 This morning, I want to invite you to open your Bibles with me to 2nd Peter chapter three. And this is part four of the series Israel, Iran and the Rising Storm. And I've entitled it responding to the storm. This last week, I was in Dallas recording a series of TV programs for Daystar Christian Television with a few men discussing this issue. And it just so happened that while I was down there, I found out that my sermon transcript got quoted in the New York Times. How many know, we think here in Kalamazoo, we just kind of slide under the radar. But apparently not so. And I say that not as a way to boast, but also as a way to open up the window of our understanding to see that there are people who are right now grappling and trying to understand how we should respond to what is taking place globally in our own nation and as well as European nations, and particularly in the Middle East. How do we respond to the storm? There's a lot of information about what's taking place, but how do we respond to that? And this morning, I want to share that with you, beginning in 2 Peter chapter three, beginning in verse number nine. It says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Verse 11. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. November 9th and 10th, 1938. In Germany, a day that has been referred to and celebrated and commemorated as Kristallnach, which means night of the broken glass. It was on this night in 1938 November 10th that Jewish homes, hospitals, and schools were ransacked across Germany and Austria. 267 synagogues were destroyed in one single night. 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed. 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. 90 Jews were murdered in many more committed suicide on that day and the days following. And it took place all while the German people and the German authorities stood by watched. Friday, November the 10th, 2023. As a group of Jewish people and even Holocaust survivors gathered in Florida remembering and commemorating Kristallnacht, these Jewish people who were gathering in front of their synagogue on one of the most horrific days in Jewish history were confronted by pro-Hamas Palestinian protesters across the street dressed in Hamas gear with their green bandanas and their Palestinian war scarfs saying to those who were remembering this night of all nights, we wish we were in Gaza so that we could kill you. In London on November the 11th, 2023, 85 years later, the largest pro-Hamas protest in history took place yesterday. 600,000 protesters marched in support of quote, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, which is in fact a genocidal call for the extermination of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Setting off smoke bombs in front of synagogues, holding signs with the Star of David, intertwined with swastikas and assaulted Jewish people stating, literally stating, Hitler knew how to deal with these people. In New York on November the 10th, 2023, protesters took down the American flag and replaced them with Palestinian flags. While in the same city on November the 10th, the UN, the United Nations, which a few weeks ago could not muster two-thirds votes to condemn Hamas' atrocities committed on October the 7th, found it in their resolve to pass eight resolutions condemning the state of Israel and quote stating, these are Arab lands, said the representative of Syria after the vote. They will return to their original legitimate owners sooner or later. This is on the anniversary of the 85 years later after crystal knocked. At the same time this last week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November the 11th, 2023, 22 nations of the Arab League along with 30 other primarily Muslim nations gathered in the capital of Saudi Arabia to condemn Israel's actions against Hamas, discussing actions that could be taken against Israel to cut them off from the rest of the world. And if you're looking at this picture here, these are all the members of the Arab nations and I will tell you I don't have time to go into it, but if you read Ezekiel 38 which speaks of the battle of Gog and Magog that will take place at the end of the age when all nations gather against Israel, every single one of the representatives of those nations in Ezekiel 38 are represented in this photo. The Turkish president Erdogan stated this, what is urgent in Gaza is not pauses for a few hours, rather we need a permanent ceasefire, he added. We cannot put Hamas resistors defending their homeland in the same category as the occupiers. 2023 is beginning to look like a playback of 1938. Not just in Germany, but today it's global. And my question is for the church, because in this series this is primarily a message for the church in America. I feel the prophetic mantle that God has put on me to speak to the American church. My question is this, where are the Bonhoeffers? Where are the Dietrich Bonhoeffers, members of the Confessing Church of America? Just as God raised up a theologian and a pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the midst of the German Third Reich calling the German church to defend the Jewish people and to fight for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Where are those Dietrich Bonhoeffers in America? Those leaders who will courageously stand up and defend the Jewish people in the face of calls for the removal from their ancestral covenant homelands and ultimately their extermination off the face of the earth. This is not make-believe, this is happening right before our eyes. How can we go about pastors doing church as usual when the spirit of Haman that stoked the fury of Herod, Nero, and Hitler is once again flooding the streets around the world and saturating social media with the torrent of tropes and lies about the people whom we owe so great a debt. See the devil wants to destroy all the receipts of his covenant promises and replace them with a vision of the future without God and without his King. And I'll remind you pastors, there is a rising storm all around us and to act ignorant at this moment in time and to ignore the issue that the conspiracy and the controversy is centered around Yeshua Jesus the Messiah who is soon to return to a Jewish Israel and a Jewish occupied Jerusalem to reign and to rule upon a Jewish King named David's throne is to repeat the mistakes of the church in World War II Germany. And I'm calling on all pastors and I'm calling on all Christians who have a tendency to keep quiet at this moment and refuse to speak out about what is taking place and to be silenced by a rabid demonic spirit that is inspiring the persecution of the Jews. I'm calling on all Christians and all pastors and leaders to stand up and to pray and to support the nation of Israel and our Jewish friends and family. Lest we become like Martin Nemoller who was a man during the time of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Germany who said this, first they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionist and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. And then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. The church in America is at an Esther moment in history. In the book of Esther chapter 4 verse 14 Mordecai who's the uncle of a young Jewish queen named Esther in the Persian Empire which is modern day Iran in the face of potential extermination by Haman the Amalekite. Mordecai said to Esther, you need to put it all out on the line. You need to risk it all to stand and defend the Jewish people because if you don't, don't make the mistake of thinking you're going to be safe in the king's palace. They're going to come for you. And he says, if you will not stand up, God will bring relief and deliverance from some place else, but perhaps you have been brought into the kingdom for such a time as this. In the church I want you to know that Jesus has brought you into history at such a time as this for kingdom purposes. And it requires boldness and it requires courage and it requires focus and it requires conviction. But this is what we were brought into the earth for at this time, to stand for the things of Jesus, to walk in the biblical path and to love and to pray and to provoke and to jealousy our Jewish friends and family and to support the nation of Israel. To do anything less is to succumb to the spirit of the age and the intimidation of the anti-Christ spirit. So the question begs us today in light of that, if this is true and we see all that is going on in the world right now, how should we therefore live? Francis Schaefer asked this question in a book that he wrote over 60 years ago or 55 years ago, how should we therefore live? But yet he was just echoing what Peter the apostle wrote, a Jewish apostle wrote, in our Bibles in 2 Peter when he asked the church, since all of these things are thus to be dissolved, in other words since this world is temporary and God's kingdom is coming, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? Have you ever asked yourself that question? I want you to ask yourself that question today. What sort of people are we called to be? If we become content Christians who are looking for the path of least resistance in the midst of an age where resistance is increasing, then we will be more shaped by the spirit of this age and the voices of intimidation than we are by the spirit of the living God and the convictions of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. What does it mean for us to examine our lives and to really take a moment and to find ourselves in the moment in which we're living in and then also to shape our lives and calibrate our lives based on what we know to be true? How do we respond to the storm? If it's true that we're quickly accelerating towards the return of the Lord, we don't know when that's going to be, but we do know that it's never going to be easier to serve Jesus than it is today. We don't know when Jesus is going to return, but we know that we're quickly approaching and things in this earth are accelerating at an unprecedented speed. We see the advance of technology, we see all nations fulfilling Psalm chapter 2, and we can look on the horizons and see up ahead where this is all going. A month and a half ago, if I were to tell you that all of world history at one moment in one time will be gathered together against the Jewish people in the nation of Israel and it will become the all-consuming focus of hatred. Most in this room would think, I don't see that happening. We learned from our mistakes, but yet here we are today and it's taking place. And so therefore in light of that, how should we respond? What kind of lives should we live? Peter gives us the advice, he gives us the commands of how we should live our lives, knowing all these things, knowing that the day of the Lord is coming, that the Lord is not slow concerning his promises. And some somewhat have asked the questions like, if Jesus is really coming and the world is in such bad shape, why hasn't he come yet? I'll tell you, he hasn't come yet. He's not because he can't. It's not because he won't. It's because he loves people so much and he wants to see as many people saved as is possible because he doesn't desire that any should perish. Let me tell you something. Jesus shed his blood for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus shed his blood for those who are halfway saved and those that are completely lost. Jesus shed his blood for every ISIS soldier as well as every Chinese slave that is in a work camp. Jesus died and shed his blood for every American and for every person on the face of the earth. And I want to see Jesus receive the full reward of his sufferings. This is why Jesus is waiting. He's patient. We look at it and say, well, God, you're really slow. And God's like, no, you don't understand how much I love people. You don't understand how much I don't want to see people lost for eternity. And even in the midst of the day in which we're living in, the Bible prophesies, scoffers will come. And we're seeing even that, oh, even in the church, we're seeing people, oh, this isn't end times. Oh, those things aren't going to happen. Oh, everything's just going to be usual. Come on. Just plug your ears and sing another happy song and go about our way and live our best life now. Because really, what the gospel is all about is about me. Can I tell you that that has more similarities to the idols that human beings have worshiped than the God who created us? We were not put on this planet for us. We were put on this planet for him. And I want you to know that we are speeding at a breakneck speed towards a collision with his kingdom coming and our kingdom's crumbling. Scoffers are going to come and say, oh, that doesn't, that's not for today, but yet here we are. I think it takes, I think it takes more faith to believe that Jesus isn't coming than it takes to believe that he is. How in the world can you read the Bible? And I've read this book a few times. And I will tell you, every time I read it, I think to myself, this is thousands of years ago predicting the things that we are seeing in our day. Church, it needs to wake us up. Needs to wake us up. So how, how should we therefore live? Let me give you three things that I think are significant, important about how we should live our lives in light of what the storms around us are doing. Number one is we must examine our lives and the way we are living our lives. We have to self-examine. Jesus said this relating to the last days, the, the generation that would see the return of the Lord. In Mark chapter 13 verse 32 through 37, he says, But of that day and hour, no one notes, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. And here's what Jesus says, take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when that time is. It's like a man going into a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to each one his own work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming in the evening at midnight or the curling of the rooster or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all watch or the ESV says, stay awake. We have to take an examination of our own lives. Are we wide eyed and awake, fully alert, seeing what's taking place and living our lives as Peter says, in godliness and holiness, or are we asleep, thinking that we're awake, but we're sleeping? Because let me tell you something, one of the descriptions of what will take place at the end of the age, even among his followers, is Jesus says, make sure that you don't fall asleep. Just before Jesus went to the cross, remember he gathered his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and he said, pray and watch. I'm going to go over here and I'm going to pray. It was a pivotal moment for Jesus. The redemption of humanity was about to take place. Jesus says, pray. And Jesus comes over here and he intercedes to the Father and he's grappling with the will of the Father, knowing that he's going to suffer on the cross. And when he looks back at his disciples, they're asleep. Jesus said in Matthew 25, there were five virgins that were wise and five that were unwise. The unwise ones didn't bring enough oil for their lamps. And when it got dark and the bridegroom was delayed or it appeared that he was delayed, they ran out of oil. What's that talking about? It's not really being prepared for the hour. When things get dark and things become difficult and Jesus has not returned in our lifetime or things seem to be delayed, do we have the oil of intimacy because we've examined our lives and we've allowed the Holy Spirit to run the X-ray machine of conviction over our souls. Have we fallen asleep and been lulled to sleep by the lullaby of a demonic spirit that the enemy has released in the earth like delusion to keep people unaware and unawake or distracted at temporal things with eternal impact? It's like we give eternal energy to things that are all going to fade away. They're all going to dissolve. Can I just tell you your house is wonderful? I've never been to your house but been to some of your houses and we have wonderful homes. But can I tell you those homes are going to fade away. Your clothes are great for about the next two years and then they're going to fade away. Fashion is going to fade away. The look is going to fade away. Your ability to fit in them is going to fade away. Don't look at me like that. You know it's true. You look in a mirror in your 20s and then look again in your 50s and you will not recognize yourself. Why? Because as much as we think we're always going to be here, all flesh is grass. But what about the things that really matter of eternal significance? This is what it means to examine our lives, to take heed, to watch and pray. Take heed means starting with me. I'm examining my life and Peter calls us to examine our lives and say, here's the kind of lives you want to live. You ready? Give yourselves to holiness and godliness. What does that mean? Holiness means to be set apart and dedicated to the service of God. As we see all this stuff happening around us, this should alert us and awake us and say, no, I'm going to give my time and my energy to the things that are eternally significant. God, how can I serve you? How can I serve others? How can I be in the community of the saints? It's a lifestyle. Listen, if Jesus is only our Sunday Savior and Monday through Saturday, we live our real lifestyle and it's in contradiction to the way of Jesus, then we're actually more a disciple of a world and a generation that is fading away than we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We need to put all of our effort, all of our energy into living holiness. In other words, my life is set apart for things that really matter. In wartime, you give up a lot of things so that you can be focused on the goal of winning. This is what Paul says that those who are enlisted in the army as soldiers, they don't get caught up in civilian pursuits. If we think that we're in the middle of a season or a time or a life right now where it's focused on ease and comfort, then we will become casualties caught in the crossfire of a spiritual battle. This is not a time to look for comfort. This is a time to repent. This is a time for us to examine our lives and say, God, I want to give everything to you. I can see your kingdom is quickly approaching and I don't want to be caught off guard. I don't want to fall asleep. Holiness and then godliness, which means devotion and the aim or the direction of our lives. This is what we're called to live and it starts with examining ourselves. Do you know the worst thing that you can do with your life is to live an unexamined life? It's to live an unexamined life. Well, I think I'm good. I'm better than them. I'm better than the people out there, but that's not what God's called us to. I think maybe one of the most disappointing moments in eternity, when Jesus does return and we stand before him, I think one of the most disappointing moments is going to be him saying, this was the life I had for you and this is the life that you settle for. But God, I didn't know. I didn't know and he's going, yeah, you didn't examine yourself. Examine yourself to make sure that you are in the faith. Listen to me. If you are playing games with God, today is a day to repent and get fully saved. Surrender all of your life. The kingdom of God is drawing near and his kingdom wants to dwell within you and he wants to use you in the hour in which you were lived. You are not put on this planet to just kind of pass time and enjoy it as a layover on your way to heaven. You were put here as an integral part of what God wants to do in the earth this day, this time and this generation just before Jesus breaks the eastern sky and returns to reign and to rule. You were put at the end of the age for a significant reason and we need to examine our lives and live accordingly. Number two, we need to ask this question, what are we waiting for? What are we waiting for? Titus chapter 2, 11 verse 14 says, 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 this present age, waiting for our, listen to this, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to pursue for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus is writing to us and he's like, this is what we're waiting for. When we talk about waiting, we're talking about what are we anticipating? We're coming up on the Christmas Advent season where we remember the gift that God gave when he sent his son the first time and has it ever caught you off guard how when we remember the Christmas story, how many people missed Jesus? They missed his coming. Why? Because they weren't waiting for it. This is our blessed hope. Another way of saying this is what are we putting our hopes in? What are we putting our hopes in? Our hope is Jesus' return. That's what we're looking on the horizons for. This is why our heart cries out, Maranatha. Did you know that the early church in the midst of persecution, in the midst of difficulty had one statement that they would make to one another as they greeted another believer, they would say Maranatha, which means the Lord has come and the Lord is coming again? Why? It's because that was their hope. I fear that in the American West, we have put our hopes in all kinds of other things. We've put our hopes in politics. We've put our hopes in some utopia that we can build through justice and through social activism. We've put our hopes in our 401ks. We've put our hopes in our kids' sports acumen. We've put our hopes in finding the right relationship. We're getting enough clicks and getting enough likes on our social media platforms. We've put our hopes in economies. We've put our hopes in the arm of the flesh, and we don't have enough of our hope resting on the fact that Jesus Christ, who came the first time as Emmanuel, is coming again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to make all things that are wrong right and to establish his government on this earth and the increase of his kingdom, there will be no end. That's what we need to be waiting for. And number three, how should we then live? Is we should live in a way that, this is an incredible phrase, but it hastens the day of the Lord. Hastens the day of the Lord. Did you catch that? Hastening. What does it mean to hasten? It means to hurry up. So what Peter is saying is live your life in such a way in holiness and in godliness with your eyes focused on the fact that Jesus is going to return with a marinath or cry in your heart that it actually speeds up the coming of the Lord. This is controversial, but it's in the Bible. I looked up the word hasten and you know what it means? Hasten, hurry up to accelerate. This is inspired scripture and it says that if we will examine our lives church and we will become fully aware, fully tied into what God is doing, then there's a way that we can live our lives that actually speeds up Jesus' return. Well, we don't know the day nor the hour. No, but the Father does. And the Father also knows that His purpose that He has that there are certain things that are going to take place before Jesus does return. And the quicker the church gets motivated and focused and becomes mature, these things get accomplished and Jesus returns. I really believe that heaven is actually waiting on us more than we're waiting on heaven. Well, somebody might say, well, I don't believe that, great, just go on not believing it. And then the delay will actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I would rather live my life thinking and believing that I can hasten the return of the Lord because I want to give my lives to the things that I long for. I want to wait for the return of Jesus like I did when I was a little kid waiting for Christmas morning, when I could not wait, when I was counting down the days and I woke up at the crack of dawn, went downstairs and was chomping at the bit to open the gifts and open the presents. What happens to us? We become adults and then our kids wake up and we're like, give me one more hour. I don't want to get up yet. I don't want that to be my posture when it comes to the return of the Lord. Like, God, give me one, give me another decade. I've got some other things I'm focused on right now. Now, I want that marinathic cry to come on my heart and I want to give my life to the things that are going to speed up and hasten the return of the Lord. Well, what are those things? Number one is the great commission being fulfilled. Jesus is clear when he says in Matthew 20, verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. How do we hasten to return to the Lord? We fulfill the great commission. The reason why we have flags on the back walls of our church in our rooms is so that as when we walk out of this building having met in the presence of Jesus and walking out of our buildings, we remember that we are walking out into the very mission field that is made up of 3.4 billion people who do not know the name of Jesus, who are yet waiting to hear the gospel, but yet we are also the first generation that has the wealth and the technology and the opportunity to literally see Matthew 24, 14 fulfilled in our generation. No other generation on the face of the earth has ever seen the prophetic fulfillments leading up to the return of the Lord as much as we have and no other generation has been given the resources and the opportunity to fulfill Jesus's only commission and only desire as we have. You think those two things are accidental? I don't think so. That's why the big give is important. We don't do this to just feel good about ourselves. No, listen, this is heavenly and it's strategic. What could we do better with our lives and better with our finances as we remember Jesus's first coming and look forward in anticipating his second coming than to give our lives and our finances and our prayers to the fulfillment of the great commission. As soon as it's done, Jesus said, the end will come. I want you to imagine what it would look like in our world right now to see the gospel go to every ethnic group, every minority, every small nation, every corner of the world, every region, and to have the gospel proclaimed. Can you imagine what it would look like for you and I as the church in our lifetime to hear misciologists and missions agencies say we have finally put the gospel in the language of every people group. There is not a tribe, a group, a nation where the gospel has not been preached. Everybody has heard. We could be the first generation to hear it is finished. That should motivate us. And if it doesn't motivate us, we go back to step one, which is examine our lives. Why does that not excite us? Can I tell you something? Sodom had no Bible. Why does that matter? Because God judged them. And if we think we're going to skate by with the resources and the opportunity and the knowledge that we have and the Bibles that we have and stand before Jesus and say, I wasn't all that excited about the great commission. I was way more into the self-help and let's talk more about me and how to build my platform and energize myself and how to sow so I can get. I was way more into that type of thing. Jesus, the great commission didn't excite me all that much. Thank you. Thank you for dying for my sins. I'm so glad you died for my sins. And I know you died for others, but I just kind of, that's for other people. No, it's for all of us. Number one, how do we hasten the day we give our lives to the fulfillment of the great commission? Number two, we, as the church, allow the Holy Spirit to shape us and to bring us into the state of maturity. Ephesians 4 says, until we all come into the unity of the faith and stand in the fullness of the stature of who Christ is, this is one of the things that Jesus is doing at the end of the age. He's shaking things up. I don't know if you've noticed, but Jesus is shaking things in the church, outside of the church. Why? Because He wants us to grow up. He wants us to be a full representation of who He is to the world. He wants us to be in unity. He wants us to love one another. He wants us to be salt and light to the world. He wants us to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants us to be like a bride that is crying out for the bridegroom inspired by the Holy Spirit. Lord, come. And the last thing that helps hasten the return of the Lord that we know is going to take place before the end of the age brings us full circle back to Jesus promises that at the end of the age, the Jewish people are going to receive their Messiah and be fully restored back into God's family. Listen to these words, and then we're going to clap. Romans chapter 11 says, Paul says in verse 11, November 11th, Romans 11 11. So I ask you, did they stumble that they might fall? Talking about Israel by no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, that's us. And if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, that's us. How much more will their full inclusion or their restoration mean? That means God's going to restore them. Verse 13. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much as them and I'm apostle to the Gentiles. I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus to save some of them. For if their rejection of the gospel meant the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life back from the dead? You see, when the nation of Israel experiences revival at the end of the age, it's going to be a re-enactment of the resurrection of Jesus. That which has been dead is alive again. Their eyes of their heart are going to be wide open and they're going to see their Messiah Jesus and fully accept him. And in large part it's going to be because we Gentiles who have come into the faith because of them have provoked them to jealousy by the way we love them and pray for them and stand in unity with them. Verse 25. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and in this way all of Israel will be saved. All of Israel will be saved. When? After the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. When's that going to happen? When we Gentile church have fulfilled the great commission. Think about this. We get serious about our lives. We get on point for the great commission in the midst of the rising storm and we stand in unity with Israel and we pray and we love them at a time when the whole world is against them and just as the gospel goes to the Jew first and to the Greek, we live our lives in such a way that all of Israel comes back into the family of God. The Father is going to turn to the Son and says now and Jesus is going to step out of eternity, back into history, destroy all of his enemies, take David's throne, reign and rule, bind up the devil, throw him in the lake of fire and he's going to establish peace and prosperity on the earth and we will say amen. Jesus, amen. Tucked in Charles Hayden Spurgeon's Bible in his hymnal was this hymn, if they would put it up on the screen so that I can read it off the screens. It's written in 1795 by William Shrubsoul Jr. It's his own hymn book. It says, Let Zion's time of favor come, O bring the tribes of Israel home and let our wandering eyes behold Gentiles and Jews in Jesus' fold, Almighty God thy grace proclaim in every climb of every name, let adverse powers before thee fall and crown the Savior, Lord of all. This is our prayer church in the midst of the storm. This is our prayer in the midst of the storm. These are the kind of lives that we are called to live. I want you to stand with me wherever you're at today and I want to ask you not just the question, how should we therefore live? But today I want to ask you this question, knowing all of this that I've shared over the last four weeks. And by the way, this next week, pay attention to our social media platforms. If you haven't, I'm going to answer a bunch of questions this week connected to this. I didn't even get to I could, I could probably do 23 parts to the series. And so if you don't follow us, it's at the radiant city on all of our platforms. And you can go there. We're going to be doing some Q&A stuff. But here's the question I would ask you is not how should we therefore live, but what therefore must I change? What must I therefore change? Number one, to live a life that's eternally focused. Holiness and godliness. Maybe today you have never made Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior. Do you know that Jesus died for you because he loves you? The only answer to man's sin and our brokenness and our spiritual deadness is Jesus. He's the way, he's the truth and the life. The good news is though, is he saves anyone who calls on his name. Repents of our sins says, God forgive me, Jesus come into my heart. He will save you and give you eternal life and fill you with the power for living. Maybe today you're saying I'm a Christian, but there's some things in my life that are much more rooted in this world and in this present age and it's causing me to spiritually become dull and there's some things I need to surrender and there's some things I need to lean into because I want to be fully awake. I want to know the Word. I want to know Jesus. I want to be mature at the end of the age. This is what I want. I don't want to be dominated by fear and discouragement. I don't want to anger and malice to fill my heart. I want to be filled with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's only found when we recognize and lay down those things that need to be laid down. What needs to change? Maybe it's us in our involvement in fulfilling the Great Commission. Maybe it's something as practical as saying, Lord, this year, forgive. I'm going to begin to get engaged and involved in the Great Commission. I'm going to pray for the nation of Israel. I'm going to be a watchman on the wall. The Isaiah 62 standing on the wall. I will give no rest until God makes Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. I'm going to pray for the Jewish people. I'm going to pray for the nation of Israel. I'm going to stand when everyone else is calling for their destruction. I'm going to stand in defense of them. I'm going to love the Jewish people even in our own community as well as in Israel and believe that God is at work in them. What kind of lives should we live and what therefore needs to change in our hearts? I want you to spy your heads with me wherever you're at, and I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to examine you and to say, Holy Spirit, what is there in me that you desire to change? What is there in me that you want me to lay down and what is there that you want me to pick up? Lord, I want to be fully awake. I don't want to be lulled to sleep. I don't want to become drunk on the spirit of dissipation in this hour. I want to be fully alive in you. God, today, refill me with oil. I want my lamp to be full. I'm going to give my life to your Word and serve others. I want to be a Sunday-only Christian. I want to go all in. And maybe today it's you saying, God, here am I. I've walked away from you in the past, but today I'm recommitting my life to you. Or today I'm receiving you, Jesus, to be the Savior of my life. He will save anyone who calls on His name. And today in this room, I know that the Holy Spirit is convicting and drawing through His kindness many to say, today, if you hear my voice, don't play games. Surrender to me. Make me Lord of all. Maybe that's recommitting your life again. Maybe that's for the first time receiving Jesus as your Savior. But I want to lead us in a prayer. And if today you know that you're not right with God, but today you're saying I want to make a new beginning and I want Jesus to be the center of it. I want Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Pastor Lee, pray for me. Help me. Include me in this prayer that we're about to pray that's going to connect me to Jesus. Today I need to get right with God all over the room. I just want you to raise your hand. Indicate that today and say that's me. Pray for me. Include me in that prayer. I'm looking around the room. I see that hand. Who else would say that's me? Include me in this prayer today. I want to give my life to Christ. Thank you. I see that hand. I see a hand on the front all the way in the back. Thank you. I see that hand. If you've not raised it wherever you're at, you raise it right now. Even if you're at home, all the way in the back, sir, I see that hand. Over here to my right, I see a hand. You can put your hands down. The Bible says this, if we believe in our heart on the Lord Jesus and we confess Him with our mouth, that God raised him from the dead, by our confession, we will be saved. We'll be made new. We'll be born again like Jesus said. So I'm going to lead us in a prayer and if you raised your hand, even if you didn't raise your hand, everybody in a room, in every one of our rooms, I want you to pray this out loud. Here we go. Say, Heavenly Father, I come in Jesus' name and I confess Jesus Christ is Lord. I believe He died on the cross for my sins and that He was raised from the dead and He is soon to return. Jesus come into my heart, be my Savior, be my Lord and be my King. I want to be fully awake and fully alert in serving the Master. From this day forward, I repent of all of my sin and I choose to follow Jesus. Thank you for loving me and giving me eternal life. I belong to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. If you just prayed that prayer, if you just prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God. You're a brand new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have been made new and we celebrate that with