Ephesians chapter 5, we'll read 21 verses, starting in verse 1. Ephesians chapter 5, that is in the New Testament, in case you didn't know. Most of us should already know that. Ephesians chapter 5, and we'll begin in verse number 1. The Bible says, Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becoming saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking or jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light, and the Lord walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them as secret, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou the sleepless, arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. So I have an introduction here. We'll start off with that as an introduction to this very important message that I have for you today. I want to lay a foundation that I believe to be essential to make the call to action at the end of this message more effective on our hearts. Since the condition of the heart always affects what we do, what we say, how we think, and the way we live, it's necessary to deal with the issues of the heart. After all, the Bible says in Proverbs chapter number four, verse 23, that we should keep our heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Here in Ephesians chapter five, as Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus, he gives a general overview of the Christian's expected conversation with his or her walk with God. In his discourse, Paul is explaining to the church what a Christian's duty is as a follower of God and what it's supposed to look like. And we see in verse two, he mentions that we are to, quote, walk in love as Christ loved us. And as Christ gave himself to be a sacrifice to God while pleasing to him, we ought also to be a living sacrifice to God in like manner by loving one another as we love our Lord. Then Paul moves on to mention a few examples of what a believer should refrain from. things that are not becoming of a Christian, which things were part of our life as unbelievers before the light of Christ shined forth in our hearts and brought true conversion of the soul through repentance from dead works and faith toward Christ. After he talks about the church's duty to walk in the light and to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, he moves on to likening the Christian walk as being awake from the dead In verse number 13, the Bible says, but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light for whatsoever doth make manifest his light. Wherefore he sayeth, awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. At the moment of conversion from a child of the devil to being a child of God, light comes into the soul and brings new life. Hence why Paul is mentioning putting off the deeds pertaining to living in darkness. such as fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, et cetera, et cetera, in verse three. Now, as become a saint, I personally find it difficult to believe that there is any life in a man who claims Christianity, yet cannot live for the Lord and seek first the kingdom of God, as Jesus states in Matthew 633. Let me repeat that. As become a saint, I personally find it difficult to believe that there is any life in a man who claims Christianity yet cannot find the time to live for the Lord and to seek first the kingdom of God as Jesus stated in Matthew 633. Jesus said in Matthew 633, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. And this brings me to a passage that I want to focus on today. That being verses 15 through 16. I'm going to read those. The Bible says, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Paul uses the word circumspectly in verse 15. Paul uses the word circumspectly in verse 15. when talking about how we are to walk. Not only are we to walk in love, as mentioned in verse number two, and not only are we to walk as children of light in verse number eight, but we are to also walk circumspectly. The word circumspectly simply means to be careful and to consider all circumstances and possible consequences in matters of our life's choices and direction. To be careful, to be wise in everything we do, all of our decision making. To be wise in our walk with God as children of God, whether it be what we say, what we do, et cetera. Now I want you to notice in verse 15, Paul says, see, then he uses the phrase, see them. This is one of those wherefores or because of this situations we find in the Bible. This is so that if this, then that, that's what Paul is doing here. He is saying, see then. So we need to go look at the previous verse. The Bible says the foolish and disobedient cannot walk circumspectly because they have no light in them. There's no light in the unbeliever. And let me illustrate this a little bit. If we were to shut the lights off in this room and have complete darkness, okay, turn all the lights off, we have complete darkness in here. How easy would it be to walk around the room circumspectly? It would not be very easy at all. We would be hitting each other. We'd be bumping each other. We'd be hitting objects. Now turn the light on. How much more circumspectly can we now be when we can see what's around us? I know a chair is there. So I'm going to step aside and walk down the aisle because I don't want to run into the chair because I have light to see the chair. When you're not, when you don't have light to see, you're going to fall. You're going to hit stuff. You're going to crash. You're going to crumble. You're going to have all kinds of issues. Well, how much more circumspectly can we be now when we can see what's around us? A good applicable verse to describe the unbelievers walk or conduct in this world would be Proverbs 4 19. The Bible says the way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. They don't know what they stumble at. They ain't got a clue that those that are in the light, they know what it is. Think about the people in your life who are not saved and who do not know the Lord. You want to know why they cannot cease from sin and seem to find themselves always walking against the truth. It's because they have no light in them to walk circumspectly, which is why the Bible calls them foolish because they don't understand why they keep finding trouble in this life and no victory over sin. Now notice the contrast that Paul gives here in verse 15, Bible says, see them that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. You see the contrast there that Paul is talking about. Fools have no light in them to see the truth, which is why as brother Sam preached last Thursday night, there is so many false prophets that arise because of unregenerate love, because the unregenerate love fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. That's why all of these heretics get so much support because There's so many people out there today that don't have the light of the gospel in them. And so they seek after men rather than God because there's no light. They can't walk circumspectly. They have no discernment. And that's why Paul is dealing with this issue of walking in the light versus walking in darkness. But let's talk about one thing in particular that we find in this passage that I said before that I want to focus on. So we're going to read this again, okay? Verse 15, the Bible says, see then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now look at verse 16, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Today, this message is entitled redeeming the time, redeeming the time. I'll begin by asking the question, what are we doing? with our time. What are we doing with our time? The Bible has much to say concerning our lot in this life, not only as Christians, but as men in general, who, uh, as a whole, generally speaking, men in general. Okay. The Bible has a lot to say about men's lives. The lot or the way of men's life can be summed up as this. We're all born. We all live. We're all going to die. with the exception of obviously Enoch who did not go through that cycle and Elijah that didn't go through that cycle. They never saw death, but generally speaking, all men are born. All men live to a certain point and all die. We're all going to go through the same process. This cycle has continued throughout history with the, with the exceptions as mentioned in Genesis 5 24 talks about Enoch was caught up to heaven because he pleased God with his conversation. And we also see that Elijah was caught up in heaven with the chariots of fire next to Elisha in second Kings chapter 2 verse 11 through 12 So I want us all to understand one thing and that is this That time is a gift Time is a blessed gift With the gift of life on this earth all men are by default indebted to their Creator to live for and to give him glory This is especially true for the regenerate believer whose heart has been circumcised with the circumcision of Christ. We find in Colossians 2 11 and has been born again through repentance and faith. Having the gift of life given to us by God's mean means also that we are given the gift of time. It's a precious gift. Not only do we have the gift of life to live and breathe on this earth, borrowed air from God, but we also are given the gift of time. It's a precious gift. Each moment you and I have to breathe a breath is a moment given to us by God Almighty. As pertaining to our time of life on this earth, the gift of time is not a promise. The gift of time is not owed to us. And without a doubt, the gift of time is absolutely, positively non-refundable. Time itself does not favor any one person more than another. Time is completely unbiased and without respect to persons in men's affairs and will not conform to our will or our personal agenda. We are at the mercy of the time that God gives us and we'll never get it back once we've consumed it. The time we are given is exclusively given to us by the mercy and longsuffering of God as we've done nothing and can do nothing to earn it. God does not owe us more time on earth. And in spite of popular belief among Christians these days, time is never guaranteed even to the Christian. Sure, there are biblical principles that teach long life if we obey God, especially when we see Ephesians chapter six, verse one through three, right there on the same page in many of your Bibles, that teaches children that if they'll have a long life on earth, they need to obey their parents, right? We understand that concept, right? I had a previous church member from years ago come up to me and said, I don't know what it is that I have to do to get my child to obey me. And they asked me and said, what do you think? And of course I didn't have any kids. I don't know why they were asking me that at the time, but I said, you know what? Take them over there to Ephesians chapter six and show them where it says that children, you should obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth. So son, if you don't obey me, you're going to die early. Right? So that's what I told her. And that's the principle that we see there. Right? But all joking aside, you know, we cannot have it in our minds that just because we are spiritual, we have the right to more time on earth than those who aren't as spiritual. I have oftentimes thought this way personally, until I read passages in scripture concerning the saints of God who were spiritual, yet lived a relatively short life. A couple of examples, and one big example that I'd like to point out would be John the Baptist. John the Baptist died in his early thirties being put to death by the wicked King here. And we find in Matthew chapter 14, one through 11 and Jesus himself being put to death about the age of 33. Can anyone find a more spiritual duo than these in scripture? Jesus even told, uh, the Pharisees that there's none greater that came with, they were born among men, women than John the Baptist. And of course, Jesus being the Messiah, both died in their thirties. They were martyred. So just because, and can you name a more spiritual couple than that? I don't think so. I think that we have the examples there of a very spiritual duo. So does that make us better than them? No, it does not. An argument might be made as to whether or not it was wise for John to reprove Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife. As sometimes we can say things in our zeal for the Lord to unrighteous men who may not receive it well and thus result in imprisonment and even death. And as Ephesians 5.11 says, we must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Would you say that's what John the Baptist did? There are many accounts in a great and sobering book called Martyr's Mirror published by Holland, published in Holland in 1660 by Thielman J. Von Brott. If you haven't read that book, I promise you, you'd be blessed by that, reading some of that book. Giving many accounts in that book in centuries past when Christians rose up against ungodly spiritual leaders, civil magistrates, and rulers to rebuke their unlawful deeds, which would ultimately end their life early. There's many accounts in there where there's young children rising up and defending their parents while their parents are being martyred, and then they put the kids to death. So you can see that even if you're a young Christian, you're not guaranteed life. John the Baptist was as spiritual as spiritual gets, being ordained to be the harbinger of the coming of Christ, Living a humble life, surviving on locusts, wild honey, and clothed with camel's hair, John could easily be identified as a spiritual man, even leaping within the womb of his saved mother, Elizabeth, at the very presence of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. We find that in Luke 1. Yet his time on earth was short. Jesus even said that there was not any man among them born of women greater than John the Baptist. We find that in Matthew 11, 11 and Luke 7, 28. Yet he was beheaded for his stand the truth in his time on earth. God's will for John was fulfilled preaching the coming of Christ at his first advent and baptizing him also. Thus we see that not even time on earth was on John's side. As spiritual and God-pleasing of a life he lived. We of course know that the time Jesus had on this earth was to fulfill our righteousness, the law, and the Father's will by reconciling the world unto himself and with his own blood upon the cross at Calvary. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7.15 pertaining to the issue of men dying young and old men dying old. It says in Ecclesiastes 7.15, all things have I seen in the days of my vanity. There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness. And there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. Lastly, by the way, and for the record, just so you know, I believe it is far better to live a short life fulfilling the will of God as a child of God than a long life in disobedience and rebellion against him as a bastard. A short time on earth that is blessed is far greater life lived than a long time on earth that is cursed of God and unfruitful. Many men live the latter. Many men live that way. They live a life of disobedience and it may be a long life, but it's in rebellion against God all the way to their death. And sadly, a majority of them profess to belong to God. Now, I'm going to go back to Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 16. Let's define the word redeem here. In verse 16, the Bible says, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So what does it mean to redeem the time? Well, the word redeem is used and implied in a few different ways, depending on the context. But it means to purchase or buy back something, to take back something that was lost or to pay for something at a cost. For example, I could say that I had some grocery coupons that I redeemed or exchanged for something of value. Christ redeemed us from the world, meaning He purchased us at a price. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 20 says that, and also 7, 23, that we were purchased with a price. The price He purchased us was with His own perfect and precious blood. And He did so once and for all, to make an atonement for the sins of the world, including you and I. The Bible says ye in these passages and neither I believe is talking about the local New Testament church. Bible says ye are bought with a price and for context sakes, I believe the word ye means the local New Testament church that Paul is addressing as seen as a type and shadow for Old Testament, Old Testament Israel. We see that the Lord purchased his people, In Exodus chapter 15 verse 16, the Bible says, fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness of thine arm, they shall be as still as a stone. Till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. In Psalm 74 verse two, the Bible says, remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old. The rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed. There's that word. This mountain Zion wherein thou hast dwelt. The word purchase concerning what he did for his church can also be seen in the New Testament. In Acts 20, verse 28, the Bible says, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. In Ephesians 1.14, the Bible says, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, talking about the Holy Spirit, unto the praise of his glory. You see the word purchase possession there is in Ephesians 1.14. So in context to what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 5.16, I believe redeeming the time means to buy time or to make time. This is the primary issue that I want to address today. We're going to have to realize that we're going to have to make time for the Lord's work. We get really busy. I'm number one at this. I'll get really busy and tied up with things of work and labor. to take care of my family, but I cannot forget that I must make time for the Lord's work. That's the whole reason I'm alive. That's the whole reason we're here as a church, is to give God the glory. Now, I'm done with the introduction. The four points I have are gonna go super fast, okay, and then I'll be done. We must redeem the time because the Christian's life is valuable. We must redeem the time because the Christian's life Valuable, please turn over to 1st Corinthians 619 1st Corinthians 619 1st Corinthians 619 the Bible says what know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you Which he have of God and you are not your own for you are bought with the prize We're hearing the same purchasing buying redeeming here for you are bought with a price. I Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's we belong to God if you're born again today You've repented of your sin and trusted Christ you belong to God That's why you are valuable. And that's the only reason we're valuable is through the blood of Christ He makes the blood he has made the blood efficacious and it is legitimate and it causes us to be valued because of Christ Jesus and the price he paid for us to be saved from our sin and the wickedness of the world. The child of God is not only saved from his own destruction through faith, but also made a joint heir with Christ in this kingdom. Romans eight 16, the Bible says the spirit itself itself, itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Romans eight 17 the Bible says, and if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. Since God saved me in September 2007, I'm celebrating 16 years this month of being saved from my sin, praise God. And after reading more and more from what the Bible teaches concerning the Levitical priesthood and the work of the Old Testament tabernacle, and the endless labor the priests had to perform to sacrifice the blood of bulls and goats, and the ultimate and final blood atonement upon the cross that Christ shed for us, I see now more how truly precious and powerful his blood and his love was and is for me. If we are saved, we are valuable because we are the sons of the king of glory. How valuable is the king's son? We have to ask the question, how valuable is the king? Pretty important, very valuable. So if you're a king's son, now you have that inheritance. Praise God for that, if you are a child of God, of course. If we are children of God, we have a position in his kingdom that no man has the right to take, nor has the power to take. It has been settled by the king that because his blood was shed and placed upon the mercy seat, we now have a better and enduring substance in heaven, according to Hebrews 1034. A child of God, because of his stand with God through faith in the blood of Christ, now can Redeemed the time he has on earth to fulfill the will of the father even as Christ fulfilled it during his first advent unregenerate men do not have the pleasure nor privilege nor right to claim this wonderful truth as They are not of the father but of the world It's a wonderful thing and we have value in Christ and therefore we must redeem the time Second thing we must redeem the time because the Christians calling is commissioned We must redeem the time because the Christian's calling is commissioned. I'm going to turn over here to Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28, we're looking at verse, starting in verse 18. Matthew 20, verse 18, the Bible says this, and Jesus came and spake unto them, by the way, he's talking to his church here, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I've commanded you and lo I'm with you all way even unto the end of the world Amen, the Great Commission is outlined here by our Savior. It is the commission that our church is commanded to fulfill today Everything that Christ said here to his disciples is the same Commission we have today September 2023 Now, I wanna break down a little bit of this. The Christian's calling, so as not to take the name of the Lord in vain, is to fulfill the Great Commission. This being baptized into a local autonomous church after being born again, being baptized into a local autonomous church, a Bible-believing and a Bible-obeying church, upon turning to Christ by faith. Then he will desire to have a testimony and a witness to others, in an effort to convert them with the gospel. There's fruit in the child of God when he is saved. And that fruit is obeying the great commission. That fruit is wanting to be a part of a local assembly. The fruit is wanting to have fellowship with like-minded believers. The fruit is first getting baptized after regeneration and then becoming a part of a local New Testament church and fulfilling God's will since that is his plan. There are many distractions I would say, that can cause us to forget this commission and to detour us from the weightier matter, namely, a few things that could detour us and distract us. Focus too much on politics, right versus left, red versus blue, constitutional rights and government amendments, overstimulation on the so-called Truther movement topics such as the very stupid concern over the Mandela effect, NASA's agenda to fake the moon landing, aliens and UFOs, Illuminati conspiracies, and mainstream media manipulating, among many other hot topics too long to list. I believe that these things are good to know, but I see that they are very distracting to the purpose of the church. And I think that many people are caught up into this. Our church certainly doesn't dismiss these matters that we believe are important to know and watch for, but ultimately, the greatest duty and responsibility that our church must put first is to fulfill Christ's commands. I believe if we redeem the time to do what our Lord commanded, we can actually see and actually make a bigger impact and influence on our local community by preaching the simplicity of the gospel to the lost in our community right here in Ocala. Knowing some truths about what's going on in the world is great, but without having the truth, Jesus Christ, The deception rests upon all men, even they who claim to be part of the so-called truth movement and may be understanding in some dark things happening in our world. You can know all that you want to. We can know it all about what's going on in our world. And there's a really deep rabbit hole. But if we get to the basics and we fulfill Christ's commission, we will see God's blessing with this church. Number three, I told you I was going fast. We must redeem the time Because our incentive is to glorify God. That is our incentive, to glorify him while we're on this earth. Philippians chapter number two. Brother Jade's been going through Philippians and it's been a blessing, so we're gonna go to Philippians really quick. Philippians chapter number two. And we'll start at verse number nine. The Bible says this. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's our incentive. We have the privilege as born again children of God as a church to glorify and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this little life to live while the destruction of the enemies of God will one day glorify him at the day of judgment. The Christian has the privilege and the command to glorify him now. while there is still breath in us before we are ushered into his heavenly kingdom." The sad thing is that everyone's going to bow their knee and everyone is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and all creatures will give glory to God one day. Wouldn't you rather do that now? before it's too late. We must ask ourselves, before we do anything in our day today, ask yourself this, is whatever I'm about to do or that I have ambition to do going to honor and glorify God? If the answer to that question is no, then we must change our thought process and ask ourselves, if this isn't glorifying to God, what is the purpose of why I'm doing what I do? Now, think about what you spend a lot of your time on. Think about it. Really, I want you to think about it. Think about what we spend a lot of our time on, and I'll let the Holy Ghost deal with you about that. That one thing, now think about that. That one thing that came to your mind, ask yourself, is this thing furthering my growth in Christ, or is it hindering? Is this going to further my brother's walk with God in the church? Is this going to be an effort to bring others to Christ? is that thing, whatever it is, the object of wasting time or redeeming it. It is not to say we cannot relax and seek pleasure from time to time. It is not to say that God demands us to be mindless slaves with no enjoyment of life. Otherwise I'd be wrong on this point. However, has whatever it is that you know that you spend more time on than the work that the Lord has called you to do, fulfilling the gap that could be used in glorifying God. Could it be used in glorifying God? Lastly, we must redeem the time because our life is short and the days, as Paul said, are evil. The days are evil. We'll go back over here to Ephesians chapter five and we'll finish up here. Ephesians chapter five, Paul says, see that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. There's your motivation. The days are evil. Just look around us. Look on the internet. Look out your front window. Is it not apparent that we live in an evil time? Everything Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 is quickly coming to pass year after year at a very alarming rate. Let us take the moment to reflect on something very sobering. I want you to reflect on something with me here. people everywhere are dying and going to hell. As I talked to you today, sinners are ending up in hell. Let's think about that. Now, people everywhere are dying and going to hell. Billions of people right now are going through the motions of life under a false pretense that they will somehow be in heaven and will not see the torments of hell flames due to some idea, some theology, some misconception or misunderstanding of the truth. I have family members that are like that today, that they think that they're going to be in heaven when they die, but they show no fruit in their life. As mentioned before, the wicked know not of what they stumble. It may be an extended family member that you know of that's on their way to hell, a friend, a colleague, an acquaintance, a next door neighbor, or even your spouse. It might even be you. Maybe you have not come to the knowledge of the truth, but are relying upon an unbiblical prayer that you prayed when you were younger, a drastic life altering experience like a car wreck or other health issue, a vain mental assent, some religious deed or work done, or maybe you're even downright just rejecting the gospel because you have pride in the way. Pride is the number one killer for sinners who reject Christ for their own works or idea of salvation. The gentleman we talked to yesterday, He was putting his faith in his own works. That's the only thing he talked about when I asked him about when he was saved. He said, I was raised in a Catholic church, I was raised in a Christian family. Hell is full to the brim today of people who thought they had time. James 4.14, whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. Or maybe you're like Felix. in Acts chapter 4, verse 25, 24, verse 25, who trembles at God's word. You want to be a church member and fulfill a void, but it doesn't really break your heart to know the condemnation you're under. And so you put it off, like Felix did, until it's too late to repent and believe on Christ. And for the Christian today, it is a sin to be a sloth. Concerning redeeming the time, it is a sin to be a sloth. Proverbs 18, 9, the Bible says, he also that is slothful in his work is brother to him, That is a great waster. It is a waste of time to do nothing for God. And it also is a good mark that you may not be regenerate. A Christian has very little time to glorify God and to bring forth fruit in this life. And I will say that even though that Kent Hovind has apostated since his ministry years and years ago, I would have to say that I would agree with him on one point. And I liked the way he illustrated the issue about the tombstone. I don't know if y'all have ever heard of that, But he gives an illustration about the date of your death on your tombstone and the date of your birth. All you have in between those two are a little dash. That's all you got. You better make it count. You better make it count. Jesus spoke of the slothful and wasteful servant in Matthew 25, 14 through 30. I don't have time to go through that. But we know based on the scriptures that a child of God will redeem the time. He'll make time, aka redeem the time. for the work of the ministry. And so that should be our efforts today, church. Are we redeeming the time or are we satisfied where we're at?