Judgment Day and Uncompromising Justice

holidays of the entire year as far as I'm concerned. I mean hardly anything can be Groundhog Day, right? Amen? You laugh! It's one of the greatest holidays of the entire year! Think about it. It is the one holiday out of the entire year where the focus is on the future. Think about that. I mean, you think of Columbus Day. We celebrate Columbus Day. What are we celebrating? Some guy and something that happened hundreds of years ago. Same thing with St. Patrick's Day, which is coming up here in the not-too-distant future. I mean, we celebrate some guy that chased all the snakes out of Ireland and is famous for his green milkshakes at McDonald's. Almost every single holiday out there is about the past, but Groundhog Day, one of the greatest holidays of the entire year, is focused on the future. Have you ever wondered where in the world did we get this concept of Groundhog Day? Thank you for wondering about that! It's got an interesting history where it came about. You gotta go all the way back to the Romans and also the Germans. See, the Romans thought that somewhere in February, if they were to observe the climate and the weather conditions, that this would be a good prognostication. Now, there's a $20 bill word to use later on this week in a sentence. They could do a prognostication of what the rest of the weather will be like coming up fairly soon. Will winter linger on? Will spring come early? Then the Germans got into it as well. What they would do is they would check out hibernating critters. They'd observe these hibernating critters and see how they behaved. Of course, they gave most of their attention to hedgehogs or to sacred bears. Then when these Germans came to the United States, they merged everything with what the Romans were doing. Of course, instead of a sacred bear, we've got the groundhog, which I think is so much more intelligent. The last thing you want to do is wake up a hibernating bear and he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. Amen? You never have to worry about getting mauled by a groundhog. It's just one of the greatest festivals and holidays of the entire year. I hope you are paying attention on Tuesday because it's a big deal. You go to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It's just a short drive away from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Everybody gathers at this place called Gobbler's Knob. Now come on, Gobbler's Knob, that's better than flying reindeer. Amen? So they gather around Gobbler's Knob at 7.30 in the morning in the first part of February and you know it's cold and dark and early. I mean, who gets up at 7.30 in the morning to head off to a place called Gobbler's Knob? But thousands, tens of thousands of people will gather there every February 2nd to find out if Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous groundhog in the entire world, whether he will see his shadow or not. And of course it happened earlier this week. It happened on Tuesday, 7.30 in the morning, Eastern Standard Time. This is, I don't know if you heard it, but here is the official report if you haven't heard already. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Now this second day of February 2016, the 130th annual trek of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, prognosticator of all prognosticators, was awakened from his burrow to the cheers of his thousands of faithful followers. In groundhog ease, he directed the president and the inner circle to the precise prediction scroll, which translated reads, are you listening? The inner circle goes to great ends to keep me abreast of latest trends. Down in my burrow I never get bored riding on my hoverboard, and I sure have fun flying my drone, but weather forecasting is my comfort zone. Is the current warm weather more than a trend? Perchance this winter has come to an end. There is no shadow to be cast, and early spring is my forecast. Amen? Let's give the Groundhog a round of applause. Oh, I tell you what. Oh, my goodness, people. We are so focused as human beings on the future. We are totally focused on the future. Maybe that's why I like Groundhog's Day so much, because it focuses on the future. In fact, we are obsessed with the future. We are so obsessed with the future that we tend to forget about our past and ignore our present and just focus on the future. And of course, you know, one of the things in the future that people are really focused upon is the end of the world. I mean, we hear about it all the time. In fact, if you were to Google end of the world, do you know how many replies you'll come up with? Over 2.4 billion thingies there on what would you call those? Google it's? I don't know. Google things on Google. 2.4 billion on end of the world. And of course, most of us here in this room we've seen the people go nuts over end of the world things. Remember 1999 going into the year 2000? Y2K? Did anybody freak out over that? I didn't, but that was a big deal. Y2K, if you were there, you lived through it. Congratulate yourself, pat yourself on the back. And then just a few years ago, remember 2012? Remember 2012? Back in 2012, on December 21st of 2012, that's when the world was supposed to come to an end. They checked out this thing called this Mayan Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar. Yeah, try to use that in a sentence sometime this week. I bet you can't. But that calendar was supposed to end on December 21st, year 2012, and everybody had all these different theories of how the world was going to come to an end. Some said it would be solar flares. Others said giant asteroids hitting the planet. Somebody thought that it was the 12th planet in our solar system. Last I heard, we only had nine, and they're taking that back so we only have eight, but a planet called Nibiru or something was going to collide with the Earth. Others were saying that the Earth and the Sun were going to get into this galactic alignment with the center of the universe, and we all be fried in a second. Others were suggesting pole shift, where the North and South Pole would do one of these numbers and mess up all of our compasses. Others were thinking alien invaders would come and destroy the planet. Others were going to blame us, you know, nuclear Armageddon. By the way, did you hear the North Koreans launched a rocket and put something in space, and this is just shortly after doing their hydrogen bomb test day thing. So they thought nuclear Armageddon. Others were thinking pandemic, disease, biological warfare, again and again and again and again and again, all these different things. How many of you have survived 2012? Raise your hand. Hey, pat yourself on the back. We did good. So it didn't happen, but it just amazes me of how much time and effort we spend worrying about when the world comes to the end. We're so focused on that, we forget about our present, we ignore our past, and we spend all our time worrying about the end of the world, and folks, that is just stupid. Amen? Isn't that just dumb, worrying about the end of the world? You should never, ever, ever worry about the world coming to an end, the end of the world. What you should be worried about is the day after the world comes to the end. You chuckle, but I'm serious. That's the day we need to worry about. That's the day we call Judgment Day. Amen? Which brings us to our text this morning, and I want to encourage you all to turn in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 3, and you might be saying, where in the world is Zechariah, and who in the world reads Zechariah? Well, here's what you do. You go to the book of Matthew, the first gospel, and you start turning backwards into the Old Testament. You'll go past Malachi, or as I like to call it, Malachi, the Italian book, and then you come to the book of Zechariah, Zechariah. Don't go to Zephaniah, you've gone too far. You want to go to Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 3, and I guess I better stay here. I'm a roamer. I've got to stay here because of the mic, but that's where our text will be coming from today. On the 24th day of the 11th month, in the second year of Darius, king of Persia, God spoke to the prophet Zechariah in a vision, and in this vision God gave Zechariah a glimpse into what it will be like on that great day of judgment. The book of Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 tells us that it is appointed upon man once to die, and then the judgment, and because of that this vision that God gave Zechariah is actually a great thing because it gives us each a glimpse of what it will really be like when we stand before our Lord on judgment day. Amen? So what exactly will it really be like? What can we expect? What will happen to each and every single one of us when we stand before our God on judgment day? Well, because John Peters asked that question, we're going to spend the next three hours together and find out the answers to that question as we turn to God's word this morning. But first, yeah, everybody blame John. You won't be able to see the Super Bowl because of John. Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your love and blessings. We thank you for the privilege of being able to gather together in your house to worship you. Lord, at this time we just want to render praise and glory and honor to you. And Lord, we ask but one thing. We ask that you would still our minds and quiet our thoughts so that we might focus upon your word. And Lord, we pray that your word and your word only would be proclaimed here this morning. And Lord, we pray that we would hear not just with our ears, not just with our minds, but with our hearts, with our very souls. So that as we hear your word, we will be transformed, we will be changed, we will be different when we leave here than the way in which we arrived. Lord, we pray for a miracle in our hearts. And we pray this all in Jesus' name. And if you agree with that prayer, just say amen. Amen. Well, I've invited you to turn your Bibles to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 3. That's on page 1,403 in my Bible. It might not help you, but that's where it's at in mine. And the first thing I would like you to notice about Judgment Day is that Judgment Day is going to be a day of uncompromising justice for all. Uncompromising justice for all. Let's look at Zechariah chapter 3, just the first three verses to get us going. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. Oh, folks. Judgment Day is going to be a day of uncompromising justice for all. And when you first think about it, you think, yay, justice. Because I think of people like Stalin and Hitler and Idi Amin and Osama Bin Laden. And I'm thinking, Judgment Day, yes, uncompromising justice on Judgment Day. They're going to get it, amen. And I think that's just good stuff. But as we read through the book of Zechariah, especially here in chapter 3, you know, all that kind of joy just starts to dissipate as I begin to understand exactly what uncompromising justice for all really means. Let's set the scene. In Zechariah's vision, what he is seeing is a heavenly courtroom, amen? And in that courtroom, there is God. And God is the judge, high and exalted and lifted up in glory, amen? And there is a defendant before the throne of God to be judged by God Himself. And that defendant was none other than Joshua, who was the high priest of Israel in Jerusalem. But they weren't the only two people in that room. There was also a prosecuting attorney. And you all know who he is. His name is Satan. And the Bible says in Zechariah, it says that Satan was there to prosecute, to accuse. And as we read through these first three verses of Zechariah chapter 3, things were not looking good for Joshua, the high priest. And the reason for that is, he was being condemned by Satan. Joshua was being condemned by Satan before God Almighty. The very word Satan itself literally means adversary. And it refers to the enemy who resists the work of God and who resists God's people. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 tells us to be alert and of sober mind, because your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Folks, that ain't a good thing, amen? He is not on our side. It was Satan who stood before God's throne to accuse Job in the book of Job in chapters 1 and chapters 2. So this isn't anything new. It was Satan who wanted to destroy Simon Peter. And we can read about that in Luke chapter 22 verse 33, where Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. It was Satan who tried to tempt Jesus, if you recall, after his baptism in Matthew chapter 4 and Mark chapter 1. It is Satan who is defeated in the book of Revelation chapter 12 and in verse 10, where he is described as the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night. The guy never lets up. And while he may be the father of lies, here Satan does not have to lie because Joshua was also being condemned by his own sin. There was Joshua, the high priest of Israel. Now you got to know a little bit about Joshua. His grandpappy had been the high priest in Jerusalem before the Babylonians came in 586 BC and destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and took everybody to Babylon in the Babylonian captivity. And for those 70 years in Babylonian captivity, that's where Joshua the high priest was born and where he grew up. And when he returned to Jerusalem with governor Zerubbabel some 16 years before this vision is written down, he goes there and his job is to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. He was to serve as high priest in that temple once it was built. And you can read all about that in the book of Haggai chapter 1 verse 14. I'll just give you a little read there. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, son of Josedach, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God. So Joshua the high priest, he's got this great lineage. His grandpappy was high priest and after that his daddy was high priest and then he became high priest. He was the one that left Babylon and went back to a rebuilt Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple there to serve as high priest in the new rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. As high priest he was the only man on the entire planet who could enter into the temple of God in Jerusalem through the holy place and enter into the holy of holies where no man or woman or child or beast is ever allowed except for the high priest. And then only one day during an entire year, the day of atonement. Folks, he was the religious leader of his day and of his time. He was a good man by human standards. He was a very good man by religious standards. He was the religious leader of his time, but he was not perfect. Amen? In Zechariah's vision, there Joshua stands before his judge, God Almighty, dressed, the Bible says, in filthy clothes. There's another interesting word there, that word filthy. It literally means excrement. There is Joshua, high priest of God, standing before the throne of God wearing clothes covered in excrement. If you read on into verse 4, we find out that that excrement-covered clothing is symbolic of Joshua's sin. That is how disgusting sin is to the Lord God. He cannot stand it. You know, Joshua's undressed in such a way that you just want to rub up and hug him. Amen? You want to keep in that arm's length. Same thing goes with God when it comes to sin. God does not want it in his presence. And so, standing in the filthiness of his sins before the perfect holiness of God Almighty, Joshua was also being condemned by God's own holiness. Think about it. According to Hebrews 7, verse 26, God is holy, blameless, unstained, and separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. In Isaiah 6, verse 3, the angels proclaim God as holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Actually, that was Revelation 4 or 8. Isaiah 6, 3 was holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. By proclaiming God holy, not once, not twice, but three times, these angels were saying that God was perfectly holy, that he was only holy, that there was no sin within him. Therefore, nothing and no one could enter into the presence of God unless they, too, were perfectly holy. Psalm 7, verse 11, God is described as a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day. He's righteous. And since Joshua, despite his many good qualities, was not perfectly holy, he was condemned to hell. Note what the Lord says in verse 2. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Folks, these are references, burning and fire, are references to nothing less than hell itself, and hell is a dreadful place, and you do not want to go there, amen or oh me. And that is exactly what it's going to be like when you and I die and stand before our holy God on judgment day. When that day happens, the day after the end of the world for you, when that day happens, Satan is going to be there to condemn you before God. God's own holiness will be there to condemn you before himself. Our own sins will be there to condemn us before our God. And folks, there is nothing we can say, there is nothing we can do to overcome these great obstacles. The sad thing is there's too many across this land and perhaps too many in this room this morning who are placing their hope in false ideas. Too many people think that if you do more good things than bad things, that God has some kind of giant balance up in heaven, and if you do more good things, it weighs in your favor, these giant scales, and that gets you into heaven. It's not the case. You've got to be perfectly, 100% holy without sin. Many of you are relying upon your own righteousness to get into heaven. You think you're a good person. Well, by human standards, you're great. You claim to go to church. Let me give you a very strong, good theological term to take with you today. Whoop-dee-doo. Yeah, you go to church, whoop-dee-doo, well and fine. Joshua the high priest built the temple in Jerusalem. Amen? You claim you're religious. There's that term again, whoop-dee-doo. Joshua the high priest was the high priest, the religious leader of his day. You claim that you're a good person. Joshua the high priest was a very good person. You claim that a loving and merciful God would never send anybody to hell, but you forget that God is perfectly holy and that he is a just God. He cannot allow anything or anyone unholy into heaven. The simple fact of the matter is, like Joshua the high priest, when judgment day comes, we all deserve to go to hell, uncompromising justice for all. And folks, hell is a horrible place. Amen? Have you ever run through the Bible and looked at the descriptions of hell? Revelation 21.8, hell is described as a lake of fire and lake of brimstone. In Malachi 4, Matthew 13, Revelation 9, it is described as a furnace of fire. Notice it's getting hotter. In Mark chapter 9, it is a fire that is never quenched. In Revelation 20, it's described as a lake of fire, where those thrown into it will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. In Luke 16 and Revelation 14, they both describe hell as a place of torment. Matthew 22, Jude 13, 2 Peter 2, 17 describe hell as a place of darkness. In Matthew 5 and Luke 12 and 1 Peter 3, 19, hell is referred to as a prison. In Luke 16, hell is described as a place with no relief. Ezekiel 8, verse 18 describes hell as a place where there will be no mercy and no pity. And on and on and on it goes throughout the Bible. Hell is a dreadful, inexpressibly, inconceivably horrible place of misery. Jesus tells us in Luke 12, verses 4 and 5, and also in Matthew 10, verse 28, to fear hell. He says, I tell you, friends, do not be afraid of those who can kill the body and after that can do no more, but I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, after the body has been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him, all who are not perfectly holy, as God is perfectly holy. Three times, not once, not twice, three times in the Gospels, Jesus tells us that it is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. That's how serious it is. Hell is a dreadful place, but because of uncompromising justice for all, that is where we all deserve to go. Joshua the high priest stood before his holy God. He was a sinner. He was condemned, unclean, and without hope. He was defenseless. And when he was asked to defend himself, do you know what Joshua said? Did you read it there in those first three verses of Zechariah chapter 3? He didn't say a thing. There's nothing he could say. But praise be to God, there was hope. Amen. Because not only is Judgment Day a day of... uncompromising justice for all. It's also going to be a day of incomprehensible grace for a few. Let's read through this entire chapter from the beginning. It's just 10 verses. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. And then he said to Joshua, See, I have taken away your what? Sin, that's right. And I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, Put a turban on his head. So they put a turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says. If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts. And I will give you a place among these standing here. Listen, oh high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come. I am going to bring my servant, the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua? There are seven eyes on that one stone. And I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty. And I will remove the sin of this land. When? In a single day. And in that day, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under his vine. And fig tree declares the Lord Almighty. Judgment day for a few will be a day of incomprehensible grace. Amen. It's going to be fabulous. Fantabulous is a word I'd create for it. Think about it. There was Joshua the high priest. He stood before his maker, before his perfectly holy God. He stood before him condemned by Satan, condemned by his own sin, condemned by the very holiness of God himself, condemned to hell. But God intervened, amen? And because God intervened, I want you to notice that because God intervened, Joshua was cleansed. He was cleansed. Look at what happened there. God commanded it and it happened. Joshua's excrement-covered clothes were removed from him. Now remember, those excrement-covered clothes, those filthy clothes, were symbolic of what? Of Joshua's sin. And so by the removing of those clothes, what we're seeing here is the removal of Joshua's sin. Could Joshua do it on his own? Go like this. Let's hear those marbles roll back and forth. No, he could not do that. It was something only God could do, amen? But wait, there's more. Because not only did God cleanse Joshua, the high priest, he also clothed him. The command was given, wasn't it? Clothed him in what? Rich garments. And these rich garments were placed upon Joshua. Folks, I want to tell you, symbolism here. This represents a righteousness that was not Joshua's own, but a righteousness of somebody else that was placed upon Joshua. And I'll let you dwell on that a bit to see if you can figure out whose righteousness that might be that was imputed upon Joshua, the high priest. And God wasn't done yet, was he? He also commanded that a crown be placed upon Joshua. That turban was to be placed upon Joshua's head. He was cleansed, he was clothed, and now he was crowned. The folks, the turban was a special garment. It was the headdress to be worn by the high priest. And you can read all about that in Exodus 38, verse 26, where it tells us that on the front of that turban, of that headdress, is a plaque, and on that plaque is written this, Holy to the Lord. That headdress was symbolic of the fact that Joshua was now back in fellowship with God once again, and now he was able to serve God once again. But you've got to ask, how is this possible? Because we already said, God is perfectly holy, amen? And he is a just God. How could God's perfect holiness and justice be upheld? Ladies and gentlemen, Christ makes it happen, amen? Christ makes it happen. In verse 8, Zechariah is told that this vision is symbolic of future events, of things to come, that God himself was going to send his servant the branch and the stone. Servant, branch, stone? Who do we know that is referred to these things in the Bible? None other than Jesus Christ himself. We read about it constantly, especially in Isaiah chapter 53, where Jesus Christ is referred to as the suffering servant, amen? And you read that throughout all of Scripture. If we go to Jeremiah chapter 23, verses 3 through 6, we find the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I'll raise up for David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called the Lord, our righteous Savior. So the branch is symbolic of Jesus Christ himself as well. And the stone? How many times do you read throughout the entire Bible of Jesus being referred to as the cornerstone, amen? Romans 9.33 tells us, See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame, amen? How about 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 4 through 8? As you come to him the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, you are also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says, See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for. Christ makes it happen. God told Zechariah, God told him that he would remove the sin of the land in a single day. How many days? One. When did that happen? At a place called Calvary in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. Notice God's role in all this. God is the one who rebukes Satan. God is the one that does all the choosing. God is the one that takes away and removes the sin. God is the one who clothes people in righteousness, and it is God who saves. Amen or oh me? I think Romans chapter 5 verse 8 sums it up best. But God demonstrated his love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Amen? Sinner, who or what are you relying upon to escape the flames of hell? There's only one way, only one way, and that is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen? The story is told by John Wesley himself. About a terrible night in his childhood, John Wesley was about six years old. His daddy, much like Joshua the high priest, his daddy was a preacher, and he had umpteen brothers and sisters, and they were all living next door to the church in the rectory, an older building. And on this particular night when he was just six years old, the house caught on fire. It was a two-story house. And it seemed like everybody in the entire family was able to get out of the house just fine, but because of circumstances, little John Wesley was left behind. And the story goes that he's hanging out that second-door window while the house was on flames all around him, screaming in fear. And, of course, the whole neighborhood comes out to see what they can do to try to rescue this little boy. And just moments before, the roof would collapse in a fiery blaze. And one neighbor climbed upon another neighbor's shoulders, reached up, and grabbed that scared six-year-old little boy and brought him down to safety before the house collapsed around him. Years later, an artist friend of John Wesley painted a picture depicting that very scene. And John Wesley kept that picture his entire life, always kept it near him. And he had a little plaque on the bottom of that picture that quoted our scripture passage to the Word. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? My question to you is, are you a burning stick snatched from the fire? This morning, we've had a look at God's vision to Zechariah, where Zechariah was given a glimpse of what it's going to be like on Judgment Day. When, not if, when you face your God on Judgment Day, what is it going to be like for you? What are you relying upon? If there's only two possible outcomes, burning fire or robes of righteousness, which will it be for you? Christian, if ever there was a reason to worship and praise and glorify your God on high, it is for this reason, that Jesus Christ, the servant, the branch, the stone, has taken our sins away and has imputed his righteousness upon us. It is he who has snatched us from the flames. And because of that, we should worship him. Amen? And folks, by golly, we need to share him with those who don't. Amen? And for those of you who have not received this great gift from Jesus Christ, I ask you, what are you waiting for? You're a smoldering branch. Escape the flame of hell. And you come and you ask Jesus Christ in your heart and ask for his gift of salvation, which only he can give, so that the righteousness and holiness and the justice of God may be upheld. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love and blessings. We thank you for sending your son. We thank you that he paid the price that we deserve to pay so that we can escape what we deserve to go to. Lord, we ask you to forgive us of our sins. We ask you to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, that we may be able to stand before you and serve you and worship you. We ask, Lord, that you would put upon us the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself, so that when our Heavenly Father looks upon us, he sees the righteousness of Christ. Lord, for these reasons, we give you praise. We give you glory. We ask that you give us opportunities to share you with those who don't know about this wonderful gift. And Lord, for those in this room, room this morning, who have not yet received this gift, perhaps they're trusting and hoping in some other means of deliverance. Lord, I pray that you grab hold of their heart and their mind, and that you'd show them the truth, the truth that'll set them free. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen. For the invitation, we'll sing, Here Am I, Send Me, it's 523. Just do a couple verses. As always, we're here to serve you, and so if God's spoken to you this morning and you'd like to come forward and talk to Cecil, or myself, or Ms. Burt, who's up here, God's placed something on your heart, we'd be glad to pray with you. We've had another great opportunity today to hear pretty straight about what God expects from us. So, if God's laid something on your heart and you'd like us to help you, we'll be up front. Thank you. Here am I, send me. Here am I, Lord, send me. Unto thee willingly yielded I come. Show the path that I must walk, compel me then to go. And if I stray, bring me back the light of day. For here I am, send me, I pray. Here am I, send me. Here am I, Lord, send me. Precious Holy Spirit, come fill me anew. Give me wisdom, send me strength. Grant that I may be a mirror of your never-ending love. For here am I, send me, I pray. Thank you for joining us this morning. Stand as we'll dismiss in prayer. Cecil will be out in the hallway in the foyer. Be sure to stop by and talk to him. He is our Association's Director of Missions, and he helps us in a lot of ways. I know he'll appreciate us praying, but also you'll get to know him a little better. Let's pray together. Father, it is frightening to think about that Judgment Day, but we can have great peace in Christ for what He's done for us. There are people out there that are, as our story alluded to today, their sticks burning in the fire. We pray, Lord, that as we worship this week and we're reminded of the great things you've done for us, that you'll also put on our minds and hearts the people around us that so desperately need you, that need to be rescued from this world and the fire that's really all around us. We thank you for the opportunity we had this morning. We'll be back here tonight at 6 o'clock to listen to Cecil, so we pray, Lord, that you would be with us. This day and this week, we continue to watch over us and guide us. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. For closing, we're going to do 313. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.