WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.360 Go to James chapter five. 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:03.359 I appreciate Ethan preaching for us. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:06.719 And we were at the um Lemon Bay High School preaching last week. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:09.759 I appreciate um his help and your faithfulness. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.560 And I know the study was an encouragement to you. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:20.160 If you have 40 minutes this week, uh Ben Sass. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.480 Sass was a senator from Nebraska. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.719 Most recently he was the president of the University of Florida. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:35.520 And uh in I think late October was diagnosed with uh stage four pancreatic cancer. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:40.079 He's 50 six. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.439 He's in his 50s and he's dying. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:49.359 Um according to doctors, he really should have passed already. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:56.159 But he did 40 minutes on 60 Minutes, an interview that aired over the weekend. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:57.600 It is profound. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.759 I would encourage you to watch it. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.000 And uh, did you see that? 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:03.679 It's amazing. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:11.040 He talks about America, he talks about politics, but he really talks about faith and um the sovereignty of God. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:19.760 I would have liked to have incorporated some of that into the lesson today, and I didn't have it, uh just didn't have a means of of incorporating that, but I would encourage you to watch that. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:23.200 And it kind of leads us into our text this morning. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.319 James has been talking about the coming of the Lord. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:31.760 Two weeks ago we discovered that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:33.359 Lift up your heads. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:35.280 Redemption draweth nigh. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.400 Jesus Christ is soon to return. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:44.879 But Christ is not only near to return, he is near until he returns. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.120 He is with us. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.000 And that's really what James has been talking about. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:58.239 And we must not forget that these believers to whom he's writing have been heavily persecuted. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:13.199 In chapter 1, verse 1, he speaks to those twelve tribes scattered abroad, these 12 tribes of Israel that had been spread abroad based upon the persecution that really had begun in Jerusalem. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:17.520 These are the Christian, the Jewish Christian epistles. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:21.280 These are converted Jews who have placed their faith in Christ. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:32.319 They're suffering for their testimony in Christ, and as they spread abroad, they're persecuted and they're afflicted. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:39.840 And he's asking them and encouraging them to be patient, verse 7, unto the coming of the Lord. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:49.599 And he says again, this emphasis, verse 8, be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:53.360 He says in verse 9, the judge standeth at the door. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:55.840 Christ is returning, he says. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.120 But let your moderation be known unto all men. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.439 The Lord is at hand, he is near. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:03.840 That's where he begins in verse 10. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:12.800 Take my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:17.759 Now James is going to appeal to a Jewish audience. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:24.400 He speaks of his brethren, who were their prophets, who had spoken in the name of the Lord. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:32.879 They spoke in his name, and as they spoke, they were persecuted, and as they were persecuted, they established their hearts, and they rejoiced. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:36.719 They were counted worthy to suffer for his namesake. 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:42.719 Later on in verse 17, he writes about the prophet, Elijah. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.520 But he introduces us to a new prophet. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:56.319 We may not think of this man as a prophet, more as a father and a husband and a friend, but he mentions the prophet in verse number 11, whose name is Job. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:57.599 Behold, he says. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.159 Now again, the Lord is at hand. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:04.000 Behold, we count them happy which endure. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:09.199 Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:13.919 That the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.319 Now that's our verse today, verse 11. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:19.199 What do we learn? 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:25.120 Well, there's something to consider, there's something to hear, and there's something that we that we ought to know. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:28.079 Now you might circle the word in verse 11. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:31.040 Count them happy which endured. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.639 You've heard of the patience. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.920 There's our word, patience, the patience of Job. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:47.519 And then in chapter 1, verse 4, we see this word again, but let patience have her perfect work, that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.040 Now clearly, God is up to something in everything in our lives. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.120 Sass talks about that. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.160 God is at work in everything in our lives. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:06.959 That which is characterized by the show host as Calvinism or Reform theology, an emphasis on the sovereignty of God. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:12.800 I want you to know long before John Calvin ever made a shadow on the planet, God is sovereign. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.319 Sovereignty doesn't belong to a religious system. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.040 Sovereignty is an attribute of God. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:20.720 He's in charge. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.399 Everything in our lives is explainable by the plan of God. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:39.279 So we might say when we enter into trials in our lives, we ought not to waste any trial because God is at work in every trial in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:43.120 I used to hear Pastor Sexton quote Dr. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:52.560 Lee Robertson, who used to often say, Trouble born in the Spirit of Christ produces greatness in the life of the believer. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:54.800 Not just trouble born. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:08.000 One of my favorite little expressions in the Bible is when the three Hebrew children escaped the ravages of the fiery furnace, because the fourth man walked in the midst of them. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:15.600 And as they were delivered from the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar said, Well, they got emancipated. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:23.040 They were walking about, there were no cords about them, and you couldn't even smell the smoke, the smell of the smoke upon them. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.920 And they would tell you about the smoke, and they'd tell you how hot it was and how awful it was. 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:42.879 But the Bible puts in that little passage that they didn't wear the smell of their trial, but they rejoiced in what God had done in spite of it. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:49.040 God's up to something, and we want to see what God was up to in the story of Job here in this 11th verse. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:58.319 So, first of all, what we have considered, and that's the first expression here in verse 11, behold, we count them happy which endure. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.879 We count them happy which endure. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:06.079 We consider them that endure blessed. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:15.040 Now, when we see that word happy in our English Bible, uh, in a modern sense, we think of things that are joyful based on circumstances or happenings. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:18.560 Someone said happiness is based on happenings. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.560 The word here is blessed. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:29.360 We count them, we consider them like these prophets that endure this fiery trial, we consider them blessed. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:38.879 Richard Wernbrand was a Romanian Lutheran pastor who, after World War II, lived under the communist rule in Romania. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:49.680 When the regime demanded that churches submit to state control and to stop preaching Christ freely, many pastors complied, and Richard Wormbrand refused. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:08:00.800 1948, he was abducted by the secret police and imprisoned for a total of 14 years, many in solitary confinement. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:04.800 We might say he is a prophet endured. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:15.360 Repeated torture, long isolation, attempts at re-education camps through which they wanted him to renounce Christ. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.199 Yet, in all of those, he continued to preach. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:25.360 I read that he preached to other prisoners through Morse code on prison walls. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.680 He memorized and recited scripture. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.120 He led worship silently and in whispers. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.559 He loved his captors and prayed for them, went on to establish the voice of the martyrs. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:46.960 He famously said, I have found truly jubilant Christians only in the Bible, in the underground church, and in prison. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:54.320 Now to be blessed, to be blessed is not the same as being happy. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:00.799 Happiness is a feeling that rises and falls with circumstances. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.559 But blessing is something deeper. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:13.679 It is the settled, objective approval of God that does not change despite our circumstances. 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:17.759 And that's why Job is the perfect illustration for this verse. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:35.840 Job endured a lot of trials in his life, but the undercurrent of Christian endurance and patience and joy is the reason Job's story lasts millennia after he lived through that painful circumstance. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.519 It might seem strange that Job is included here. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:45.440 As you read the book of Job, it doesn't always read like a calm exercise of endurance. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.919 Job wrestled. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.360 He questioned. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.039 He poured out his frustration. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.240 And I'm glad he did. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:05.279 Aren't you glad the Bible tells us of people who respond to trials just like we do? 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:12.080 As a matter of fact, it says in verse 17, Elias was a man subject to like passions. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:17.360 Homopathos, same feelings, passions. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.159 He felt the same things that we feel. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:21.919 And Job did too. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.120 This isn't the patience that we often imagine, and that's the point of his inclusion. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:33.679 Job's greatness wasn't that he suffered silently, it's that he endured faithfully. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:35.600 He doesn't walk away. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:49.519 Every commentary I read on Job's inclusion as the illustration of endurance says Job did a number of things in protest, but the one thing he never does, he doesn't walk away. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:53.919 I've talked recently about the difference between faith, doubt, and unbelief. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:55.600 Faith says, I believe. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.919 Doubt says, I'm having a hard time believing. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:10:59.919 Unbelief says, I will not believe. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.559 Job says, he doesn't say I will not believe. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:07.440 In that moment, I'm having a hard time believing, but he set his anchor in something that endures. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.399 He drew his anchor not from the circumstantial. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:12.559 He cast an anchor into heaven. 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:17.039 I think it's Hebrews 6.19, which hope we have is an anchor of the soul. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:20.399 Our anchor is not thrown to the ground. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.960 Our anchor is thrown to the throne of God. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.360 We anchor ourselves to the person of God. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.840 And that's why verse 11 is so powerful, because we don't just learn of Job's problems. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.440 In other words, Job doesn't relitigate all the problems Job faced. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.840 He reinstates and reaffirms the nature of God. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:51.840 Because when we're going through a hard time, we don't as much need to just reimagine all of our difficulty as much as we need to reimagine and renew our knowledge of who Jesus Christ truly, truly is. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:58.320 Job could say, the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.919 But yet I know that my Redeemer liveth. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:08.960 William Barclay put it this way: Job's faith is no groveling, passive, unquestioning submission to God. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:18.320 Job struggled and questioned and sometimes even defied, but the flame of faith was never extinguished in his heart. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.159 This is so powerful. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:26.080 Job's story is not the absence of struggle, but his refusal to let go of God in the struggle. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:28.000 Someone said, let go and let God. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.759 How about grab a hold of God? 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.159 Let go of your problem and grab a hold of God. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:36.639 Job 16, verse 19. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:40.240 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.080 My record is on high. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:46.879 My friends scorn me, but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:53.519 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleadeth for his neighbor. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.240 So there's something we consider. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.080 Behold, we count them happy, which endure. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.679 There's a second thing here. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.320 Notice what we have heard. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.240 Ye have heard of the patience of Job. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:11.200 How many of you have heard of the patience of Job? 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.240 I think there's a lot of Christian expressions that Christians say. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:18.080 Have you ever heard a Christian say? 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.360 Well, don't pray for patience. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:29.279 Because tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.240 And we have by that confession, if I don't ask for it, God won't give it to me. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:37.279 Can I just tell you something? 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:45.039 If you need it by means of Christian formation and sanctification, God's going to give you what you need. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.600 He's going to work in our lives the things that we so desperately need. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:50.960 That's what we need. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.960 We have heard of the patience of Job. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:01.919 Endurance, what we learned last time we were together, is that which makes constancy seem worthwhile. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.639 It's what makes constancy seem worthwhile. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:15.600 We used to sing that song in the old Country Western and Gospel Songs, I think was the name of that little hymn book. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.679 My heavenly home is bright and fair. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.600 Russ, you remember that song? 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:23.200 I feel like traveling on. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:33.440 And James tells us here that Job did not lose his faith, and that's why we look to him in this passage. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:35.759 I want you to think of Job the prophet. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:37.120 The prophet. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.399 Take my brethren, verse 10, the prophets. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:49.120 Now, again, I never thought about Job as a prophet, and Job is never specifically called a prophet in Scripture, but let's just think of him that way for just a moment. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:15:01.360 Now, Scripture provides Job as a picture of a husband and a father and a friend, and we might say in modern language that Job was a faithful Christian if I can take him into the New Testament. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:07.600 But Job has attributes which ought to maybe number him among the prophets. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.559 First of all, he interceded. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:27.200 In Job 42, the Bible says in verse 7, and it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends, for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:36.639 Therefore, take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.919 For him will I accept. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:50.639 Years ago I can tell you exactly where I was and exactly what was in my heart. 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:52.480 I was on US 1. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.919 Brother Ron, I did not want to pray for that person. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.440 But I did. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:07.840 I prayed until I wanted to pray for him. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:13.600 Job's captivity was turned when he prayed for his friends. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:14.639 He intercedes. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.440 Number two, he spoke the word of the Lord. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:23.120 You've not spoken the word of the Lord as Job has spoken it. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:28.080 I also think, number three, Job is a picture of a prophet in that he spoke of the future. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:34.799 I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:56.480 It says of these Old Testament prophets in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 9, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:07.359 Now, the interesting thing about Job making that confession about a redeemer standing on the earth is that Job is the first of the Bible books to ever be placed on paper. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:10.799 He has no Bible to read. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:23.920 Somewhere in ancient history has been revealed to Job that there is a Redeemer in heaven who shall stand at the latter day upon the earth to resurrect the saved. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.359 Now, where did he get that? 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:29.680 Well, he got it from God, but he searched diligently into these truths. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:34.079 Matter of fact, we might say the last thing is he's mentioned among the prophets. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.960 That's kind of the context of chapter 5 here. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:42.480 Take my brethren, the prophets, and then he mentions to us Elijah. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:47.680 What we have heard, you have heard of the patience of Job. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.839 I want to think a few moments about the patience of Job. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:52.960 I'll give you a few things. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:54.079 I think they're in your notes here. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:59.279 First of all, Job's patience worshiped in a time of loss. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:03.519 That's chapter 1, verse 20. 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:09.920 Job arose and rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshiped. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.160 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:16.640 The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:19.359 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:26.880 In one fell swoop, Job on one day seemingly lost everything. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.200 And what does he do? 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.720 He falls down and worships. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:36.880 The same God who gives is the same God who takes away. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.079 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:47.359 Patience begins when worship isn't tied to our circumstances. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:58.079 My favorite word in Genesis 21 Abraham is taking Isaac to the top of Mount Moriah to offer him for a burnt offering. 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:07.839 I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:11.759 Job's patients worshiped in loss. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:24.880 I said in our study, I think it was in our men's group last week, there's a tendency for new Christians to become addicted to Jesus. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.720 I've had people use that term before. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:35.279 Had a guy who had just accepted Christ and he said, Oh, he said, Pastor says, I'm addicted to Jesus, and I know what he means by that. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:41.599 There's a euphoria in new birth, but there's a caution at new birth too. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:53.680 Because when trouble comes and difficulty comes in one's life, can you worship not just on the mountain, but learning to worship in the valleys? 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:56.880 That's where God lives too. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:16.319 Those that worship Baal said, well, there's a Baal on that mountain, and there's a Ba in that garden, and there's a Baal of fertility, and a Bale of the Sun, and a Bale of the Under, and there's a Ba of the valleys, and they said of Jehovah, He's the God who lives on the hills, but not in the valleys. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:17.759 Oh, I want you to know. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:19.759 He's the lily of the valley. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.839 We can worship in time of loss. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:28.319 Now, the second thing here we might notice of Job is that Job's patience did not fail under pressure. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.519 His patience did not fail under pressure. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.720 And then you have the voice of the one in his life that matters the most. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.920 Not just the soul survivor, but the one that matters most. 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:43.039 Yeah, there's the servants and the children, and there's the wife. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:48.079 And she does not see things the way Job sees them. 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.720 Curse God and die, she says. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:20:59.759 Hurt people. 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.599 Say hurtful things. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:10.160 We say Job lost his servants and his cattle and his children and his house. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:11.839 Yeah, she did too. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:16.640 Curse God and die. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.079 You speak as one of the foolish women speak. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:20.880 What? 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:24.240 Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall not receive evil? 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:26.799 And all this did not Job sin with his lips. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.240 Physical suffering added to his personal loss. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:33.359 Pressure from his wife to abandon their God. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:37.839 Patience refuses a conditional faith. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:44.160 Again, he struggles, he labors, he contends with God, but he doesn't walk away. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:48.640 Number three, Job's patience wrestled without walking away. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:53.920 Why do I always say what I'm going to say before I have a chance to say it? 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:55.680 He wrestled. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.839 Job 3 1, after this opened at Job his mouth and cursed his day. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:04.559 Job 7.11, therefore I will not refrain my mouth. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:06.400 I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.000 I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.799 My soul is weary of my life. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.240 Chapter 10, verse 1. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.799 I will leave my complaint upon myself. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:21.039 I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:26.640 He's walking through the dark night of the soul. 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.359 He curses the day of his birth. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:33.279 It'd be better if I had not graced the face of this planet. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:38.079 He now is speaking out of the depth of his anguish. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:43.920 And might we say, might we say she got to grief speech quicker than he did? 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:49.359 But everyone goes through a grieving process in their life at their own pace and time. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:56.319 Now, Job is contending in his soul. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:00.559 But like Jacob of old, there's transformation. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.240 There's transformation in the moment of struggle. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:09.359 I won't let you leave me until you bless me. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.440 And God blesses him through what? 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.799 Through a touch. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:15.680 The hollow of Jacob's thigh. 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:20.160 Patience stays engaged with God in the struggle. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:21.920 It's so. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:23.599 Patch the pirate. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:25.279 Now I can see. 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:28.559 Testing comes from above. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.319 Now I can see. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:41.759 One of my friends in ministry was standing with a preacher on some lake in Greenville. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:51.279 I've never seen Patch the Pirate's house, Ron Hamilton's house, but they're standing on a lake, and across the lake you can see Patch's house. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:58.799 And the friend said to my friend, What do you think about a preacher having a big house like that? 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.200 And my friend said, It cost him an eye. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.960 He had cancer. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.440 Went into surgery. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:16.720 He's either going to be treated for the brain tumor, I believe it was, or they'd remove his eye. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.359 He put a patch on his eye. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:22.720 He was an adult choir director, music director. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:24.240 He put a patch on his eye. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:25.279 Came into church. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.319 He's walking down the aisle. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:27.279 A little boy sees him. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:28.960 He says, Hey, you're a patch. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:31.119 Patch the pirate. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:34.480 Majesty Music was born that day. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:36.160 Now I can see. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:39.039 Testing comes from above. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:43.519 God strengthens his children and scourges in love. 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:48.480 Last notice, Job's patience clung to his latter hope in darkness. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.240 What do you cling to in the moment of struggle? 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:53.759 Chapter 13, verse 15. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:56.319 Though he slay me, yet will I trust him? 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.799 Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:07.839 Why does it concern me when people become addicted to the euphoria of Jesus? 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.160 It concerns me for this reason. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:19.279 Jesus is not a refuge from troubles in life. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.680 Jesus is a refuge in the troubles of life. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:35.359 If we preach the gospel that said, if you'll trust Christ, all of your problems will go away. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.720 All of your difficulties will go away. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.480 By his stripes you're healed. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.960 All of your diseases will go away. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.960 Health and wealth, prosperity, name it and claim it, blab it and grab it. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.759 It was Oral Roberts, whose wife died of cancer. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.799 Did you know that? 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:56.000 Oral Roberts' wife died of cancer, and they said to him, Why did you not pray for her healing? 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.880 As he had claimed he had healed many others. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:02.400 And he said, The Holy Spirit told me not to. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.680 Well, you're as low as a snake's belly if you said something like that. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:12.799 And if you had the power to call down healing, you ought to be in every children's hospital, in St. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:18.000 Jude's Hospital, at Moffat Cancer Center, walking up and down the aisles tirelessly. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:20.079 But nobody has that power. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:26.640 But Jesus is not a refuge from trouble, he's a refuge in the time of trouble. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.079 And trouble comes to all of us. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:30.319 It rains on the just and on the unjust. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:34.559 And many of us are praying for some rain on the just and unjust this weekend. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:39.119 That's what we hear. 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:41.759 But number three, notice what we have learned. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:44.640 And this is the emphasis of our verse. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:52.160 You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. 00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:58.640 Every trial contains something we can learn about God. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:15.359 When I was in college and continuing some education, I used to think, I need to learn about this subject or that subject or this thing or that thing. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:19.599 I grew up in a prophecy heavy church. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.240 And somebody says, Man, I need to learn prophecy. 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:25.920 Maybe you do. 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:30.240 I need to learn, I mentioned Calvinism, Reform theology. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:38.079 I need to sharpen my reading on different forms of teaching regarding salvation and sovereignty. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:39.440 And that's what I need to learn. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.000 I need to learn about the local church. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:43.519 Fine. 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:53.279 But the older I get, there's one thing I increasingly want to know. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:56.559 I need to know about God. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:59.440 And that's what he says to us here. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:00.720 The Lord. 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:03.440 What gets Job out of all of this? 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:04.640 The Lord. 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:06.720 Now you know what you discover? 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.519 When you come to know the Lord, you know what you learn? 00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:11.440 Prophecy. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.279 Soteriology, pneumatology, ecclesiology. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.440 You can learn about everything in theology, but it doesn't begin by seeking the fruit. 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:21.440 It seeks the root, which is God. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:22.799 It all comes out of God. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:25.200 That's what Job, that's what he learns here. 00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:28.240 Now, what are these principles Job learns about God? 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.319 First of all, he learns of the end of the Lord. 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:34.720 That's the word here. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:37.039 Ye have seen the end of the Lord. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:43.279 The word I said last week, this is one of my favorite New Testament words. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:44.960 Telos. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.400 It means the end, the design. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:50.799 The design of the Lord. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:52.640 That's what he learned. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:56.240 Telos can mean the outcome. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:00.400 He learned of the outcome of the Lord. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:10.799 The reference here, the commentator said, might be to the end that the Lord brings about, to the death and resurrection of Christ, the end and still of the Lord's life. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:24.880 But it makes best sense, he says, to take the phrase as a reference to the end or outcome of Job's situation, which the Lord eventually brought about, the restoration of his family, the restoration of his fortune. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.359 God doubles his blessings. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:36.480 Well, you say, Pastor, he lost seven, and God gave him seven. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:37.839 How did he double those? 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:42.240 Well, his that died were with Christ. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.119 He didn't lose them. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:49.920 Ben Sass says, I know I'm going to die. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.359 And I've reconciled with my wife. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:55.920 We're just going to be apart for a little while. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:57.359 Whoa. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:29:59.200 Wow. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.519 We're just going to be apart just for a little while. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.039 Aren't you glad in Christ there are no goodbyes? 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:12.480 I'll just, I'll see you in a little while. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:17.279 Curtis Hudson used to say that we all get to heaven the same day. 00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.240 Because there's no night there. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:25.359 I'll see you later on today. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:27.680 What a great God we have. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:37.200 The end of the Lord, being confident of this very thing, he which hath begun a good work in you, he will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:40.880 He finishes what he starts in our lives. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:42.319 That's what Job learned. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:46.079 Number two, he learned of the pity of the Lord. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:49.279 The Lord is very pitiful. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.440 Can you imagine someone talking about Muhammad that way? 00:30:57.759 --> 00:31:00.640 Prideful and arrogant Mohammed. 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.079 You're not even allowed to draw him in a cartoon. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:05.680 Pitiful? 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:07.920 Oh yeah. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.000 Pitiful. 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:21.599 The New Testament word here is it has to do with the intestines, the bowels, the seat of deep emotion. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:23.599 Now we talk about our heart. 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:33.039 At Valentine's Day, there's not a lot of kidney-shaped heart, uh, kidney-shaped cards or liver-shaped cards, intestinal-shaped cards. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:34.880 Love you with all of my innards. 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:36.160 There's none of that. 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:37.839 It is in the ancient world. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:39.839 They felt with the heart. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:46.240 Matter of fact, I've seen Marie asked this question a lot, talking about locating anger. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:47.920 Where do you feel emotion? 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:50.319 Some will say, I feel it in my head. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.880 I feel it in my stomach. 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:55.440 How many of you feel it in your stomach? 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:56.079 Yeah. 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:00.079 Drink a little wine, Paul says, for your often infirmities. 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:03.119 Timothy was a he was a gut guy. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:05.200 He felt things in his stomach. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.880 Do you love the world with all of your guts? 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:11.440 Polly. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:14.240 Many intestines, many emotions. 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:18.559 God is very emotional in his feeling towards us. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:25.680 He's moved with the feeling of our infirmities. 00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:26.640 Aren't you glad? 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:29.359 When we feel it, he feels it too. 00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:31.119 Because that's compassion. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.000 Compassion is the hurt of others. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:37.839 I almost said in our heart, but it would ruin the analogy here. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:39.839 The hurt of others in our guts. 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.000 We feel what they feel. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:50.960 I was reading in Luke chapter 10, verses 30 through 35, the story of the Good Samaritan. 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:54.799 Acts of pity. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:01.519 He came where that poor man was. 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:04.960 He saw him. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:07.920 He had compassion on him. 00:33:09.039 --> 00:33:10.720 He bound up his wounds. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:13.920 The word wound there is traumas or trauma. 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:16.559 He poured in oil and wine. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:18.079 He set him on his own beast. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:21.359 He brought him to an inn and said to the innkeeper, Take care of him. 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:24.319 I heard a wonderful sermon about that years ago. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.400 He poured in oil. 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:35.759 Oil, of course, is a picture of something that seals and soothes, something that protects oil, a picture of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:41.839 When Jesus, that good Samaritan, found us by the wayside, he poured in the Holy Spirit. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:47.839 And then he poured in wine, wine disinfected, it cleansed. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:50.079 Picture of the blood of Christ. 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:54.720 He cleansed us, he washed us from our sins in his own blood. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:05.680 He set him on his own beast and brought him to an end, said to the innkeeper, Take care of him, and whatever I owe you when I return, I'll repay thee. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:08.480 Who's the innkeeper and what's the inn? 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:12.239 Well, somebody said, Well, that's the local church. 00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:17.199 The local church. 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:25.840 We've heard it said so often, a church is not a hotel for saints, it's a hospital for sinners. 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:32.880 Something occurred to me yesterday as I was thinking about this verse. 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:38.320 There's something I always miss when I read the book of Job. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:40.320 I miss it every time. 00:34:40.719 --> 00:34:43.519 I get so mad at those three friends that show up. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:45.039 I mean, they make me so mad. 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:47.519 How many of you get so angry at those guys? 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:50.719 I mean, I want to reach through the pages of Scripture and wring their necks. 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:52.239 They make me so mad. 00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:00.320 He calls them in chapter 16, verse 2. 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:03.039 I've heard many such things. 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.440 Miserable comforters are ye all. 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:08.880 I always see those guys every single time. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.880 That trick gets me every time I read it. 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:14.960 Miserable consolers. 00:35:15.119 --> 00:35:16.800 They're just terrible. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:30.639 But there's someone there before they arrive, and someone who stays long after they're gone. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:41.039 Job might have criticized those miserable comforters, but the comforter, he never leaves us. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:42.639 He never forsakes us. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:44.000 Don't look at the friends. 00:35:44.159 --> 00:35:47.199 Look at the friend who sticks closer than any brother. 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:53.039 The pitiful, the pitifulness of God, and then his tender mercy. 00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:56.000 Don't miss his tender mercy. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:09.599 Faith, Richardson said, faith is not confessed when the believer merely states, there is one God, but when we confess the Lord's mercy and compassion. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:18.719 These two traits identify the Lord Jesus in the scripture, who blessed Job and the prophets even when they complained under their hardships. 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:21.199 Exodus 34, verse 6. 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:28.480 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:30.880 Psalm 103, verse 8. 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:36.719 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. 00:36:37.440 --> 00:36:43.280 There's three qualities I was preaching about God on Sunday, that Satan is not. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:46.639 God is omnipresent. 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:50.880 He's everywhere at the same time. 00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:55.199 He is omniscient. 00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:57.519 He knows all things. 00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:03.519 He's everywhere at the same time, knowing all things. 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:07.280 He has all power. 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:21.440 He is a God who's everywhere at the same time, knowing all things, and has the power to solve every problem in our lives. 00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:23.440 And here's what I discovered. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:32.000 Everywhere God is, God is all that he is wherever he is, at any time he's there. 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:37.280 In other words, God doesn't send like the third-string comforter. 00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:40.400 No. 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:45.199 Wherever God is, all of God is there. 00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:47.039 And that's what Job learns. 00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:52.239 The infinite, transcendent God came to him with all power. 00:37:53.280 --> 00:38:07.599 So James' reference to Job here reminds us as believers that our trials will produce in us virtues to those that correspond to God. 00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:13.599 Trouble produces Christlieness in our lives. 00:38:13.760 --> 00:38:25.920 No wonder he could say, no wonder he could say, we count them happy, blessed, who consider constancy worthwhile. 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:30.320 How many of you believe today faithfulness is worthwhile? 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:39.840 Because our faithfulness is merely a reflection of God's faithfulness to us. 00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:42.800 That's it. 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:50.239 I love him because I have a great capacity to love God. 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:51.199 No. 00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:53.760 We love him. 00:38:55.760 --> 00:38:57.360 He first loved us. 00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.800 We're faithful to him because God is always faithful. 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:02.400 He's a covenant God. 00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:05.920 And he never leaves us or forsakes us. 00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:08.559 Well, it's been great to study one verse today. 00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:12.719 And we're about to go into, I think, the greatest verses in all of James. 00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:15.360 I'm looking forward to the conclusion of chapter 5. 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:20.159 I asked you two weeks ago if there's a book study that you'd be interested in. 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:23.440 I would pray through it, and nobody said anything about it. 00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:26.559 So we're going to study the book of Hezekiah when we're done with James. 00:39:26.639 --> 00:39:29.599 And we're really looking, really, really looking forward to that. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:31.760 Matter of fact, we might even get into the Apocrypha. 00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:32.639 I'm not sure. 00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:33.679 I'm just kidding. 00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:34.239 All right. 00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:36.639 If you have something, be welcome to hear it. 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.360 So I was talking to Ethan at college today. 00:39:39.440 --> 00:39:41.360 He said, What are you preaching on? 00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:44.159 And I said, Well, I'm in three book studies right now. 00:39:44.239 --> 00:39:46.800 I'm in James on Wednesday morning. 00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:50.719 And I'm in Mark on Wednesday night, and I'm in Revelation on Sunday. 00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:51.599 Oh, I forgot. 00:39:51.679 --> 00:39:54.400 And in Sunday school, we started the book of Ruth. 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:57.440 And he said, Wow. 00:39:57.599 --> 00:40:00.159 He goes, Well, how do you find a sermon? 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:02.320 I said, I don't have to find a sermon. 00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:06.880 I just go to verse 11 and just say, here's what God's Word says in James 5.11. 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:09.440 And uh anyway, he'll be home in a few weeks. 00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:11.760 So I taught him to get a sermon ready. 00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:14.800 We'll pull that string and turn him loose. 00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:16.079 So uh let's pray. 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:19.280 Our Father, we thank you for your loving kindness in our lives. 00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:22.719 And we're just overwhelmed sometimes by how good you are. 00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:27.599 And Lord, there might be someone here today going through a trial in their lives. 00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:32.960 Help them to consider constancy worthwhile. 00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:39.039 As the old song says, our heavenly home is bright and fair. 00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:42.079 The Lord has been so good to me. 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:44.320 I feel like traveling on. 00:40:44.480 --> 00:40:46.320 Help us just, Lord, to keep walking. 00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:54.559 Walking the talk, living as a Christian, reflecting your faithfulness to us by living a faithful Christian life. 00:40:54.800 --> 00:40:57.679 Guide us and help us as we leave here today. 00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:12.639 Help us, Lord, to be an army of compassion and love and generosity and kindness as we reflect your pity and tender mercy for others who so desperately need an extension of that in their lives today. 00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:19.440 Help us not to waste a trial, but to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:22.159 We praise you and thank you for all that you did for us today. 00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:26.960 And as we leave this place today, help us to bear the needs of others in our hearts in prayer. 00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:33.440 Thank you for many intercessors that sit here before me today, praying for one another and for souls. 00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:35.840 I pray that you'll answer and hear from heaven. 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:37.039 And we thank you for it. 00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:38.800 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:39.679 Amen.