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In Matthew chapter 26, and the Bible reads, and it came to pass when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, you know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified, and assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, and of the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. They said, not on a feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and put it on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation saying, to what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, why trouble you, the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For he hath the poor always with you, but me he hath not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. Then one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot, went on to the chief priests, and said unto them, what will you give me? And I will deliver them unto you. And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? And he said, go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, the Master saith, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at the house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover. Now when the evening was come, he sat down with the 12. And as they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him, but want to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed, and have been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, thou hast said. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, take, eat. This is my body. He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you, in my Father's kingdom. When it had sung in him, they went out unto the Mount of Olives, and saith Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock row, thou shall deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also, said the disciples. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, sit ye here while I go and pray under, and took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And saith unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tear ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible to let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, what? Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my Father, this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, that will be done. He came again and found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold, he's at hand that doth betray me. And while he had spake, lo Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him best. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. And behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all that they take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In the same hour, said Jesus to the multitudes, I already come out as against a thief with swords and staves, for to take me. I said, Deo with you, teaching in a temple, and you laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him from afar on to the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death, but found none. Yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose and said unto him, answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, and the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God. Thou shalt tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast said, nevertheless, I said unto you. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, he hath spoken blasphemy. What further need have we of witness? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, he is guilty of death. Then they split in his face, and buffeted him. And others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, prophesy unto us thou Christ. Who is he that smote thee? Now Peter sat without in a palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, thou also was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know now not what thou sayest. When he was gone out into the porch, another mate saw him, and said unto them that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech beareth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock grew. And Peter remembered the words of the Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock grow, thou shall deny me thrice. And he went out and wept bitterly. Let's pray. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the King James Bible, dear God. We thank you for the church you have given us. We thank you for the pastor you have given us. Dear Lord, we ask that you please bless him with your Holy Spirit this evening, as he preaches your word unto us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 26 this evening, and we continue with our Bible study on the book of Matthew here. And we're nearing the crucifixion and the conclusion of the book of Matthew. And what we're going to look at tonight, the events that are found in chapter 26, is actually known as the preparation or the Passover, and the events leading up to the preparation and Passover. And so look at verse number 1 of chapter 26. It says, and it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. Now, obviously, that's significant because of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Passover, right? And so even though they're in two days, they're going to sacrifice a literal animal, a lamb. Oh, is this not on? Whoops. There we go. I didn't notice. I'm just loud, so I guess. But it's on now. OK, cool. Well, let me start all over. We're in chapter 26. No, I'm just kidding. So the reason this is significant here is because of the fact that Jesus Christ, as I mentioned, is the Passover. So even though they're going to sacrifice a literal lamb on this day in two days, they're actually going to sacrifice the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world, which is Jesus Christ. And so we see that in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, that the Bible says that Jesus is our Passover. And the Passover is referring to what the story do we see in Exodus chapter 12, when God is plaguing the nation of Egypt. And he tells his people that to sacrifice a lamb and take the blood of the lamb and put it on the posts of the door. And the reason he's telling them to do that, of course, is because when the destroyer comes, if he sees the blood on the post, he's going to pass over them. So essentially what that signifies is that when a person believes on Jesus Christ for salvation, when the judgment of God comes, when eternal damnation comes, it passes over those who have the blood of Jesus Christ apply to them. You understand? And so that's why the Bible refers to Jesus as our Passover, because of the fact that he is essentially the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So he makes a significant statement that in two days, there's going to be this preparation in the Passover. And then, of course, he's going to be betrayed and be crucified. But another significant thing that we see here in these couple of verses is the fact that the scribes and the Pharisees at this point begin to consult and conspire how they're going to kill Jesus. And I want you to notice what it says in verse number five. It says, but they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now, what is the feast day? What is he referring to there? Well, the feast day is referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the Feast of Unleavened Bread would take place after the preparation of the Passover, and would essentially be observed and consumed for seven days thereafter. Now, a couple of things I want to mention here regarding the crucifixion of Christ is that based upon the evidence that we see in the Bible, the crucifixion did not take place. Jesus Christ did not die on a Friday. And that's important to know because that's something that is very much popularized by the Catholics. And even some fundamental Baptists buy into that and regurgitate that false theology that he died on a Friday. And one of the reasons they come to that conclusion is because they surmised that, well, if he resurrected on Sunday, well, then that would mean that he died on Friday because Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, three days. However, they're obviously not accounting for the three nights because if he was crucified on a Friday, then you have Friday night, Saturday night, well, you're short one night if he resurrected on Sunday. So that would place his crucifixion on a Thursday. You say, well, how do you know that for sure? Well, because of the fact that when you look at Leviticus chapter 23, for example, it states that the preparation and, or should I say, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was supposed to be observed on the 15th day of the first month. And that's actually referred to as, according to Leviticus 23, as a Sabbath, which is another reason why they think that he was crucified on a Friday is because the Bible also says in the Gospels that when the preparation took place, which is synonymous with the Passover, it was the day before the Sabbath. Well, in everyone's mind, because we just kind of associate the Sabbath with a Saturday, they automatically think, OK, it's referring to a Saturday. Therefore, the preparation, Passover must have been on a Friday. But what people fail to realize is that there's not just one Sabbath. Obviously, this is the most common one that we see in the Bible referring to that weekly Sabbath. But the Bible also talks about various Sabbaths that people were supposed to observe, which is one of the reasons why Colossians chapter 2 states that, let no man judge you therefore, and meet, or drink, or respect of an holy day, or of the Sabbath days, or of the new moon, implying that there's more than one Sabbath being spoken of. And in fact, when you look at these other different Sabbaths, according to Leviticus 23, you see that they can fall on any day, not just on a Saturday. Because Sabbath, obviously, is associated with the word Saturday. However, Sabbath just means rest. And when you look at Leviticus 23 in regards to the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it specifically states that when the children of Israel observe that day, that it was supposed to be a holy convocation, and that no man should do any servile work. Well, that's referring to a Sabbath. And in fact, I believe later on in verse 24 of chapter 23, it actually refers to it as the Sabbath. And if it's telling the children of Israel, God is telling the children of Israel, supposed to be on the 15th day of the first month, well, obviously, that varies based upon what year you're in. And it just so happens that when Jesus Christ died, it was actually the day before the weekly Sabbath. Now, let me explain real quick how this takes place and how it is that Jesus died on a Thursday and not a Friday. Because when we think of days, we think of, well, Thursday started Thursday morning. We're in Thursday evening. Then you have Friday morning, Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, so on and so forth. Whereas the Bible actually records days starting in the evening first and then the day. For example, in Genesis chapter one, the Bible talks about the evening and the morning are the first day. So if we're to quantify this based upon the scriptural evidence here, we would see that, for example, Thursday, or should I say our Wednesday today, like, I'm sorry, let me back that up. Thursday evening, for us now, would actually be Friday evening according to the Bible. And obviously it doesn't give us specific times, it just says at even. And even is often referring to either daybreak or at night, the twilight. So if we're looking at Thursday night tonight, we're having service tonight, according to biblical standards, it would actually be Friday evening, okay? Which would go for about 12 hours or so. And then you would have Friday morning thereafter, leading up to 6 p.m., for example, on Friday, at which point you would have Saturday evening at 6 p.m. or Friday. Does that make sense to everyone? Which is why even to this day, Jews, they actually begin observing the Sabbath Friday evening because that's actually their Saturday, you understand? We don't do that, but that's how the Bible works. And so if you were to think about the fact that Jesus Christ is the Passover, He's the Passover Lamb, essentially this is taking place on a Thursday, but according to our calendar, it would be Wednesday evening. So what are the events leading up to the crucifixion all the way through to the resurrection? Well, basically what you would have is our Wednesday evening would be the beginning of their Thursday, at which point He is observing and eating the Passover with His disciples. He said, why is He eating the Passover so early? Because He's gonna be the Passover. And so He has to observe that with His disciples prior to being crucified. So obviously He's observing it a little earlier, however, it's still on the Passover, though, because it's being observed on the evening of that Thursday, you understand? So that evening is where we have the events of Him observing the Passover, the Lord's Supper with His disciples. You have Judas Iscariot betraying Him. You have Jesus Christ going into the Garden of Gethsemane, right, and then you have Jesus Christ being arrested, and the Apostle Peter denying Jesus Christ before the cock crows, right, referring to the fact that it happened before the day of that Thursday, you understand, of the 15th of the first month. Well, in that morning time, that daytime, is where you have the trials, and then He's delivered unto Pilate, and then essentially He is delivered to be crucified, and the Bible tells us that from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, darkness is upon all the face of the earth at that point, and we know that at the ninth hour is where He says, eli eli lama sabachthani, and then shortly thereafter is when He gives up the ghost and He dies. And so if we're to look at chronologically how this takes place, well, that would still be the day of the 15th day of the first month, referring to the fact that is the day of that Thursday. You understand, you have the evening first, then you have the day, which is when He dies. Okay, now let's count the days. So Thursday evening, He's still alive, right? He's being persecuted, He gets arrested. He doesn't die until the Thursday day. So that's day one of Him being dead. Then you have Friday evening, okay? That's night one. Then you have, excuse me, you have Friday evening from what we would consider to be our Thursday, okay? And then you have Saturday evening, which we would consider to be Friday evening, that's two, and then you would have Sunday evening, which we would consider to be Saturday, and then He resurrects. So that's three nights. You say, well, what about the three days? Doesn't He resurrect during the day? No, actually, He resurrects before the sun rises. So then the days would be Saturday, Friday, and then just a little bit after the ninth hour on Thursday. So that's how you have three days and three nights. People automatically think, well, the three days has to include when He resurrected, but not necessarily, because the Bible specifically says that He resurrected before the day came about, you understand? So the three days you can calculate is Saturday, Friday, and then a little bit of the Thursday day. Now, how do we know that's true? Because the Bible also records the Pharisees saying that they had to take the body down before the Passover, okay, and so they wanted to do that because obviously they had to observe the Passover, which means He was taken down before that Friday evening took place. Does that make sense to everyone? I know that's a lot, but it's important to know that because of the fact that we never want to be like Catholics and be like, oh, you know, Good Friday or something, you know? Oh, man, He died on Friday. He didn't die on Friday. You know, He was already dead at that point. He died on Thursday, and if you were to just backtrack and see how the days work evening and morning, we see that it actually begins on our Wednesday, but the Bible quantifies it as being the evening of Thursday, and then you have those three days there. So that's what that's being referred to there, and that's what He says in verse number five, but they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now, another thing that I want to mention here is the fact that the Passover, even though it's not necessarily the day when they start eating the unleavened bread, it's still considered part of that unleavened feast, and if you look at Luke 22, for example, it talks about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and it says, which is called the Passover. Now, obviously, they're not eating the unleavened bread on the 14th day of the first month, but they are preparing the animal. They're making preparations. They're killing the animal. They are preparing it, and then it actually begins on the 15th day of the first month, the day after, okay? And so people think, well, it says after the Sabbath, but here's the thing, is that you have the weekly Sabbath on Saturday, but then you also have the Leviticus 23 Sabbath, the first day of unleavened bread, and then prior to that, you have the Passover. So the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ fulfills all these things in a symbolic manner, because on the 14th day of the first month regarding the Passover, he is our Passover. He's being sacrificed. On the 15th day of the first month, he is that unleavened bread, because he is without sin, amen? He is without sin, and of course, he's offering his body to be eaten, because he is the bread of life, and then you have him also in hell. He's dead, and he's in hell on that Saturday, which is the weekly Sabbath, a day when everyone's supposed to cease from their labors, picturing the fact that Jesus Christ is our Sabbath, and that we cease from our works, because we place our faith in Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful picture of salvation, right? So that's why it worked that way. God obviously does everything perfectly, but when you think about it, the 14th day and the 15th day of the first month could have fell on any day, but it just so happens that in this time when Jesus Christ was here, it fell on Thursday, Friday, Saturday to give us a beautiful picture of what Jesus Christ was doing for us, that he was our Passover, he is that unleavened bread, and we are ceasing from our works so that he can make that payment for us. It's a great picture there, and so that's what's taking place, and that is essentially what the preparation is here in Matthew 26. If I bored you, sorry, but it is important to know, though, because Catholicism is gaining a lot of traction right now because of social media, and Christians don't seem to know any Bible nowadays, so they don't really know how to refute a lot of these things, and so they blindly just accept some of this rhetoric from Catholics. Oh, I guarantee you on Easter, prior to Easter, people are gonna be saying, happy Good Friday. Even Christians are gonna be saying it because they're ignorant of what the Bible actually says about these things, and so it's important to know that information, and so I'm not sorry that I bored you because you should know it, amen. Turn on the AC. I told you to turn it down, but it's getting too hot up here. Sorry, folks. My preaching can't keep you awake, so I'm gonna crank the AC, amen. All right, look at verse six. Now, when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box, a very precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw, they had indignation saying, to what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me, for ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. Now, what's interesting about this story here is that there's three specific times that Jesus Christ is anointed throughout his ministry. This being the last one. The first one being approximately about two years prior to this, and we see that in Luke chapter 12, where a woman, unnamed, comes with an alabaster box when Jesus Christ is in the house of one of a Pharisee, and the Bible talks about how she washes his feet with tears and wipes his feet with her hair, and that she anoints his feet with that ointment from that alabaster box. The second time that we see this is in John chapter 12, and it's Mary, who is the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who also has ointment known as Spikenard ointment, very costly, she breaks it, she anoints his feet. At this point, we have someone essentially pouring oil over his head. Now, what is the significance of these stories? Well, I want you to notice that here we see that the disciples are very angry and make this accusation that this is a waste, okay? But when you look at John chapter 12, you see that the person who's in, because it's almost identical, the story in John chapter 12 is almost identical to what we see here, the difference being is that it's Judas Iscariot in John chapter 12, who's angry and who's the one who says, why was this waste made? It could have been sold for 300 pence and given to the poor. And the Bible obviously tells us not that he loved the poor, because obviously he was greedy, he was covetous, he was the person who held the bag, he was a thief. But here it says that the disciples were the ones who were indignant and were angry with the use of this oil. So one of two things is happening here, okay? Number one, either Matthew chapter 26 is also referring to Judas, even though he's not named, but it's implied because he said the same exact thing in John chapter 12. Or what I think is probably more likely is the fact that Judas has influenced the other disciples to think this way as well. Now, I would have put it past Judas of being a very great leader in this group here. And when I mean great, I don't mean he's moral, I mean he has just a lot of influence over the disciples. And if I were to look at the disciples and say who had the most influence, I would say probably Judas might have had a good amount of influence, which is one of the reasons why no one suspected him of being a wolf in sheep's clothing, because they just figured he was a great leader or something. But also, people have a tendency of the strong leader. And I'll give you an example. In the other accounts of the Gospels, Mark and Luke, you have, of course, Peter saying that he's gonna die with Jesus, and he's gonna go all out, and so he's typically known for being the one who puts his foot in his mouth, right? Saying he's gonna die with Jesus, and we often accredit that to him. But here in Matthew 26, when he makes that statement of dying with Jesus, the Bible also says, likewise said all the disciples. So when we think of that particular story, we often accredit it to Peter, not realizing that in chapter 26, everyone said it. So we were like, man, Peter's always putting his foot in his mouth. Yeah, but everyone was putting their foot in their mouths, too. Now, why is that? Well, I think it's because Peter is a great leader. And his boldness emboldened the disciples to say, yeah, we'll die with you, too. Now, here's more proof that Peter's a great leader, is that when they go to the Garden of Gethsemane, for example, and Jesus is praying, and he comes back, and what are they doing? They're sleeping. Who does he rebuke? Peter. Now, all of them were sleeping. All of them are responsible, but the one he gets on is Peter. Why? In my opinion, it's probably because he's a great leader. Understand, he has a lot of influence over the disciples. So I'm thinking maybe it's the fact that Judas is a leader amongst the disciples and has influenced others to become covetous like him. And you know what? That is a very much real thing even today, which is why you gotta be careful who you hang out with, right? And covetousness is a disease, it's a spiritual disease that is easily transmitted to another believer if you spend enough time with a greedy person. If you spend time with a person who's constantly talking about money, constantly talking about possessions, constantly talking about the things of this world of that nature, it's gonna cause you to become covetous as well. And in fact, covetousness is such a wicked sin that according to the Bible, it merits excommunication from a church. So if a person in church is a covetous person where they're talking about money all the time, they're doing pyramid schemes or something, and all they do on Sunday morning is just talking about money, and they're causing other people to decline spiritually because of covetousness, according to the Bible, that person needs to be warned that they can be thrown out for that. That's a real thing. And people don't understand how dangerous covetousness actually is. It could destroy a person's life. And so Judas obviously is a wicked person, the other disciples are not wicked, but they're tossed about, carried about with every wind of doctrine, they're easily influenced, and it kinda goes to show us that Christians can also become easily influenced to become covetous as well. And so that's something we need to make sure that we check ourselves on from time to time, making sure that we're not putting money and possessions on a pedestal and compromising our spiritual disciplines and responsibilities because of money, okay? And I don't believe you should live like some sort of ascetic life and hate money or something like that, we need money. We need to make ourself friends to the unrighteous family because we need to pay the bills, but we need to do it in a righteous way and make sure we understand that ultimately all wealth comes from God. We need to make sure that we're generous, we need to make sure that we're paying our bills, and there's nothing wrong with getting a raise and making a lot of money as long as money is not making you, amen? It's not wrong with getting money, what's wrong is how you get it, if it's wrong, but also it's wrong if money is getting you, if all you can think about is money. We went through a season in our church where I felt like people were just checking their Bitcoin like all the time, that's when I preached on covetousness because I felt like that's all people were talking about in our church was Bitcoin. And I guarantee you there's people in our church who when I was preaching any sermon, in the back of their mind, they were thinking about where's my Bitcoin right now? What level is it on or something? Let me, you think password notice if I just check my app real quick? They were just addicted to. And so we can see how the disciples got caught up in this. But one person that was not caught up in any type of covetousness in this particular story is the woman who came with the alabaster box. We obviously know it was very precious, meaning that it was very expensive, it was very rare. And obviously she paid a great price to purchase it and place it upon the Lord. And one of the principles that we can learn from this is the fact that we need to take advantage when opportunity comes. Because he says in verse number 11, for ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. Now, obviously Judas was not trying to save 300 pence to give to the poor. He wanted to save 300 pence to give to himself, okay? But it could be that maybe some of the other disciples might've thought, yeah, why don't we give this to the poor, get some more rewards or something and come up with some sort of reason why it would be better to just sell it and for whatever reason. But what they don't seem to understand is that this is a very rare opportunity. No one in history will have the opportunity to anoint Jesus with an alabaster box of oil upon his head. It will never happen again. And you know what this should teach us is that opportunities sometimes are very rare. We need to take advantage of an opportunity when it's present because it's not always gonna be there. And even in regards to a financial opportunity, if you have an opportunity to be a blessing to someone, take it. Because the poor ye have always with you. Your desires and needs and your Christmas list, ye have always with you. But some opportunities they come and go and you might lose out on an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else because it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. And so obviously the point that he's making is that once he's gone, the poor people are gonna remain there. There's never gonna be a shortage of poor people in this world, they're always going to exist. That opportunity is always gonna be there. What he wants people to understand is that there's certain opportunities that you might only have one chance to do it, okay? We need to take advantage of that and take our alabaster box and invest it, knowing full well that we shall be recompense of the Lord. Obviously there's rewards tied into giving and things of that nature. But not just in a matter of giving, how about just your talents, right? How about the ointment of your talent? How about the fact that maybe you have a talent that God has bestowed upon you that you should use right now and not wait because there could come a time when you become an old geezer and you can no longer use those talents because you're too weak, too tired, not strong enough, you know, and you have health issues. Hey, use your youth now. Take advantage while you have the ability now. Take advantage to preach the gospel now. Take advantage to raise your children for God now. Why? Because that ointment should be invested in this opportunity that's not gonna last forever, okay? If you have little ones, bring them to church as much as possible. Teach them the word of God. Invest that ointment as much as you possibly can into your children, into your marriage because that window of opportunity is gonna go one day and you're not gonna have it anymore. And you know what's sad is when people let that opportunity go, they look back decades later and they got this ointment but they can no longer have an opportunity to place it upon the head of their children, of their spouse because that opportunity is not there anymore. You know, they're grown, they're doing their own thing, you've lost influence over them, whatever may be. Take advantage now of the opportunities that you have. Be someone who looks for opportunities to be a blessing. Be someone who can see the opportunity in your children by investing in them and investing in your marriage, investing in the ministry, amen? You know, I thank God for people who have invested in our church from the very start. You know, they took advantage when we were Faith Ward Baptist Church of LA, the gang member church or the gangster church or whatever. I appreciate that. You know, there's people that we have in our church today that were there from day one when I was not known, okay? You know, when I didn't have the Instagram or the YouTube and you know, but they came to church because they were putting that investment because they knew it was a worthy investment to invest in this church. You know what, God blessed them greatly and you know, one thing that I like to think about or one thing that I enjoy that I consider a blessing is when I go to preach to other places, I'll meet just different people and you know, for example, I went to the conference in, what's that place called? Oh yeah, Texas, no, I'm just kidding. Now I went to steadfast, steadfast is great, okay? And I met a lot of people that I've never met before and one of the biggest blessings for me is to hear people say, we've been listening to you since day one when no one listened to you, you know? Because I remember like, I remember when I started working for Pastor Anderson, he told me, you gotta start a YouTube channel. I'm like, oh man, like, I don't wanna start a YouTube channel because it's kind of embarrassing because you know, you put a sermon, you get like two views, you know, it's kind of whack, you know? And I remember even telling you, Lisa's like, man, I don't wanna do this, but he's my boss so I gotta do it. But you know, there's five, 10 people who watch every sermon every once in a while, you know? And I remember people telling me, they're like, I was listening to you before the church got big and you know what, I appreciate that. Because you know, that was an opportunity for them and they hold a special place in my internet heart of people who were there from the very start, right? Obviously, that's a carnal kind of illustration there but the point that I'm making is that windows of opportunity come and go. So you need to look for the opportunity to pour the alabaster box of very precious ointment upon someone, upon a ministry, upon an opportunity when it's there because me, you have not always, as Jesus said, right? That opportunity is not always gonna be there. And of course, you know, one of the great things about this story is the fact that we're talking about it tonight. And the fact that we're talking about it tonight is a fulfillment of verse 13, amen? It says, barely I say unto you, whereforefore this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. So for thousands of years, people have been talking about this unnamed woman and honoring her, learning from her investment, receiving instruction from her, why? Because she spent a good amount of money, precious, for precious ointment and wherever there's a gospel preaching church, you're gonna have this story told. And, you know, honoring her memory. And so it's a great story here. Let's read on, verse 14 says, then one of the 12 called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priest and said unto them, what will you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they coveted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. So notice the contrast here. One is seeking opportunity to be a blessing, the other one is seeking an opportunity to betray him. And one is seeking to get rid of their resources to be a blessing. The other one is trying to get 30 pieces of silver. They're both looking for opportunity, but one of them is obviously extremely wicked. And the other thing I want to point out here is that Judas Iscariot was a freaking wicked person. I don't care what the chosen says. You know, whatever season they're in or whatever. Well, they got Judas, they're trying to romanticize Judas Iscariot as if he was, you know, I think he started off good, you know? And it's just like, well, every person, when they're born into this world, obviously he starts off good, but he didn't start off in the ministry good. Because they tell this story that like, he basically followed Jesus because he bought into the vision and he really thought he was going to make a difference. Bro, the guy was the devil from the beginning. That's what the Bible says. So he was a false prophet, heretic, reprobate before, right at the very start of the ministry. It's not like, oh man, you know, let's just try to make these investments here. And then he just got persuaded a different way, became disillusioned with the ministry, and now he's betraying Jesus Christ. Wrong! The guy literally joined the disciples in the ministry of Jesus Christ with the intention to steal. That's what he wanted to do. And you know, the chosen, they pushed that narrative which is very much detrimental to churches because now it gives people an excuse as to why they're like, oh, that's why that guy was stealing from the offering. Oh, he's just a good guy, he just went a little astray. No, he's stealing from the offering because he's wicked. Because he's a freaking wolf in sheep's clothing. That's why. So it is essentially desensitizing people to the reprobate doctrine. It's desensitizing people to the doctrine of false prophets in the Bible. And it's just kind of giving people a back door out. Oh, Judas is scared, he's just, you know, misunderstood. He just misunderstood. Him and his, and then they start adding people into the story that are not even there, like he had a sister or something. And you're like, I'm going to go change the world. And he's just like. No, you're gonna be in the center of the world. Because you're gonna die and go to hell because you're the son of perdition. And it just blows my mind, it boggles my mind that people will literally hold up the chosen as being authoritative and just completely ignore the Bible. Clear scriptures that tell us that Judas Iscariot was just wicked as hell, okay? You know, he's a wicked person. He's one of the only people in history who Satan possessed. And so he's a wicked individual. And look, let me just prove to you that obviously, you know, what I'm telling you is true is because when I made a video about it, the chosen actually responded to me. So when you have the makers of that stupid show commenting on your video trying to defend their narrative, okay, then you know you struck a chord because my channel wasn't big at that time. It was a small little channel. And I don't even think it had a whole lot of views. But obviously, they saw it and it made a biblical point. And so obviously, you know, it upset them. But you know what, if the shoe fits, Cinderella, if the shoe fits. So obviously, it's at this point that he makes the decision that he's gonna betray Jesus Christ. Look at verse 17. Now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? Now, the reason that's important to notice is because the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread that they're referring to is not the day that they eat the unleavened bread. It's referring to the preparation of the Passover, which is actually lumped in with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why? Well, because it's part of it. And so it's just kind of lumped in there. And you can look that up in Luke 22, verse one. Look at verse 18. And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and saying to him, The Master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus is appointed, and they made ready the Passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the 12. So at this point, we are in the evening of that Thursday, even though from our perspective, it would be Wednesday evening, the even that's being referred to in verse 20 is referring to the evening of that Thursday, okay? Says in verse 21, And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? Now this is a great response from the disciples. Because obviously the people who are saying, Lord, is it I? You know, the majority of them are righteous people. And so, you know, I think this is a very sincere response, because they're kind of examining themselves, wondering like, is he talking about me? You know, sometimes I'll preach something and people will come up to me like, were you talking about me? You know, and my answer often is yes. Because I'm talking to everyone, right? But obviously they're just completely ignorant of who it actually is. It says in verse 23, And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, and the same shall betray me. Said a man, Goeth as it is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master it as it is that I. He said unto him, Thou hast said. Now keep in mind, this is all being done like at the table. And this is one of those stories that kind of boggles my mind too. I mean, did you guys ever think about that? Like how was it that like, you know, Simon, the cane and I wasn't like, hmm. It was weird. What? Why did you say that, Judas? That's kind of weird. No one thought to even say anything. You know what I mean? Like, you would think that, I feel like if I was there, because I'm very vocal, I'd be like, I'm sorry, can you repeat that again? Did you say he's the one? Jump him, you know what I mean? But again, I think it's because of the fact that no one would suspect that it was Judas Iscariot for whatever reason. Maybe he's just a leader and no one suspected that it was him. Even to the point where he's like, they both dip and they're both dipping in the sop and no one thought to think like, hmm, that's interesting. You know, in their minds, they're probably like, oh, it's just a coincidence or something. You kind of wonder what the mentality is here or you wonder what kind of reputation Judas had. Verse 26, and as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to his disciples and said, take ye, this is my body. Now, what is his body? Well, the bread is symbolically representing his body. This isn't transubstantiation here, okay? Which, it's another stupid doctrine of the Catholics where they literally believe that when you eat the bread and drink the juice, which they drink actual alcohol, that it turns into the body and blood of Jesus Christ and that's essentially part of salvation because it's a sacrament that according to them is necessary for salvation. So they take verses like this in John chapter six to say, oh, the Eucharist, that's what they refer to it as, which is not found in the Bible, by the way, it's actually the blood and body of Jesus Christ. But no, this is obviously representative of his body. Anybody with just any two brain cells to rub together, okay, can obviously tell you this isn't literally turning into his body, it's not literally turning into his blood. It's symbolically represented because he is the bread of life, okay? And obviously his blood is significant because of the fact that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. If you have to understand that, you know, passages like this have to be viewed symbolically and I mean, you don't really have to realize it, it's kind of common sense, but it has to be viewed symbolically because a lot of the Bible is symbolic, okay? A lot of what Jesus said was symbolic in regards to his body and his blood. You know, you think about the fact that essentially the entire Old Testament, although many of it actually happened, symbolically represented other things, okay? There's an underlying spiritual principle that God was trying to get across because he's trying to get us to associate a specific doctrine with an event or a practice, a meat drink and a nitrous washing. That's why they would sacrifice the animals every single day to ingrain within the people of Israel that the Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ, would take away the sins of the world. He represents that and he's a fulfillment of that. It says in verse 27, He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this alcoholic beverage. No, it says fruit of the vine, okay? And again, that's important because I'm on a Catholic kick right now and I'm this close to preaching to the sermon on something on Catholics because I've been getting on them this entire week because they're just annoying me and on the internet, there's just a lot of Catholic propaganda going around. But it says fruit of the vine, okay? What's that referring to? Well, you know, fruit of the vine is just another way of saying juice. Until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom and when they had sung in him, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Now, what's crazy about this is the fact that the bread that's being offered here is unleavened bread, bread without yeast, because of the fact that Jesus Christ is unleavened because he's without sin, understand? So in like manner, the juice is also essentially unleavened, right? Because alcohol is leavened, understand? So if you're gonna say that he's drinking alcohol here and that we should be drinking alcohol when we observe the Lord's Supper, you're basically implying that Jesus Christ had sin because that leaven is symbolically representing sin. The reason the bread is without leaven is because Jesus Christ is the bread of life without sin. The reason it's just juice is because it's without leaven. It hasn't been tainted, it hasn't been corrupted because Jesus Christ's blood has not been corrupted. It's divine, understand? And so someone needs to just like mail a Bible to these Catholics with all the pertinent passages showing them that, but you know what? That would be a fool's errand because they don't like the Bible. And I always find it funny that they're just always like, oh, you know, you Protestants. They always say like, we wrote the Bible that you Protestants read or whatever. And I always think to myself, like, you know, for a group of people that takes credit for writing the Bible, you should have disobeyed law. Like you claim to write the Bible, but you're so dumb that you forgot to put all the pertinent scriptures dealing with the Catholicism in the Bible. Why didn't you put Catholic in there? Why didn't you put sacrament? And here's the thing is that I had a guy telling me this week, show me once saved, always saved in the Bible, this Catholic, show me faith alone in the Bible. You won't find that phrase in the Bible. I'm like, you hypocrite. Find Eucharist, sacrament, purgatory, pope. The list goes on and on and on. Oh yeah, but the concept is there. You know, for someone who takes credit for writing the Bible, you just forgot a bunch of stuff to put in there. And in fact, apparently you accidentally put Baptists in there. It's ridiculous, my friends. We compiled the Bible. The only thing the church compiles is damned souls on a yearly basis. That's all they compile. They compile heresy, they compile pedophilia, they compile heretics and people who are just not saved and they're responsible for sending a lot of people to hell for a very long time, okay? Nothing Christian, never lumping Catholics with Christians. Nothing, there's nothing Christian about them. All right, let's read on here. Let me see if I can finish up this last section here. Of course, this is a long chapter here. Then said, I gotta make sure I don't get more on Catholics because then I'm gonna keep, we're not gonna finish this chapter. Then said Jesus unto them, all you should be offended because of me this night for it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, though all men should be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee, likewise also said all the disciples. Now I truly believe that Peter believed that, okay? But it was obviously presumptuous of him. And we as Christians never wanna get to a point in our Christian life where we think we have all our ducks in order and that we'll never go back to the world, we'll never get involved in this sin, we'll never deny the Lord. You know, he that stand to take heed lest he fall. Okay? And we have here a spiritual giant known as Peter who's a very committed man. I mean, he's been with the Lord for three years. He's a leader, the man is on fire for God. He apparently believes that he will never betray the Lord but yet you know what? Satan had desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, okay? And of course Jesus says, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren, okay? So obviously this was necessary for him to go through so he can essentially view his frailty and his inability to really be all in for the Lord because of the fact that he is a sinner. And you know, we're not for the grace of God, we would be in that situation as well. And so we need to make sure that we never make such a boastful, prideful statement. Obviously we know that we can situate ourselves spiritually in such a way that we have implemented certain disciplines, certain guidelines in our life where we don't stray, okay? And but it doesn't mean it can't ever happen though because of course it can happen. And so we see that with the example of Peter here and let's read on here, verse 36 says, then cometh Jesus with them unto the place called Gethsemane and saith unto the disciples, say ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, tarry ye here, watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed saying, oh my father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will but as thou will. Now, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou will. Referring to the fact that there's two wills here, right? You don't need a Greek for that, you don't need a Hebrew for that. Referring to the fact that they have two separate consciences, okay? You have Jesus having his own will and God the Father having his own will. Now the reason that's important is because literally last week I had people message me like, tell me it's not so, pastor, are you here? You believe in the social trinity? That's what they asked me. I'm like, social trinity? And the way the question was worded, I already knew automatically that yes, I believed it. Number one. Because just the way the question is worded. And number two, it's obviously some person who is vein-jangling, they are haters of the biblical model of the trinity and they're not getting it from the Bible as their source, they're obviously getting it from the church fathers, okay? But this is a new thing where they're just like, do you believe in the social trinity? Call it what you will, yeah, I believe it. Because the social trinity, and I don't call it the social trinity, because I don't need a cute new name for doctrines that I already believe. Trinity is fine enough. But if you want to call it social trinity and if those beliefs line up with what the Bible says, I'm all in. And they're like, and I said, of course. So you're trying to tell me that there's three bodies and three minds and three, I'm like, dude, you're describing what the Bible actually says. And I'm like, yeah, I don't listen to or use the church fathers as my source because I don't take advice from people who are in hell, you know what I mean? So I'm not really interested in talking to the church fathers. And the last time I checked, Jesus said, call no man your father upon the earth. So why would you reference some church father if the dude didn't even know how to freaking get saved? And we're not supposed to call them father. But it's just another way of attacking the trinity. Folks, this is a trinitarian church. And look, the trinity is not a complicated doctrine. A five year old can understand what the trinity is. So when people come at you and try to attack the trinity by calling a social trinity and try to belittle you, you understand, for believing in it, just know this, they don't believe in the trinity, okay? And they're trying to attack the trinity and they're trying to get people and Christians to feel embarrassed. They thought I was gonna be like, oh, no, no, no, no. I don't believe in the social trinity, no, no, no. I just believe what the Bible says. I'm just like, yes, I believe it. It's like when people say, are you easy to believeism? Yes. I don't typically call it that, but it lines up with what I believe, yeah, for sure. What, you're not? It's like, you believe in the social trinity? You don't? And I think I told this guy, I was like, yeah, because only stupid people don't. That's what I told him. I was like, you have to be an idiot not to believe in the social trinity, because it's in the Bible. Show me a verse. Not my will, but thine be done. There you go. What else do you need? And if you need more than that, then you're not trying to learn what the trinity is. You want to debunk what the trinity is, because for you it's just not enough info, not enough evidence in the Bible could ever satiate your godless desire. You know what I mean? And so, folks, it's simple, it's right there. You believe in three bodies? Yes, Jesus Christ had his own body. Yes. God had his own body, and obviously he didn't have a physical body like Jesus had when he was here on this earth, but the Bible describes him as having a body. It's obviously a spiritual body, and it's not like unto my physical body, it's not like unto the body that Jesus had when he was here on this earth, but it's a body nonetheless. And you know what? It doesn't really matter to me what kind of body God the Father has. He's claiming that he has one, therefore I'm just gonna agree with him. Well, what kind of body is it? You, thou fool, you're the type to ask what kind of resurrected body we're gonna get. It's like, man, come on. And yes, you know what, the Holy Spirit also has a body and it's a spiritual body. Well, no, it's more figurative. All of those statements are just figurative, it's not a real body. Then who is Jesus Christ standing next to? Right? Who is Jesus standing next to in heaven? A symbol? Something that's figurative? He says in verse 40, And he cometh unto the disciples and findeth them asleep, and saith unto him, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Now these guys are blowing it bad because of the fact that this is essentially the intro to the persecution that they're about to get. And essentially, we look at them and say, now's not a time to be falling asleep at the wheel. You need to be awake and praying. And what this symbolically represents is the tribulation in the end times. That we're supposed to be awake, not physically, obviously this is a spiritual representation here, but be awake spiritually, where we are walking in the spirit. Because the Bible says the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And this is why he says, could ye not watch with me with one hour? Well, in the end times, that tribulation period, that great tribulation period, is also referred to in Revelation chapter three as the hour of temptation, okay? But that's a sermon for another time. He says in verse 42, He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. Let me say this last thing about these Trinity deniers, is that I've noticed in the new IFB, and I'm not referring to people who go to a new IFB church, I'm talking about these outliers who don't go to church, who want to call themselves new IFB, because they like our hard preaching and they like some of our doctrines. But let me say this, a lot of these outliers and the people who are on the outskirts of the new IFB, they're basically these undercover reformers, is what they are. That's exactly what they are. Because I see these guys on social media, and they're constantly just referencing church fathers, they're constantly talking about these reformers of times past, but they like our preaching because we're strong on salvation, but then they also like to uphold their damnable church fathers as well. And you know, you go on their bio, it's like they're not gonna put new IFB, but they put everything else that the new IFB is associated with. Replacement theology, posterity, pre-wrath, once saved, always saved, and it's just like, who are these people? I'll tell you who they are. There's a bunch of internet rejects who don't go to a church. They want to pick and choose what they like from the new IFB and then all of a sudden when the new IFB contradicts their church father, their little church daddy or whatever, then they want to start attacking new IFB pastors. Where folks, we're actually in church. We actually read the, we're not in church on the internet. Okay, I don't have an online ministry, a Bible online ministry, you know, what your 50 followers or whatever, where you post the Bible verse and you're just refuting all times of false doctrine, or you're making such a huge difference. And look, if you have that, that's great, but you better get your butt in church first. Okay, and so I don't respect these online ministries of these single dudes who are undercover reformers, these outliers of the new IFB, and I can smell them from a mile away because once you visit their profile, you're just like, okay, give it like four months. This guy's gonna turn on this real quick. Because they don't really want to associate with the new IFB, you know what I mean? Because they want to take credit for what the new IFB teaches. And they don't want anybody to find the new IFB. They want people to find them. See me, I want people to find the new IFB. And in fact, I've had visitors go to my new IFB friend's churches multiple times. Even in Texas. I'll even send people to Texas, believe it or not. Why? Well, not because I like Texas, but because I like Steadfast Baptist Church, I like Pure Words. But these guys don't want people to find the new IFB because they want to be the source of knowledge, but they don't have any knowledge, okay? And so beware of these new IFB outliers who hang out on the corners of the field gleaning from the fields of the new IFB preaching so they can build themselves up. And then four months down the road, they're mocking you for believing the social trinity. Stupid. Verse 45, Then come as he to his disciples and say to them, Sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is in hand and doth betray me. And one thing we're going to look at next week, or actually in two weeks, is that a lot of what's taking place here does have end time significance. The fact that there is an hour of temptation and the fact that these disciples are going to experience persecution on a large scale, and unfortunately, many of them were offended, okay? You had John who stuck it out, but then he fled away from them naked, which is pretty interesting, right? I'm not saying it's interesting that he did that. I'm just saying there's symbolic representation there, okay? Because of the fact that when you compare what happened with John to Revelation chapter three at the church at Laodicea, it talks about that the shame of thine nakedness do not appear, referring to the fact that what physically happened to John, that he fled away from them naked, is essentially what's going to happen to Christians in the end times where they're going to be spiritually naked because they don't have the garments of righteousness. They don't have, they're not clothed with the new man. You know, once the mark of the beast is rolled out, people are going to be offended. They're going to be fleeing and not serving the Lord. They're not going to stand up for Christ. And some of them are even going to try to deny Him, okay? Obviously to no avail. But we're going to look at that in two weeks. And so let's finish up there. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the examples that we have here. And of course, most of all, thank you for Jesus Christ, who is our Passover. He is the unleavened bread, Lord, and He is our Sabbath. And we're so thankful for the resurrection. And I'm thankful for the season that we're coming into, the Thanksgiving season, and of course the Christmas season where we just think about these things a little more. We just kind of ruminate on these wonderful and beautiful doctrines of Jesus Christ and what He means to us, Lord. And we think upon the fact that He is our Passover and all that He went through for us, Lord. The fact that He went to hell for three days and three nights so that we can have eternal life. And we're so thankful for that, Lord. I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. Pray for Brother Maureen, Brother Christian, as they head out to Belize, Lord. May you help them to be fruitful. May your hand be upon them, Lord. May you clothe them with zeal. And may you use them in a great way to get a lot of people saved while they're out there. And bless us as we go next week as well. And Lord, may you bless all there is. Lord, we love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.