The Sabbath

I would like to begin the sermon this afternoon by reading from our E-News, which is a publication sent to the ministry and the deacons and staff members of the church, usually on a Thursday of each week. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Holiday wrote an article, The Importance of Church Attendance. And he began by saying, do you remember the first time you attended church services with the Church of God? And he goes back to the first time that he remembers attending when he arrived in Pasadena, California as a student. He says, I was overwhelmed and thrilled by the clarity of teaching and the sheer excitement of finally being able to worship with others on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was the highlight of the week, and certainly the Sabbath service the highlight of the Sabbath day. He goes on to say, hopefully the Sabbath is still the high point of the week for us. God created the Sabbath to be a blessing, a special creation for the whole human race.

And He has perpetuated it and sustains it to this day. It is a day that was made for our good, a day of rest and worship. One of the blessings of the Sabbath is the opportunity to assemble together. And He goes on down to say that on the Sabbath we're able to fellowship with the people of God, which is truly a wonderful, great blessing from God that the Sabbath affords. And He quotes from 1 John 1, chapter 1 and verse 3 that we have fellowship with each other, and also we have fellowship with our Father and Jesus Christ.

As the children of God, we assemble together to meet with our Father and elder brother. Every time we miss services, we miss an opportunity to be in God's presence, because we do come into the presence of God here when we come to worship Him. We collectively assemble together to worship God. We do this by praising Him through music, by learning more about Him through preaching and by fellowshiping with one another. And it then brings out in the final paragraph that all nations will be observed in the Sabbath when Jesus sets up God's kingdom on the earth.

Everyone it says in Isaiah 66, 23, that all flesh will come to worship before Me. I skipped an earlier paragraph where He quotes Hebrews 10 and verse 25 that says, not letting... this is the different... the worst or worst translation... not letting down on assembling of ourselves together as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. And it brings out that actually this is talking about a customary conduct that on our part of assembling together. Assembling together should be our habitual habit. It gives us an opportunity to encourage, cheer up, inspire, and build up one another.

What a blessing we have to contribute to the overall vitality and health of other believers. We have an opportunity to encourage others, cheer up others. But I think also in the process, don't we also encourage and cheer up ourselves? Well, I've got to thinking about this, that actually, you know, we have today many people, many members that travel long distances to come to services every time.

We have ones in my four congregations that go to a lot of effort. And yet, is this true across the board? Could there be some that do not take attending services quite as seriously as they should? Because if able, should we not come to assemble and worship God and fellowship with God and with one another every time, if at all possible? I think it is certainly possible and we don't want to let down. Today, I'd like for us to examine our zeal and our sense of urgency. I think that is very, very important. It's going to be reflected, I believe, in our church attendance. And that is, if we are able to attend services, we have the means, we have the health, we have the financial ability and everything to be here every time that we should be because God has ordained the Sabbath to be a day of a holy convocation.

He has commanded it. We don't want to let down, brethren. I know that we don't. And this sermon then is to bolster us and encourage us to retain then a zeal for our calling and a sense of urgency for our calling. We don't want to let down. I don't think any of us do. But, you know, the prophecies in the Bible warn us that that could happen. Let's read just a few of them beginning in Matthew 24. Could you and I let down? And we have to recognize that yes, we could. We could let down. And church attendance would be just one way that would reflect that we have actually let down our guard and that we have lost some of that zeal and sense of urgency that we need.

In Matthew 24, verse 3, we know that as Jesus said upon the Mount of Olives, his disciples asked him, when will these things be? He had just talked about the destruction of the temple. When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

And so this is the well-known Olivet prophecy. And Jesus goes on to explain things, the way things would be as far as his coming and the end of the age. And he said, first of all, there would be religious deception. Take heed that no one deceives you. Verse 4, verse 6, he talked about wars and rumors of wars. Verse 7, nation rising against nation and that there would be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. And he said, all these things are just the beginning of sorrows. Brother, don't we in many ways see these things today? We do. And we're living, as we heard in the sermon last week, we're living in precarious times and how fragile these times are just to have trucks no longer delivering groceries to the grocery stores.

Every single one of us just about is totally, almost totally dependent upon buying food at grocery stores. The sermon last week by our president was very sobering. He brought out things that his own family had experienced, which many of us probably were not aware of, and how his own parents had served in work camps in Germany during World War II.

And so, very, very sobering message about the times in which we are living. And of course, at the end of the message he brought out, we want to go on forward. The Church of God is going to keep doing the work of God. As long as we have life and the means and the freedom and the ability to do so, we'll keep preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. We've not changed our determination or lost our determination one bit. And our president certainly reflected that very well last week. Well, we see these things beginning then. Verse 8, all these are the beginning of sorrows. And look at all that is happening in the world. It just seems like conditions in the world just get worse all the time. And how would you bring peace to an area of the world if you had the power to do it? How would you bring peace over in Iraq, where ISIS is determined to carve out a new Islamic nation? In fact, they virtually have already done so in parts of Iraq and Syria. And now they want to expand beyond and even have threatened to put their flag up on the White House. And they're serious about it, very serious about what they are doing. And will they continue to expand? How would you resolve that if you had the power to do it and bring peace to that area? You know, you might have to withhold some rain. You might have to teach them and preach a message to them. And you may have to use the rod of iron to bring them to their knees. But you could do it. And you could bring them to their knees in real repentance, or they would really begin to change their ways. How would you change? How would you bring peace to Ferguson, Missouri? We all know what's happened there this last week. How would you bring harmony, racial harmony? Would you be capable of doing that? One day it is our calling to bring peace, to help Christ bring peace to the earth and all these areas where we see strife and war and bloodshed.

Well, all these indeed are the beginning of sorrows that we are seeing. But notice in verse 9 that they will deliver you. And this is talking to members of God's church. And this is the setting for our time today. It's our time that is being talked about by Jesus. They will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Now we've seen martyrdom and we've seen persecution and God's church has been hated down through the ages. But this is talking about an end-time fulfillment, a martyrdom that is referred to in the fifth seal of Revelation 6. And when God's church will be hated, I don't think we've seen the full impact of this as far as its fulfillment. And verse 10, and then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Again, this is referring to the church. Have we seen some of this to happen already? I believe we have. And there have been ones to be offended and to betray and to hate. And we must not ever ourselves be fall victim to that. Verse 11, then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And I think we've seen some of that when someone gets up and says, you can work on the Sabbath if you want to. That's not a true minister of God. You don't have to keep the holy days or other things that are clearly commanded in God's Word. So many false teachers and prophets will rise up and deceive many. And people have been deceived. Isn't that something? Their roots are so shallow that their biblical understanding is so shallow and lacking that somebody can stand up and say something like that and people fall for it. And you kind of shake your head. And it goes on to say in verse 12 that because lawlessness will abound, and doesn't it, all around us we see lawlessness abounding. The love of many will grow cold. And it's talking about God's people, the people of God, ones that God has called to be a part of His church. And because this world becomes so evil, iniquity abounding, that the love of many will be affected by it and they let down.

And their love for grows cold. Their love for what? Their love for God, their love for the truth of the Bible, their love for God's laws, for God's Sabbath as holy days, for church attendance right across the board. It affects our behavior everywhere. The love of many will grow cold. But it goes on to say that in verse 13, he who endures to the end shall be saved. So those who do hold on strong in steadfast, who keep their zeal and who keep their sense of urgency and maybe even increase in it. What about instead of losing zeal, what about increasing in zeal? That makes a lot more sense, that we increase in zeal and that we do not lose that sense of urgency, but increase in it. So lawlessness is abounding all around us and certainly we have to be careful that we don't let our love grow cold. Well, let's notice another passage of Scripture in 2 Timothy chapter 3 that certainly could affect the people of God. And brethren, you know, I don't think that most of us are, I don't mean by this sermon, that we are letting down and losing our zeal entirely. This is a sermon in one way to bolster us so that we don't let that happen. But if there's anyone that has let down a little bit, anyone that doesn't have that same sense of urgency and zeal, then I hope it will impact you and that you'll do some thinking and praying about and meditating about this sermon in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1. But know this, that in the last days, and that is the time in which we are living right now, in the last days, perilous, dangerous times will come.

And it describes social conditions that we can see all around us in the world today. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money. Oh, people do want more money. Boasters, proud, blasphemers. We hear a lot of language and a lot of behavior that is blasphemy. Disobedient to parents, unthankful. Could that affect us? Will we become ungrateful? I think it could. I think we could be affected by these things in the world that's all around us. Unthankful, unholy.

No longer having a reverence toward the Creator God. Unloving, and the King James Version has without natural affection. It means family affection, blood relationship affection. And we see that today, too. Families and blood relatives not really caring for one another. Unforgiving, slanderers without self-control. Brutal. People that might just walk right into a shopping center and shoot people they've never seen before just because they're angry or frustrated at the world. Brutal. And then it goes on to say, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

We see a lot of that today, don't we? So certainly I think we can say that we do see these things all around us, and we do recognize that we could be affected by it.

We live in this world, and we certainly can be affected by it. And we can lose that sense of urgency and zeal that we need to have. In 2 Timothy 4, the very next chapter, there's warning about not enduring sound doctrine even. People that have itching ears. Verse 1, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Paul slightly or shortly before his martyrdom admonishing and charging Timothy. I charge you then before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom.

Preach the Word. That's the minister's charge then. Preach the Word of God. There's one minister, put it, hide behind the Word of God. You read the Bible and just explain what it says, and you're preaching the Word, and you're on safe ground.

Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season when things are going well, when they're not going quite as well. Keep preaching regardless. Convince. Yes, be convincing. Rebuke. That means there may be some correction. Exhore. And that means to encourage and admonish with all long suffering and teaching. Just keep at it then. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. I wonder if we haven't come to that time. They will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, they have itching ears, and they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned to fables.

But you be watchful in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. So a minister of God just keeps preaching the Word, whether people believe it or not, whether people respond positively to it or not.

He just keeps preaching the Word, as it says here. So many, many prophecies in the Bible could be read, which bring out warnings toward the church in our time. Certainly one other that we should read would be in Revelation chapter 3. There does seem to be something to this thing of church eras, and that there's a historical flow then beginning with the early church all the way through to our time, and that this last one does seem to have a special application for us today.

So in Revelation 3 and verse 14, to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Jesus Christ is the one being referred to, and He is the one who is the firstborn of the spiritual creation of Almighty God. And so to the church in Laodicea, verse 15, the message is, I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. Right away there's no nothing good to be said for these Christians.

These are ones that God is called to be a part of the church, but look at them. They do not have the zeal and they do not have the sense of urgency, and they do not have the right spiritual perspective. Their relationship is not good with God. They are lacking, and they're about ready to lose it all. They're in danger as far as their eternal life. I know your works, that you're neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were one or the other, cold or hot.

So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. God doesn't want us on the fence, brethren. He'd rather we be cold than outside than if we're not going to be on the inside and be hot. Notice also an attitude or mindset that was so far away from where they needed to be in verse 17.

Because you say in your heart, you look at yourself, I am rich and have become wealthy. This is talking spiritually. I'm spiritually rich. I've become, I have grown. I've overcome so much. And I have need of nothing.

This mindset is a mindset that doesn't realize its inadequacy. It's not the poor in spirit. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.

So we do not need to look at ourselves that way, but instead with humility, realizing how lacking we are. But this mindset, I'm rich. I've become wealthy and have need of nothing. And do not know, don't really see that you are spiritually, you are wretched, miserable, and you're poor spiritually and blind, blind to yourself and naked. You don't have the character and the mind and nature of Almighty God being developed in you. Not with this kind of smugness and spiritual pride and self-righteousness. So the advice is given in verse 18, I counsel you. Here's what I advise you to do. Buy from me gold, tried in the fire that you may be rich and white garments that you may be clothed. So buy spiritual character and the mind of Christ and the nature of God that you can truly be spiritually rich and then have the white garments which show obedience to God and His laws and His righteousness that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed and anoint your eyes with eyesave that you can really see. You know, we need to see clearly, don't we? We need to see ourselves. We need to see our shortcomings. We don't want to ever get on a high horse and begin to feel good about ourselves. If we feel good about ourselves, and sometimes I still hear people that put down others, maybe others that were at one time fellowshiping with us even. But I don't feel comfortable with that because I know my own shortcomings and I know that I have a long way to go and I don't feel good about myself and that I'm doing nearly as well as I should be doing. And I don't feel good when we start putting somebody else down. That doesn't make us any higher. I think if anything it puts us down lower. So we need to anoint our eyes so that we see these things clearly that we can see. In verse 19, as many as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten therefore be zealous, and that's what we're talking about today, maintaining that zeal, increasing the zeal, if anything, and the sense of urgency. Yes, be zealous and repent. I'll tell you, repentant, a humble, repentant attitude God will never despise.

Humility. When we feel lowly about ourselves, you know, Jesus, even Jesus who did not sin, said he was lowly. He didn't have this, he didn't come with this high, mighty, more powerful, overwhelming type of approach at all. He said he was very, he was lowly. He was meek. He reflected real, godly humility. So we could read many other prophecies if we would like about the state of the church. And again, I'm not trying to say that we don't have zeal and that we don't have a sense of urgency, but it's possible that we could have let down a little bit, and we must not do that. And these prophecies instruct us, don't they? They warn us that the church at the end time, there would be some whose love would grow cold. They warn us that the world could affect us, the world that's all around us, and that we could even go, we could lose and begin to have a mindset that is not correct in God's sight.

And we do not want that to happen to us. So we need to be aware that in the world around us, that we could let down, that we could become occupied with our own things. We could become distracted. I mean, we've never lived in an age that has as many distractions as today. Never have people had so many things coming at them. Whether you think of the printed page, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, everything, you know, you get a lot of junk mail. I spend a little bit of my time. I go through my junk mail in my mailbox very quickly, and I get stuff on my email also, this junk mail. I go delete that. But it takes a little bit of time there to recognize what it is and then just destroy it or get rid of it. So, you know, we have a lot of things coming at us all the time. Our lives are busy. There's a fast pace, and we could, if we're not careful, we could begin to lose some of that zeal and enthusiasm that we do need to have.

There are many, many verses in the Bible then warning us to not let this happen. I'd like to, in the final, I guess, minutes, 15 minutes of this sermon, bring out some things that will help us to maintain our zeal and our sense of urgency. Number one, I'll give you five different things that we can do that will help to maintain zeal and maybe increase in our zeal even and our sense of urgency. First of all, we can just ask God to help us to be stirred up and to stir up His Spirit. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6. I'll read a passage for each of these, but I'll refer to some others in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verses 6 and 7. Here's Paul again, writing to Timothy shortly before his martyrdom. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God. This certainly then means that God's gift, His Spirit, can become like dormant, like inactive. It needs to be stirred up. We can let God's Spirit become inactive. What a tragedy that would be, wouldn't it, for God to give us His powerful Spirit to grow and overcome and follow after Christ, develop the mind and character of God, and then just let it become inactive instead of letting it be stirred up and working powerfully in our lives. I remind you to stir up the gift of God so it can work powerfully the work of God in us, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power and love and a sound mind. So I encourage all of us to stir up the Spirit and to ask God to help us to stir up the Spirit.

I need this just as much as you do. I can let God's Spirit become inactive, for I don't really use it to grow and overcome and walk with God and be close to God. The word stir up here, translated stir, stir up, is from the Greek word that two great words, one Greek word means to means intensify. You know, we've got to intensify then God's Spirit working in our lives. The other Greek word for stir and stir up, translated stir up in English, is fire. Intensify the fire. Intensify the fire. How would you intensify the fire? I've been to many capouts before. You put more fuel on. If the fire goes down to just nothing but coals, you get some very small kindling on it and you start blowing like a torch, you know, getting, shooting the oxygen to it to try to get the fire burning once again. And then you add bigger pieces of wood and you can rekindle that fire. You know, if we have become spiritually like our fire has died out to where we've just got a few embers, we can rekindle it. We can put some kindling, some spiritual kindling on and we can get that fire burning brightly again.

So we need to stir up. We need to intensify the fire. We need to rekindle. Fan into flame. Some have translated, have given sermons explaining it that way. We need to fan into flame, a bright, burning flame, God's spirit. Luke 11 brings out that God is more willing to give His spirit than parents are food to their own children. So ask for more of God's spirit and ask God to help you to stir it up and use it and let it be active in your life and not inactive. The second thing we can do, we can keep up with world news and trends in the light of Bible prophecy. All about a quarter to a third of the Bible is prophecy, much of it relating to our time. Are you well versed in prophecy?

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, minor prophets, Revelation, major books on prophecy. Are you well versed in these prophecies? Do you realize that what is happening in the Middle East is important? ISIS, what is going to become of this? Could it even lead to an Islamic State? Could it even lead to word the king of the South that is to rise up? I don't know, but we ponder. At least we need to know what to ponder. We won't even know what to ponder or what to look for unless we understand Bible prophecy. What about in Europe, the 10 nations that are going to rise? Do we see that they have Islam at their doorstep closer than we do, even though we have a lot of Islamic people in our country? But could they then, the 10 nations, begin to rise and form a political union because of the push of Islam that they see developing? Could that speed the formation of the 10 nations? Again, we look at that and see what is the impact of Hamas in Gaza, in Israel. We are watching that closely as well. What about the Ukraine and Russia right now? That situation. So there are many things to be watching. Watch world news and trends in the light of Bible prophecy. We have booklets that will help, such as, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy, United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy, Middle East in Bible Prophecy, Are We Living in the Time of the End? Book of Revelation Unveiled and the Gospel of the Kingdom? All of that. Prophetic books. So, number two, keep an eye on world events and trends. Be watchful.

Luke 21, 36, I won't turn to it because of time. Watch and pray always, it says, that you might be account worthy. We believe watching means to watch your own self and your mindset, your spiritual mindset spiritually, but to also watch what is happening all around us in the world. Number three, as far as maintaining our zeal and sense of urgency, we can encourage and bolster one another. Turn quickly to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22.

Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart. It does take a true heart, in full assurance, and takes that as well, in full assurance of faith, as we heard in the first message. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And look at verse 24 now. Let us consider one another. I hope we do consider each other. in order to stir up love and good works. But then I don't mind if you want to stir me up, some, and try to help me to do it better. I'm just trying to stir us all up so we can do it better as well. And look at verse 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. Some were losing it there in Judea, around Jerusalem. Some of those may have been in the church a long time, and they were losing it. And it could happen today. But it goes on to say, but exhorting. And that means to encourage one another, to bolster one another. It doesn't mean to preach a sermon, but to encourage each other. Let's encourage and let's bolster and let's cheer up. Exhorting one another so much the more as you see the day approaching. We do see the day approaching. So we can encourage and bolster each other and help each other to maintain our zeal and sense of urgency. Number four is, recall the former days. Right here in Hebrews chapter 10, it goes on to say that in verse 32, recall the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings. These people had been through a lot. But guess what? In spite of all the sacrifice and all the enduring, they were losing it. And chapter 1 gets right into it. They were neglecting such great salvation. Or chapter 2, I should say. They were neglecting such great salvation. And so the writer of this book is saying, hey, remember those former days when you first came into the church and when you were illuminated. God gave you an understanding of the truth and you endured many things. So he said in verse 35, do not cast away your confidence. In verse 39, we are not of those who draw back to perdition. So he's encouraging them to remember. So brethren, what about us too? Many of us go back 20, 30, 40 years. We're just going to throw away that investment of our life.

Or are we going to maintain our zeal and sense of urgency? It doesn't make any sense to throw it away, does it? And the fifth thing I'd like to bring up is that we must keep our hearts in God's work. Let God work then in your life. That is the work of God on a very personal basis, but also help to preach the gospel and help to make disciples. As brought out a couple of weeks ago, we have a work to do and it is the work of God. One of our former pastor generals said that it's only when our hearts, we're only growing when our hearts are in the work of God. And that is so true. You think about it, that's the only work that matters. God's work. His work is the salvation of mankind. It includes preaching the message of the kingdom of God. It's the only work that's going to endure forever. So we're only growing as our hearts in the work of God. Galatians, in conclusion, in Galatians chapter 6, we read verses 6 or 7 through 10 that we are not to grow weary in well-doing. So let us not ever lose our zeal or sense of urgency. In Hebrews chapter 12, it brings out in this passage that we're to pick up our feeble hands or knees and heal the knees that might be lame. You know, think about that. The hands is that part of the body we accomplish with. We do our work. What can you do without your hands? It'd be very hard to do your work. And the knees would be that part of the body that helps us to move on forward. And so if we're lame, it says in that passage, Hebrews 12, we need to be healed of the lame knees so we can move on forward in doing the work God has called us to do.

I'd like to read just a couple of passages in conclusion. Jude, the little book of Jude, these people then were being beset by false teachers that came in. Jude found it necessary to write to them so that they could earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. And near the end of his book, Jude verses 20 and 21, is some good advice for us if we are to maintain our zeal and our sense of urgency. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, is giving four things that we must do then if we want to maintain our zeal and urgency. Number one is to continually work on building ourselves up on our most holy faith that God has given to us. Number two is praying in the Holy Spirit, just constantly in the spirit of prayer and certainly getting down upon our knees every day, praying in the Holy Spirit, staying, walking and being close to God. Number three in verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Well, that means that we're going to be keeping God's commandments, the Ten Commandments. We're certainly going to be keeping the Sabbath. We're going to be coming to services as we're able to do so. Keep yourselves in the love of God. And number four, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That means we realize our shortcomings. It means we realize the need for mercy. Did we really realize it deeply? We all still sin. We all need to be still need to be forgiven. We all still fall short. We all still very much need the mercy and the forgiveness of God. So looking for that mercy that comes from Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then finally, let's read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. So brethren, it is possible to maintain our zeal and sense of urgency and, I believe, to increase in it. And even as we see the day approaching, we see the evils happening in the world. Let's even grow and increase in zeal for God and His work and a sense of urgency concerning our own salvation as well as the preaching of this message to the world. And let's help each other, bolster each other to do that. In 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 1, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. I think that's true of us. We know many of us have been around a while, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. It's going to be unexpected. And when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes. And as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not. We are sons of the light. God has shown us His truth. He's helped us to understand the times we are living in.

Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Let us maintain our zeal and urgency about all of this. Those who sleep, sleep in the night. Those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. So here's faith and hope and love that we need. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us that whether we wake, that is, remain alive, or sleep, that is, die, we should live together with Him, and thus at His second coming. Therefore, comfort each other. And here's the conclusion, then, and a good conclusion to think of here at the end of the sermon. Comfort, that's to encourage and bolster one another and edify, build up one another, just as you also are doing. So it is possible to remain steadfast, to maintain our sense of urgency, and to be zealous. We must stay close to God in prayer, Bible study, meditation, fasting. And if we will pray for zeal and a sense of urgency, God will help us to have the same zeal, maybe more, than we had at the beginning. The same love, maybe more, than at the beginning. The same excitement and the same enthusiasm.