Alright, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 11, I'll be reading from verse 25 through verse 29. Romans chapter 11, verse 25 through 29. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel, unto the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And in this way, all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As regards to the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake.

But as regards to election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit's leadership and guidance. We pray, Father God, that you would anoint this time, that bless this place, Lord, with your grace and with your presence.

I pray that your word would speak to us, it would judge us, convict us, encourage and lift us up, Lord God. That as we see a greater vision of Christ and his work, that we would give a reasonable response with our lives. We thank you in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

As you guys know, all over the news this week, probably the number one topic of discussion, and it probably will be for a while, is what happened in Vegas. And so I know, I've already talked to some people in our church who knew people actually who was there. I think I talked to somebody that knew somebody who actually got shot.

And so, I mean, it's so close to us that we'll probably have some kind of connection if we looked into it. But obviously, it was very shocking what happened. It was probably, I think they said it was the largest mass shooting in the country. I mean, we've had quite a few of those in the last few years, but the one that happened last week was the biggest.

And obviously, there's a lot of discussion going on, like why did this happen? And they're looking into his life to try to find clues as to what triggered it. Was he mentally not stable? Was it what political party was he a part of? Was there evidence who helped him out?

And even in the theological church setting, there's a lot of discussion going on. And I feel Lozan's trying to figure out, you know, what part did God play in that? Is God completely, you know, off on the side and the world has lost control? So, you know, how do we understand this, even spiritually?

And so, there's a lot of discussion going on. More discussions will go on. And I remember, again, what happened this last weekend. And as horrific as that was, you know, some of you guys may remember 9/11 and when that hit and the kind of discussion that was going on, very similar, but obviously a lot more intense just because of the scale.

And it really changed the landscape of how we viewed politics and view world affairs. And some of you guys may remember what it was like before and after and all the safety and concern and international concerns. And I think it was the first time when we were aware that there's a whole group of people who literally just wants to wipe the US out of the, you know, off the map.

And so, there's been a lot of discussion then. And since then, I've had so many discussions with people concerning those type of stuff. If God is good, why does He allow evil? That's a typical question. So, if you've ever tried to witness to non-Christians, family members, or whoever, that's a topic that often comes up.

If your God is as good as you say He is, why does He allow these things to happen? So, we have various theories. People give, you know, theologians and pastors and their sermons being given about, you know, what's going on and how, you know, how we ought to understand all of these things.

But in the end, it is a mystery. How far do we understand, like, what is God's plan in this? Is this God's form of judgment? And so, a lot of people are making, you know, statements about all of this. But in the end, it is a mystery. The one thing that we do know as a fact, for sure, that our God is absolutely sovereign and He is in control.

And sometimes, whether it's natural disasters or in the face of horrendous evil, with wars and rumors of wars and all these things going on, we've seen through the study of the book of Revelation and all throughout Scripture, there aren't pockets of periods when God is in control and then there's pockets of periods when God is engaged.

We know for a fact that from the very beginning until the very end, that our God is always sitting on His throne. So as we've been studying through the book of Revelation, we've been studying all the judgments, the plagues, the trumpet judgments, the seal judgments, and then now we're headed into the bowl judgments.

And in the context of horrendous things that is prophesied is going to take place, John is given glimpses of the throne of God, and every time he sees a glimpse of this throne, God is not panicking. There's no great concern where everybody's running around anxious. God is sitting on His throne and the elders and the creatures are circling around this throne praising Him and worshiping Him in the context of chaos that is breaking out on earth.

And I believe that there's a reason for that, that it's not random, that in the context of all of this, all this stuff going on, it is a constant reminder to John and to us that all of these things are in God's sovereign hand, even though we may not fully understand it, that God is still sovereign, that the picture that we have of heaven is never shaken, never anxious, never out of control.

He's being worshipped. Our God is still on His throne. There's a lot of things that happen in life, whether it is in the big picture of human history, what's happening in politics around the world, maybe even in your personal life. You may be asking the question, like, "I don't know how these things fit into the larger picture of my salvation.

I don't know why God is allowing these things to happen in my life because we're trying to make sense of it, but we can't quite answer what these are." And so there are times when we don't see the larger picture, where we may begin to question, "Is God really there?

If He's really there, does He care?" Or maybe God isn't as sovereign as we've been told in the Scripture. Maybe He does care, but He just doesn't have the power to do anything about it. And so we go through all of these different thoughts, and when we go through sufferings and different things that we experience that we can't understand, it begins to change the way we view God, it begins to change maybe even our theology, if we're not careful.

If you look at Israel's history, not just the period when Paul is writing this letter, remember how Israel started. God made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He was going to multiply them, that they're going to have this vast land, that God's going to bless all the world through them.

And after He does that, where and when does the actual nation of Israel start? It started when they were slaves in Egypt. They were crying out because they were suffering. Can you imagine what they were thinking? They were probably told by their ancestors that God made a covenant with us, and because of this covenant that He said He's going to be faithful and that our nation, the Jewish nation is going to be blessed and we're going to multiply, we're going to possess the land.

And they probably told that from generation to generation to generation. But when Israel actually physically started, they were being beaten up for not working hard. They were being surprised. They weren't eating well, and when they complained, it got even harder. And as a result of the suffering, they cried out to God, and God said, "I heard the groanings of my people, and that's why He calls Moses to go deliver my people." So this question of, is God done with Israel?

This is not the first time that Israel probably asked this question. That question was probably asked over and over and over again in Israel's history. From the very beginning, they probably had that question. If God is for us, why would He allow these things to happen? As soon as they get delivered, they're praising God, they go into the desert, and they're starving, some of them, they're thirsty.

Why would God who loves us and delivers us allow this to happen? Is God done with us? By no means. But it's not just the beginning, it's not just the middle. All throughout Israel's history, Israel's history is about the suffering of God's people. Whether it was Egypt, Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Edomites, or the Romans.

And even since then, we can think about all these different stages after the time of Christ. And obviously, the obvious one is the Holocaust. Israel's history is filled with markers where you can imagine they probably were crying out to God, "God, are you done with us? I know you made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but why would you allow these things to happen?" So when Paul is answering this question, "Is God done with Israel?

Have they fallen to the point where they can't get up? Have we exhausted His patience?" This is probably not the first time they asked that question. It was actually probably embedded into their culture. Time and time again, questioning if God is good, if God made this promise, why does this happen over and over and over and over and over again?

The text that we're looking at this morning, where Paul has been warning us and encouraging us at the same time, consider the kindness and the severity of God. Consider the kindness of God that despite their generations of sin, is God done? He says, "No, by no means." But consider the severity, that despite He made this covenant with them, that He kept them accountable for their sins.

He never swept their sins under the rug. And so he tells the Gentiles, he says, "Consider His severity and His kindness." And today, the text that we're looking at, starting from verse 25, he's given us a larger picture of this gospel, that even though you may not fully understand, that this is how the mystery of God has been revealed.

And so the first thing that he says about understanding what God is doing, he says, "Consider this mystery," verse 25, "lest you be wise in your own conceit, I want you to understand the mystery." In other words, what he is saying is that all this time, whether you understood it or not, God has been fulfilling His sovereign plan.

All of Israel's history, all of human history from Genesis to Revelation, was an unveiling of what God had ordained from the very beginning. So whether they were prospering, whether they were suffering, whether they were in the context of being judged, or whether they were multiplying and living in peace, that all of it, in the end, was a revelation of His mystery.

And so, again, in Romans chapter 16, 25 to 26, he says, "Not to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of mystery that was kept secret for long ages." Notice how he says, there's mystery, but it was deliberately kept secret, that not all of it was revealed.

There's an aspect of God's redemptive history that God made very plain, that He was going to save the world, but the specifics of how He was going to reveal this was kept a secret. He says it again in Ephesians 3, 9 through 10, "And to bring to light to everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." So again, he says, here's this mystery, God's salvation plan, what He has ordained, and He made it very clear what He was doing, but how this was going to be accomplished was kept a mystery, and it was being revealed to the church and to the apostles, and now we have the clear word of God.

Again in Colossians 1, 26, 27, "The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to the saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of the mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Now the point of what Paul is saying here about the mystery is simply to say, "You do not know." You may not understand what God was doing with the nation of Israel, but that's the mystery of God.

Now He's making it known, and they were probably asking the question, "If God loves us, why was He allowing these things to happen?" If these are your people, God, if the nation of Israel are the apple of your eye, why are they acting like that toward you? Why is their heart hardened toward you?

And so Paul is telling them to examine carefully the mystery of God, that first and foremost, that it would humble you, that they may not be conceited and wise in their own mind. Whenever we examine, whether it's history or even our own lives, that we don't get, you know, our first thing, our first natural response is, "How do we make sense of things?" So going back to what happened last weekend, there's all kinds of discussion.

Non-Christians are trying to pinpoint maybe it was his upbringing, maybe it's his political view, you know, maybe it's because we have guns being sold just left and right, maybe that's the problem, you know. Maybe he hated country music. I mean, there have all kinds of theories have gone out and trying to make sense of things.

But even within the church, I know that there's a lot of people, even within the church, who are confessing Christians are wrestling with, "Why did God allow that to happen?" And so people have various theories that maybe God isn't powerful, maybe God doesn't care, you know, or maybe God had nothing to do with it.

And he's just as saddened by what happened. Like, he's just as surprised of the magnitude of the sin. And so we start to create a God in our own mind that makes sense to us. And then if we're not careful, we begin to form a God that fits into my ideology, my theology.

And see, Paul is presenting to us, Scripture is presenting to us, that the mystery of Christ is above us. And he says, "One, so therefore do not be conceited because God is sovereign. One, do not be conceited to the Israelites, because the same temptation that caused them to fall is the same tension that can cause you to fall.

So to be careful not to be arrogant toward them, but ultimately do not be arrogant toward God." That God knows what He's doing. Whether you can make sense of it or not, whether the dots can be connected and say, "Oh, I understand." Whether you can make sense of it or not, whether you don't understand or not, our God is sitting on His throne and being worshipped, completely sovereign.

In Proverbs 3, 5-7, and I know you know this passage well, it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." And I think the part that I want to talk about is all your heart. If you're a Christian, you wouldn't be a Christian if you haven't trusted Him.

You wouldn't have repented if you didn't trust in Him. But this passage doesn't say trust in the Lord. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding." Not only when God makes sense, but a lot of times when He doesn't make sense.

Not only when things are the way that you think it ought to be, but especially in places when you try to look at things and things don't make sense. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. You know, our natural tendency is we trust in the Lord in things that we think at.

So if you're not good with money and you have a hard time paying your bills and you're struggling to find a job or whatever it may be, we cling to these verses, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding." Because we're not good at it, we're helpless.

But in the areas that we think we're good at, maybe some of you guys are type A personalities and you have your whole life planned out and next year you're going to do this, next year you're going to do that, and so far it's been going well. You're moving up in ranks at your work and you're making decent money, you're paying your bills, so you're good with your money.

And so in those areas we have a hard time trusting in God, you know. But maybe some of you guys are not good with your classes, maybe you're failing in your class and you've tried everything and then you trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

I've done everything I could and it's just not working, so I've got to trust the Lord, right? That's our tendency. Our tendency is on the things that we think we don't have control over, we have to trust Him. But on the things that we think we have some control over, we have a hard time letting go.

So when He says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him." In all your ways. Things that make sense and things that don't make sense, all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. Sometimes what we think is good in the larger picture turns out to be really bad.

If you live long enough you know exactly what I'm talking about. Then there are some things that you thought at that moment that it was going to ruin your life and then you look back at it and say, "Wow, you could completely see God's sovereignty." Everybody believes in predestination historically.

They just have a hard time swallowing it now and looking forward. I've never heard somebody give a testimony and they say, "You know, I did it all. I made the plan and I chose the right people and I met these right people and I chose to open my ears and hear God." I've never heard, whether you are a Presbyterian or Baptist or whatever, everybody believes in God's sovereignty because whenever they give testimony, they say, "Wow, you know, God brought that person into my life and somehow I ran into this person and I don't know, I wasn't even seeking Him and I heard the gospel and it just made sense to me all of a sudden." All of a sudden, everything seems to cook together when we look at our past.

We just have a hard time understanding how it works together today and tomorrow. See, Paul is saying to the Gentiles, he said, "You may not understand fully what God is doing. There's parts of it where God left it a mystery, but when you look back at Israel's history and all the suffering and all the difficulty, even in the midst of all the judgment, if there's any period of time in Israel's history where they were completely without hope, it would have been the time when this was being written." And I know people may say, "Well, what about the Holocaust?" Think about the situation where Paul was writing this letter.

These Jews were waiting for the Messiah through all of their suffering. Their answer was the Messiah. Once the Messiah comes, He's going to make us a superpower. We're going to be wealthy. Our children are going to be well-fed. Our religion is going to be the greatest religion. And so everything that they were suffering for, every answer that they had was the Messiah.

And yet when the Messiah, the Son of God comes, they end up rejecting Him and crucifying Him. So if there was any period in Israel's history where they could have said, "Is God done with Israel?" It would have been now. If there's any time, if there's any time there was any doubt that God would have lost patience with His people and would have said, "Enough," it would have been the time when this book was being written in the first century.

I mean, He put up with their rebellion while they were in the desert, with the griping and complaining, and even going into captivity questioning God, even after God gives them a chance to return, a very few of them even return. And over and over again, through all of that, God's been patient.

But there's any time, like any one of us would understand if God cut them off and moved on, it would have been at the writing of this letter. And yet even then, He says, "I am not done with Israel." In fact, not only is He not done, He said, "This is part of the mystery that's being revealed, how He's using their hardening of the heart and rejection and rebellion to ultimately He's going to bring salvation to mankind." This mystery is revealed in three separate ways.

Again, three separate in progress. One, He says, that they experienced a partial hardening of their heart. At this time of this letter being written, Israel was for the most part rejecting their Messiah. There are some who converted, obviously like Apostle Paul, but for the most part, they've hardened their heart.

And I think it's interesting that the way that their rejection of their Messiah and the gospel, and they simply call it hardening. When something is hardened, it means they're not molded. They're not able to be molded. So we are the clay, He is the powder, means when they are hardened, they're resisting God.

You don't have to shake your fist at God and say, "I don't want you to be in a rebellion against God." All you have to do is resist Him. And that's why often Israel's sin is described as being stiff-necked. As being stiff-necked. God says all of these things, and you say, "Well, I don't know." Not completely trusting in Him and seeking life outside of God.

They were stiff-necked. So the first stage of this unfolding, at least from this point on, is that they've experienced a partial stiffening, a hardening. But the second stage is that Israel's hardening is temporary. That because of their hardening, the gospel was opened up to the Gentile world. His primary function, even remember when Jesus came, the Gentiles would come and say, "Hey, would you heal me?" And Jesus would say, "I did not come to the Gentiles.

I came to the house of Israel, the house of Judah." In other words, up to the point of Christ's crucifixion, His primary concern was to work through the nation of Israel. But part of the mystery, part of the gospel mystery that was being revealed is, now the time, because they've hardened, and because they've rejected Him, now the gospel is going out to the Gentile world.

That was the second stage. That God is using even their sins to take the gospel to the remotest part of the world. In other words, He said, "God has not lost control." He wasn't doing plan A, and because they rejected the Messiah, He said, "Well, let's go to plan B." It wasn't plan B.

He said, "From the very beginning, this was ordained by God. God is still on His throne, and He knows exactly what He is doing." But this period is temporary. Second Peter 3.9, He said, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." The whole reason why you and I are here is because God ordained this period for us.

He ordained this period so that you and I can come to Christ. And if He doesn't come in our generation, it's because He's being patient toward our children. And if He doesn't come in that generation, the whole reason is so that He can be patient with our grandchildren, so that no one, no one's name who's written in the book of life will be left out.

So in other words, He says, in God's mystery that is being revealed, that they experience a temporary hardening of the heart, in order that the gospel may go out to the Gentiles, which you and I, this period of the church, but it also means that it's temporary, that God has designed a time when this time will end.

That this is God ordained. It's time for us to take the baton and to take the gospel to the remotest part of the world, because that's His ordained time. You and I are living in a period when God said, "I have allowed them to be hardened in order that you may come to Christ." Why He didn't come in the first century, second century, third century, was so that you and I can also enter the kingdom of God.

If that is God's purpose and His mystery, like where do we fit into this? Pretty obvious. Every single one of us ought to understand the urgency to spread the gospel. Because the whole reason why Israel was hardened was to give us an opportunity. In Revelation 20, 15 it says, "And if anyone's name was not found in the written book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." That there are names written in the book of life that God has ordained, and until the full number comes in, He says, "God is going to allow them to be hardened." There should be a sense of urgency in every Christian to spread the gospel.

Thirdly, He said the first stage is hardening, second stage is opening. One door shuts and another door opens. But thirdly, God's ultimate plan is to restore Israel. In this way, He says, all Israel will be saved. I think one of the questions that I ask is, does all Israel mean that every single Jew, whether they believe Jesus Christ or not, are they going to be saved?

I've actually heard a radio program where they were mocking dispensationalism and say, "Do you dispensationalists believe that you can go to heaven even if you don't believe in Jesus Christ because they think all Israel is going to be saved?" That is a very misunderstanding or false accusation toward dispensationalism.

If you don't know what dispensationalism is, don't worry about it. That is not what they're saying. It said that the elect of God, they're going to experience a great revival once that period of God's patience for the Gentiles is done and we are at the end times, God's going to bring revival again for His people and there's going to be a mass revival and conversion among the Israelites and all those that have been ordained to eternal life in Israel, He said, is going to be saved.

Now what is the point of all of this? One, He made it very clear so that we may not be considered and wise in our own sight, right, and wise in our own understanding. That we don't look at it and try to make sense of things and contradict what God has said.

Maybe God is not strong. Maybe God is not faithful and start to question and start having doubts about our faith. The whole purpose of it is to tell us that what you do understand, what you don't understand. That God is completely sovereign sitting on His throne. I think Romans chapter 9, 4 through 6 kind of summarizes the whole point that He's been trying to make.

He says, "They are Israelites and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promise. To them belong the patriarchs and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ who is God overall, blessed forever, amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed." What He has promised, He will fulfill.

Isn't that the struggle that you and I have on a day-to-day basis? We know what the word of God says. You've been at the church long enough. You've been a Christian long enough to know what the word of God says. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, all these things shall be added unto you." You memorize it.

Maybe some of you have it tattooed somewhere. I don't know. Maybe it's hanging on the wall somewhere. We know it. But the struggle is do you believe it? Do you believe it? And if you believe it, how does that change your decision-making? How does that change the way you spend your money?

How does that change the way you view people? How does that change the way you invest your time? We know what it says. Where the rubber meets the road is do you believe it? See this unveiling and revealing of the mystery of the gospel is to show even in Israel's hardening, God is absolutely in control.

He's allowed it to be opened. He shut one door so the other door can be opened. But at the end of it all, the sovereign God is completely in control and the word of God will not fail. In summary, in verse 28, it says, "As regards to the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake, but as regards to the election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers." Now there's so much wisdom and truth contained just in that verse.

As regards to the gospel, they become enemies of God. Consider the severity of God. Consider that even God's people, even the people that He made a promise to, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, His very people that He called apple of His eyes, even them, when they rebelled against God, they were punished.

Do not ever be deceived to think that God is ever okay with sin. The same God who punished sin in the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. He will always be holy, holy, holy. Do not ever be deceived by a false prophet from the past, present, or the future to think that somehow God's tolerance towards sin is better today than He was in the past.

He's shown us through how He has dealt with His people. Consider His severity. God will never be okay with sin. But also consider His kindness, the second part. But as regards to election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. But the second part of the warning is, do not ever consider, do not ever be deceived by Satan himself to think that somehow your sin is beyond his mercy.

As the false prophets went out to give lies and saying, "Well, God doesn't care what you do," because that was the primary message of the false prophets. God is not angry with you. There is no hell. There is no judgment. God just wants you to be encouraged. God wants what's best for you.

He was grandfather just giving out candy whenever He wants. I mean, that's the false prophets. And then the accuser of the brother, Satan himself, he'd harp on every mistake you make, every past sin. And we'll keep you down. Make sure when you fall and you give him an opportunity, he's going to come and he's going to make sure that he keeps you down.

God can't love you. Maybe the first few times, but you've been wrestling with that sin for so many years. God can't possibly. You've exhausted his patience. So don't ever be deceived to think that somehow our sins will exhaust his patience. As long as we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us all our unrighteousness.

So consider the severity of God and also consider the kindness of God. And these two things go hand in hand. You mistake one or the other, you've ruined the gospel. That's not the gospel at all. You've taken grace out. That's not the gospel. You've taken holiness out. That's not the gospel.

The mystery of the cross reveals all of it. That the holy, holy, holy God, despite all our sin, if we repent of our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us all our unrighteousness. As basic, as fundamental as that is, you're going to spend all your life wrestling with the application of these truths.

The application of his kindness and the application of his severity. There are times when you need to be reminded of his severity because maybe you're just too light about sin. Maybe you're struggling with purity and it's just, well, everybody struggles with it. At what point do we draw the line?

And you just kind of allowed sin into your life and compromise to the extent it no longer bothers your conscience. And you need to understand the severity of God. There never a time in our life or in history where God is all of a sudden changing and say, he's going to be okay with sin.

He will, he will by no means let sin be sin and just sweep it under the rug. But there are so many times also in our lives where you need to understand the kindness of God. He examined the nation of Israel, despite all their failings, despite all that they have done, says, I am not done with them.

Doesn't that give you the assurance? Doesn't that give you the confidence to walk and be faithful? Doesn't that give you the strength to follow him? In Psalm, sorry, in Romans chapter 11, 29, in summary of all of this, he says, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

If you haven't memorized that passage, I encourage you to memorize that. Memorize that. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. God is not man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent. Has he not said and will he not do it?

If God said it, he will do it. Our whole Christian life, our worship, our hope, our friendship, our marriage, all is founded upon belief and application of this truth. His gift and his calling of God are irrevocable. They do not change. And we run to that. We run to it when we sin.

We run to it when we doubt. We run to it when we need courage. We run to it when we need hope, when we're in despair, when we need a refuge. This is what we run to, his promises. Psalm 105, 7-10. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute to Israel as an everlasting covenant. Would you take a minute? Again, I'm going to ask the praise team to come up.

I think the challenge for us, you know, and I can't speak for every church and I can't speak for generation as a whole, even though I do think it does apply. The challenge for us is not knowing what it says, but believing what you already know. Believing what you already know.

Not superficial, knee-jerk reactions like, "Oh yeah, of course I believe. And of course I believe Jesus died for me on the cross." But do you believe it? Do you believe the covenant that he made? Do you believe the promises? Do you also believe in the warning? Do you also believe when he says, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction." And many will be found on it, but narrow is the path that leads to eternal life.

And very few will be found on it. Do you also believe that? Do you also apply that in your life? As we come before the Lord and we consider God's patience and severity with his people, and how all through all of this, our God is completely sovereign, that his word has not failed us, that his gift and his calling are irrevocable, that as we take some time to consider all of these things, again, not to simply superficially say, "I believe it," but to examine and honestly pray before God, "I believe, help my unbelief," so that our faith will be real.

Let's take some time to pray before God as our worship team leads us.