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This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. Amen. Thank you, John.
! Well, as you know, Michael, our senior pastor in Israel, is going to be praying for that trip. Several hours ago, he texted us and said that he was looking at ancient biblical sites and singing Christmas carols. And I can't imagine anything more Michael Staten than looking at ancient biblical sites and singing Christmas carols. That describes him in a nutshell.
Jeff, our executive pastor, is in Washington. Him and Sean are leading a marriage retreat up there. He's preaching this morning, so be in prayer for him. As you can see, John was leading music this morning.
Joey's taking care of Institute this afternoon and preaching this evening, and that left me to be here this morning. They tried to get Kent, but Kent couldn't miss his second Sunday in Clinton, so...
Not really. It's a privilege and an honor to get to be here. We're going to be in 1 Samuel chapter 8 today. If you'll open up your Bibles to 1 Samuel chapter 8, verses 1 through 9. 1 Samuel chapter 9.
1 Samuel chapter 9.
1 Samuel chapter 9.
1 Samuel chapter 9. So chapter 8, we're going to read through verse 1 through verse 9. It says, It says, It says,
My goal this morning is to walk through these nine verses, explain them, and then give you some application on the back end. I have four points of application we'll get to.
I do think that to understand this. I do think that to understand this well, we need to back up a bit into chapter 7, just to understand the context of what's going on, to see a glimpse into who Samuel is as a leader.
Because at the end of the judge, the judge is as a leader. Because at the end of the judges, the people are ready to make a knee-jerk reaction to some terrible things that have happened. And that is what we do as people. When we go through bad stuff, we want to make corrections to it.
If you go to your favorite restaurant and you go home and you get food poisoning and you're up all night, chances are the next time you go out to eat, you're not going back to that restaurant. You're going to go find a new favorite restaurant.
If you go to Walmart and you have bad service, well, the next time you're going to go to Target. Because you don't want to experience the same thing again. If your child is in a car wreck, the next time you go to buy them a vehicle, you're getting them a bigger vehicle that can withstand a car wreck.
You're making knee-jerk reactions. And I think what we'll see in this passage is that our God is not one who makes knee-jerk reactions. He is not a reactive God.
I think we're going to see that there are a people here, that all the things are good for them. They're still wicked in their hearts. Chapter 7 is incredible to me because we're going to get to see just how good things are for these people.
And then how they are still set on their own ways, their own wants, and their own desires. Chapter 7, verse 3 says, So you have Samuel, the prophet, who is calling them to repent, to give up their idols and the ways of this world, to return and to serve the Lord and him alone.
Then in verse 4, so the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth, and they serve the Lord only. And the people respond appropriately. They do what they've been called to do.
And there's a promise in verse 3 that if they will turn away and serve him only, God would deliver them from the hands of the Philistines. So that's what the people do.
Verse 5, So they gather everybody together. They go to Mizpah. Samuel offers sacrifices for their sins.
They call out to Samuel to call out to God because the Philistines are coming. They're going to attack. They ask him to pray that this wouldn't happen. Verse 10, So God delivers on this promise.
We see the people under the authority and the leadership of God's prophet, God's man, Samuel. We see things going well. He calls them to repentance, and they do so.
Samuel's a good leader to do that. We see the people responding to the Lord, serving him. He delivers them from the Philistines. Verse 12, And that phrase, Till now the Lord has helped us, does not mean that till now he helped us and now it's done.
No, they're recognizing his consistency in loving them and caring for them all through their history. Up till now, they recognize they have a history of God protecting them and delivering them.
And they raise this stone that they call Ebenezer. I'm sure you're familiar with the hymn, Come Thou Fount. In the second verse, it says, Here I raise my Ebenezer. Hither by thy help I'm come.
God helps the people. And by hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. So they raise this rock to remind themselves who God is and what he has done for them.
That he's delivered them from destruction. Verse 14 says, The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel.
From Ekron to Gath. And Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. So there was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. So what we see is we see that just as Come Thou Fount says, They arrive safely at home.
They restore their cities back to Israel. We see them living at peace with the Amorites. And then verse 15, we see Samuel is the judge of Israel all the days of his life.
And what this does is remind us that the people are very, very aware of who God is and what he has done for them. This isn't a forgotten, lost history.
It's not like it was written down somewhere and a generation later they can't find it and I don't know what happened. This isn't you putting together a piece of furniture at your house and you procrastinate and you lose the instructions and it never gets put together.
This is a people who know who God is, what he has done. They've resurrected or erected a memorial to that. This rock they call Ebenezer.
In verse 12 it tells us, I'm sorry, in verse 13 it says that the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. So we know that under Samuel's leadership, things are good.
And so it's incredible that in verse 8, or in chapter 8, things begin to change. That they pick that timing to begin to buck the system, to want to go against what is in place.
Because the people have a prophet, a good prophet, a good judge that is over them. They've been called to repentance and they have repented. They're serving the Lord. They're having some sort of corporate gatherings. They've been delivered from the Philistines.
They're at peace and what more could the people of God want? But they are a selfish people. And I believe in the same way we are a selfish people.
This is the cycle of Israel. Because they get in a bad spot. God cares for them. Delivers them. Restores them.
Brings them out of that situation. Gives them good leadership. Calls them to serve Him. They do that for a moment. And then they become wicked again. They seek the world.
The things of the world. They reject God. They turn away from Him. They end up in destruction. God's judgment on them. They call out to God over and over and over again. We do the same thing in our life.
We constantly repeat these cycles of loving the Lord in the midst of turmoil and hardship. Please, Lord, help us. We trust that you're going to provide for us all of these things.
He does. Things get good. We begin to walk away from the Lord again. Over and over. This is a mirror into our own lives. In chapter 8, I think there's a lot that we can learn from chapter 8 as we see the people go to Samuel wanting a king.
Now, before we jump into that, I think it's fair to say that a king, them wanting a king is not necessarily a bad thing. This is not a wicked thing in and of itself.
In fact, Moses gives them direction for how to select a king in Deuteronomy 17. All throughout the judges, we see references that these are the days before the kings, that eventually there would be a king in this land.
So it's not wicked in and of itself, but I think the motivation and the heart of the people is wicked. I think they're selfish, and they're seeking the things of the world.
So verse 1 of chapter 8 says, When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. So time has passed because Samuel has become old, and his sons are now grown, and they're old enough to be appointed as judges over Israel.
Now, I think it should also be stated and pointed out that the office of judge is not a hereditary one. It is not one that is passed down through bloodline, but he appoints his sons.
And I don't think that his sons, being his son, necessarily disqualify them, but it would have been surprising to the people to hear this. This is not something that would have normally happened. They would have been surprised by this appointment of his sons, unlike kings and queens who were passed down by generation.
The office, not hereditary, probably shouldn't have gone to them. He makes them judges over the people.
Verse 2 tells us a little bit about who his sons were. Verse 2 says, In the name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son, Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba.
Now, names are important, especially in Old Testament context. Joel means Yahweh is God, and Abijah means my father is Yahweh.
And I think this points to the good intentions that Samuel had in raising his sons. I think this points to the fact that he is raising them to seek and love the Lord, to follow after him. They are in Beersheba.
And in verse 4, we'll see that Samuel is in Ramah. And I know that all of you have ancient Israel memorized. I know you know exactly what that means.
But that's about 40 to 45 miles southwest of Ramah is the city of Beersheba. So that would be like us driving to Purcell, which doesn't sound like it's that far. But when your best mode of transportation is a donkey, that's a long way to go to keep tabs on your sons.
Especially when you have raised them to follow the Lord and you think they are doing well. Verse 3 says, Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain.
They took bribes and they perverted justice. And I think if he had learned this, if he knew this, he would not have appointed them as judges. Because I think Samuel, based on the evidence we have, you look at chapter 7 and his actions there.
You look at chapter 8 and his actions there. Samuel is seeking the things of the Lord. He wants to be a faithful servant and a good leader to his people. And I don't think he would have intentionally put wicked men over them.
I think this could be due to the fact that he's a long ways away from where his sons are at. So he appoints them thinking, oh, they've got it. I don't necessarily have anything to protect his innocence in this.
But as I read this, I get the feeling that he probably didn't know that his sons were wicked. But Alistair Begg calls it a bad succession plan.
And if you can say it in a Scottish accent, it's very impressive, which I cannot. In verse 3 it says, Yet his sons did not walk in his ways.
They turned aside after gain. They took bribes. They perverted justice. A key component to prerequisite to being a judge is not being corrupt. No one wants to go and stand before a judge.
Someone's going to make a decision on their behalf or make a judgment between two people and find out that the guy that is judging you is in league with the person you're defending yourself against.
Or they've been buying and selling things. Or they're making money off of the results of this trial. That's not a good standard for a judge. The people know that.
I do think it's safe to assume that Samuel didn't know. The people obviously know. They're morally corrupt men.
And this would have been a reminder of the judges that had come before. This would have been a scary thing for them. So while I am surprised by the timing of their demand for a king, which we're about to see, I'm also sympathetic towards the fact that they've seen things not go well previously with other morally corrupt men.
So verse 4 says, Then the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel and Ramah. So that's where we know that he is in another place. These elders would have been prominent family leaders, leaders in the community.
They would have been known people. And on behalf of the people, they would have represented the interest of the people as a whole. Go to Samuel at his home. Say, Look, there's something we need to do here.
And they're going to present three reasons as to why they need to have a king over them. Verse 5 says, So we've got three reasons as to why they think they need a king and not a judge.
The first reason is because Samuel is old. And this is offensive to anyone, right? You don't want to find out that you're old. Every week, I go into our Crossroads Sunday School class, and I teach in there.
And in my head, I'm still 21. And then as I'm, you know, working my way up the stairs and my back's hurting, I'm reminded that I'm 33. Or when I wake up in the morning and I've hurt myself while sleeping, which is a great feeling, you know, I'm reminded that I'm not as young as I used to be.
We're all getting older. But we don't necessarily want to be reminded of that. The people are reminding him, hey, you are old. And I don't think this is really a point of concern as his age as much as they're worried about the time frame they have.
The time left with a good, stable leader. I think they're concerned and they see that time is running out for things to be good. Things have been really good under you. We're seeing who you're appointing next.
And we need to step in and take action. Which leads us to our second reason. Samuel's sons did not walk in his ways. They're wicked men.
Now the reality of this is that the people are not trusting God to give them leadership that they can trust.
They aren't trusting God to provide. They aren't trusting him to care for them like he has done throughout their whole history. And perhaps if they would go back and see the stone they call Ebenezer, maybe they'd be reminded of how God has restored them and cared for them and protected them.
Even in the midst of wickedness. In Romans chapter 13, Paul tells us, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And those that exist have been instituted by God.
And I know that this is New Testament and they weren't reading Romans back then. But there were prophets and they had reminders and they had a history. And they knew the principle that God provided leadership.
That's the entire point of the system that they're under. That God would provide the leadership because he reigns as king over them. But they're deciding not to trust that. To not believe in that.
Husbands, I know that you've been there when your wife is explaining an issue that they have. And you're trying to fix the issue. And it's an issue you can't fix. And they're looking at you saying, I don't want you to fix the problem.
God looks at us and says, I don't want you to fix the problem. This is not up to us. We put our hope and our trust that God will provide and care for us as he sees fit.
Because authority is determined and put in place by him and him alone. That's true for the Israelites. It's true for us. So then they give a third reason.
And the reality is that they just want to be like all the nations. They want to be like all the nations. There's the term that they say appoint. The term there is the same as when they say, when it says Samuel made his sons judges over Israel.
So they're literally saying, instead of doing that, instead of appointing your sons, appoint a king. Meet our demands. Listen to us. Instead of you providing the leadership, we are going to provide the leadership.
Instead of following after God and the things that he would have for us, we are going to fix the problem. We're going to take it into our own hands. We are going to rise up. We're going to take control.
We want a king. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. But I think that verse there reveals their heart.
I think also when you look down at verse 20, 19 and 20, it says, but the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, no, there shall be a king over us. That we shall be like all the other nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.
They're giving up on everything that God has done for them previously and saying, no, we don't want any of that. We want to be in control. We want a king. He will take care of us.
We do the same thing as Americans in politics. We do the same thing. We put our hope and our trust for the future in the political leadership that we have in place. And we forget that although we can't control it, God is still in control of that.
So where is your trust? Are you trusting in yourself and the systems we have in place? Are you trusting in God? That he will provide and see fit to take care of us as he wills.
This reminds me a lot of being an eighth grader. And I can remember being in eighth grade and I wanted desperately a Motorola flip phone. They were so cool.
And I told my mom, hey, if you will get me this, we'll be on the phone all the time. I'll talk to you all the time and can keep you updated on what's going on. In the event of an emergency, I'll have it.
It'll be there. It can protect me. It'll help me. And everybody else has one. Which is really my motivation. I just wanted to be like everyone else. And as my mom will tell you to this day, I still do not use my phone to talk to her all the time like I should.
My heart was not in a good place. The people, their hearts are not in a good place. And what they're really trying to do is leverage a system.
They're trying to leverage some things in order to get what they want. They're trying to manipulate what's happening here. Because they present two really good reasons.
Hey, time's running out. These guys are wicked. We need a better plan. That sounds legitimate. And we often do that as well. We try to mask our wickedness in Christian things.
And say, oh, this is for the better of my family or the better of the church or the better of my life or whatever it is. When really we're just selfish in our hearts.
We're wicked in our hearts. We're far from the Lord. We're looking to worldly things. We have entire religious movements that are built that way. Just the other day, I was watching some different guys preaching on YouTube.
And my son Maverick is sitting there with me. And I'm flipping through different stuff. And there's like the autoplay feature. And automatically, because YouTube knows nothing, Joel Osteen comes up as the next guy.
And so the first scene is the giant church and all the people. And Maverick's first comment was, wow, that's a big church. And so I took it as an opportunity to begin to teach him.
It's not really a church, son. That's a gathering of people listening to a man talk about himself and take their money. And so I was explaining to him what we do in church, why we do things in church.
Things are masked so often to look like Christian things when they're not. And if there's a church or a movement or a revival or anything else out there that's going on, and they are not based on the word of God, and the word of God is not being proclaimed, it's not a church and it's not of God.
There's a rabbit trail I'm choosing not to go down right now. Verse 6.
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And I can imagine Samuel being hurt in this moment. Because they're saying they want a king to judge us like all the other nations.
They're wanting somebody else. And Samuel's saying, what is so wrong with the leadership I've provided? Wait a second, what are you talking about?
Things have been good. I've been trying to lead you to seek the Lord. And this has gone well. God has taken care of us and provided for us.
Perhaps Samuel is learning that his sons are wicked in this moment. That would be displeasing for anybody. You don't want to find out that your children have left the things of the Lord and have turned away from the Lord.
And I know there's a lot of parents in this room that have experienced that. That's a deep hurt. They're essentially asking him to just go ahead and retire.
Look, you did great. Pat on the back. Why don't you just turn it over to us? We'll take over from here. Great job. We're going to change the system. We're going to do everything different. I know a lot of us have been in that situation.
Most of all, I think he just simply feels rejected by his people. This is a people that he loves and he cares for because he spends all the days of his life leading these people.
You don't devote your life to something without loving it. You don't devote your life to something without being attached to it and wanting the best for it.
And he wants the best for these people. But I love verse 6 because it says Samuel was displeased. And then immediately he doesn't respond.
He doesn't rebuke. He doesn't jump into an argument. He doesn't fight back. He doesn't defend himself. No. What does he do? It says, And Samuel prayed to the Lord. So what do we see?
We see this contrast between Samuel and the people of Israel. I want to say Egypt. It's not Egypt. Israel. We see this contrast between them.
Whereas the people are not trusting in God's will for their life, Samuel is trusting in God's will for their life. And so instead of everything he may want to say in that moment, he's putting all of his wants, his feelings, his desires aside.
And he's seeking the Lord in his will. If you'll remember, Michael is preaching through the Lord's Prayer. And a big part of that is lining up our will and what we want in life with what God would have for us.
We pray for God's will to be done. Not us. Not what we want. But for God to do the things that he sees fit to be done. And that we would rejoice and find joy in those things.
We need to do this in our lives. When we face turmoil. When we face hardship. When we face obstacles. We need to turn to the Lord in prayer.
Trust in him. And what he will do for us. Not what we can do for ourselves. So they're manipulating a system.
They're not seeking the Lord. Whereas Samuel is doing just the opposite. Verse 8. It says, And we see this reminder of what God has done.
That he led them out of Egypt. That he led them out of captivity. That he has provided for them. He sent manna from the sky. He's delivered them from their enemies. And all that they've done.
God has this history. Of caring for his people. And God is relating to Samuel at this point. He's saying, Samuel, look. I know how that feels. Because my people have been doing this.
For their entire history. I take care of them. And they reject me. I deliver them. And they leave me. I provide for them.
And they worship other idols. I've given them so much. And they trust in themselves. And the things of the world. For their futures. And God is simply calling us to trust him.
Verse 8. According to all the deeds they have done. From the day I brought them out of Egypt. Even to this day. Forsaking me. And serving other gods. So they are also doing to you.
Now then obey their voice. Only you shall solemnly warn them. And show them the ways of the king. Who shall rule over them. Reign over them. There are going to be times in our life.
That we are rejected by man. And when you have to remember. That it is not us. That are being rejected. It's not ourselves. But it's God in us.
That is being rejected. Because darkness and light. They cannot mix. And Samuel is experiencing this. And God is drawing a parallel.
Between what Samuel has experienced. In chapter 7. And what all of Israelite history is. That he has experienced. In verse 8.
It says even to this day. And it's very similar language. To chapter 7 verse 12. Where it says till now the Lord has helped us. He's drawing that parallel. Between Samuel's leadership.
And what he has provided. And what he's going through. And the rejection that he's going through. And he's saying look. I know what you're going through. But remember. Everything that you've done. It's been me working through you.
They're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me. From being king over them. Our calling in life. Is to simply trust in God.
To simply obey. According to his word. And when we do that. There will be times. That things don't seem to be going right. There will be times.
That people reject us. There will be times. That we are unsure of the future. And we are called to trust. And obey all the more. I do think it's important to point out.
I'm not saying that we should be lax. Or lazy. It's not. It's not like we're just passive people. We don't ever do anything. It's not. That's not the point. I still think that we should be proactive.
And involved people. Should be aware of our surroundings. Things. But none of us have control over all circumstances in our life. We can't control the political climate of our country.
And it doesn't matter. How many things we post on Facebook. Or how mad we get. Or what money we donate. Or whatever it is.
We need to check our hearts. And make sure that our hearts are in the right place. Are we trusting in God over our life?
Or are we trusting the things of the world? I have four points of application. Number one is people are not godly just by association.
People are not godly just by association. I think that's one thing Samuel does here. Is he assumes his sons are godly just by association. And that's not always the case.
Just because these boys are raised by a godly man and a prophet and a leader. Does not automatically mean that they are following the Lord in their own life. This is true for Samuel.
This is true for me and my children. And you ask any pastor on our staff. Our children are not godly just because we are raising them. Now we are going to work hard to seek the Lord.
And to raise them in a way that will honor the Lord. But I have known way too many pastors whose kids have gone astray. Who have not lived for the Lord. So it is not a fail proof plan.
Do not be fooled. Just because someone is in close association with a godly person that you trust. Does not mean that they in themselves are godly as well.
Or have right motive. There is a lot of pastors out there that get by like this. Like I said we have whole denominations and religious movements that are born out of this idea.
Just trusting. Oh he was on stage with whoever. He was at a conference with this guy. He must be good. We can trust him. And people are led astray.
So a few sub points there. Don't just trust any church leadership or pastor or religious leader out there. Because they are not always pure in motive and pure in heart.
There is a lot of wickedness in our world. Second, don't make this assumption about your friends, your family, or your children.
Don't assume that just because you have dropped your kids off at our youth group. Or in the preschool department. Or in our children's department. All which are wonderful places to put your kids.
But don't just assume because you have dropped them off. That oh they are going to be raised to live after the Lord. It is not Joey's responsibility to teach your teenager how to love God.
It is Joey's responsibility to teach the Bible to your children. For them to go home and then see it modeled in their home. It is not Kathy's responsibility to make sure that your kids love and honor you.
It is her responsibility to organize and find teachers and make sure your children are being taught the Bible. And then they go home and you instill those things in them. One of these days if my children go astray.
I am not going to call Michael and be like what happened? You were supposed to fix this. No. I am going to look at myself.
And I am going to grieve over what has happened. And then I am going to trust. Hopefully I am going to trust. That God is working his will out. According to his plan. Those are hard realities to face.
Don't make this assumption about yourself. Just because you are here. Just because you are on a membership list. Just because you are part of a Sunday school class. Or you are serving.
Or you drive a golf cart. Or greet at a door. Or pass something out. Or do something like that. Don't assume that your salvation is taken care of. Don't assume just because your dad is a deacon.
And your mom is a preschool director. That you are saved. That is my testimony. I made a lot of assumptions as a young man. Just because of where I was at.
Who I was around. What I was doing every week. Because there is only one way to salvation. And that is through Christ Jesus. The son of God. Who came and lived and died and rose.
And is in heaven reigning now. He is the only way to salvation. Not what you do. What you are a part of. Or who you are associated with. Number two.
God's direction and will is often different than we expect. God's direction and his will in our lives is often different than we expect. We spent five years in New York.
And towards the end of our time there. Finances weren't adding up. I was having to look at some different job options. Things just weren't working like they had been. I started exploring and seeking some advice.
And God opens this opportunity in Hugo, Oklahoma. To go and serve there. And I don't know if you've ever been to Hugo. Or if you've ever been to New York. But those two places are polar opposites.
That is about as culture shock as it gets. But God landing me there. Was the first steps of preparing us to come here.
And to be here. I wouldn't be up here right now. I wouldn't get to serve with our Crossroads students. I wouldn't get to do the things that I get to do.
If God had not given me a direction in life that I didn't expect. Because of all the places I never would have thought I would be this morning.
It is right here. Never would have dreamed that for my life. We don't have to know all of life's secrets.
And plans. And what's coming next. And the future. And all that stuff. To trust God. We can trust him in the midst of the unknown. And that's one thing he calls us to time and time again.
To just trust him. Even though we don't know what's going to happen next. Number three. The world will reject God. And we should expect the same. The world will reject God.
And we should expect the same. When we are living in submission to God. When we are living according to his will. When we are trusting and obeying according to his word. The world will reject us.
As I said. Darkness and light. They do not mix. The world cannot stand us. And the Lord will not tolerate sinfulness.
It's one or the other. Much like Samuel was rejected by his people. We are rejected by our people.
And a lot of times this is in our own workplaces. In schools. In communities. More often it's in our. With our friends. And family. We are rejected by the world around us.
When we live according to God's word. And trust him. And we could find comfort in this passage. Because just the same way that God is comforting Samuel.
He comforts us. And we can be reminded that it is not us. That is doing anything. The things that we do in life. It is the Lord working through us. And therefore the world is not rejecting us.
But the God who is in us. Who is working through us. We can find comfort in the fact that although we find rejection in this world.
When we enter into eternity. Those of us who knew Christ Jesus as our savior. There will be no rejection anymore. We will find comfort. And peace.
And joy. And happiness. In the splendor of our God. For eternity. What a joy we have to look forward to. What a great thing we have to look forward to.
The last thing. This last point of application. Is that God is sovereign. God is sovereign. And we can trust that he is sovereign.
God is sovereign. Because like I said. God is not a proactive. Or a reactive God. God is proactive. He is so proactive. That he is working everything.
According to his will. And what he wants in the world. And how. And what his plan is. And how it will all play out. And if you can't trust in a God. That is sovereign over everything.
What is there to trust in? There is nothing left to trust in at that point. What is amazing in this passage. Is that the people. After having these horrible judges. Are demanding a king to fix the problem.
But the king that they demand. The king that they get. King Saul. He is exactly like the judges that come before. He is wicked. And he is corrupt. And he leads them astray. He is out for his own interests.
But God has a plan. And ironically. It is in the form of king as well. God's solution. Is king David. That would come out of Judah. And he is the line.
That would lead to the Messiah. Christ Jesus. The one who would come. And live a perfect life. And die for the sins of mankind.
And bring us into relationship with God. And there is no more morally. Immoral men leading us. There is no more wickedness. Because Christ will restore.
And today there is a king. That is on the throne. He is ruling. And he is reigning. And he will so forever. And it is Jesus Christ. Our king on high.
Today I am asking you. I am pleading with you. To put your trust. In Christ Jesus. In him alone. In him alone. In him alone. In him alone. In him alone. Because there is no problem in life.
In him alone. There is brokenness. And there is turmoil. And that is the broken world we live in. But we have to come to a point in our life. Where we put our hope and trust in Jesus.
In him alone. So confess your sins. Repent of your sins. Submit to his lordship in your life.
Recognize him as king over you. And king over all. Be saved today. Come to Christ today. Jesus is our only hope.
In this life. And our only hope in death. You have to come to know Christ. If you want any hope at all. Know him today.
Today. I would like to end our service. Exactly where Pastor John opened our service. In Jeremiah 17.
Jeremiah 17 verse 5 says. Thus says the Lord. Cursed is the man who trusts in man. And makes flesh his strength. Whose heart turns away from the Lord.
And in verse 7. And I hope this is true for us today. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Whose trust is in the Lord. Let's pray.
Father we come before you in the name of Jesus. And Lord I ask. That you would be working in the hearts and lives. Of the people in this place. That those of us who know you.
Would be sanctified in this moment. That we would trust you more. And especially in those unknowns. In these times of unknowing. Of not knowing what's going to happen next.
And the turmoil in our country. And in this world. There are wars. And wickedness. Everywhere we look. It's nothing but bad news.
But Lord I ask that we would trust you. And be a people that trust you and you alone. And obey according to your word. Lord. And God I pray for those who do not know you today.
That your spirit would be working. And drawing them into relationship with you today. That they would not leave this place. Without settling their eternity. That they would not leave this place.
Without knowing you. As Lord of their life. God we love you. And we praise you. I thank you for this church. And this congregation. Pray all this in Jesus name.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.