Well. Good morning everybody. You're awake? Yeah. I'm impressed. Guys, I was expecting a little worse this morning. You're you're preparing for the heat of this week, and you just want to be tired. But you're you're ready to go. Hopefully you're ready because we're finishing first John, this morning. Uh, you have, uh, if you've been with us the whole time we've been in First John for six months straight, and we end it today. Okay. So thanks for sticking around with us. Uh, if you are new with us, uh, typically the way that we preach is we walk through books of the Bible. And so we start at the beginning of those and, and go all the way through. And so we're finishing one of those up today. Um, if, if you are new, I would encourage you to go back and listen to, uh, past sermons just to get an idea of what this whole book is about. I'll try to wrap it up, uh, well this morning, but I won't be able to get into everything. Okay. So, um, we said this many times. John sets out in this book to make liars feel uncomfortable and make genuine believers. Christians feel confident in their faith. Okay, um, but before confidence comes, I think sometimes there's a lot of uncertainty and you don't have to raise your hand on this one. But if at any point during this sermon series, like how many of you would say like, oh, I've, I've questioned if my faith is genuine at some point, okay, you don't have to raise your hand there. But I have a feeling it's, it's probably a lot of people in this room because what John has done is he's kind of punched in the gut several times over and over and over. And I think what that does is like, oh, like creates a little bit of uncertainty initially because he said some hard things and he's given us test after test after test to prove whether our faith is genuine or not. He's talked about the doctrinal test. You got to get your doctrine right to show that your faith is genuine. If your faith is genuine, not only that, but your morality should follow that. If I have genuine faith in Christ, then I should live and act a certain way. And then the the third test that he hit over and over and over. And we spent a lot of time in chapter four addressing this. Was the relational or the love test. If you say your faith is genuine, then it's actually going to show itself in how you love people, especially believers. And so I think there's probably a little bit of uncertainty first, at least initially as you hear some of these tests, like, ah, does my faith line up with that? Exactly. Now hopefully that builds confidence because the confidence doesn't lie in what you do or don't do, but your confidence lies in Christ. And I hope that we can hammer that over and over, even this morning. Is that, oh, where is my faith Founded on? What is it founded on? It's founded on Christ, not the things that I can do. But we live. Um, these tests can bring some uncertainty, but we just live in a world where we're swimming in kind of instability and uncertainty at all times. We live in a world where truth is, seems to be, or the world would say truth is relative, right? I don't what's true for you isn't necessarily true for me. You do you, I'll do me. And we live in this world where we can't really know or we don't think we can know. The world would say. We don't think we can know what's actually true. Whatever you feel like doing, you. You just do it. And so there's this like uncertainty in this life where it's like, oh, I grew up thinking like there were two genders, male and female. But now the world says differently. I grew up thinking like marriage was between one woman and one man, and now I'm like, ah, what? The world's telling me something different. How can we know what's true? We live in a world where artificial intelligence is rampant, right? It's really AI is helpful for some things, for other things like are. Is that is that the most helpful? Because you start again, like what's genuine, what's not genuine is that picture that I saw. Is that genuine? Like, is that something that actually happened? Like we live in a world where scams are really clever. I get a text probably every other week saying that I owe a toll in Louisiana. I haven't driven in Louisiana in six years. Right. And there are no toll roads in Louisiana, right? But they're telling me I got to pay something, right? But that's the kind of world we live in. Like, wait a second. Like, I didn't think there were toll roads now, but now I got to Google. Is there a new toll road that I drove on six years ago that I didn't pay? Right? But we live in this world where there's just a lot of instability. And then we live in this world where suffering is really real, where there's a lot of tension and there's a lot of conflict, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of affliction. And it's stuff like out there in the world, around the world, but it's also maybe like hits close to home and it just feels like things aren't certain and things aren't stable. Like what? What do we do? Like in a world where everything seems unstable? How can you, as a believer, live with certainty? That's what I think John's going to get to, to finish and close this letter. Like, how can we live with certainty in an uncertain world? That's the question we're going to wrestle with this morning. And so John's going to bring this letter to a close. And as he brings this letter to a close, he's going to give us three realities that we need to cling to. And then, in addition to those three realities, he's going to give us a warning. He's going to finish this with a warning. And this. But these realities and this warning should bring us as genuine believers great certainty in an uncertain world. So, uh, turn in your Bibles. First John, chapter five, first John, chapter five. We're going to read eighteen through twenty one. God says this through John. Verse eighteen. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. So this is how this whole book comes to a close. And there's a few things that show up over and over in this, this phrase, we know that in verse eighteen, verse nineteen, we know that verse twenty and we know that three times. Now there's a you're some of you are like, well, it's actually in there four times. There's a different Greek word for the fourth one we'll get to in a second. But this idea of like, we know, we know, we know this phrase is used about fifty times in the New Testament. Over half of those are used by John, either in his gospel or in this letter. So fifteen of them in John, thirteen of them in this small letter, John has said over and over, we know, we know, we know because he's trying to build confidence for the believer. Now, what does this mean? It's just this intellectual awareness that builds confidence. There is something that you intellectually need to know about to build your confidence in your faith. So three certain realities to build your confidence that you need to be aware of and that you need to be to cling to. So in a world where everything seems relative where everything seems unstable. We can be certain, number one, that we have God given protection. We have God given protection. Go back to verse eighteen. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. Now what's the context here? We're coming off a pretty hard text from last week. Matthew did a great job talking through it, but a hard text where John has talked about a sin that leads to death. And my guess is that when you hear about the sin that leads to death, you're like, wait a second, is this the like sins in my life that are leading to death? Like. And so my guess is that when everybody heard this originally, they hear about this sin that leads to death and they're maybe a little confused. They're unnerved, they're shaken. So what John is going to do is say like, I know you're shaking a little bit, but let me build confidence for you. And he says, we know. And who's the we? He's talking about everyone who has been born of God, though those whom God has given new life in Christ. Okay. So that's who we're talking about here. We're not talking about just anybody and everybody. We're talking about believers here. Now, what do we know about these people? We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning. And you're like, wait a second. Like so I can't struggle with sin in my life. Because if we're born of God, it says we don't keep on sinning, right? For everyone who has been born does not keep on sinning. Now, this is the second time that John has addressed this in this letter. If you went back to chapter three, we're not going to go back there right now, right now. But he talks about this practicing sin and keeping on sinning. And the whole idea of this is not that we're going to be free from the struggle of sin, but we know that genuine believers don't make a practice of continuing in sin. And he talks about keeps on sinning. He's saying genuine believers don't have an ongoing habitual lifestyle of rebellion rather than isolated choices. There are times that you will absolutely struggle with sin as a believer, but this ongoing habitual rebellion of like, I don't really care. I'm going to do what I want to do. And you make this practice, if that's your attitude. He's going, watch out. You're not born of God. That's what he said in chapter three. He said, but we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning. They don't make it a practice to keep going through this. This is an incredible reality, right? But where are we to find certainty in this struggle with sin? He says, but he who is born of God protects him. There's protection offered to those of us who have been born of God. There's someone that's going to keep the believer that's going to hold fast to the believer. Now. Who is it now? Who is it? It says he who was born of God. Now, that's a little confusing to me. If you just read this really quickly again, listen, we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him. Wait, what? There's a we and a he and a everyone like that seems a little confusing, right? But the switch from we to he is really important because initially he's saying, all you believers, you. You shouldn't. You're not struggling with ongoing sin, but he who was born of God. He singles out some person a. He. Now who is that? It's pointing to Jesus Christ. He's saying, all of us who have been born of God, all of us who are believers. We're not going to make this practice where we keep on sinning. But he who is born of God, the true son of the living God, Jesus Christ, he's the one that's actually going to protect you. Now, where do we get this from? John chapter seventeen in his gospel, John writes this while I was with them, I kept them in your name. So this is Jesus praying to the father. So Jesus is saying, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. That's talking about Judas. So he's going. Listen, father, like I'm the one that's kept them here. I'm the one that's guarded them here. I'm protecting. This is what Jesus does for his disciples. He protects us. Our certainty from God has to come from God given protection through Jesus Christ. But what is it that Jesus is protecting his children from? He's protecting us from eternal death. Jesus is going to keep us from sins that lead to eternal death. He's going to give us victory. Victory over sin. Like, is that good news or what? Like Jesus is going to protect you from sins that lead to death. He's going to give you victory. And this world is going to be a struggle. You're going to struggle, but you have the one holy, righteous one of God. Jesus Christ is going to protect you. It's good news. But he doesn't just protect us from eternal death. He protects us from the evil one. But he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. Now who is the evil one? It's mentioned in back to back verses here in eighteen and nineteen. He's talking about Satan. He's talking about the devil. Back in first John chapter three, verse eight, John says this whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy, to destroy the works of the devil. So Jesus is protecting us from Satan, our adversary, and he's not letting him touch us. Like in a world that feels like Satan's, just like after me, and he's going to grab me, he's going to get Ahold of me. Jesus goes, no way. There's no way. John chapter ten, verse twenty eight and twenty nine says this I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. What a promise from Jesus! My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. Like this is the incredible promise, the certain promise of God. You. No adversary, no opponent is going to snatch you out of the father's hands. The devil cannot do it now, but this says, and the evil one does not touch him. Now what does that mean? Like Satan can't physically touch you. He can't tempt you. He's going to leave you completely alone. The idea of does not touch there is to lay hold of something or grasp. Not just a mere superficial touch, though. A grasp that can inflict pain but never lead to death. You hear me? This idea that, oh, he's going to protect you from Satan, but you better believe Satan's going to fire lots of fiery arrows at you, and he's not removing you from this. I think of it like you have like, if you pretend like one hand has this firm grasp and this is like God holding you, but Satan the adversary, the opponent, he's bringing blow after blow constantly, but he can never snatch you out of God's hand. It just doesn't work. But the blows bring uncertainty and instability, and they hurt and they're painful and they're legitimate. And it seems often that they're relentless. It never is going to stop. But church, what I want you to know is that Satan can provide a deadly. Satan cannot provide a deadly wound that extinguishes the faith of believers. He can't do it. He doesn't have the power to do that. He'll bring blow after blow. There will be danger. There will be suffering, affliction, and even terrible persecution from the evil one. But listen to what Jesus prays again, back to verse fifteen of John seventeen. I do not ask that you, father, take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. Jesus prays for the father to protect his disciples from the evil one. Rather than taking them out of the world. But sometimes our prayer lives are God. Take me out of this. Get me out of this suffering. Get me out of this suffering. Please get me out of this suffering. It's got to end. It's got to end. He's going. It may not end on this side of heaven, but believe me, I'm protecting you. I got you, and my grasp is so firm. No one will ever snatch you out of my grasp. No matter how hard it gets. There's no prayer to remove the pain from them or to remove them from the pain. Satan will still tempt and some of his wounds will be painful. But church, they will all be short lived and not eternal. Paul would say their light and momentary affliction preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. And wasn't there a moment in history where it looked like Satan had one where Jesus Christ had died on the cross only for three days later him to say, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Because he resurrects like it seems like Satan had won, but he hadn't. This is not. He doesn't have the power. Those born of God are protected and kept in the firm grip of Christ's hand. Despite Satan's relentless temptations and relentless pounding God's grip. Guys, is so strong that nothing of this world or nothing out of this world can remove us from that grip. Guys, tell me that doesn't bring some certainty in an uncertain world. Provide great steadfastness that when life gets terribly hard, He's going, I got you, I got you. So in this uncertain world, we can be certain that we have the God given protection of Christ. And number two, we can be certain that we are God's possession. We are God's possession. Look back at verse nineteen. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. This verse echoes a lot of what John just said. But instead of saying, we know those of us that have been born of God, it simply says that those of us who are from God, we are his creation. And I would even go further, further. We are his recreation. We've been born again by God, which means we are his eternal possession. When life seems uncertain, it's not only great to know that God's going to protect you, But, guys, he's going to protect you because you're his. You are his. Titus chapter two, verses eleven through fourteen says this for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our Lord, of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Talking about Jesus Christ, verse fourteen, who gave himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Like this is what Jesus has accomplished on your behalf. God now says, you're my own possession. I got you firmly in my grip and your mind. Your mind. would say it this way in First Peter chapter two. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood. He's talking about believers. A holy nation, a people for his own possession. This is not just John saying it is Paul saying it and Peter saying it, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. What incredible hope that we're his. It doesn't just like build steadfastness, but it gives us great hope in a world of sin and the world of the evil one, and a world where everybody dies. Knowing you are God's possession is critical for hope. Now, why is this so critical? Because everyone in this world is not on the same team. Everyone in this world is not on the same team. There are those of us who have been born of God, who are from God, and those of us who are not. There are those of us who don't make a practice of sinning, and those of us that. Those people that do. There are those that are protected by God and those that aren't. We know back to verse nineteen, we know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The whole world lies in the power of. This is the same word used for Jesus lying in a manger. Like the whole world is lying in the grip of. Under the control of. Under the sway of the enemy of Satan, the evil one. So while God has Believers in his firm grip. The world is in the firm grip of Satan. Which begs the question wait a second. Who's in charge here? Is God in control of the world, or is Satan in control of the whole world? Well, Satan's power is very limited, limited by God because God is completely sovereign over it all. But the whole world system is touched and even controlled by the evil one. Politics and athletics and economics and entertainment. It all lies in the power of the evil one. Now who is this evil one again? Let's get second Corinthians chapter four three through four says this. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world, Satan, is called the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. Like Satan has put blinders on so you can't see the beauty of the gospel to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel and the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. You can't see Jesus clearly because Satan has put blinders over you, because he's the God of this world. The world can't see the gospel in Ephesians chapter two. It's not going to be on the screen, but it's like, oh, you, you were following the ways of this world. You were following the prince of the power of the air. Like this world, we are living and breathing in a world that lies in the power of the evil one. And to lie in the power of it means to to languish in it as you lying the power of the evil one. You languish. Are. You weaken or you deteriorate. If you want to find true life and have your joy be made complete, don't lie in the bed of the world. This under the control of the evil one. Like how many people you look at in the world that lies in the power of the evil one, you go, man, their life looks awesome. Some of it looks very appealing, but I'm guessing if you just went and talked to them for a long time, you're like, man, that that sounds miserable. Satan being in control of the world could lead us to being really uncertain, though. Like, this is daunting and this is depressing. But guys, God is in full control. Satan's dominion is fleeting. Satan is limited by God's sovereignty. And what he's saying is like, you belong to me. Yeah, the world belongs to Satan, but I'm far greater, far greater. And you will be delivered from this world only because of Christ. So in this uncertain world, we can be certain. In God given protection, in Christ, we can be certain that we belong to Christ. And number three, we can be certain that we have God given purpose. Look to verse twenty and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Now where is our certainty coming from that he sent His Son, that Jesus Christ has come, the incarnation that God Almighty has taken on flesh. This is where great certainty comes from. And remember the false teaching that John was addressing over and over the Gnostics. Oh, Jesus. He wasn't just. He never lived in like real body. He was just a spirit. So we get to do whatever we want to do. But but John said, no, no, no, no, no, Jesus did actually come. He lived as a human. So he gets your life. He understands. And we can have certainty because we know that he came. Not only do we know that he came, but when he came, he has given us understanding. We've been given God given understanding, not an understanding that we just gained on our own without the understanding of Jesus. We're just going to walk around ignorant for the rest of our lives, not knowing what life is actually about. And this is what Satan has done. Like blinded us from seeing that. So what has he given us understanding of so that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. So what is Jesus giving us? Understanding of the truth. What does that mean? It means reality. This is what's actually authentic and real in this life. Him who is true, being in him who is true, and to be in him who is true means that we have a relationship. There's no uncertainty here. We can know for sure what life's about. And this word no. So it's already showed up three other times. We know that. We know that we know that, and then it shows up again so that we may know him who is true. Now we read that in English. We go, yeah, no no, no no, no. Right. But this fourth word, no is actually a different Greek word. It's the Greek word ginosko, which simply means that there's this more than just intellectual awareness, but there's this deep personal relational knowing that you don't just know something intellectually anymore. But because Christ has come and because Christ has given you understanding, you don't just know him intellectually, you get to know God personally. God, that is so different from the religions of this world. Like, oh, you can know God Almighty. Yes, through his Son, Jesus Christ. That so that there is the purpose like, oh, you have this intellectual knowledge so that you can realize the personal relationship that you can have with God. Jake said it several weeks ago. We gotta get Jesus right? We gotta get Jesus right. Because if we miss Jesus, we can't have a relationship with the father. And our joy will never be complete in an uncertain world. And it seems like John is concluding this whole book the way he started it. If you think back to chapter one, listen to how John started this whole thing, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. So this false teaching says, oh, Jesus didn't come in the body. He was just a spirit. John's going, no, no, no no no no no. I saw him, I heard him, I looked upon him, I touched him. The life was made manifest. God's life was made manifest in Christ. And we have seen it him and to testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the father, and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with him. You see how he starts this we want you. The purpose is so that you would have fellowship with God. And now he's going, oh, you can have that fellowship. You can know what's true, you can be in him. And indeed, our fellowship is with the father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete in an uncertain, unstable world. You can have complete joy only because of the work of Jesus Christ. That's it. He was real. He wasn't just a spirit. And him coming as a man allows us to have fellowship with the father. Because how incredible are these certainties? Oh, we can know we have God given protection. We can know that we belong to Christ. We can know what our God given purpose is because Jesus has said like, oh, now you're to be reconciled in a relationship with God. So these great certainties. So then John's going to say, okay, go get em. No, look back to verse twenty one, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Little children. Now, I don't know. Is he saying little children in a like, gentle, kind way, the way that you talk to a little kid? Or is he saying it in a firm way, like, hey, I'm going to tell you, kids, let me tell you how this is. Keep yourselves from idols or please keep yourselves from idols. Probably a little bit of both, right? Like, please keep yourselves from idols. You know what's certain? Or please keep yourselves from idols. You're going to run down a dark path if you keep going that direction. But this is a little confusing to me. Like, why should we guard ourselves from idols? Because over and over in this book he said, like, don't keep on sinning, don't keep on sinning. And he's actually mentioned the word sin twenty nine times up until this. You know how many times he's mentioned idols zero up until now? Wait a second. This seems odd. You've told us over and over we shouldn't go on sinning. Don't keep on sinning, sinning. Don't make a practice out of sinning. It seems like our whole confidence should be in not sinning. But he goes, actually, I want you to keep yourselves from idols. Why not keep ourselves from sin? Because if you want to show you're a genuine believer that you truly know God? Are you just supposed to show people that you don't sin? No. This whole book, guys, is about us being confident in the Lord, not by just keeping ourselves from sin, but by having confidence because we worship God above all else. What John is saying here at the end of this letter is something far deeper than just don't sin. He's saying, hey, don't drift in your worship. You don't just have a sin problem. But behind every sin is an idolatry problem. Problem. Which means that you don't just have a sin problem in your life. You have a worship problem. And if you are certain in the truth. Don't settle for something fake. When you know the truth and you've been given understanding of the truth and you've personally experienced relationally experienced the truth. Guys, don't settle for a counterfeit. Watch out that you're not just creating gods in your own image, because you want to live the life that you want to live. That's what the Gnostics did. I want to live life how I want to live. You do you. I'll do me and I'll just create a Jesus who I can say, well, he didn't really actually have a body, so that means I can live my life in the body however I want to live it. They created an idol that wasn't true. Something false like beware of breathing in the Prince of the power of air and looking so much like the world, and how you spend your time and how you spend your money. Because if you have certainty in Christ. What John is saying is, keep yourselves from being ruled by power. Keep yourselves from being ruled by status and significance and control and pleasure and comfort. Oh, you have this certainty from God in Christ. Why are you running after those things? If you have this certainty in Christ will treasure him, the true and eternal God above all else in this life. Prize him more than you. Prize food and work and family and stress free living and money and love and beauty and science and America. And religion. Like what a privilege to live in. Incredible country that we get to celebrate two hundred and fifty years of freedom this week. But some of you have put your hope in a. In a country that will never offer you complete protection for eternity. You have found your citizenship in this country and your citizenship is in heaven. And this country will never provide you a relationship with God. Do I love living in this country? Absolutely. Do we get to be in church together this morning because the freedom that this country provides. Yes. But this country will never provide us protection and belonging in a relationship with God. Some of you have run after this country above God, and you've run after all these other things. And John is saying, keep yourselves from idols. Don't be duped into thinking that a false God will provide you protection. Don't be duped into thinking that a false God will provide you security and purpose or steadfastness or hope, or ultimately a relationship with the true God. But if you want to stay on shaky ground, bow to idols. But if you want to thrive with certainty in an uncertain world, draw near to God by knowing his truths. Stay near to God by avoiding false gods. God, since God is our. Is true and our purpose is found in him, and we belong to him, and we have the protection of Jesus. Guys. Intimacy with God is the key to certainty. Intimacy with God is the key to certainty in a world of instability. If ultimate stability is found in God, then our closeness to God is the key to certainty in this unstable world. Think about it this way. How many of you at your house you have a loose electrical socket. Anybody ever had one of those? You plug something into it and it feels like it just falls out immediately. We have some electricians in the room. I'm probably going to mess something up here, but like, that's not good when something falls out of the electrical socket, right? It's not secure. So you plug a vacuum cleaner and you're vacuuming and you're always looking back. AM I about to pull this thing out of the wall or not? Because it's not secure? Because a strong connection to the source provides you with more certainty. Intimacy with God, drawing near to God will increase certainty in this life. But idolatry, pulling away from God will only decrease certainty in this unstable world. The closer you are to God, the more certain you will be in this world. But the further you get from God, the more uncertain you'll become. Because. But the more that you experience the intimate embrace of the one true God. The less you're going to run to the fleeting pleasures and fleeting satisfaction that this world offers you and all the false gods that it offers you. Now, what's going to happen when we start to live this out? When we start to draw close to God? What's going to happen when you draw near to God? You know what? You're going to realize how strong God's grip actually is. And as you draw near to God and you flee from idols, you're going to realize how weak your grip actually is. And this is the good news. You grabbing hold of God like, I'm going to draw near to God and I'm going to grab firmly to God is like a dead fish handshake. You know what I mean? I teach my boys like, hey, let me teach you how to shake a hand. You don't shake somebody's hand like this. You grab a hold firm handshake, you look them in the eye. We're still working on that. All right. So you shake my kids hands this morning like, no, we're still working on it, but, like, you don't shake their hands like a dead fish. And, you know, because just like week, that's not how you shake hands. But some of you, you think if I draw near to God, then I'm going to cling to him and everything's going to be all right. And I'm telling you, you're too weak. And you were created weak because you're not God. And that's the beauty of drawing near to God. You realize like, oh, my grip is really weak, but thanks be to God that his is really strong. Guys, as you draw near to God, you're going to realize the strength of his protection is in Christ, not your hard work. As you draw near to God, you're going to realize the safety of belonging to him is in Christ, not your good works As you draw near to God, you're going to realize that knowing him, the purpose of your whole existence is secure. All because of Christ's work, not your work. And it reminds me of Jesus words at the end of the sermon on the Mount. We're almost done here. Matthew chapter seven, verse twenty four through twenty seven. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. That sounds like some stability, right? And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house. But it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Seems like a lot of instability. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell. And great was the fall of it. Guys, my hope for Veritas Church is that our church would be built on intimacy with God, that our church wouldn't be built on a cool building, or some talented musicians, or some hard work and some talented people, but that we would realize that, oh, we need God above everything else in this life. Like, may God draw us near to him as we uphold His Word and herald his word, and study and read and abide in it and practice His Word. And may our church treasure him more than running to the pleasures, the fleeting pleasures of this world. May God ultimately build our church on the foundation of the Rock of Jesus Christ. So when the winds of this world blow against Veritas, we're steady. And when the world's idols flood all around us. When it feels like we're beaten down. Even to the point of death. May Veritas proclaim that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, to the glory of God the Father, to the end of the age, and to the ends of this earth. Amen. Let's pray. God, you are so good and you're so kind. And father. Please build our church on closeness with you. God, we're too weak to hold tight of you in this world. God, thank you that through Christ, you hold us firmly. May we never forget that. May our confidence and certainty grow because of you and your work alone. Pray this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.