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And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll sing 144. And if you would stand, we'll say Who so ever will have A home in the Haven of Rest I've anchored my soul In the Haven of rest I'll sail the wide seas No more no more. The tempest may sweep, or the wild stormy deep. And Jesus, I'm safe ever more. O come to the Savior, He patiently waits to save by His power divine. Come anchor your soul in the haven of rest, and say, my love, it is mine. I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest. I'll sail the wide seas no more. The tempest may sweep, or the wild stormy deep. And Jesus, I'm safe ever more. Amen. Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening, and just some announcements here before we get started, or I guess we're already started, but service times are normal this week, so everything this Sunday should be normal as far as the service times go, and soul winning time as well at 1 p.m. on Sunday, but also with the regional soul winning times on here, just be on the church group there as far as our leaders will post where they're going to be meeting at, what time exactly, and all that. And then we're gonna have, so we have the men's prayer meeting on here, and the women's prayer meeting is the upcoming events coming up when it comes to, I think it's the fifth, right, it's the Wednesday. The Wednesday before Easter, we're going to be doing the Lord's Supper, so we'll be doing that after the service on that Wednesday. And I believe Jesus was killed on Thursday, but you know what, we have church on Wednesday, so we're gonna do it then. But then that Sunday, last year we did like a fellowship where we had food, and we did like a candy scramble and everything for the kids, so we're gonna plan on doing that again, and what we'll do is the soul winning time, we'll move to the Saturday before Easter, and so you're obviously welcome to go out soul winning on Easter, but definitely a lot of us that have kids, we're gonna be probably throwing candy and all that stuff out there on that portion of the day, but we're gonna be moving our Sunday soul winning time to Saturday on that day, but I think the consensus is that we'll do, like we're gonna cook the main meal as well, and so we'll get a sign up sheet, and then obviously if there's any gaps that need filled as far as food goes. I have no problem, we have no problem catering it, but just to be honest, the women in our church cook better than the catering, so I mean if I had a choice, you know, as far as which food I'd rather have, I mean I'm gonna choose the ladies food here, but obviously it's more convenient too, so don't feel bad if you're like hey, you know, we just got a lot going on that weekend, and we can't, I don't really have time to cook, completely understandable, but you better make a dessert, so last year you did that, you got to do it this year, I had no leniency on that, no anyway, no but all joking aside, we will have after the morning service, we'll do a fellowship there, and then yeah, so we'll get a sign up sheet when it comes to the food, the desserts, all that stuff, and then we'll go from there, and then chapter memory for the month, we're in Psalm 22, and then 1st Thessalonians 4 8 is our memory verse for the week, and on the pregnancy list there, we have Tiara Alesco, Amanda Spina, be in prayer for the Spina family as well, as they had to go to a funeral, and just be in prayer for them, and the family, and everything, and then also Jennifer Simes is also on the pregnancy list as well, and so just be in prayer for all these, and pray that everything goes well, and so I think that's about all I got, I got four announcements that I can think of, so the offering box is in the back there, mother baby rooms for the mothers and babies only, we are continuing through the book of Luke, who is reading tonight, brother David, so you'll be reading Luke chapter 5 for us after brother Dave sings one more song. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song 144. Song 144, we'll sing a mighty fortress is our God, and if you would stand, we'll sing song, wait, no everyone's standing, do we stand on this one? I'm all messed up right now, this song has me a little messed up, the last verse has kind of like got me perplexed, so all right, we'll just stay sitting, and we'll sing song 144. For still our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe, His craft and power are great, And armed with cruel hate, On earth is not His equal, Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing, Were not the right men on our side, The men of God's own choosing, Dost ask who that may be, Christ Jesus it is He, Morn be of His name, From age to age the same, And He must win the battle, And though this world with devils failed, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear for God hath willed, His truth to triumph through us, The Prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for Him, His wrath man can endure, For lo his doom is sure, One little word shall fail him, That word above all earthly parts, No thanks to them abideth, The Spirit and the gifts are ours, Through Him who with a side e'eth, Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also, The body they may kill, God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever. Amen. Master, we have toiled all the night, And have taken nothing. Nevertheless, if I were it, will I let down the net? And when they had done this, They enclosed a great multitude of fishes, And their net break. And they beckoned unto the partners That whispered in the other sif, That they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the sifs, So that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, He fell down as Jesus sneezed, Saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man on the road. He was astonished, and all that was with him, At the draught of the fishes which they had taken. So was also James and John, the sons of Jeopardy, Which were partners of Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their sifs to land, They forsook all, and followed him. And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, Behold a man full of leprosy, Who seeing Jesus, Fell on his face, and besought him, Saying, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, Saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed for him, And he charged him to tell no man, but go, And sell thyself to the priests, And offer for thy cleansing, Occurting as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. And so, lest the Mo went there of fame abroad of him, And great multitudes came together to hear, And to be healed of them by him of their infirmities, And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. And it came to pass, on a certain day, As he was teaching, that there were Pharisees And doctors of the lost sitting by, Which would come out of every town or gallery, In Judea and Jerusalem, And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And behold, men brought in a bed, A man, which was taken in a policy, And they sought means to bring him in and to lay before him. And when they could not find by what way They might bring him in because of the multitude, They went upon the housetop, And led him down through the tilling With his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto them, Man, thy sins are forgiven me. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, Saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? And when Jesus perceived their thoughts, The answer being said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, Or to say, Rise up and walk, But that they may know that the Son of man Have power upon earth to forgive sins, He said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy couch, And go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, And took up that whereon he lay, And departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and glorified God, And were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today. And after these things he went forth, And saw a publican, named Levi, Sitting at the receipt of custom, And he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all who rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house, And there was a great company of publicans, And of others that sat down with him. But the scribes and Pharisees met amid his disciples, Saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, The day that I hold me not a physician, The day that I sick. I came not to call the righteous, But sinners to repentance. And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, And likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, But thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridegroom fast, Where the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, And the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, And then they shall fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them, Nor man, but at the peace of new ground, Upon an old, if otherwise, Then both their new maketh a rent, And the peace that was taken out of the new, Agreeeth not with the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, Else the new wine will burst into the bottles, And be spilled, and the bottles are Paris. But the new wine shall be put into new bottles, And both are preserved. Nor man, nor just having drunk old wine, Straight with desireeth new, For he saith, The old is better. As per a dealhood, I thank you for this opportunity to come back to church, I pray that ye be with Paris, And I pray that ye film with your spirit, In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. So you're there in Luke chapter five, and we are continuing our study through the book of Luke. And if you remember in chapter four, we had where the devil tries to tempt Jesus. There's the three temptations that we see there. And then he's going, he went to Nazareth. He went into the town he grew up in. And then after that, he went into Capernaum, and he's going into all Galilee. And the last thing that was stated in chapter four is that he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. And so he's still in Galilee, but in chapter five here, we're going to see where he's calling Peter, James, and John specifically to follow him. And then we're also going to see Matthew as well, or Levi as it states here. But starting there in verse one, and that's what it says, it says, And it came to pass that as the people pressed him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret. So, you know, simple little things like that, that I think about, and the fact that after, he's obviously healing people, and there's stuff he's doing in chapter four there, but basically, and he's preaching. And the big thing that it's stating there at the end of chapter four is that he's preaching in the synagogues, and they're pressing him to hear the word of God. So you can kind of see already this desire in Galilee to hear what Jesus has to say. And so he comes to the lake of Gennesaret, and it says in verse two, it says, And he saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. So basically he sees the ships, but the fishermen aren't in it. They're basically cleaning their nets or they're washing their nets. It says, And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. So what's going on, first of all, is that he basically just gets into Peter's ship and says to launch out a little bit, and then he's teaching from the ship. This is actually the parable of the sower. Jesus does this where he's preaching from a ship, and then everybody's like on the shore listening. And so this is kind of very similar to that. Obviously this is not the parable of the sower, but it's just something that is commonly done. But basically he's teaching the people. They were pressing on him to hear the word of God, so he gets in Peter's ship, but it doesn't end there because notice what it says here in verse four. It says, Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draft. So basically they're kind of like where it's shallow, and they're just kind of right there to where people can still hear them on the shore, and he's saying launch out into the deep. So obviously he's going out to deeper water, and he's telling them to let out their net, and let out your nets. In verse five it says, Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. And the thing that I think about here is the fact that there may be times where God tells you to do something, and everything in your body just like that doesn't make sense. Why would it work now? Why would this work? I've been doing all this stuff. It hasn't been working, but why is it going to work? And you get into this idea of just trusting in the Lord, and the fact that the Bible says, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And so a lot of times you may be reading the word of God and be like that just doesn't maybe seem right, or that's against kind of like what I thought was right, and ultimately we need to have this attitude that, okay, I don't think this is going to matter. I don't think this is going to make a difference, but nevertheless at thy word I'll let down the net. You can think about this when it comes to soul winning, when people try to say, well, you know, door-to-door soul winning, and controversial like type of, you know, confrontational. It is controversial nowadays, but confrontational soul winning, where you're going up and asking people if they know they're going to heaven, and if you could show them from the Bible, they can know that they're going to heaven, and preaching the gospel to every creature, door-to-door, you know, on the surface, people are going to say, well, you know, I don't think that's going to work, you know, it's not going to actually build the church, all this stuff, and, you know, that's kind of the humanistic thinking that, okay, that's not going to work, but ultimately what you have to say is, well, at thy word, I'm going to do it. If it says that in every house, in the temple in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ, and that from house to house, that it talks about how Paul did not shun to make known all the counsel of God, and, you know, obviously, I preach the whole sermon on door-to-door soul winning, but that's just one example, okay? Clara, look up here and don't talk during the sermon, and Anna, you too. And so, just one example, but the idea here is that, you know, when you think, okay, I think that that may be not the best route, or I think that maybe this route is better over here, maybe this idea would work better. Listen, God's way is always the best way, and if the way Jesus did it, the way Jesus does it is always going to be the best way, and you say, well, you know, maybe I could do it to where people won't hate me. Nope, not gonna happen, because if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall you call the servants of the house, and if they hated me, they'll hate you. That's what Jesus says. So, you're gonna, you just have to know that, okay, well, Jesus' way, the way he did things is the best way, and it may not make sense, or you may say, well, you know, by all human standards, that's not the way I think it would work, but we need to have the attitude, nevertheless at thy word, I will let down the net. Verse six, it says, and when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes in their net break, and they beckoned them to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them, and they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. I mean, that's intense. I mean, I don't know what kind of boats they had, but I mean, you're getting to the point where you're sinking a ship, you have so much fish on there. So, the partners come there, and it says their ships are beginning to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. So, he's realizing this is the Lord that he's standing next to, and it says in verse 10 here, and so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. So, we find out who these partners are. It's James and John. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. Now, this story gives a lot more information, if you will, as far as the story you see in Matthew. So, go to Matthew chapter four, Matthew chapter four, because we see this calling of Peter, James, and John in Matthew chapter four, but we don't see the story where he's telling them to put out their nets, and they bring in all of these fish. But the thing that's interesting is that Luke doesn't mention Andrew. Now, it does mention that there's other people in the ship with Simon, and, you know, it's using plural pronouns on the fact that there's more than just Simon that's in the ship when they go out there. But Andrew isn't mentioned, but he's mentioned in Matthew chapter four. It says in verse 18, it says, And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And he called them, and they immediately left the ship, and their father, and followed them. So, you can kind of see, well, it's kind of the same thing happening, but there's more information that we see in Luke chapter four. And you say, well, why isn't Andrew mentioned in Luke chapter five? Well, if you think about this, it doesn't have to be mentioned, but I think that Luke is more so focusing on that top three that are of the 12. So throughout the Bible, when you're reading through the Gospels, you'll see Peter, James, and John. And sometimes Andrew will be in that group too, where he's kind of in there in the top group as well. But Peter, James, and John, I mean, Peter, James, and John are the ones that are at the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John are the ones that are the only people he allows to go in when he's healing like the young damsel. And obviously, the parents are there too. But there's that top three that are there. And Luke, I believe, is honing in on that. So when you're going through the Gospels, and you say, why wasn't he mentioned? Why wasn't this person mentioned? Because there's a perspective here that we're talking about. These are his top three that he's calling. Peter, James, and John. You know what's interesting though, is that Andrew is the one that told Peter about Jesus. Go to John chapter one, John chapter one. So John chapter one is actually before all of this, okay? So John chapter one actually gives us some information that's after Jesus was baptized, but then before we get to this story where he's basically casting out this net and everything. So the thing to kind of understand when you're in Luke chapter five is that this isn't the first time they've ever met Jesus, okay? They've been talking about him. Jesus has been preaching in Galilee, right? I mean, you kind of get his backstory that he's going around, preaching to different cities, doing these different things. In chapter five here, we see that he's now calling them to follow him. And in chapter one, we see the story where, and by the way, Andrew, if you look earlier in chapter one of John, Andrew is actually one of John the Baptist's disciples. So there's two disciples of John that are standing there when John says, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, okay? So this is after he baptized Jesus. John is saying that Jesus is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. And one of those disciples, one of those two that was standing there when he heard John say that was Andrew. And it says here in verse 40, one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. And he first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, we have found the messiahs which is being interpreted to Christ. And he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him, he said, thou art Simon son of Jonah, thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. So Cephas is just the same name as Peter. He just sometimes in the New Testament, you'll see some Aramaic words that are, you know, obviously they were written in Greek, but they were Aramaic words, right? It's kind of like if you have a word that's in English, but it's obviously not an English word. It's just transliterated. So Cephas, Peter, the same thing, okay? So when he says that he's going to call him Cephas, well later on talks about how he named him Peter, okay? And it's just the fact that it's the same name, just different language in which it's said. Now, the thing that I think about here is the fact that Andrew is the one that told Peter that we found Christ, that we found the messiahs. By the way, this shows you that messiah means Christ, okay? So when you say anointed, Christ, messiah, you're talking about the same thing. But the thing that I think about here is the fact that Andrew is telling Peter about Jesus, or basically points him to Jesus, and Peter ends up becoming, you know, basically higher up, if you will, than his own brother that pointed him to Jesus, right? And it's just interesting to me that sometimes it's not the first person to get on board that ends up doing the most. You know, when you think about people that, I think about people that may have been saved before I was, and maybe they were influences on me, or whatever, but that doesn't mean that I'm bound to only, that I can't go past them to follow the Lord, okay? And the same goes for everybody, right? Is the fact is that there may be someone that won you to Christ, maybe they won you to Christ, right? They brought you to the Savior, but they may not even be going to church anymore. Or maybe they're not doing as much as they should be doing, or maybe they're not going to the Lord anymore, right? I mean, praise the Lord, they wanted you to the Lord, right? But at the same time, like, you're not bound to go, you know, just as far as them and wherever they go, that's the only distance you can go because they got saved before you, right? They're older spiritually or something like that. And so, just something to think about there is that you're not bound to any person's level. And really, what we should be thinking about is, you know, not taking thought for what other people do, right? It's not comparing ourselves among ourselves, but the idea is that, you know what? I'm going to love the Lord and serve the Lord as much as possible, and it doesn't matter if the people that, you know, if someone got me saved or if there's someone that I was looking up to when I first got saved, falls off the wagon, and I'm not saying Andrew fell off the wagon, I'm just saying, like, but I'm not bound to say I can only go, I'm always going to be behind them in spirituality. Because there's been cases where I've seen people that were babes in Christ that just get saved, but they've surpassed people that were above them at one point. Like, leaps and bounds surpassed them. And Bible knowledge and the work that they've been doing, and really, you kind of see this, I believe, with Peter, where Peter was maybe, he wasn't maybe, it doesn't say he was the disciple of John, but I mean, he's kind of like Andrew was there, right? He's there with John, and he's obviously one of the 12, and I'm not here to disparage Andrew, but at the same time, Peter jumps on the scene, and Peter goes right up to the top. I mean, it's Peter, James, and John, when you think about that, the top three. And I believe Luke is really just kind of pointing out, here's his top three. Whereas Matthew's just kind of giving you the information of the disciples that he called, and, you know, giving you Andrew in there as well, okay? And again, I'm not here against Andrew, because Andrew, I believe, was one of the, you know, a great apostle, a great disciple, but you know what? Peter and John, they wrote books in the Bible. I mean, they were moved by the Holy Ghost to write books in the Bible. He's like, what about James? Well, he was killed in Acts chapter 12 by Herod, so, you know, he was actually the first of the 12 to be martyred for Christ. And so, you know, when it comes to the top three there, and in Andrew, we don't really hear about him. I'm not saying he didn't do great things for God, but you don't see it written in the Bible as far as what he did, okay? Now, go to John chapter 21. An interesting thing here is that when, what's the story when Peter is basically starting to follow the Lord, okay? He's starting to follow Jesus. What happens here? They go fishing, and they catch a bunch of fish. And there's this story in John 21 after the resurrection. I mean, we're talking after Peter denies them, and then Jesus raises from the dead, and, you know, basically he's seen of them, and he's seeing, you know, all the stuff as far as the resurrection goes. And in chapter 21 and verse one, they go fishing. It's like they go right back to where they started. And notice what it says in verse one here. After these things, Jesus showed himself against the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius, which is, by the way, the Sea of Galilee, okay? There's another verse where it says the Sea of Tiberius, which is the Sea of Galilee, okay? So they're at the same sea, okay? The same place. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples. So we see that Peter and James and John are there. And it says, Simon Peter says unto them, I go a-fishing, and they say unto him, we also go with thee. So basically, Peter is like, I'm gonna go fishing, and he's going back to what he was doing before he started following the Lord, before he, you know, basically left all to follow Jesus, and he's going right back where he started, which shows you that even with the 12, you know, the 12 apostles, obviously Judas was a traitor, but when you deal with Peter, James, and John, right after the resurrection, they're like, we're gonna go back to what we started doing. And so you can kind of see this human aspect of the apostles and that they weren't these god men that were elevated above everybody else in this ultra-spiritual type of look to them. You watch these movies and it'll show Peter, and he's just kind of like stoic to the point of like, if it's almost like you look at him, it's like there's no emotion. I'm just telling you what I've seen on movies, okay? It's like this like stoic, stern, like they don't sin anymore, and they just do everything right, and you know what I mean? It's this weird kind of thing going on there, but yet in the Bible, you don't see that, do you? You actually see them making mistakes later on, and how much more right after the resurrection? I mean, when people are just like, well, if you're really saved, then you're gonna just keep going to the end and never stop. It's like, well, tell that to Peter, James, and John. I mean, they did it before the 40 days were up when he ascended up into heaven, and it says basically the weight for the power to come on from on high. I mean, this is before the day of Pentecost, and so we're dealing with like a month maybe after the resurrection. We don't know exactly when this took place, but it was within a month or so that they're already not following the Lord, okay? And notice what it says here. So it says, we also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. Verse four, it says, but when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. I mean, think about the parallel here, right? What did Peter say? Remember because he's saying cast out thy net, and he said, we've been toiling what? All night. And what are they doing here? All night, right? That they're not catching anything. And he says, throw out your net, and what do they do? They catch all these fish. And basically, they caught this multitude of fishes. It says in verse seven, Therefore the disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, He girded his fisher's coat unto him, where he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from the land, but as it were 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes. I mean, they're like dragging these things in. I mean, you think about their ships were sinking when they first started in chapter five of Luke. But think about this, that when, what happened, what did Peter do when they caught the fish the first time? He comes out, and he says, I'm a sinful man, depart from me, right? And then you have Peter over here, he's like naked on the boat, when the Lord's doing this, and he jumps into the sea. Now, naked, it could be that he's just wearing underwear, because technically if your thighs are exposed, then you're naked. So I don't know if he was stark naked, or if he was just like, you know, like in his underbritches, you know, and he was just hanging out there. Like, it must have been hot, I don't know. I mean, we've probably all been there. It's a bunch of guys on there. So I don't know, it's not, I don't believe it's wrong, personally, if it's just a bunch of guys, you know, when it comes to that. But at the same time, listen, if any of you guys come over to my house, and you just start sitting there in your underwear, if it's just me, and it's just us guys, and we're like having a campfire, and you're just like, you know what, it's hot, brother. It's hot, you're like, keep your britches on, okay? But it is interesting, that it's kind of the same type of story, you know, where it's like, I'm a sinful man, oh Lord, and then he's just like, I'm naked, and he just throws himself into the sea, okay? So the idea that I'm getting across here, is the fact that it parallels so well, to the fact of when they started, and how fast you can go right back to where you started. I mean, think about that, I mean, they're just right back where they started, now they're fishing, they're not catching anything, and the Lord has to give them fish. And there's a whole other sermon in there, as far as the fact that Jesus teaches Peter a lesson about it. It's like, do you care more about bees? You know, what's your priorities, okay? But I just thought that was interesting, with that kind of parallel. Go back to Luke chapter five, and verse 12. Luke chapter five, and verse 12. Luke chapter five, and verse 12. We're gonna see where Jesus is gonna cleanse a leper. And verse 12 here says, and it came to pass when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy. Who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. I want you to think about this phrase here. If thou wilt. It's a good question, right? Will God do it? And the answer is, God is not willing that any should perish. He will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. The answer is yes. If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And think about what he's saying there. You can make me clean, right? That faith of understanding, you can make me clean. The idea of like, you can save me. And when people say, well, what does it mean to believe, right? You know, a lot of people say they believe in Jesus. It means that you believe he can make you clean. Right? I mean, the leper here is like, if thou wilt. Basically, he's like, if you want to, you can make me clean. That's what he's saying to Jesus. And when it comes to believing, it's really simple. You just have to believe that he can do it, and then he'll do it. The Bible says about Abraham, it says Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. But then it says, you know, when it's talking about it, it says, but the hymn that worketh not, but believeth on him to justify the ungodly, is faith is counted for righteousness. So when we're talking about faith being counted for righteousness, it's without works. But then it clarifies even more, saying that being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform, and therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness. And this is consistent throughout the whole Bible. From Abraham, to David, to this leper right here, and the fact that he's just saying, if you're willing, if you want to, you can make me clean. And that's the faith you have to have, is the fact that you believe he can. And listen, if you think you can lose your salvation, if you think that there's something you could do to where Jesus doesn't make you clean, you commit some sin and you're not clean, listen, then you don't believe he can make you clean. Then you don't think he can make you clean. And listen, Jesus uses this same language when he's talking to his disciples. He says, you are clean every wit. So in John chapter 13, he says you're clean every wit, but not all. But then he clarifies, he's not talking about like, you know, well, you're not all the way clean. No, he says not all because he spoke of Judas. Because he's basically saying not all of you, right? Not every single one of you is clean because one of you is a traitor. One of you doesn't believe. One of you is a devil, right? And so when it comes to this, I think when you look at these passages, when you think about the people that come to Jesus, think about what they say to him and what he says to them. And you'll see this clear salvation, the way of salvation is just perfectly crystal clear and through all of these. If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. That's really just as simple as it is. You believe he can do it? Then he'll do it. You know, it's really that simple. But then what does it say here in verse 13? And he put forth his hand and touched him saying, I will. And that's the glorious thing about the gospel and about Jesus is the fact that he is not willing to then perish. Whosoever will let him take up the water of life freely. And the idea is that, you know, it's our free will to accept it, but it's his will that we do. He wants us to. He doesn't want anybody to go to hell. He wants everybody to get saved. And it says, I will be thou clean. And listen, when Jesus says, be thou clean, you are clean every whit. And to say otherwise is to say that he can't do it. And really that's what people that don't believe in eternal security are saying. They're saying he's not able. They're saying he's not able to save them eternally. He's not actually able to save them. There's something you have to do. Or there's, you know, some spectrum of sins that he does, he's not able to forgive. Or that he's not willing to forgive it, right? It's like, well, it's not that he's not able. It's just that he's not willing to forgive those big sins. Well, it's our will. And he says, I will. I mean, think of leprosy. I mean, leprosy is kind of like the definition, I mean, kind of like the physical representation of festering sin, right? You know, as far as just like, I mean, it's eating your flesh alive till you die. So, I mean, if there's a great example of like, whatever sins there would be that he would forgive, it's that, okay? So it says in verse 14, and he charged him, tell no man. Now that's a very interesting thing, isn't it? And it's something that you see throughout the gospels where he's like, don't tell anybody. And a lot of times, so like kind of strongly charge them. You know, it's kind of like, basically, when it says he's charged them, that's more than just like saying, hey, you know, by the way, just don't tell anybody. It's more like, don't tell anybody, right? It's kind of like a commandment. He's charging them like a general kind of a thing, right? Tell no man, but go and show thyself to the priest and offer for thy cleansing, according to as Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him, and great multitudes came together to hear and to heal and be healed by him for their infirmities. And he withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. So when it comes to, why does he tell them not to tell anybody? Well, Mark, I believe, gives a little more explanation to it, although you can kind of figure this out as far as what's the reasoning, but Mark explicitly tells you why, okay? So when he's saying, don't tell anybody, there's a reason, it's not that he's saying like, I don't want everybody to know, right? I don't want everybody to know how to get saved. I don't believe that's it at all. I don't think he's like trying to like put a cap on like, who knows how to get saved or anything like that, or on the gospel. There's a reasoning specifically why he's doing that. Mark chapter one and verse 43 says this, in dealing with this story with the leper, it says he straightly charged him and forthwith sent him away, and he said them to him, see thou, say nothing to any man. So kind of same thing, basically saying don't tell anybody, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. But he went out and began to publish it much. Okay, so here it's basically stating like, in Luke it says that, well, his fame went abroad, but so much the more his fame went abroad. But Mark is telling us like, this guy went out and published it much, right? And that's what you always see. When he's like, don't tell anybody, it's just like, they're like, blah, you know, they can't hold it in. Which, can you blame them? But it says, and to blaze abroad the matter. In so much, and here's the reasoning why I believe Jesus is saying don't tell anybody, in so much that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without desert places, and they came to him from every quarter. So that's why he had to go out into the wilderness, because of the thing. He made himself of no reputation. And obviously there's the aspect of the humility, and obviously he's not trying to build clout for himself. And, you know, obviously trying to honor himself or anything like that. There's obviously that aspect, but there also is the aspect of the fact that if you're famous, then you may get thronged to the point where you can't accomplish anything, right? You're just kind of, everybody's just thronging you, everybody's just wanting to be near you, and you can't accomplish anything. And I believe that's the reasoning. Anna, look up here and don't talk, or you're going in the back with mama. Now, when it comes to also, in this passage, actually both these passages, with Luke five and Mark one, it says basically to go to the priest, show thyself to the priest and offer for the cleansing according to Moses, as Moses commanded. And people will look at it and be like, well, you know, then we still need to be doing stuff. You know, like it's this whole Judaizing, like Hebrew roots type stuff. The reason that Jesus is telling them to do that is because they're still under the Old Testament. The Old Testament does not stop until the death of Jesus. And so when Jesus dies, when he gives up the ghost, basically the veil that's in the temple, it rents from the top to the bottom, and it's talking about the fact that the New Testament, a testament has no force while the testator live it. But as soon as the testator is dead, then it has power and that's not what it says. You know, it's basically paraphrasing that, but basically, and you can look at this in Hebrew chapter nine, talking about the death of the testator. And you think about will and testament, all that stuff. But the idea here is that the Old Testament is still in force until the New Testament is established when Jesus dies on the cross. Okay, so that's why you'll see all these things, like take your gift to the altar and all these different things, because they're still under that covenant. The covenant hasn't ended yet. Okay, that's why Jesus is going to these feasts, right? And even the Feast of Tabernacles, where his brethren that didn't believe on him yet, are basically saying, are you gonna go up? And he says, I go up, not yet. Because he does go up, but he doesn't go up with them. But he does go up, and Jesus keeps the feasts. He does all the different things. He was circumcised at eight days, we saw in Luke chapter two. Like all these different things of the Old Testament, I believe Jesus kept to a T and went through all this. And listen, everybody else was supposed to be keeping that until that was abolished, okay? So that's why you see this. And so it's not like, well, we need to be doing that today. It's like we're talking about, this is still Old Testament. I know it says New Testament. I know it says like the New Testament, and we're reading in the New Testament. But the New Testament doesn't start until the death of Christ on the cross. Technically, right? And obviously the gospel is, you know, the death, mental resurrection, all that. So with the cleansing of the leper here, I believe that also shows us, you know, later on or just in other places in the gospels where Jesus is saying, don't tell anybody, there's a reason. And I believe it has to do with the fact that he didn't want people thronging him to where he can actually get stuff done. And you know, that's kind of the idea there. And he made himself a man of no reputation. And I believe that's a big reason why. Luke chapter five, verse 17 here. Luke chapter five, verse 17. Notice what it says. It says, and it came to pass on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by. Okay, so these Pharisees and doctors of the law are sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. So we're not just talking about those that were in Galilee but also Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. That's very interesting, right? Because we're dealing with the Pharisees and the doctors of the law. And listen, most of them reject Jesus, but not all of them, okay? You know, we think of Nicodemus. Nicodemus didn't. And there's other, I believe there's others. There's like Simon, the Pharisee, you know, that Jesus has a discussion in his house and all these different things, right? So it's not like every Pharisee was reprobated and every Pharisee was hardened. But it's interesting that the Bible's stating here that there was these Pharisees and these doctors of the law. So you're dealing with, you know, the high up, you know, the religious leaders here. And there was power, the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Okay? And this is the story where he heals this man of the palsy. And this is that story where they break through the top of the house to get him in there. And notice what it says in verse 19, which you kind of think of like, this leads up into why he didn't want anybody to tell, you know, about him, because, you know, everybody's just thronging him. He can't even be in a house. They're like literally tearing this person's house apart to get to him. But anyway, in verse 19, it says in verse 18, And behold, men brought in a bed, a man which was taken with a palsy, and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him. Now verse 17, I believe, is setting up to let you know that there's these men that are sitting there. The Pharisees and the doctors of law are sitting there while this is happening. Okay? So it's kind of setting you up for something that's going to be stated after this. But this is kind of this big event that's happening where there's this man that has this problem that needs to be healed here. In verse 19, it says, And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up upon the housetop and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. So they literally just took apart the roof and dropped this guy down. I don't know if they had a pulley system or if they just straight up just manhandled this guy down there and just wheeled him down there. I mean, one, obviously it shows their faith to go that far to get this guy in there and to care for him. I mean, you think about his friends are doing this for him. The trust also of that guy with a palsy, they're not going to drop him through the roof. So keep reading there. In verse 20, it says, And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. Okay, so he doesn't heal them yet. And I believe Jesus knows the end from the beginning. I don't believe he was going to just not heal them. But at the same time, what's more important? You getting healed from some physical disease or ailment or getting your sins forgiven? Obviously, the spiritual healing is way more important. But keep reading there, it says, And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who could forgive sins but God alone? Now you kind of go back to, okay, there's these Pharisees and doctors of law that are sitting there. And it says that the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Okay, I believe they personally get saved after this. Okay, but I want you to think about this. They're reasoning among themselves and saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? I mean, think about what they're saying. It's true. I mean, like, God's the only one that can forgive sins. But what Jesus is going to prove here is that he's God. Right? Because they're going to end up glorifying God here. You know what Jesus is about to do? He's about to show them, the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins. You know what that means? The Son of Man is God. And notice what it says here in verse 22. But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and walk. And what he's stating here is that it's easier for him to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, because that's a spiritual thing, right? You know, you can't really prove that tangibly. But what he can prove is that if he tells this guy to stand up and walk, that that's a physical thing that you can tangibly see and know that that happened, right? Because, you know, if someone gets saved, we go out soul-wanting, we can't tangibly see that. You know, we can't see their sins being washed away. So he's basically saying it's easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, than to rise up and walk. And then notice what it says here in verse, which verse am I on here? Verse 24. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins. He said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go into thine house, and immediately rose up before them, and took up that whereon he laid, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And you say, well, what did the Pharisees and the scribes think? And they were all amazed, and they glorified God. So I believe they're just like, they got their question answered, right? It's kind of like they had the right question, but the thing is that Jesus wasn't speaking blasphemy, is because he is God, right? So it's kind of like the right question, like only God can forgive sins, but that question is valid, but you're asking the wrong question. Is Jesus God? It's like when they said, you know, we thought Christ should come out of Bethlehem. It's like the real question is, did Jesus, was Jesus born in Bethlehem, right? It's kind of like ask the right question, right? And I believe they got it answered, and it says that they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying we have seen strange things today. And I don't believe it, I believe this is godly fear, okay? I believe it's kind of like when, you know, they're on the ship, and Jesus says, peace be still, right? And they're afraid, because they're in the presence of the Lord, that is literally telling the seas, and the waves obey him, and they're in that presence, and there's this godly fear that's there, okay? But I think it's very interesting that going into the story, the Bible's telling us that the power of the Lord was present to heal them, the Pharisees and the scribes. And I believe they did get saved. And obviously this isn't like all the Pharisees or anything like that, but you kind of see from the beginning that there were some people that were higher up that actually did get saved. But keep reading there, or go to Luke chapter five, verse 27 here. Luke chapter 25, or Luke five, not 25. Luke five, verse 27, and we're gonna see that Jesus calls Levi here, which is Matthew. It says, and after these things, he went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom, and he said unto him, follow me, and he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with him. Now, Levi, I believe, is Matthew, because if you look at Matthew chapter nine in verse nine, look at Matthew chapter nine and verse nine. Matthew chapter nine and verse nine, it says, and as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, follow me, and he arose and followed him. Now, it's not that Luke doesn't know that Levi also has a name, the name Matthew. I believe Luke is giving us more information that he's also called Levi, and because in Luke chapter six, when it's naming the 12 apostles or the 12 disciples, he says Matthew, okay? So it's not that Luke doesn't know that his name is Matthew as well. I believe it's just giving us more information that Matthew is also called Levi, which could also maybe tell you that he's maybe of the tribe of Levi. I don't know, but this happens a lot where people have multiple names. Even in Luke chapter six, when it's naming the disciples, it says Simon, whom he also named Peter, right? So I mean, when you see Simon, sometimes it'll say he went to Simon's house. Actually, in the last chapter, we saw that, right? He was in Simon's wife's mother's house. So he was in his mother-in-law's house, right? And it doesn't say Peter, but then when you cross-reference that, it says that's Peter, right? But let me give you an example, and I always think of this. When I think about people that have multiple names, look at Acts chapter one and verse 23. Acts chapter one and verse 23. But people have multiple names throughout the whole Bible. I mean, you think about the kings, like where they have multiple names. You know, Azariah, King Azariah, what his name was changed to Uzziah, could very well be because the priest at the time was named Azariah as well, and it was confusing, you know? But you see that with Jehoiachim, right? And you think of Jeconiah, his name was Jehoiachin, and like all these different things, but it had to do with like, they were marrying people that were ungodly, or maybe a king named them this or whatever. And anyway, but I think when I think of multiple names, I think of this one right here. And he didn't get picked, and maybe it's because he had too many names. You know, we're like, we want to keep this simple, you got too many names. But when they were picking the disciple or the apostle to basically to replace Judas, there was two men that were picked. One was Matthias, but it says verse 23, and they appointed two, Joseph called Barsaphus, who was surname justice, and Matthias, right? Obviously they cast lots, it was of the Lord. I'm joking, okay? So obviously Matthias was supposed to be the 12th apostle, and it wasn't just because his name was shorter. But you think about it, it's like, Joseph called Barsaphus surname justice, right? It's like Joseph Barsaphus justice. Now, you know, when we think about this, I mean, we have, most people have three names. Some people have four names. Some people have like two middle names or something like that. But so when it comes to Matthew and Levi, you know, having the name Levi, Matthew Levi, Levi Matthew, it doesn't really matter. But at the same time, I believe it's there for a reason. When I say it doesn't matter, I don't believe anything in the Bible is incidental, meaning like I believe there's a reason for it. I don't believe it's an accident or anything like that. But at the same time, I believe it's the same person, okay? So, but keep reading there in verse, I would go back to Luke chapter five. In verse 30 there, it says, but their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, I don't believe this is talking about salvation when it's coming about calling sinners to repentance. And that actually, when we get to chapter 15, Luke chapter 15, I'm gonna show you that all these passages we're talking about a sinner repenting and all this stuff, it's not talking about, the prodigal son is not talking about salvation. And the lost sheep and the lost coin is not talking about salvation. It was a sheep, right? And the son, still a son. And when it comes to this, I don't believe Matthew was unsaved. I believe he was a saved person that Jesus was calling to be his disciple, to follow him and do what he should be doing, right? I mean, you don't see Jesus saying, you know, repent and believe the gospel to Matthew. He just says, hey, come and follow me. And, but he was a publican, okay? Meaning this is that in order to be a disciple, in order to follow Jesus, you do have to basically purge yourself from sin, right? You wanna be a vessel one to honor, then you need to purge yourself from iniquity and everything. Physically speaking. And so when you think about this, when you think about, he is not called the righteous but sinners to repentance. If this is talking about salvation, then there is no one righteous, right? I mean, there's none righteous, no one, right? If we're talking about salvation, then he's basically saying, I've come to call everybody, which is true, right? But I believe what he's stating here is that he's eating with publicans and sinners compared to eating with people that aren't publicans and sinners. Meaning like, when it says publicans and sinners, you could take that to mean like, well, everybody, that's just anybody, right? I believe that when it says publicans and sinners, it's another level, right? I mean, you're not just dealing with the typical person that's a sinner, right? You're dealing with people that are, you know, basically dealing with other sins that maybe people wouldn't wanna be around if they're doing. Think about people in fornication, people that are, obviously a publican, you think of like an extortioner and all of that, right? And that Jesus is basically calling them to repentance, right? It's not that Jesus is just eating with them and be like, just keep doing what you're doing, right? The idea is that they need to get it right, okay? Stop being, don't extort people, you know, don't, whatever the sin is that these people are in, they need to obviously get rid of that and all that, okay? But I don't believe this is talking about him talking about salvation here, he's talking about like calling people to be his disciples, okay? So, but I'll get into that in more depth when we get into the prodigal son, the lost sheep and all that stuff, but that, you know, I don't believe is talking about eternal salvation, okay? Now go to, you were, we were at Luke 5 32, and I'm getting down to the end here in verse 33, it says, and they said unto him, why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees, but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, can you make the children of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spake also a parable unto them, no man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeeth not with old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottle shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved. No man having drunk old wine straightway desireth new, for he saith, the old is better. Now I preached a whole sermon on this, a passage not too long ago, about the new cloth and an old garment, but basically the whole principle here is kind of going back to the series that I'm doing in Ecclesiastes 3, which is to everything there's a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven, meaning this is that it wasn't time for them to be fasting, right? It's like it's out of place, right? To fast when you should be rejoicing, but it's also out of place to rejoice when you should be fasting, right? There's a time to mourn, there's a time to laugh, there's a time to weep, and there's a time to dance, and I'm getting those mixed up, I think. But either way, there's a time for all those, but you don't weep when you should be laughing, you know? Like you don't come to a birthday party and be like, and just be like Debbie Downer or Morner, you know? And you don't go to a funeral and just start dancing in the jig, and like, you know, just laughing up a storm and just being all jolly. There's a time and season for things, right? And that's what he's stating here, and he's kind of giving an example, obviously, of putting like an old cloth on a new garment or putting new wine into old bottles is that that's not fitting. That doesn't make sense. You shouldn't do that because you're gonna have problems with it. It's out of place is what it's getting at, okay? So go back to my sermon on that as far as you want more detail on that. But I do want to address this last thing that's stated here because, you know, the old winos out there, the old beer churches, you know, those old Reformed Baptist churches, you know, the Presbyterians that want to drink and all this stuff, they probably love this verse. You know, it's like, this is like their John 3.16 for drinking or something like that, where they're just like, well, see, the old wine is better. Praise the Lord, you know? Break out all the wine and let's just bring out the glasses and just get sloshed, you know? It's like, talk about turning the Bible on its head when the Bible says wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise and not to look upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in a cup, when it moveth itself to the right. I mean, let's just throw out all of that. You know, the idea of not being a drunkard. But notice that it doesn't say, you know, like, but I say unto you, the old is better, okay? Jesus isn't saying that he's saying the old is better. He's saying that, basically, no man is gonna drink old wine and then desire the new because when you think about the world today, right? If you were just to go out, I mean, I don't care who you run into, if they know anything about wine at all, okay? And you said, what's better? Old wine or new, right? And you're just gonna ask them that question. Everybody's gonna say old, right? Of course, the oldest stuff is better, right? They're going to say that. But just because someone says it's better, doesn't mean that it's good. And let me give you an example of that and I'll be done, okay? Go to 2 Samuel chapter 17. You're like, good night, what are we doing there, right? I'm gonna show you a story. So David, the kingdom, basically, he flees. Absalom is like basically taking over the kingdom. And Ahithophel is this counselor for Absalom, okay? Well, Cushai basically leaves David, basically, he flees with David, but then he leaves because he's gonna basically be, not a spy, but basically, he's going to go in and act like he's on Absalom's side and basically give him some bad advice, okay? So let me read this story to you real quick and I just want you to see the story, but I want you to see how it ends, okay? And I believe this is a good example to understand that just because someone says something's better, doesn't mean that it's good, doesn't mean that it's right, okay? And in verse one here, it says, Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men and I will rise and pursue after David this night. And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed and will make him afraid and all the people that are with him shall flee and I will smite the king only and I will bring back all the people unto thee, the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned, so all the people shall be in peace. And the saying pleased Absalom well and all the elders of Israel, okay? So basically, Ahithophel gives this advice, Absalom likes it, but then it says in verse five, Then said Absalom, Call now Cushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he said. And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner, shall we do after this, saying, if not speak thou? So he's basically saying, this is what his counsel is, what do you have to say about it, okay? And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. So he's basically dissenting to it, not good, okay? For, said Hushai, Thou knowest thy father and his men that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field. And thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is hid now on some pit, or in some other place, and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There's a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt, for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and thou shalt go to battle in thine own person. So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and of him and of all the men that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one. Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there. So obviously two different things. You have Ahithophel saying, Let's go now. Let's go now. I mean, he's weak. He's fleeing. Let's get him, right? And then Ahithophel is like, No, you don't understand. David, they're angry, right? I mean, and he's kind of like drawing this picture of, like, I mean, obviously, David is mighty men. I mean, it's a true story that they are men of war. And he's like, you don't want to do that. You don't want to mess with them right now. I mean, they are, I mean, they're, I mean, he's in some pit somewhere. He's like straight up like Rambo in the mud, just waiting for you to pounce on you. It's kind of like that kind of atmosphere. Like he's not gonna be with the people. He's not just chilling with the people. He's gonna be like in some pit or cave and just like, you're not gonna find them. And he's basically saying, if you go after them and then some of your men die, that word's gonna spread and they're all gonna be afraid and they're gonna basically flee, okay? But notice what it says here. That was all just a big bluff is what that was, okay? Because notice what it says here in verse 14. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the council of Hushai, the archive is what? Good counsel of Ahithophel. Better than the council of Ahithophel, okay? So Hushai, you know, David's mole, right? David's, you know, friend that's there to help him. They're saying his counsel is better, okay? But what does it say here? For the Lord had appointed to defeat the what? Good counsel of Ahithophel. Which was the good counsel though? Ahithophel. But they said, Absalom and all those that were with him said what? Whose is better? Hushai's, right? So does better mean good? Not always, okay? Better doesn't mean right in some cases. You know, if you said like, you know, this drug is better, right? I mean, just on a, you know, like if you had two drug addicts over here, and be like, listen, this drug over here is better. Would you say, well, I mean, that must be good then. It must be right to take that. Because it's better. Do you see how ludicrous that is? To just say, well, just because it's better, that means it's good, it's right to do, okay? And in this case, actually, that which was better, what they considered better, right? Was actually not good. It was actually bad advice. And obviously, it was of the Lord that they would heed that bad advice. And obviously, you know, the story that David takes back the kingdom, Absalom dies, all that. So let's end with a word of prayer. The only problem we think of today, thank you for the Book of Luke. Thank you for this passage. And Lord, just help us to understand as much as we can when we're reading through these chapters. And Lord, help me to preach it rightly. And Lord, we just pray to be as we go back home and give us safety, keep us healthy. And Lord, we love you and pray also in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. The brother David will come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. All right. Take your song books and turn to song 106. Song 106 in your song books. And if you would stand, we'll sing abide with me. Song 106. Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee. Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. Swift to its close, ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow, dammit, glory's power.