Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86649/how-to-please-god/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] How to please God. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 1. [0:11] Furthermore then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God. [0:45] So ye would abound more and more. How ye ought to walk and to please God. It's an important subject to learn, to teach, to take in. [1:00] How can we please God with our lives? So in this message we are looking at how ye ought to walk and to please God so ye would abound more and more. [1:18] How are we to live and conduct ourselves in this life, in this span of time we've been given. Such that we please God with that time. [1:29] With our lives and such that we abound more and more in the same. Paul urged the Thessalonians, he said, that this is something that we ought to walk and to please God. [1:43] And I think if Paul was here in the flesh this morning, he would exhort us just the same way. How we ought to walk and to please God. For a start it may be good for us to each one consider this. [1:58] Why should I please God? Why should I care? Why not just please myself? Look out for number one. [2:09] That's how the world would train us, isn't it? Why should I care? Why should I please God? I put it to you that pleasing the Lord should be the great ambition of every believer's heart. [2:25] It should be something that springs from within every believer. Why so? One of the motives and good reasons that we should care about pleasing our Lord and being accepted of Him is because of the judgment seat of Christ. [2:44] That should be a motivator. 2 Corinthians 5-9-10 it says, Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him. [2:58] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. [3:14] We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. This is the judgment for God's people, for believers. We know that the word says that all of us will give account. [3:27] For the unbelievers they'll give account before the final white throne. And they'll be cast into hell. For every believer they'll give account before the judgment seat of Christ. [3:41] Which is not for their judgment which would happen at Calvary at the cross. But for the things we have done in our body. The things we have done. What we've done with our lives. [3:52] So Paul says this is something that should prompt us to labour and to be diligent. To be accepted of Him. To be pleasing to Him. And Peter backed Paul up on this in 2 Peter 3. [4:05] He says to those he addressed in 2 Peter 3 from verse 14. Wherefore beloved, talking to believers, God's beloved, seeing that you look for such things. [4:18] The context is of the second coming. Be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless. And account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. [4:28] Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you. So the same people were addressed by Peter and by Paul. And Peter says, be diligent that you may be found of Him. [4:43] In peace. Without spot. And blameless. We labour. We are diligent. To be found of Him. [4:54] To be accepted of Him. To please Him. You know, sometimes we're the opposite of diligent, aren't we? What's the opposite of diligent? Slag. To use the Aussie lingo, isn't it? [5:06] You know. No worries, mate. You know. We'll be slack. Or we would be diligent. Diligent means you take it seriously, as was said earlier. [5:21] Not lightly or carelessly. But you take the salvation seriously. It means something. It's precious. And it motivates you. So, why should we please God? [5:33] To be accepted. To please Him. Because of the judgment seat of Christ we're all going to appear before. And because we're told to be diligent. To take eternal things seriously. [5:44] Not carelessly. And the writer of Hebrews specifically prayed for his readers too. To know how to realise this important truth in their own lives. In Hebrews 13, verse 21. [5:57] And the context is of prayer again too. That God will make you perfect in every good work to do His will. Working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight. [6:09] Through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The writer of Hebrews says that he prays that you'll be perfect. That you'll be complete in every good work. [6:22] To do His will as He works in you. To do that which is good and well-pleasing in His sight. And so there's this common thread through Paul, Peter, the writer of Hebrews. [6:36] And Paul again in Colossians 1. He had the same prayer. He says, So the context then, filled with the knowledge of His will. [7:05] What is His will? That we please Him. In wisdom, in spiritual understanding, that we walk worthy. Worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. [7:17] So that our walk is pleasing to God. And then being fruitful, that abounding. That 30, 60, that 100. Abounding, increasing. Growing. Being fruitful in every good work. [7:30] And increasing in the knowledge of God. These are prayers through the Bible. That's a biblical thing for you to pray for yourself. And for fellow Christians. [7:42] Those things, I'll just recap again. To be diligent. To be found of Him. To do His will. To work what's pleasing in His sight. To have the knowledge of His will. [7:53] To walk worthy. Pleasing Him. Being fruitful. Increasing in the knowledge of God. God doesn't want us to be static. To have that kind of, I'm on the glory train. [8:04] I'll just put my feet on the seat. And just enjoy the ride. And just sort of kick back. But rather, that being saved is something that gives us an energy boost. [8:17] We're living on a high. I know there's people in my life that are like that. They're hyper. You know, they're hyper spiritual. They're hyper. They just want to be active for God. [8:28] And I love that. I think that's a beautiful thing. And God wants us to be like that. To be engaged. Energised. Increasing. [8:39] Growing. Abounding. To know His will. To be wanting to serve and please Him. And be worthy of Him. To be fruitful. So why should I please God? [8:50] Why does it matter? Because one day our works shall be judged. Not your salvation. It's assured. The slate's been wiped clean by the blood of the cross. [9:03] But our works will be assessed. And tested. And found wanting. Or found worthy. So why should it matter one day our works will be judged. [9:15] So we should labour to please God. To be diligent. Because the counting time is coming. You know, it won't be the tax man you'll have to answer to. It'll be the Lord God. [9:28] And He'll take a close look at that which we have done. A day is set. For your appointed time. And mine. [9:39] So it is important. So now then. The next obvious question. We've answered why. It's pretty important. It's pretty plain. Right through the scriptures. [9:52] Why? Accounting time is coming. So how? How then? How can I please God? That's the most next obvious question. [10:02] I want to give you three keys. As to how you can please God. Three keys. As to how you can please God. Number one. Trust God. [10:14] Trust Him. Have faith. Hebrews 11. 6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. [10:26] For he that cometh to God must believe that He is. And that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Notice that it doesn't say a person pleases God by being religious. [10:42] Whoa. That crosses off a lot of people then doesn't it? There's some really mighty religious people who don't have faith in Christ. Saving faith in Christ. [10:53] It doesn't say a person pleases God by doing religious things. It's saying to us it is simply two words. [11:07] By faith. By faith. The context of Hebrews 11 is all about just that. It's faith. And this is not a faith in faith. [11:20] There's some people who would teach such a thing. It's all about your faith and they glorify your faith. Faith. And it's all about faith, faith, faith. Faith in faith. No. [11:31] It's not about faith in faith. It's not about faith in yourself. Something, well, you know, just almost put the glory on the man. [11:41] You know, you could speak things into existence. It's all about your faith. Or faith in yourself. It's almost like, it's almost a glorified, self-centred kind of way of thinking. [11:55] That you can build yourself up to be some great person because you've got, it's all within you. It's within you. It's your enlightenment or whatever it be. It's faith in yourself. Or maybe faith in some vain philosophy. [12:08] Some guru. You know, people chase all over the world to go and sit at the feet of gurus. Of one description or another. No, it's none of those things. [12:18] It's not faith in faith. It's not faith in yourself. It's not faith in some philosophy or some guru. It's not faith in a man or some religious system. It's not faith in man-made traditions. [12:31] It's faith in God. Faith in Christ. It's trust in God. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. Through Hebrews 11, this is the common thread. [12:42] You know, as your homework, if you like, read Hebrews 11 and maybe get a highlighter and where it says, By faith, take a note of that. For example, Hebrews 11. [12:53] By faith, Abel. By faith, Enoch. By faith, Noah. By faith, Abraham. By faith, Sarah. By faith, Isaac. By faith, Jacob. [13:04] By faith, Joseph. By faith, Moses. It's right through the chapter. And through the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. By faith. [13:14] Men and women who pleased God had that vital common ingredient. And it's where it all begins. Without faith, you cannot please Him. You can do tremendous, wonderful works. [13:28] You can live a life of total sacrifice. And be the most saintly kind of person. And people might make you a saint after you die. [13:39] As if man can make saints. Yet, be lost. Without saving faith. Saving faith. [13:50] That's what makes all the difference. And so, that which was worthy in the lives of the people in Hebrews 11 wasn't the religious works. Or the good things that they had to outwardly show. [14:04] What mattered was it was by faith. By faith, Rahab. Wow. You know, even the most unworthy by faith can be saved. Thank God for that. [14:16] Otherwise, well, I know I'd be in trouble. Because it's by faith. Faith that pleases God has this special quality. Bible faith means faith in God. [14:27] Trust in God. Trust in Christ. Trust in that finished work of the cross for your sin. It's not some general airy fairy kind of faith. It's some fuzzy kind of God. [14:38] It's faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. It's not urgent. It does nothing more you take from me. From any message. From anything that is said in this place. [14:48] From any Bible preaching or teaching. By faith. By faith. Put your faith in Christ. Put your faith in Jesus Christ to save your soul. [15:00] You know, it amazes me when I talk with Christians how many just seem to not grasp some simple things. But just this one simple thing. [15:11] If just simply that. You can put your faith in Christ. That you can trust in Him. Young people, you've got a life ahead of you. Put your faith in Jesus Christ. [15:22] Trust in Him. Not in yourself. Trust in Him. Trust in His cross. In His bleeding and dying and rising again. [15:32] In your place for your sin. That is what matters. That makes an eternal difference. That simple truth. Simple faith. And it's vital. It's vital. It's living. [15:44] It's a union with Christ. The faith we're talking about is a personal trust that leans its entire weight upon Jesus Christ. Sadly it seems with some they don't lean their whole weight on Jesus Christ. [16:01] You've got to lean your whole weight on Him. It's almost like some think they've got to help God save them. No. You don't help God save you. [16:12] It's His work. He doesn't. And that's grace, isn't it? You know, we can't help God save ourselves. But He gives us salvation as His gift. [16:26] It's His precious gift. And it's believing in Christ with all your heart. And trusting in everything that He has done. And there's an urgency about this because none of us know how much time we have. [16:40] Some people think, well, I'll just enjoy the pleasures of sin. And then I'll kind of think about Christianity and think about getting right with God. [16:52] And they think that they can just enjoy a little bit of sin and living life their own way before they fully put their faith in Christ. [17:03] But know there's an urgency. An urgency. An urgency. Not to dilly-dally. Not to delay. But rather put your faith in Christ. [17:13] Put it in Christ. Find that resting place of faith. That resting place. Where you rest from your own works. And you put your faith fully in Christ. [17:24] And this is not an inactive thing. It creates action. When you have faith, it stirs you. It creates faith. It creates action. It creates devotion. [17:35] How do we please God? Number one, it starts with faith. Simply this, trust God. Without faith. It's impossible to please Him. [17:46] Secondly, fear God. Fear God. Psalm 147.11 it says, The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him. God's pleased with those who fear Him. [17:58] In those that hope in His mercy. When we fear God, it says that He is pleased with them. When our heart is directed towards Him. In love and honour and devotion. [18:09] And pleasing the Lord ought to override all our other interests. All our other distractions. That should be the overriding motive for all that we do. In every sphere of our lives and in all our decisions. [18:24] This should be our primary objective. His agenda first. Our ultimate objective ought to be to please Him. To be a God pleaser. Not a man pleaser or a self pleaser. [18:37] You know, that's really critical, isn't it? Who do you want to please? Do you want to just please yourself? You'd be just like the world then. Or do you want to please men? [18:50] Just, you're not really standing for God. Rather, please God. Put Him number one. And it makes a change deep, heart deep within. [19:04] A change, a heart change takes place. David was such a man in the Bible. Called a man after God's own heart. And some of the things he says speaks to us today. [19:15] Psalm 86, 11 it says, David prayed, Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name. [19:25] And in Psalm 19, 14, he says, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord. [19:36] My strength and my redeemer. David's prayer was that his words and that his heart, what his heart meditated on, would be pleasing to God. [19:46] So it's a good place to start, isn't it? What does our heart long for? What occupies your heart? That desire, that delighting. [19:57] What is it your heart longs for? What is coming out of our lives, our words, our heart, our thoughts? Are we speaking what is true? What is honourable? Speaking it in love. It's good to have a heart check. [20:09] And I know some people, they check their blood pressure. We need to check our heart. Spiritually speaking, don't we? I need to. You know, believe it or not, I'm a human being. [20:22] Excuse me. I'm a human being and I fail. Ask Julie, she'll tell you all about it. You know, I was printing these flies for church yesterday and I was getting really annoyed with my printer. [20:35] I just about picked it up and threw it out the window. I was so annoyed with it. And Julie saw me in all the technicolor detail of that. And we have these moments where we're trying to serve God, we're trying to do something for God, and we just, everything's going wrong. [20:51] And that's why I'm pulling out my hair out. You can see what's happening to me. I'm pulling my hair out about things that frustrate. And I'm human, just like you. But what is your heart? [21:02] What is your heart? And how is it manifesting in our walk? You know, we all need to take stock sometimes. Wow, I need to check in with God here. Trying to do something for God and getting really aggro when I need to keep calm and peaceful and think, well, maybe God doesn't want me to print so many when every third one jams in the printer. [21:24] And you think, well, you've just got to get through these things, don't you, without losing it. And we need to train our minds and think biblically about everything. Wow, okay, Lord. [21:36] You're giving me some, you're teaching me a lesson here. It's a heart attitude, isn't it? And we can come to a place where we delight to please God. As David also wrote in Psalm 14, I delight to do thy will, O my God. [21:51] Yea, thy law is within my heart. David's joy was that the word of God was within his heart. And he was one who trembled at the word of God. He took it seriously. He meditated on it. [22:02] Psalm 119, verse 11, it says, Thy word have I heard in my heart that I might not sin against thee. So as we learn to think biblically, we'll be able to please God. [22:14] And it will be our delight. It will help us keep our cool. He'll help us get through those things that irritate. And it won't be a drudgery, but a pleasure to serve him. And we'll get our greatest peace from just that. [22:27] Philippians 4, it says, And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. [22:53] When we truly fear God, we'll be drawn more and more to his word. In Deuteronomy 4, verse 10, it says, The Lord said unto me, Gather me, the people, together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me. [23:10] That they will hear my words, that they may learn to fear me. We need to learn his words. Hear his words, so we can learn to fear him. So how do we please God? [23:21] Trust God. Have faith in Christ. Saving faith today. Trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Secondly, fear God. Fear God. Such that you'll fear his name, you'll delight to do his will. [23:35] His law will be written in your heart, and you'll think those godly things, and you'll hear his words, to learn to fear him. And thirdly, obey God. [23:46] The third way to please God, I would put it to you, amongst many others, is obey God. Obey God. 1 Samuel 15, 22. Samuel said, Have the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord. [24:04] Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams. The Lord has great delight, not so much in the burnt offerings, the things we do, as in hearing his voice, and obeying it. [24:20] You know, sometimes we've just got to sit at his feet, and hear his word. And you're yet like Martha, well let's be like Mary, and just delight in him, and he'll delight in you, as you do. [24:36] Pleasing the Lord ought to become a way of life. Hearing his voice, and not some manufactured thing, but hearing his voice. This is his voice, right here. [24:49] Hear his voice, act on his clear word, and bring delight, his delight, into your life. Be doers of the word, not hearers only. It takes a spiritual mind shift to get to that place, where we obey God. [25:02] Where obeying God is, that which we think, well, is what I'm thinking to do, going to obey God, or is it disobeying God? And do rather that, which you consider, would please him. [25:16] It says in the flesh, we cannot please God, but by his spirit we can. We can find that new heart, that new will, that new direction. Romans 8, it says to be carnally minded, is death. [25:27] But to be spiritually minded, is life, and peace. And the context there is, they that are in the flesh, cannot please God. If you're in the flesh, you can't please God. [25:38] And maybe I was a bit in the flesh, with that printer yesterday. I was trying to do something for God, and then, when I got annoyed, I didn't act very spiritual. You know, I almost lost my sanctification. [25:50] And it's not, it's not really something to laugh about. It's shameful. I'm ashamed of myself. And, you know, Julie can tell you all the, the gory details of it. How I acted. [26:01] Shameful. Shameful. I might have got the sack from the church, if they saw what I did. We need to obey God, don't we? We don't, we don't want to be acting in the flesh, but in the spirit. [26:14] And we all have moments. Well, I'm sure, I'm sure none of you do, but, but we, we can't all have moments, when we act in the flesh, can't we? When we get annoyed, just like the world, we act just like the world would act. [26:27] And it's a shameful thing. Brothers and sisters, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Let's get out of the flesh. Let's be watching the flesh all the time, and crucifying it. [26:38] There should be a military discipline, about what we determine to do. Timothy was told by Paul, in 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. [26:50] No man that warroth entangleth himself, with the affairs of this life, so that he may please him, who has chosen him, to be a soldier. You know, I'm a bit like that, with my boss at work, you know. [27:02] I like to keep my boss happy. I like to keep my job, you know. It's a good thing, to have a healthy respect, for your boss, at work, isn't it? And, and there's a certain way you act, when your boss is around, that, you probably might, be a little bit more, I don't know, you shouldn't be. [27:20] It shouldn't make any difference, really, should it? But, you almost think, well if the boss is in the room, I better look like, I better get busy, better look like I'm working, you know. But, I'm just kind of drawing, drawing the parallel here, that, the boss is in the room. [27:34] Wow. The commanding officer is here. Yes sir. You know, when the commanding officer, enters the room, and, get this, the commanding officer, is always in the room. [27:49] Isn't he? Amen. So, and so if we're a soldier, we want to please him, who has chosen us to be soldiers. We want to please our commanding officer, as it were. [28:00] Our commanding officer, deserves our highest allegiance. The Lord Jesus Christ, is the commander in chief, and we are called to obey him. And it's a joy to obey him. [28:13] It takes discipline sometimes, but, he helps us to obey him. And it's a great privilege to obey him. And sometimes, you know, Julie reminded me of this scripture, when I was acting, less spiritual than I should have been. [28:29] She told me this scripture, and this is a good one to memorize, and it's, five words, you can remember that, I think. Five words, it's only part of the verse. [28:40] Psalm 100, verse 2, it says, Serve the Lord with, gladness. We could learn, to do that, couldn't we? So, when it's church time, wow, I'm going to serve the Lord with gladness. [28:55] I'm going to get there on time. I'm going to get encouraged. I'm going to give at my best. I'm going to get encouraged. And I'm going to bless others while I'm there. Serve the Lord with gladness. [29:07] Five words. Shouldn't we do that with our God? Gladly serve him, with our heart. And it says in Psalm 96, verse 8, Give unto the Lord the glory, due unto his name. [29:21] He's due it all. Give him the glory, in every aspect of your life. Live a life as a living sacrifice. It's not that you, you know, a living sacrifice, doesn't sort of clock on and off. [29:34] You know, oh, it's 10 o'clock, oh, it's almost 11.30, I'll be able to clock off in a minute, and start just doing my own thing, for the rest of the week, till 10 o'clock Sunday morning again. A living sacrifice. [29:47] That's 24 by 7. That's your life. Your life. Obey him. Honor him. Worship him. Worship him. Worship him in spirit and in truth. [29:58] There's an integrity. There's an authenticity. Be real. Not the words that we mouth, are our worship, but the life that we live. You know, it's not when you're holding the hymn book, or looking at the songs. [30:12] Your worship should be your life. Worship him, in spirit and in truth. And don't clock on and off. Find every opportunity to be where the word is, and where you can get encouraged, and where you can give to others too. [30:28] So, Philippians 2, it says, Paul writes, work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. [30:40] God is at work in you. You know, that's one of the good things, when you get together in church, that God is at work in you, and God in you can speak to me, and vice versa. [30:52] God is at work in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. And it pleases God, when we trust him, when we fear him, when we obey him. God is at work within you, and in me, and that's something special. [31:06] And we can exhort one another, we can edify one another, we can encourage one another. There's something special, when God's people get together. And as you surrender, to do his will, he'll give you the will, and he'll enable you, to do his will. [31:21] So trust in his promises, rest in his peace, and it's an ongoing, abounding thing. As it says, as Paul said, he wanted to encourage, he wanted to urge, and stir the Thessalonians to, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so you would abound, more and more. [31:41] You know, you don't just, suddenly, you know, you do the new convert class, or you know, you might go, to Bible studies, and think, well I've got it all down pat now, I know it all, back to front, Genesis through Revelation. [31:56] You don't stop. You don't stop. You want to abound, more and more. There's more. There's yet more. We'll be learning, right till our dying breath. [32:08] more about Jesus, would I know. More of his love, to others show. More abounding, more and more. Friends, then, to close, as we think of that, perfecting work. [32:22] You know, some of you are more advanced than me. I see David and June, and I see a man, who loves his wife, and shows it. And I think, I could learn from David. You know, I could learn how to love my wife more. [32:36] And I could learn from Brad, how to be such a, a glowing picture of Jesus. You know, I just, he just, he looks like Jesus, doesn't he? [32:47] Yeah. I just want to be more like Brad. And, I see, um, Flurry Bird, with his nice smile. I think, I could, I could learn to smile a bit more like that. [32:58] And, and to show the joy of the Lord in my face. And we learn from each other, brothers and sisters, don't we? So we're bound more and more. We can pray for John Veer, he's heading off to Africa next week. [33:09] Pray for our brother, John Veer. He's going to Africa, he's going to Kenya, Tanzania, um, and other couple of places. And we pray for our brother. And, and our church is, is going to be spread globally. [33:23] And then, we'll all come back together, God willing. And, and you know, when we're together, we can encourage one another. As we see the day approaching. And let's do that more and more. Abounding more and more. [33:34] Growing more and more in our faith, in our love, in our grace, in our godliness. And so bit by bit, he's shaping us to be more like Christ. And I can learn from you, brother, sister. [33:47] We can learn from each other. And Hebrews 13 just wraps it all up here, with another prayer. So just quickly, just to recap, now, why should I care? [34:00] Why should I please God? Because one day, a counting time is coming. We'll have to answer. Not for our salvation, but for what we've done, with our salvation. [34:11] How we've lived our life. Will we just have a pile of ashes, wood, hay, stubble, it'll be poof, and a puff of smoke. Or will it be gold, silver, precious stones, something tangible, something lasting. [34:25] The souls we've touched, while we've been in this body, on this planet. The people we've, lives we've touched. The people we've loved, and cared for, and exhorted to love Christ, and God willing, they've followed him further, and more. [34:41] We've only got this lifespan, to make the difference, people today. We've only got this lifespan, to make a difference, for eternity. Let's use it wisely. Trust him, fear him, obey him. [34:54] Hebrews 13, to close it says, Now the God of peace, that brought again, from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood, of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect. [35:07] I'm not there yet. I don't know about you, but he wants to make you perfect. He's got that sense, he's got it all together. He puts all the pieces together. [35:17] He makes us whole. He puts all the broken pieces, of our lives, makes it all, brings us, to that, completeness, that is in Christ. [35:33] He's still doing that, perfecting work. Make you perfect, in every good work, to do his will. Working in you, that which is well pleasing, in his sight. [35:46] That's what matters, isn't it? Not what's pleasing, in my sight, or your sight, or anybody's sight. Working what's well pleasing, in his sight. Through Jesus Christ, to whom be, glory forever and ever. [35:59] Amen. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that, you are the great God, the great shepherd. You're the senior pastor, of this church. Lord, we look to you, we pray, be that shepherd, to us. [36:12] Help us, Lord, to trust you, to love you, to fear you, to obey you, to do what's pleasing, well pleasing, in your sight. Lord, help us, when the flesh, rears its ugly head, that we might strike it off, and stamp on it, and crucify it, nail it down. [36:30] Lord, kill the flesh, in me, in these people, here today. Kill the flesh, Lord, and make us, alive in the spirit. Help us, Lord, to find what's well pleasing, in your sight, and to will, and to do it, for your glory and praise. [36:47] Amen. Amen.