Alright. Alright. We're going to start in Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 17 this morning. Proverbs 10 and verse 17. I do have that up on the screen here.

As we continue on in staying humble, we learn to start with if you want to stay humble as the Lord expects his children to do. It's not gonna happen without some effort on our part because our old nature, by nature, is not what? Humble. It is proud. It thinks of itself first and not others.

But if you know Christ, you have a new divine nature that lives inside of you and with God's help and by his grace, we can learn and grow in our humility and demonstrate it in our lives, and God expects us to. If you want God's help with something, first of all, you need to do what? You need to pray for it. We pray for other things in our life. If pride is is is tripping you up in your life, if it's difficult for you to get your eyes off of yourself and on others and your savior, then ask God for help.

If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of who? Let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, doesn't hold back and it shall be given him. We learned last week in our series that if we want to stay humble, one of the things we need to do is to submit to authority that God has placed in our life. Again, something that you don't see a lot of today. You see a lot of people struggling with authority.

But we need to follow the example of our savior who submitted himself to the father. Took upon himself the form of servant, was made in the likeness of man and being found as a man, humbled himself and became what? Obedient unto death even the death of the cross. It's not just in obedience to rules and lists, but it's in a submission submissive heart to our Lord that we find humility and the ability to demonstrate that to a world around us to reflect the humility of Christ. This morning, we are going to learn being humble means responding humbly to rebuke.

How many of you love rebuke? Now, I'm putting my hand down. Alright. None of us like rebuke. None of us like to be corrected.

Oftentimes we don't even respond well to simple instruction. Why? Because our pride gets in the way. We don't like to be told we're wrong. We don't like for people to tell us there's a better way to do it than you're doing it.

We don't that that rubs us the wrong way. I understand that. You know, God knows our frame. He understands it too but understanding it does not what? Does not justify it.

It doesn't make it okay. For the child of God, there is a better way. The way of humility and learning to respond to rebuke humbly. We begin this morning in Proverbs ten seventeen where it says, he is in the way of life. Do you want to be in the way of life this morning?

He is in the way of life that keepeth what? That heedeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof, correction, erreth. In other words, the person who is willing to receive and heed instruction, being in the form of teaching or advice or even correction, finds the way, the path that leads to what? To life. Particularly eternal life in regards to salvation in Christ, but also, as John put it, life more what?

Abundantly. A life of blessing and happiness and success. How do we find that? We don't find that by stubbornly pushing our way ahead and never listening to the instruction, advice, and correction of others that God puts on our path to help correct us. Because sometimes we all need correction.

One of the reasons to have deacons in a church is to help serve the people of the church but the deacons also help the pastor to sometimes see a better way because we all need advice. We all need counselors around us. We're not supposed to do this all alone. The person who heeds instruction, considers it, is on the path of life and blessing and joy. Proverbs three, five and six, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not stubbornly, add that, unto thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.

And sometimes God uses preachers and teachers and friends and, yea, even children to show us a better way. However, the person who refuses instruction, this verse reminds us, particularly correction, warning, rebuke continues on a path to what? Destruction and ruin. The word erreth means goes astray. The Bible tells us in Proverbs fourteen twelve, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, ruin, and destruction.

Oftentimes, left to our own devices, we are not going to end up in a good place. Oftentimes, when we stubbornly just rush ahead, refuse to hear the good words of advice and instruction and rebuke around us, we run right into trouble. That is not what God desires for his children. That's not what God desires for his creation. He wants us to enjoy the blessings of life.

But in order for that to happen, we have to humble ourselves and being willing to listen to the to the good advice of others. Matthew seven thirteen and fourteen, it says, enter ye in at the straight gate. The straight means it's narrow, it's small, and there's only one of them. That's Jesus Christ. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth on to life and few there be that find it.

But there need not be few. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to what? Repentance. That God everyone is invited to find the way that leads to life, but sadly, the broad way has a lot more people on it than the narrow way. And that's oftentimes because we are unwilling to heed the voice of our God, of our creator, of our savior, and those that God puts in our path.

Instead, we put our hands over our ears and we don't want to listen. But the humble child of God should demonstrate a humility in their response to instruction. Proverbs twelve one, it says this, whoso loveth instruction loveth what? Knowledge. But he that hateth reproof is brutish.

In other words, the person who loves, embraces, appreciates, and takes heed to discipline or correction loves knowledge, loves learning, loves growing in invaluable knowledge and wisdom that will help them throughout life. But conversely, the one who hates instruction, that closes their ears to it, that thinks they don't need it, which again is a pride issue, the one who offhand rejects and recoils at correction or advice of others is like a dumb animal, unteachable, unwilling to be led to safety and away from harm. You ever tried to lead an animal to safety and away from harm that doesn't want to? It it can be a it can be a chore. Why is shepherding a full time job?

Because sheep are stubborn and dumb and they they oftentimes, when you go to direct them, they just go off in all directions. So that's a lot of times why they came up and bred dogs called shepherds, German shepherds, Austrian shepherd, whatever, shepherd in order to help to corral the what? Sheep because they're dumb and they need a lot of help. And sometimes we need a lot of help, especially when we are being proud and stubborn. You don't have to be that way.

We don't have to be that way. And there's no reason for the child of God to be that way. We do need help. We do need the advice. We do need to learn and grow in knowledge so that we can be a better servant of Christ so that we can experience the blessings of life.

Sad to say too many times, pride trips us up. If we are to stay humble, we've we've got to learn to take instruction and correction humbly, to receive it willingly, to consider it, and not just throw it aside. Proverbs seventeen ten says this, a reproof entereth more into a wise man than a 100 stripes into a fool. How does a wise man show he's wise? What does Proverbs say?

A wise man demonstrates his wisdom by considering the instruction and correction of others. While the fool does not not doesn't even respond to harsh discipline because he's set and he's not going to what? He's not going to veer off the path that he has chosen. And there's been a number of times in my life where I chose a path and praised the Lord somebody, God in my way to help direct me back by God's grace on the right one. I mean, you've been there too, but that takes humility.

And so many times, we go far too long down that wrong path because we're just not willing to listen. Number one, being humble means being willing to listen to the advice of others and consider their opinions. The proud and foolish person in contrast to the wise and humble already knows what. What's true of the proud and foolish person? They already know everything.

And they are unwilling and therefore is unwilling to consider that he or she could be incorrect or their knowledge incomplete or their choice errant. I like this passage in first Corinthians. Paul's writing to Corinthian church. The Corinthians had several issues. We we went through first Corinthians on Thursdays in our Bible study and we saw the different things that Paul had to what?

Correct. In the Corinthian church. But the underlying issue to many of these problems was pride. They were proud. They were divided against one another.

I am of Paul. I'm Apollos. They they were taking sides with people that wouldn't have wanted them to take sides with them. Because the point was it wasn't about Paul or Apollos, it's about who? It's about Christ.

But it was a pride issue. They weren't dealing with sin in their church. It was a pride issue. They were trying to do better than the other one in spiritual gifts. It was a pride issue.

So many of their issues were caused simply by pride and an unwillingness to set aside that pride and humble themselves and listen to the instructions and consider the rebuke and thoughts of others. He wrote in first Corinthians eight, knowledge puffeth up, but love or charity edify it, builds up. One puffeth up. Is that a good thing? Now you puff up so big and then all of a sudden what?

Explode. Okay? Knowledge puffeth up. In other words, the person who thinks they know it all, it just gives them the big head. Okay?

But charity builds up. Now, that's that's the good thing. That's not the puffeth up, blows up like a balloon, but builds up and strengthens. Knowledge or thinking you know everything makes you arrogant. Putting love for others and love for God first, that builds you up in Christ, makes you stronger.

And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing, yet as he ought to know. Well, if you think you know it, you don't. I know in the ministry, several times I I look up a sermon I preached five years ago or ten years ago. And I'm looking down through the sermon and thinking, am I gonna do? How what am I going to add or change?

And and I look at an explanation I gave and I go, what in the world was I thinking? That boy, that was wrong. Oh, I gotta fix that. You know, even preachers make mistakes and they don't know everything. Sometimes, they have to apologize.

Sometimes, they have to make corrections. Sometimes they have to swallow their pride and admit, first of all, to themselves and do it better the next time. Because the fact is we're all learning, we're all growing, and none of us have arrived yet. We need to take heed to instruction and correction because we all need it. Isaac Newton once remarked that he was only gathering pebbles on the shore of the ocean of truth.

I like that. I don't often quote people like that, but I like this one. He was only gathering pebbles on the shore of the ocean of truth. And how how right indeed he was, how how wise of him to recognize that he was only touching the surface. And how how we see that from the days of Isaac Newton till today, how our knowledge has grown incredibly in science since the days of Isaac Newton.

And yet still, we're on the shore of the ocean of truth. We see many examples of stubborn pride versus humility in Scripture. In Genesis nineteen fourteen, we see the example of Lot and his son in laws, sons in law. Remember Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. He Abraham came to him and said, we have too much stuff to travel together.

You go one way and I'll go the other. And Lot looked towards Sodom in the Plain Of Jordan, where the Jordan River was. It was at those days well watered. It was beautiful for grazing for all of his sheep and his cattle and his livestock. And he decided to go that direction.

And he went closer and closer until eventually he came to live in the city of Sodom, which was only natural. In those days, people lived in walled cities for protection. And then during the day, they came out of the city to their to take care of their livestock and their garden and and whatever else they were growing. At night, they went back into the walls of the city for protection. And so Lot ended up in the city of Sodom and it it incredibly affected sadly his family.

And his daughters became betrothed to men in the city of Sodom And when the angels came to say, God is going to destroy the city. You need to get out. He sent word to his sons in law that they needed to leave because God was gonna destroy the city. And what happened? Well, Genesis nineteen fourteen, Lot went out and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters and said, up, get you out of this place for the Lord will destroy the city.

But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. They laughed. What do you mean? Now, sadly, that I think reflects also on Lot. It hadn't been the light to his sons in law that he should have been or maybe they wouldn't have laughed.

But they laughed and then they died because they didn't heed. In Noah's day, I am sure Noah had Bible indicates he was a preacher of righteousness. And I am sure he told many that came to him and said, why are you building a boat in the middle of the, you know, not the water? And he told them. But they didn't want.

They didn't listen. David in second if you'll turn in your Bibles, if you have it to second Samuel chapter 24, we see a sad illustration out of David's life. We have a few of these in scripture. And before you get all over David, don't forget about yourself. Second Samuel 24 and verse one, Again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David against them to say, go number Israel and Judah.

In other words, David decided to have Joab, as we'll read the next verse, go and take a census and number all of his armies. The armies was what he was what he was interested in, how many soldiers he had. It was a matter of pride to kings in that day how big your army was. And the king said to Joab, the captain, the host, which was with him, go now through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba, and number ye the people that I may know the number of the people. And Joab said on the king, now the Lord thy God add unto the unto the people how many so ever they be, an hundredfold and that the eyes of my Lord and the king may see it.

But why doth my Lord the king delight in this thing? In other words, Joab said that may may the Lord multiply your people and your kingdom and your army and all of this. But why why should I spend my precious time going and numbering everybody just so you can get the what? Big head, so you can get puffed up about how great you are, how big your kingdom is, how many people, how mighty your army. That just doesn't sound like the right thing.

And Joab sometimes gave really good advice and sometimes gave really bad advice. But in this case, it was good advice that David didn't listen. Notwithstanding the king's word prevailed against Joab against the captains of the host. And Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king to number the people of Israel and if you look over in verse 15, it tells us, so the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even till it even to the time appointed and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba, seventy, zero men. David decided to ignore the advice of Joab, his counselor, to stubbornly push ahead, and in the end, he had 70,000 less men in his kingdom than he had before he numbered them.

King Saul before David was rebuked of the Lord and of Samuel again and again, but persisted in not listening to not accepting correction because of his pride, and it destroyed him and his family. Pharaoh. Pharaoh. Moses came before Pharaoh again and again and again. After every plague, Moses came back, let my people go.

And Pharaoh said what? No. What was the problem? Well, he was afraid to show that he wasn't all powerful and in control. And so he kept saying what?

No. And not heeding the wise instructions of Moses and God because he wanted the people to think that he was God. And it cost him it cost him his firstborn and many and much much more in the end. It cost him his army who died in the Red Sea. He would have saved face far more if he'd have just let the people go after the first plague than the tenth.

Israel in general would not listen again and again. God sent the prophets and the children of Israel wouldn't listen because they were proud. We also have good examples in scripture. If you've been with us in the evening service, you might recognize the name Abigail. Abigail was a a lady who was married to a fool.

And this fool named Nabal, his name basically means fool. And David came and asked, requested while he was a fugitive running from Saul, he requested some of just a little bit of help from Nabal and Nabal turned him back and said, no, I'm not gonna help you. And David was coming to wipe out Nabal and his farm. But Abigail got word of it, got wind of it, and she took off with abundance of supply in a hurry to meet David on his way and begged him to reconsider and so he did. In first Samuel twenty five thirty two, it says, and David said to Abigail, blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed me by thy advice.

Blessed be thou which has kept me this day from coming to shed blood and from avenging myself with mine own hand. David took the advice of Abigail, and he changed his mind. And he let God take care of Nabal, which is a far better way. Tame, things turned out much better for David. The day of Pentecost, Peter stood up in Jerusalem before the gathering crowd.

And what did he tell them? He rebuked them. That's what he did. He told them, you crucified who? The son of God.

And you rejected him, and you refused to accept his resurrection. And they cried out, what can we do? And Peter replied, repent. Repent. 3,000 of them that day did.

3,000 of them were saved. 3,000 of them humbled themselves and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And their eternity changed forever. Humble yourself and consider that even a child may have somewhat to teach you. Do not refuse advice out of pride.

Remain teachable whether you be a pauper or the prince. We all have much to learn. And sometimes we we need somebody to stand up to us and say, you did the wrong thing. Let's fix it. To tell us to point to the right direction, whether it be the way of life in Christ through Jesus who died for you or whether it be the right way to deal with a relationship or with a temptation in your life.

Be willing to listen to instruction. Be willing, number two, to receive with graciousness and self examine, specifically correction. The discipline of one higher in authority. We covered this somewhat last week, so I won't spend much time on it. But sometimes we fail and we need to accept accept our failure and receive our just discipline and then learn from our mistakes.

You don't make mistakes. Right? Yeah. Some of you are smiling. We do.

We do. The question is not whether you ever make mistakes or you ever fail or you ever sin. But do you confess your sin? Do you give God an opportunity to teach you? Do you learn from your what?

Mistakes? Or do you stubbornly dig in your heels and say, no, it's not my fault? When you get pulled over by a policeman in your car and they come to your window and say, do you know why I pulled you over? You look and say, I I don't I don't know because you didn't like the color of my hair. I don't know.

Yeah. I didn't like the kind of car I was driving. Maybe you went eeny, meeny, miny, moe. I'll pick them one. No.

How do you respond? Maybe not in words to the policeman, but maybe in your mind. I'm always very courteous to a policeman. Uh-oh. I let you know I got pulled over one time.

Okay. More than once. I'm always very courteous to policemen because, well, they're an authority. They have a gun. They deserve my respect.

Do they not? But sometimes the threats still go through my head. Others were going faster than I was. The fact is I was still going over the speed limit, so I wasn't going that much over the speed limit. You know, I mean, it's 45 and I was going 55.

That's only 10 miles an hour. Right? I was just going with the flow of traffic. Right? So, I was just going what everybody else was going.

For some reason, that doesn't matter to the cop. Why did you pick on me? Is that what goes through our mind? Is that what happens when we get pulled over? We just think of every excuse in the book as to why I shouldn't be here sitting beside the road when the fact is I'm sitting beside the road because I was going faster than the one.

Is that the cop's fault? No. It's not. It's not his fault that I was doing that. It's my fault.

It's your fault if that was you. Whereas our response to recognize our fault and then decide to do what? Slow down. You see, the rebuke or criticism of an authority, the rebuke or criticism of an equal. Now sometimes it's easier to deal with the authority than it is to deal with the equal.

You know, it's okay to well, yeah, the the policeman or or this or that or the the teacher in school. But when the rebuke comes from a friend, appear, sometimes that's harder to what? Harder to stomach than it is with the authority. Turn if you would to second Corinthians 24. Second Corinthians 20 Chronicles.

Sorry, not Corinthians, Chronicles. Second Chronicles, that would be in the Old Testament, not the new. Second Chronicles 24, I'll give you a moment to find that. Second Chronicles 24, we're going to look at a guy named Joash and a guy named Zechariah. So, while you're finding that, let me tell you a quick story.

Okay? So Joash was seven years old, six or seven years old. And his grandmother, Athaliah, who is the daughter of Ahab, she had married Ahab was wicked king in Israel. She, Ahab's daughter, married the son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Okay?

And that brought her down to Judah. It was not a smart thing for Jehoshaphat to do to have his son marry the king's daughter in in Israel. But anyway, she did. She decided when Joash was a little kid, she decided that she had had enough with other people ruling and she wanted to be queen of it all, and she killed all of her grandchildren in order so none of them could claim the throne. Now, that's wicked.

That is evil. And by the way, that's happened many times throughout history whether it's been the queen or the king. And Joash was hidden by the priest. The priest took him and hid him. His name was Jehoiada so that the queen couldn't find him.

And a few years later, when he got older, he brought him out and Joash was crowned king and Athaliah lost her throne and her life. And so Joash reigned as king as a young man and many years to come. But as time went on, Jehoiada passed away. And Joash started to become what? What happens to kings?

Proud and arrogant. In second Chronicles 24 verse 20, it says, and the spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of is anybody with me? The son of? So this is the priest's son, the priest who had saved Joash's what? Life.

Verse 20 again. Spirit of God camped on Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest, which stood above the people and said unto them, thus saith God, why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. So Jehoiada's Zachariah stood up in front of the people and he rebuked them and the king, Joash, who was leading them astray from the Lord. And so, how do you think Joash and the people responded to the rebuke?

Well, you either respond one of two ways. You either repent or you dig in your heels and you fight back. So verse 21, what was the result? They conspired against him, against Zechariah, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. They stoned him in the courtyard of the temple.

By the command of Joash, they killed him. Thus, Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, the Lord look upon it and require it. How sad. How sad a story.

Joash just could not take what? Rebuke. Instead, he killed the messenger. Maybe not maybe you haven't killed the messenger, But sometimes, we fight back against the messenger. Often in in politics, when somebody says something you don't wanna hear, rather than dealing with the argument, they try to destroy the reputation of the person who gave it, especially when they're right.

That's the response. That was the response of Joash. That's not the response we should have. How do you respond when someone kindly says it's the wrong way to do it? Why don't you try this way?

How do you respond when somebody comes you're not doing it the right way. Do it this way. What's our old nature say? I've got it. I can take care of it.

Don't tell me what to to do. I remember I worked construction. And for the first few weeks working construction, I I was the gopher. You know what the gopher does? The gophers the gopher responds to the words, go get that.

Go carry this. Go move these. I remember they dumped off this load of of two by sixes. There were like a 100 of them and I had to move them from this place to that place. 10 or 12 foot long two by sixes.

Those things were not light. And I it was my job to move them. And so I picked them up like this one at a time or two at a time and I carry them and I deposit. And my boss came over and said, don't do it that way. Put it up on your shoulder and carry them like this.

And I said, no. No. No. I got it. I got it.

I'm gonna carry it like it's easier for me to do it this way. And so I did it this way and I did it this way and I hurt my back and I felt terrible until I finally decided to do what? Listen to my boss and try doing it a different way. Well, I saved myself a little bit of pain, a lot of energy if I would have just listened what? The first time.

That's right. How do you do when someone reminds you of something you said you were going to do that you have not done yet? Men, I'm sure your wife has never had to remind you of something that you have not done yet. How do we respond? Quit nagging me.

When the response should be, sorry, honestly, not sorry as in get off my back, but sorry, I'll go do it. Because oftentimes, again, just like everybody else, we put stuff off we don't want to do. And then we get upset when somebody reminds us to do it. And I'm sure women never struggle with that, but I happen to be a man and a husband and so I I know that I do. But how do you respond?

How do you respond when someone warns you if you keep doing that thing, it's gonna what? It's gonna bring you to harm. If you keep going to that place, if you keep hanging out with those people, if you quit, if you keep smoking that, drinking that, saying that, how do we respond? When somebody says, you know, you need to slow down a little bit. A lot of times our pride pops up, doesn't it?

How do we learn to be humble? We grow in humility when we start stopping for a moment and thinking. Maybe they do know a better way than I do. Maybe maybe I should have done what I said I was going to do the first time. Maybe it's my fault.

Maybe I do need to choose a different habit or choice and consider how much harm this will bring me. A humble person can consider the rebuke and correction of others, but the proud cannot and therefore continues down a path to ruin. Which are you? Which are you? A humble person demonstrates demonstrates their humility by being softhearted and willing to receive criticism well intentioned and learns from their, what, mistakes.

The pride never learn. The proud never learn. Which are you? A humble person will draw others to Christ, but the proud never listens or considers their own faults, gets up all gets all up in arms when anybody says, try it this way or can I help you? And turns others not to Christ, but turns others what?

Away from Christ. Now, that's sad. And just simply by heeding instruction and accepting rebuke, we can be sending messages to other people around us that we don't realize we're sending that impact their lives. I read this week about a country singer who recently came out with a quasi Christian album. These people sometimes do this.

And I wondered, have they changed their convictions? Might they be or have become a Christian? So, I I looked it up. Sadly, what I found out was that this person whose name you would probably recognize if I mentioned them, was raised a Southern Baptist. But abound abandoned their roots.

Because the church that she belonged to and many Christians she knew. They preached love and they preached forgiveness and kindness and faithfulness, but she didn't want. She didn't see it. Now maybe she didn't wanna see it, but I fear that maybe she didn't see it because it wasn't there to be seen. I've experienced that in churches before, Baptist churches before, many times among the older crowd in the church that just can't get along.

And it's a pride problem. Can't accept anything anybody can't accept rebuke, can't take instruction. So, she left the church in the faith. Her thoughts on God were, well, God is what you make of him. She doesn't wish to define God as something certain, but an ambiguous force who is different things to different people.

She was disillusioned as a child, it would seem, as he searched for something real and found a lot of hypocrisy and pride and selfishness for a lot of immature and, in many cases, disingenuous Christians. Their lack of humility hastened the crisis of faith that led her in the wrong direction. And while she is responsible for her choices, there are too many proud believers who make matters worse rather than one, better. Not being the light we need to be because we are too proud to admit when we're wrong. We give the appearance to others that we never make mistakes and we've got it all together and we know it all.

We're up here and you're down there when we're all sinners saved by grace. We've all made mistakes. We all have sins from which to be forgiven. And even as Paul put it, he hadn't arrived yet, neither have we. We're still learning and still growing.

I pray that she one day finds Jesus in salvation, and I pray that for everyone here today as well. But also that we who are God's children won't let pride keep us from pointing others to the way of out of the darkness. They do not need that. God does not need that. God needs us to examine ourselves that we might humble ourselves and allow the light of Christ to shine what?

To shine through us. We are not that light, but like John the Baptist, have been sent forth to bear witness of that light like a window to God. But maybe pride is clouding the window, obscuring the light. We need to do some repenting this morning. We need to humble ourselves and be willing more so this week and next week to receive instruction, to consider correction, and to admit and confess when we have failed and point others to the one who never fails, Jesus Christ, who died for us and rose again, and who welcomes anyone into his harms who will come in faith and repentance to Jesus Christ.

Maybe that's your need today. Have you come in faith and repentance to Jesus? If you haven't, you can. I'll meet you down here in just a moment. We sing a hymn of invitation.

And if the Lord has spoke to your heart today, I pray that you would not push him away and the correction that he is maybe speaking to your heart with now, that you would deal with him in prayer. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for your wonderful love for us, for your patience with us, for the opportunity that you've given us to be a light and a testimony to others. I pray, Lord, we would not in pride obscure that light that we might be willing to confess when we have failed, that we might humble ourselves and receive instruction and even correction when it is needed that we might do it humbly and with respect to our Lord in heaven. That you might help to keep us on the right path, that you might help us to be the light that we ought to be, and that we might receive all the blessings that are ours in Jesus Christ.

We thank you, Lord, for the privilege of preaching your word, and we pray that it would reach to hearts today. And if there be one here today that is unsure of their salvation in Christ that they would come as we sing this hymn of invitation this morning. In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen.