The Parable of the Faithless Servant - Matthew 25: 14-30

0:40Those who truly believe in God will practice obedience to him. You see, back in Exodus, you have an entire generation of Israelites who saw the miracles in Egypt, the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the destruction of the Egyptian army. They followed a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They ate manna off the ground for 40 years. Yet some of them grumbled. Many of them grumbled and were faithless after 40 years. Although they saw and heard, they did not believe.

1:20We read from 2 Kings earlier the sad fate of Gehazi, who saw close at hand the signs and wonders that God worked through Elijah. Elisha. Previous chapters relate that Elisha raised a boy from the dead. Gehazi saw that. Gehazi was Elisha's servant. He had fellowship with him daily. Yet Gehazi turned out to be a faithless servant. Although he saw and heard, he did not believe. And Jesus' disciples walked on earth for three years daily with the very Son of God, watching him perform so many signs and wonders that the Apostle John writes that were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the books, that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Yet there was one of the twelve who turned out to be a faithless follower. Although he saw and heard, he did not believe. Every one of these followers were happy to live among the people of God, savor the blessings of God, enjoy the protection and the providence of God, but they did not know God. They did not belong to God, even though they looked like they did, and even though they talked like they did. They gave lip service to God, but in the end they would not be found to be faithful to God. And the parable we study today explains this further.

2:52First, I want to examine the broader context of this passage. The parable of the talents is the culmination of the parallel. The Lord's final teaching, known as the Olivet Discourse, which he taught privately to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. The teaching here contains the answer to two very pointed questions his disciples asked him, and we read them at the beginning of actually in Matthew chapter 24. So you may want to back up. In verse 1, it says, Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.

3:44Now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus answers the questions about the signs of his coming by comparing them to labor pangs, to birth pains, which come in rapid succession right before the main event. He warned them not to be deceived by false Christs and false prophets. He warned them that they would hear of wars and rumors of wars, that nation would rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There would be famines, betrayal, lawlessness, but that the gospel would be preached to all the world, and then the end would come. Those were the signs. Of his coming.

4:32Then Jesus answered the question about the time of his coming. He answered it very precisely. He said, No one knows the day nor the hour but the Father. So the time of his coming is not revealed to us, nor even the angels. So, since we're not to know of the time, he follows this answer with a singular admonition, one command about what his followers are to do while waiting for the unknown hour of his return. We are to be ready.

5:12And to show us what it looks like to be ready, he told three parables. These three parables all have the same theme. The first is about two servants who are supposed to be watching for their master's return. One is a faithful watcher, and the other proves to be a faithless watcher. The second parable is about ten virgins who are waiting for a wedding, and the bridegroom is delaying his appearance at the marriage. Five of them prove to be faithful as they wait because they had their lamps ready, while the other five prove faithless and are caught unprepared, and they're not allowed into the marriage celebration. Well, the parable of the talents follows a similar pattern, demonstrated this time by. Three servants who are supposed to be faithful workers while the master is away on a long journey. All three parables contain a test which shows the difference between the faithful followers and the faithless one. In Matthew chapter 25, verse 14, we read, For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, to each according to his own ability. And immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also.

6:54But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his Lord's money. After a long time, the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them. His Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.

7:30He also who had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed, and I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.

8:09But his Lord answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed, so you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers. And at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So this is the parable that Jesus told us what it looks like to be ready.

8:58So the kingdom of heaven Has, I've kind of divided this into four sections. First of all, the kingdom of heaven has apportionment and accountability. I'm giving you my outline here. I don't have slides, so you'll have to write quickly to take notes. So, firstly, the kingdom of heaven has apportionment and accountability. Secondly, the kingdom of heaven has faithfulness and reward. Those are two examples of genuine faith. Thirdly, the kingdom of heaven has faithlessness and rebuke. This is one example of dead faith. And lastly, the kingdom of heaven is summed up in the principle and the punishment, how the Lord deals with those who demonstrate genuine faith and how he deals who demonstrate dead faith.

9:48The point I want you to take away from this today is this. When the Lord entrusts us with the truth, our obedience to that truth indicates the genuineness of our faith. True followers will demonstrate true faith, which will grow and lead to more. False followers demonstrate a dead faith, which is fruitless and empty. Let's look at the first section here about how the kingdom of heaven has apportionment and accountability. Verse 14 says, The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country. And the kingdom of heaven here is a very good thing.

10:31Some Bible translations simply have the word it, but the context with the other parables, it obviously refers to the kingdom of heaven. This phrase, the kingdom of heaven, is sometimes used to represent the invisible future realm of God in heaven. Other times it's used, as I believe it is here, to refer to the earthly visible kingdom of God that we live in as the church here and now. Jesus told many of his parables to describe this earthly kingdom of heaven. Those parables are ones like the parables of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the workers in a vineyard, the treasure hidden in a field. Many parables he used to explain how his kingdom looks on earth.

11:23And then it says, it's like a man traveling to a far country, traveling to a far country. In those days, they didn't have trains or airlines or cars. Travel to a far country was difficult and uncertain. So he's obviously talking about a man who would be gone for an undetermined length of time, and his servants would be uncertain of exactly when he would return. So they don't know when he's going to return. Here, Jesus is preparing his disciples as he speaks to them that he's about to leave for an undisclosed period of time. And he's delegating to them the responsibility as. Stewards to care for his kingdom.

12:05Notice this man called his own servants. The Greek word doulas, sometimes translated slaves. These men work for the man and are accountable to him. They live in the master's house. They enjoy his protection, his provision, his blessings. And as we see here, they even enjoy his trust. Because next we see that the man delivered his goods to them. He gave each of them some stewardship responsibility for his goods, for his money. In a similar parable in Luke 19, the master instructs the servants there to do business until I come. So there is a clear stewardship responsibility with these goods. The master could have left his money in the bank where it would have earned simple interest. More about that later. But the expectation here is that he's giving his stewards something of his to work with, to be enterprising with, so that he might obtain an even larger return than interest that he could get in a bank. But we'll see it has a greater purpose, and that would be to test them to see who was faithful and who was not.

13:19In verse 15, we see the distribution of the talents to the servants in accordance to their ability. The talents here The word talent is an expression of weight, not money. So it's a weight usually 60 to 75 pounds, depending on the definition. Typically, it was applied to coins of precious metals such as silver or gold. I believe silver is in view here because the word for silver is used later in the parable. So most likely, a talent of silver could be worth about $20,000 in today's money. A small fortune. The exact amount is irrelevant, but the trust and responsibility was significant. Incidentally, the English word for talent is derived from this Greek word, talentos. And of course, we speak of talents in a different way other than money.

14:14And the talents were distributed. One servant received five talents, one servant received two, and one servant received one. They were not all given the same amount. You see, the master knows his servants well enough to be aware of their individual capabilities. And he wisely uses this knowledge as he apportions out his goods to each one. And then we see the outcome. In verse 16, he who had received the five talents went out and traded with them. He did some business. He worked some deals back and forth. He applied himself. He used some business acumen, some savvy, some wisdom. He took some calculated risks, and it paid off. He doubled his master's. Money. He was true to the trust the master gave him. And so was the servant who received two talents. They both received 100% return.

15:13In verse 18, we read that the one who received the one talent went and dug in the ground. He dug a hole in the ground and he put that talent where it would not be at risk at all. But he also put it where it could not be used at all. And in case they missed it, Jesus adds this little indictment. He hid his Lord's money. His Lord's money. The money was not his own. It was his master's. And the implication in this story here is to remind the disciples that what was given to the servant was not his to hide, but to put to work. But he put it in the ground, where he would not be troubled with it.

15:57In verse 19, we see that the delay is over. A day of accounting came, and for us it will come as well, regardless of how long it is. In verse 19, we read, After a long time, the Lord came and settled accounts with them. Apparently, it was an extended trip. The specific time, again, is not important. Similar parables describe such a long delay that the faithless servants forget that the master would someday return. And we find that they live a life of disobedience, of worldliness, selfishness, and willfulness. And such is the case here as well.

16:34He settled accounts with them. There was a day of accountability where the servants would answer to the Lord for what they did with that was entrusted to them. And this is what Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like: apportionment and then accountability. The Lord has apportioned his servants a trust and he will hold them to account for it. Let's move on to verse 20 because we see here two examples of faithfulness and reward. Two servants demonstrate faithfulness and they receive reward from their master.

17:11In verse 20, we see this servant demonstrate, the first servant demonstrate loyalty and fruit. He says, Lord, you have delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more. You can skip down to verse 22. The servant who had two talents says, Look, I received, you delivered to me two talents, and I've received two more. So both servants acknowledge the lordship of their master and that he is the source of the resource. And they are returning to him the return from that trust that he gave them. And in verses 21 and 23, we see the master's response. And I couldn't resist some alliteration here. We see the praise.

18:00The promotion and the pleasure of the master here because he says the same words to both servants. He says, first he says, praise. Well done. And then he calls him good. And then he calls him faithful. Well done, good and faithful servant. Now, you need to stop here for a minute and realize that only God is good, and there is no one righteous, not one. Yet, the master in this case recognizes his faithful servant, and in praising them, he calls them good and faithful. And then he gives them a promotion. He says, You've been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things.

18:49And then the master expresses his pleasure. I was going to use the word party here, but this is church, so we'll just keep it pleasure. Enter into the joy of your master. Faithfulness results in joyful fellowship with the master, with God himself. It's hard to miss, as Jesus is telling this parable, that this joy that they would enter into is an illustration of heaven. These faithful servants would be the one who are welcomed into heaven. So we see the praise, promotion, and pleasure of the master. It's like the master saying, Yes, this is what faith looks like: obedience.

19:31This is how you show that you understand the truth that you have been entrusted with. You have passed the test. The master wanted to see how trustworthy his servants were. His measure was how they handled the trust that was given to them, and they would be rewarded as well. Well, I'm going to add a fourth P to this part of it. It starts with proportionality. Really can't talk about this parable without noticing the proportionality with which the servants are given the talents, 5, 2, and 1. The Lord's praise, promotion, and pleasure was the same with the servant who had two talents as it was with the servant who had five talents. His words to them were identical.

20:26I think we can learn from this that we'll be trusted in proportion to our individuality, too. And how we validate that trust determines our future responsibility, I believe, on earth and in heaven. You see, it's not, we don't all have to be Jim Elliott or Billy Graham or pick your favorite super Christian. What the Lord rewards is how much you do with what he's given you. Some people are given a little and they grow proportionally to that. Some people are given a lot and they grow proportionally to that. The Lord simply wants you to be faithful.

21:00With what he gives you. Well, next, we move on to verse 24, and we see the faithlessness of the third servant and rebuke from the master. So we see faithlessness and rebuke. In verse 24, we see this servant give lip service to the master. He calls him Lord. He starts off by saying the same thing the faithful servants did, Lord. So you see, here he also professes submission to the master with his lips, but his lack of obedience ultimately proves that he's a liar.

21:42And then we see some lame excuses. Yes, I'm doing some L's now. Lip service, lame excuses. I'm not even going to repeat the lame excuses. Basically, what he's saying is because I think you're ruthless, I don't trust you. So I'm not going to do anything with what you've given me. I'm going to bury it in the ground. And now that you're back, here, be happy with that. This servant has been living in the same house as the other two servants. Yet when he saw the goodness and generosity of his master, he came to the exact wrong conclusions about his master. See, they all had the same information about their master, but they responded to It differently, didn't they? This servant does not know at all the character of his master.

22:38And the third L here is laziness, lip service, lame excuses, and laziness. He buried the talent in the ground, didn't work with it at all. I mean, what was he doing all this time while the master was away? He wasn't enterprising. He wasn't making that trust work for additional value. Instead, he was living for himself, not the master. He was following his own desires, not the master. He was entrusted with something of value, but he was found to be untrustworthy. When his faithfulness to the master was tested, he failed the test. He is a faithless servant.

23:23What we see next is the rebuke. In verse 26, we see the rebuke from the master because the master says, You wicked and lazy servant. You wicked and lazy servant. This is the opposite of what was told to the other servants. Wicked and lazy is the opposite of good and faithful. The servant was wicked because he believed wrongly that his good master was evil, and he impugned his character right to his faith. His laziness reflected poorly on his master's choice of servants and the trust he put in them.

24:01Again, this is the exact opposite of a faithful servant. This servant could not be bothered with putting the master's goods to work, so he decided that while the master was away, he would just bury it and forget who he worked for, and he was going to live for himself. His failure to respond faithfully with what he had been given demonstrated his lack of faith in his master's goodness. This is what a faithless servant looks like. And the day of accounting did not go well for him. The master corrects him. After he rebukes him, he gives him correction and says, You knew me to be, or you knew me to reap where I have not sown, and to gather where I scattered no seeds. He throws his words back at him.

24:50What the master is saying is, if this is truly what you believe, then absolutely the worst thing you could have done was to bury it in the ground, put it in the bank where at least I'd get it back with interest. If you think I'm so ruthless as you say you know. So he's really saying, no, this is, I'm not buying it. This lame excuse is not convincing the master. And the master corrects the false characterization of him by his steward. And lastly, we see the loss that the lazy servant suffers. In verse 28, that which was entrusted to him was taken away and given to the faithful servant, the one who. Who had the ten talents? See, this servant had failed the test, and now he suffered loss. And exactly what he lost is clarified in the last two verses. And this is really where we're going to spend most of the effort in this lesson. Because here we come to the principle and the punishment. The principle in verse 29, after the story is finished, the master explains how he responds, which is the whole point of the story. Verse 29 reads, For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have in abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

26:15Just chew on that for a little bit. It took me a while. It sounds almost like a riddle, doesn't it? I mean, what is he talking about? What is it that some have and will be given more, but some do not have, and even that will be taken away? How can you have something taken away that you don't even have? So the key to this parable is understanding what the talents represent. They represent something that is the answer to this riddle. And I believe we find the answer further back in Scripture. This is not the first time Jesus has said these words. If you turn back to Matthew 13, you'll see that. Jesus tells a parable, and after he tells the parable of the soils, his disciples ask him a question. So in Matthew 13, verse 10, and the disciples came up and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables? And Jesus answered them and said, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have in abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has, shall be taken away from him. There it is. Verse 13, therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand.

27:52In verse 12, Jesus gives this giving and taking principle for the first time. He who has, more shall be given. He who has not, that shall be taken away. But what is he referring to? What is it that is possessed and then increased, or not possessed, and taken away? Look at verse 11. To you it has been granted to what? Know. To you it has been granted to know about the mysteries of kingdom. The kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted to know. Knowledge, revelation, the truth. That is what is given and taken away. How we respond to the truth determines how much more light God will give us. Scripture is full of examples of those who had the truth of God revealed to them and they believed.

28:58And we see their faith tested and it grows. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Peter, James, John, Paul, go on and on. Their faithfulness was demonstrated by their obedience, by their response to the light that they were given. Likewise, as we noted earlier, there are also many who would be in the presence of the truth, but not believe. The people of Israel during the Exodus, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, and even Judas, who walked with Christ. They were in the presence of truth, of perfect revelation, and they rejected it.

29:50Jesus goes on in verse 13 here and explains this even further. Seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. He is talking about the knowledge that they do not grasp. They didn't grasp it or comprehend it. They did not believe the truth. They had full revelation and they were blind and deaf to it. You see, if we see and hear the truth and we believe it, God will show us more. He will give us more light. Those who see it and hear it, but do not believe it, God will turn down the light.

30:24I'm going to read one of my favorite Proverbs. If you've known me a while, you've heard me say this one. Proverbs 4:18. It was talked to me once as the dimmer switch principle. And it follows this same pattern. But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter into the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble. So the path of the just, you take one step along the path of the just, the just. You've got a little bit of light, but just like the sun rises in the day, you get more and more light. And you take another step, and more light is given, and so that path of the just is illuminated. Conversely, if you're on the path of the wicked, you would think that God would say, I'm going to give that person more light so they'll get back on the path of the just. That's what we would think. But that is not God's way. What does he do? He takes away the light. Because how we respond to the truth determines how much more light we get.

31:33It's like a rheostat. But the opposite happens to those who turn from the light, those who reject the truth that God has shown to them. Once you have seen, heard, and rejected the truth of God instead of turning up the light, even that little light of God's truth that he has will be taken away from him, like this servant who buried his talent. It was taken away from him because he was disobedient. People say today that if God would just show me a sign, I would believe. Folks, that's not the case. We have the record of Scripture that testifies to this. Many thousands of people heard Jesus teach. They saw his signs and wonders. They saw him feed the 5,000, heal the sick, made the lame to walk, the blind to see, and even raise the dead.

32:29And all of them believed in him. Nope, that was from the heresy Bible. Actually, very few of them believed in him. Many, most of them, rejected him. They said no to the king. And because they refused to receive the divine light that shined on them, they drifted deeper into spiritual darkness. Of course, God is solid. In granting us the grace to understand, and we know that. But that does not contradict or negate man's responsibility to believe. So, if you don't respond to the light you're given, even that will be taken away, resulting in spiritual darkness. So, what is the result of unbelief?

33:25Eternal punishment. And so, this is verse 30, the punishment. Verse 30 says, And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Unprofitable servant, the servant who had nothing to show for what he had been given. He's fruitless, faithless, unbelieving. He had the same light as the others, the same amount of revelation, but he rejected it. So, instead of giving him more light, more revelation, the light is taken away. This servant's talent is taken away. The eyes do not see, the ears do not hear, the heart becomes hard, and when the master comes back, there's no more opportunity to believe.

34:13Listen to these words: outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is not a believer who is simply experiencing a loss of reward. These words are how Jesus refers. To the eternal punishment of hell. This servant's lack of obedience to the master, his desire to do his own will instead of living for his master, his complete disregard for future accountability to the master, all this reveals that he was faithless. He was a false follower. He's an unbeliever. And he's cast out as the faithless ones in the other parables were.

34:57Now, there are some who teach that there is a class of Christians who have accepted Jesus as Savior, but not surrendered to him as Lord. You ever heard that? A so-called carnal Christian. They say these have professed faith in Christ, but they're still willfully living a sinful, worldly lifestyle. Can I just say that this idea is foreign to Scripture? Didn't Jesus say, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but who? The one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

35:36The ones who obey, the ones who show fruit. So if you profess faith in Christ, but love the things of the world and the forms of the world, you do not know Christ. You do not belong to Him. Listen to what 1 John 2, verse 3 says as I read here. 1 John 2, verse 3. By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. Right? If anyone says, I know him, but he does not keep his commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps his word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. Whoever claims to abide in him must walk as Jesus walked.

36:25To live in the light of the truth and not obey the master is the same as burying that truth in the ground. If you call Jesus Lord, if you say you believe the gospel, if you say that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, but your life is not being transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ, let me ask you: is your faith true or false? Do you hunger for the things of God's Word or for the things of this world?

36:58Are you growing in your obedience to the Lord or growing in obedience, or is growing in obedience to Him of little importance to you? Is your identity in Christ or in the things of the world? Are you drawn deeper into fellowship with the people of God, with the body of Christ, or are you drawn more deeply into the fellowship of the world? Here's the test of faith. That does not transform your life is a dead faith.

37:37Let me read from James chapter 2. I wasn't sure I was going to have time to do this. James chapter 2, we're working through the book of James in our Sunday school class, and we'll get here in a couple of weeks. James chapter 2, verse 14 speaks of this dead faith. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? The implied answer is no. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace and be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

38:17The answer would be nothing. Thus also, this also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Here we go, the dead faith that does not produce any fruit. But if someone will say, this is a challenge that James offers, but if someone will say, you have faith and I have works, show me your faith without your works. Go ahead. What's that look like? And he goes on, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble. See, belief, I mean, the devil knows God exists. He knows Jesus died on the cross. Right? So, belief is not enough. It's an empty faith. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that without works, faith without works is dead? And he talks about some of those people that I mentioned. He concludes this over in verse 28: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. We're not talking about being saved by our works, we're talking about having faith that produces works that give evidence of that faith. That's obeying the truth that God has given us.

39:37So, here's Master of the Obvious, okay? To be a follower of Christ, you must actually follow Christ. Aren't you glad you stayed for that one? Following Christ means obeying His commands, it's not hard. And if you are not following Christ, then you're not one of His followers, no matter what you say. But there's hope. There's hope for those who are still window shopping Jesus. If you're just coming to church to add God to the list of activities that make up your busy life, but your life is not transformed by the truth of the gospel that you hear every time you come here, here's your hope: the master has not yet returned.

40:30He's delaying his return. There's still time to respond to the truth of God's word because Jesus told another parable about a son who lived under his father's provision and protection. But when he grew up, he took his inheritance and he left. And after he'd squandered it, made a mess of his life, and made a fool of himself, this wayward son came back to his father and asked to be forgiven. And his father welcomed him with open arms. You see, there's still time for that.

41:06It was too late for this faithless servant. Once the master comes back, there's no more time to believe. But in his mercy, the Lord delays his return so that all who will repent and turn to him can be forgiven. So don't be like that faithless servant and deceive yourself into thinking that it can wait. We're not told the hour or date of his return. We're to be ready. We're to respond to the truth now. We're to be faithful now. Now is the day of salvation. Let's pray.

41:48O Lord, you've shown the light of truth on us through the revelation of your holy word. I pray that we'll be faithful workers and respond to your word in obedience, loyalty, and loyalty. And fruitfulness for your kingdom. We know that one day you'll return and you'll reveal all, the faithful and the faithless alike. I pray that today would be the day of salvation for those who come here, hear your truth proclaimed, but have buried it in the ground. Draw them to you, and let this be the day of their salvation. And may you receive all the honor, the glory, and the worship that you so richly deserve. Amen.