word has been read and now it is to be preached. And may we be reminded this is your word. So may as we go forth and pray to you for direction, that direction that we might clearly understand and have a greater sense of what the word is that you've given to us. And we are reminded of Habakkuk. And you said to him, the vision is yet for the appointed time. It may tarry, but it will not fail. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him. but the righteous shall live by faith." O Lord, we would have despaired if we had not believed that we would see your goodness in the land of the living. So may we, O Lord, yes, wait for the Lord, let our heart take courage, and yes, wait for the Lord, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Entitled the sermon this morning, Persevering in Times of Trial. When we look at the text that was read for us, and we consider what it's saying to us, and we think of all the glories we've read of things that we've received in Christ, in the first, well, let's say, through the mid part, all the way through verse 19, well, all of it, really, but everything we've reached up to this point in the text, in Hebrew. The question arises about how apostasy could occur. And I would like to try to deal with that a bit today, too. But the focus of this is to be that we might recognize that those who are in Christ will most certainly persevere to the end. It doesn't mean we'll be sinless. It doesn't mean the road will always be smooth. And here, especially as the title would indicate, It means most particularly through even times of trial and or persecution. But as we look at the verses before us, I think I would like for us to notice some of the causes, the faultiness that one might find in faith itself. Now when we come to chapter 11, obviously we have a whole chapter on faith. So we won't deal with faith in its deepest and broadest sense, but we will deal with some pertinent points to ponder as we do so. So, first of all, a faulty faith and its fruits. Well, it must be a faulty faith, for we have a number of verbs that would talk about Those who would forsake, for example, in verse 25. Or as we think of those in verse 26, who willfully, after they receive the knowledge of the truth, it no longer remains, etc. So a deliberate departure. And then in verse 27 it says, there is a certain fearful expectation for these. So we must recognize that there is something that here is being indicated in the text that would show there is a danger at least of apostasy. Now you have in your sermon notes, you have the text once again in 1 John chapter 2. verse 19. And as you read that verse, and I'll let you read it now if you like, but as you read that verse you see what happens with apostasy, it's not that one had salvation, one is regenerated, one is in union with Christ, that one is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, that one has been justified, that one is adopted into the family of God, that one has begun this process of progressive sanctification, and that they will most certainly be glorified, and then somehow They lost all that. What it means is that faith, their understanding and their faith was faulty. They didn't lose salvation, they never had it. And that the apostasy, as 1 John 2, 19 would make clear, is that which demonstrates or gives evidence of the fact that they were never those who belong to Christ. And so let's look at this with some care, shall we? First of all, you'll see the language that's used. Let me back up, if I may, to verse 22. These wonderful things that are told, how we saw in chapter 10, verse 10, how Jesus Christ died once for all, that is to say once for all time, that is to say that settled the matter fully and finally. And we see here in earlier verses, going through verses 15 and following, we think of the Holy Spirit working and applying the effects of the new covenant, writing his law on our hearts and minds. And so that's the reality for the believer, those who are truly united to Christ. And we even see in verse 19, it says, we are even ushered into, in fact, called boldly to come into the holiest of all, the holy of holies, in the heavenly places in Christ. So with all that in mind, we say, who could ever turn their back on that? Well, listen to the warnings. I think we get some clues as we look at some of the warnings that are given here, or exhortations. You notice three times, beginning in verse 23, or 22, you see that you have the words, let us, in the English language. In case you're interested, it's called a hortatory subjunctive in Greek. I know there are a few here that are following that kind of thing, so the rest of you just roll your eyes and move on. But when you think let us, it's like a command, but it includes the person, the author that's writing this themselves in it. And so, as this exhortation is given, you see, they exhort, this is for us all, all of those who are professed belief in Jesus Christ. And notice in 22, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having in our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. In that one verse, a lot of things are mentioned. First of all, it says, let us draw near. If there's anything that occurs in one who would drift away, remember we saw these things last time in chapter 2 and in chapter 3 and in chapter 5 and 6, etc. It begins by being apathetic, drifting away. And it goes on to having a heart of unbelief and the deceptiveness of sin, and those who are immature because they're satisfied with just milk. They don't want anything more. And finally, you see those who, in chapter 6, had had all of these things that they'd tasted, all of these things they'd tried, that they'd participated in in the fringes and whatnot, even pretending to be in the midst of it all, but hadn't really absorbed it or entered in. And it says in chapter 6, then to apostatize, to fall away. And so here, it gives us insight. It says, draw near. Now remember in verse 19, it says we have boldness to enter into the holiest of all. And so, what would hold us back, you see? It is, draw near. But those who do not desire to draw near, they look at salvation, perhaps something like a, I don't know, maybe a commercial transaction. to look at faith as something where one gets their get-out-of-jail-free card, that kind of thing. In other words, they're looking at things entirely in a self-centered way. What can keep me from going to hell? And if that's the full extent of one's understanding of faith, then you've missed what it's all about. And this is what it's showing. And it begins here, it says, you and I, it says, this relationship that should be desired, draw near. Think of that. Remember everything that's been shown in the law that we've seen in the book of Hebrews so far. that we seen that in the day of atonement, man was outside of the curtain. Remember that? We saw, in fact, not even brought beyond to the altar. In fact, all of the normal people, those not priests and ultimately high priests, stayed outside. And yet a representative go in, and it talks about everything that Christ has performed. How Christ is the one, as high priest and as sacrifice, who has brought us within the veil And the whole point here, if you want to get it in a nutshell, of course, substitutionary atonement, representation, and all of that, but here's a big word to remember, reconciliation. We who were estranged, we who were alienated, who were stiff-armed, out far away, that we are brought near in Jesus Christ. And so when we say in verse 22, let us draw near, You think of that extraordinary privilege that we have in Jesus Christ through faith, that it's more than just looking at it, what's in it for me? But you see, the true saving faith, that which would not apostatize, is that which says, I desire Him. That's what God performs. That's what God the Holy Spirit causes. That's what the effectual call of the gospel and then regeneration of the Holy Spirit would cause to be a reality in our lives. And so, it says, draw near. That's what you and I should be desiring to do. All of us should be desiring to do when we worship. That we should draw near unto Him. And it goes on to say, with a true heart. And when you think of a true heart, it is the idea, as we mentioned last week, I believe, is the idea of not a hypocritical one. Not pretense. This is not something that one is going through the motions for. Remember, Jesus upbraided the Pharisees and his scribes, and he said, you hypocrites. He said, with your lips you honor me, but with your heart, oh, it's far from me. And so drawing near unto him, desiring him, as it would say in Psalm 42, as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the old God. Can't fake it. And so a true heart, drawn near with a true heart, but it goes on to say with full assurance of faith. There are always questions that one is dealing with, all of us, with regard to the faith. Some of you are really impressive, I must admit. I'll say, you know, in the hypostatic union of Christ, and some of you, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know what I'm talking about. You know how many other people have no idea what I'm talking about? But you see, just intellectual assent is not what we're looking at. We're talking about faith. As we'll get into the very first, next chapter, it says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The conviction of things not seen, not seen, invisible to the eye. And so when we're thinking of these things God has revealed in his scripture, it is a faith that so attends to that and embraces that, that it says with full assurance of faith. In other words, the doubts, what happens with those who fall away? Because the doubts were there. Sometimes they suppress the doubts. But I've seen it. And finally it comes out, what was really percolating underneath the surface all along. Well, you know, I couldn't really buy the fact that God is the one who's operative. I'm doing the, and you go through all of these things. Our naturalistic thinking, you know, oh, I believe that, you know, that matter, you know, stuff is eternal. And I believe that matter really gets together and creates itself. You could go through all the theories pertaining to, you know, the beginning of all that exists, and what determines and manages and governs everything that exists. It's natural laws, well they're natural now because God put them in place, but he's the one who also can lift them up and supersede them, case in point. And this is part of why Jesus did what he did. Who is Jesus? Let's go to some of these doubts. The deity of Christ is another one I've heard. I've had people talk to me about these things how I know it. I don't think any of you, you're all right, I'm not talking about you. But maybe I am, maybe you just haven't shared it. Think. And the doubts were there. Finally it comes out, they say, how can I believe he's God, he's a man, he suffered, he died, he bled, he was hungry, he was raised by children, his diaper was changed, all of those things. I say, well yeah, but wasn't he also the one who walked on water? Wasn't he also the one who had caused the blind to see? Wasn't he also the one who could call the dead to life from the tomb? Isn't he also the one who was born of a virgin? And we can go through all the miracles and remember we had a series on that, not all that long ago, a couple years. And what were we learning? As we see here is the one who is God incarnate, who is not subject to these laws, because he created them. But you see the doubts. Create? I'm sorry, I've just had too much science. I just know too much. I'm too intelligent to buy that superstitious, backward stuff. When it comes out with vigor like that, then you know we're on a bad road here. Full assurance of faith. And so when we look through the idea of what it says here in just these words, in one verse, It talks about having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. When one comes to Jesus Christ by the calling of the Spirit, and what happens when we come? How do we come? I'll help you in case you're searching for the answer as a totally depraved sinner. One who's dead in trespasses and sins, as one who's enslaved to sin and to death and to darkness. And it's only by God's effectual call that that occurs. And so what happens when He awakens us? It says here, when you were illumined, when He awakens us by His truth to the glories of the gospel, what do we awaken to? God. And what is God? Holy. And so, beloved, this is one of the problems sometimes. One tries to skip around that too much, missing the fact of the utter darkness of the soul apart from the regenerating work of God, the Holy Spirit, apart from Jesus Christ, etc. In James, the book of James, remember reading that, don't you, about the person who goes and looks at themselves in the mirror. And they see in the mirror what they look like. But then it says they turn around and they walk away and they've forgotten already what they saw. the one who is an apostate, has looked in the mirror. They've been shown themselves in the mirror. They've also been shown the revelation of God in Christ, the fullness of the God-hidden bodily form. We see the glory of God in the face of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 4 says. And Jesus said, you've seen me, you've seen the father, or we see in John one where it says the word became flesh and tabernacled among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. So in Jesus Christ, we've seen them brought full force into the holiness of God, the sovereign God, who is our God and Lord and creator. And we've seen ourselves. And we fall under the weight. And we say, in me dwelleth no good thing. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. I bring nothing to this equation that causes my salvation except the sin that makes it necessary. And you see, that's the way we believers begin. But sometimes the faulty faith bypasses that. And so when we think of those who would look to Jesus Christ as a nice addition to their life, we say, this is the way I can have blessing. This is the way I can have an everlasting life in heaven, and I won't go to hell. And you say, that's great as far as it goes. What's the problem? Let me ask you a quick question. Why were you and I saved? It's not a trick. It's a good question though. Why were we saved? Well, because we needed saving and we were pretty pathetic and we have nobody to help us. All of that is true. We were saved for the glory of God. And the fact that God saved us is that he took people who do not deserve his salvation. people who are helpless to do anything to help themselves, who do not have the ability even to understand and see unless he gives us eyes to see and a heart to receive. And God, by his grace, condescends and takes hold of us and raises us from death unto life. That is the way it occurs. And when you think of that, beloved, That's a true heart, full assurance of faith. Because you see, we're not looking to us, we're looking to Him. I remember reading a book, Stuart Briscoe, almost forgot his name, sorry it's been so long. And he said, God can't do his part until you do your part. for your salvation. Let go and let God. If there's a God out there that needs my permission, he's not God. And so when we're looking here at the causes of apostasy, it's giving us clues right here in the text. In verse 23, it says, hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Notice the last part of it. He who promised is faithful. When we talk about faith, it's faith in Him. It is faith in His attributes. This is part of the problem with some is they don't know the God whom they're supposed to believe in. You know, people say, I don't know anything about the attributes of God. Then how do you know you're believing in the right God? I don't know any of that doctrinal stuff about Jesus Christ." Then how do you know you're believing in the right Jesus Christ? Maybe you should be in the church of Latter-day Saints down the road, because they talk about Jesus Christ. They'll talk about God all day long. But a different one. You see what I mean? Faulty faith. And so when we're speaking here in these verses, it says, he who promised is faithful. We must be absolutely anchored in the fact that God cannot lie, and God cannot change, and that God is holy, and that God is the one who's absolutely sovereign. And so everything that God says, he is the one who reveals the end from the beginning because he is eternal, and that God is infinite. He has no limits, and that God is the one who as he reaches down into our lives, he does so to rescue a divine rescue, not self-help working with him. And so we believe he's faithful. And so we don't waver. Those who would have the faulty faith frequently have not just the doubts, but the changing from position to position. Ever known anyone like that? Ever been like that? I've had some people that said, you know, I was once in this kind of a church, then I went to this kind of a church, we're talking about different, very different, you know, and I was in Roman Catholicism, for example, I was a charismatic after that, then I was, you know, in the Brethren, and they go through all of these things, and I said, well, why? Well, you know, I'm just testing them all. And just like the, what does the scripture say, just like the waves of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. The apostate, even if they don't show it outside, tossed, hither and yon from reality to disbelief. And so let us, in verse 24, it says, consider. Let us consider the one another in order to stir up love and good works. Another thing about a faulty faith is they're unconcerned about the well-being, in the ultimate sense anyway, of the body of Christ. When you talk about 1 John, let's say the book of 1 John, what does it say about a believer? Of those who do not love their brothers and sisters in Christ, it says the love of God is not in them. And so not having the concern for others in the body of Christ, it's symptomatic of a self-concern has been all-consuming. And you think of the selfishness, a divisiveness even, of those who would say, you know, I've just found myself, I find I do best worshiping alone. I asked them, I have done this anyway. I said, when you worship alone, tell me something, what time of day do you usually worship? Well, I like early afternoon. I said, I'm not surprised. Okay, so you like late service, okay. What else do you like about worshiping alone? Well, you know, that way everybody that's in the room with me believes the way I do. I said, that's right. What else happens when you worship alone? I say, well, you know, it's one of those things anywhere I go and anytime I can do it. Maybe I'm in the woods, maybe I'm at the beach. Oh, I see. In other words, you don't want to be confined to a particular place. You want to just do it at random. Yes. And what about the other believers? Do you ever miss them? Now, by the way, I'm not talking down to you or as far as that goes to them. All of us can be prone to that if we're not careful. If you know the statistics and the COVID thing that occurred, you know, in closing services and that sort of thing, you know, all the churches that were closed and then after churches reopened, they found that many times the attendance was down anywhere between 25 and 40%. Why? People got used to not going to church to gather with the saints to worship. You know, I like mailing it in. It's better that way. No accountability. Nobody knows. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I worship today, liar. No, you didn't. And you find that those things are happening frequently. What's happening? Because apostasy is actually occurring in many cases. Not always, but in many cases. And so when you are looking at what we find here, as far as the Lord's call, It is that we should be those who are involved in the lives of other Christians. You know, I was reading in Chrysostom, some of you have heard of him, he's an early church father, he was a great preacher, and he was writing about this very thing, and he said, the words of Proverbs 27, 17, or are in my mind, it observes, iron sharpens iron. So the fellowship of the saints increases love. For if a stone rubbed against a stone sends fire, how much more a person in contact with a person." And you see the fellowship of the saints. Not a selfish individualism, but a desire. You know, this is what happens when we talk about relationship. A relationship with the Lord, you see, and a faith that's like that. But also, I desire to be in relationship with others. Why? Well, the Spirit of God within us, the Spirit of Christ, would move us in that direction, but what else is involved? It's quite simply this, it's part of the faith. Remember what we've learned about being in union with Jesus Christ. You individually, I individually, each believer individually is united to Jesus Christ, identified with Jesus Christ, and that we are called together His body. Well, if we really believe that, then we'd look at each other differently than we did in the past. We look at each other, first of all, it says we're the household of the faith. You are my sisters, brothers, grandchildren, or whatever, all of us united in Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ. And so that's a reality. It's not something that's a temporary thing either. It's something that is forever. And so to look at each other, it is with a love that the Lord, the Holy Spirit indwells. What are the fruits of the Spirit? Love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, gentleness, self-control. These things are involved in our lives. And so as we interact with each other, we see that these people God is using in our lives. And so we form a flock of the good shepherd. We're sharing about that in the Sunday school class. Many of you have heard my story about Jean-Pierre Levant, my one shepherd I've ever known in my life, but it was quite an experience. But something I learned is that all the sheep knew the voice of the shepherd. If I tried it, they wouldn't pay any attention to me. The sheep would have just ignored me. But they heard Jean-Pierre's voice. They all came streaming in from all six pastors, all following him behind him. And you know what they wanted? They wanted to be together. They're a flock. You know what else they wanted? They wanted to be around the shepherd. And Jesus said in John chapter 10, He said, My sheep, hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. You see, beloved, as it presents this picture, it says, not forsaking the gathering of yourselves together as is the manner of some, but all the more as you see the day approaching, which brings in my second thing briefly, the day approaching. You'll find in the New Testament, we've mentioned it many times, the idea of the second coming of Christ is used. You can go through a study, if you like, and you can look at the day or that day frequently used. or the day of the Lord's appearing, or the day of the Lord's coming, or the day of the Lord's visitation, or the day of the Lord, or the day of God Almighty, or the day of Jesus Christ, and the day of Christ Jesus. It goes through all of these titles, but know what it's all got in common? One day. It's one day the Lord's coming again. And what it says here, we should not be forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. Now understand part of what was at work. We've mentioned this like in various places, say you're in Nigeria for example, we've reported this and prayed about this, where there are people that get together in the churches. and they especially like night services so they get together and they're together in one place and the church is surrounded by the Fulani herdsmen who are Muslim and will attack and will close down the shutters and the doors and set the church on fire so they can kill them all at once. You see that's persecution, that's tribulation. But it says, the more the tribulation is coming, the more we should be together, the more we need each other. All right, how many of you have seen or been in a long race? You've been in a long race, and you need perseverance, endurance. And you'll see people, you know, where one person is just dragging, and it looks like they're just about to take a dive. And you see one person comes along on this side, and one person comes along on this side, and with each of them with a hand under their arm, they help them along on the race. How many times do we need each other like that? In times of loss, in times of sorrow, in times of great trial, sometimes crisis of faith, crisis of marriage, any number of things that God and his providence would superintend over in our lives. And so when we're looking at this we need each other. He's put us together, he's put us together with spiritual gifts. Each of us have the gifts according to the Spirit as he would distribute them for the good of all. And so we are to serve one another, and to minister unto one another, and to help one another, and to pray for one another. He's put it all together in a body dynamic you see. And so when we think of the days of persecution, faith tested as never before on the day. I mentioned 2 Thessalonians chapters 1 and 2. Some of you thanked me for that. It's a good place to find all of it in one text. But you see all the description of the persecution and trial and tribulation at the end of the age. And you see that we get relief when Christ comes with his angels dealing out retribution and fire against our enemies and that he's glorified in us on that day. But he also judges those on that day. And he goes in the next chapter, let no one deceive you as to our gathering together to him and his coming. It won't happen until first there's a great apostasy. the revealing of the man of sin, the son of perdition, who will take his seat in the temple to be worshipped as God, etc. And he goes through all of these things that occur till finally Jesus Christ destroys him with the breath of his mouth. No challenge. The day. In that whole process do you think we'll need encouragement? In that process what's the greatest apostasy about? Worshipping a false Christ false God. And what do we do? Encourage one another and keep each other in the faith together to worship the true Christ, the true God. You see why? That's the way the Lord puts it together. Well, our time is drawn to a close. But let me just give you this. I'll give you two texts. May I do that? It talks about the signs at the end of the age. In Matthew 24, first part of it, Jesus is talking about the attack and destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the people and everything. The text makes that pretty clear. But the questions were, what would be the sign of your coming in the end of the age too? And it talks about a great deception that's so powerful that if it's possible, even the very elect would be deceived. If you're swimming around in a great morass, a pool of deception, beloved, you need an island of truth to help unscramble the deception. So I don't need anyone else. There's your problem. Yes, we do. All of us. I do. You do. We all do. That's the way God wired us. And so that's why he says all the more. And you see the day approaching. At the end of the age, Jesus says, there'll be false Christs, false prophets. He says, they'll say, he's there, he's there. Constant deception. Jesus says, let me tell you something. My coming will be like the lightning that goes from the east to the west, the other way around, east to the west. That's the way the Son of Man will come. He says, the sign of the Son of Man will be these. The sun will be darkened, the moon will be turned to blood. The sky, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, rolled up like a scroll, it says elsewhere. And it says earthquakes such as the world has never seen never shall again. But he'll send forth his angels to gather his elect from one end of heaven to the other. The day of wrath has come, but also the day of salvation. It'll talk about later in the text. That's the sign of his coming. And he goes on to say this, coming of the Son of Man will be like a thief in the night. Like a thief in the night. You say, right. That's quiet. Secret. Well, you might be tempted to think that, unless you saw where that was used five times in the New Testament, all of them talking about the second coming. One of those in Revelation 16, talking about the Battle of Armageddon, not quiet, not secret, but also 2 Peter 3. In 2 Peter 3, it says, the day of the Lord, verse 10, will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar. And the elements melt with fervent heat, the earth and its works. Burned up. But it goes on to give an admonition right after that. In just the next two verses it says, but what manner of people ought you to be in godliness looking for and hastening toward the coming of the day of God. Then it goes into it again in verse 13. in which the heavens and the earth would be consumed with fire. But we're looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. And then it goes back to an admonition, verse 14, be diligent to be found by him in peace. There's one, two verses I want to leave with you. I'll ask you to turn with me. Romans 13, 11 and 12. Romans 13 verses 11 and 12. It says in verse 10, love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law, verse 11, and do this knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. And now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light." You see, beloved, every time the Lord talks about His coming, He tells His people, be watchful. It's an encouragement for us, isn't it? But also is a call to perseverance through trial. But he gives us the encouragement here, and he tells us the time is far spent. That was 19 and a half centuries ago. He says the time is nearer than when we first believed, once again, 19 and a half centuries ago. Do you think it's even nearer now? Well, obviously, it is. That's why it says Not forsaking the gathering together of yourselves is as a matter of some, but all the more as you see the day approaching. We want to continue with this idea against apostasy, but let me just stop with this. The few things I mentioned are worth thinking over beyond just when I say the benediction. All of us should look at our faith. I'm going to go through the things, positive things in faith we ought to have, but let me give you a couple. We should have the kind of faith that Jesus described of a pearl of great price. or the treasure hidden in the field. Remember that? Matthew 13, where Jesus says, you know, that a man, it was a commercial man, and he was looking for pearls, and he went to the pearl market, and he found one pearl that was more valuable than anything else, and he went and sold everything else he had to have that one pearl. And Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like that, where we have a faith that says, sold out. his kingdom, and his righteousness, my Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way it should be. And so, beloved, may we learn these lessons from Hebrews 10. May God grant his richest blessings upon his people, his flock, his sheep. May we hear his voice. In Christ's name, amen. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, this piece of your word that has been read and preached, it should be to all of us most sobering But oh, we think of what James says, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. And we think also, oh Lord, that what Paul said that the word that you've given to us, the word that was written in earlier times was written for our instruction that we might have perseverance and encouragement through the scriptures and have hope. And so we pray that As we pray for applying this word that's been preached, we think of those very things, knowing that trials are inevitable, yet we are to wait for you. We are to look, as was preached, to look for the day and to wait, though it tarries. it will not fail. And so we cast ourselves upon you now, praying that you would permeate our minds on these things we've heard today. We might grow in grace and glorify you all the more as you are worthy as no other. In Jesus' name, amen. I receive the benediction of the Lord. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.