["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church and the Wednesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer.
Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord.
Thank you for these people who come out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you.
I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord, and pray that you bless the service and preach it and come.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
All right, turn to your song books, page number 125.
We're going to sing the solid rock.
Page 125.
The solid rock.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but only lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Page 125 on the second.
When darkness fails his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Let's finish this song on the last verse.
When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found.
Rest in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Amen.
All right.
Well, let's go ahead and take our bulletins.
We'll look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, we're all out.
So you'll have to share with somebody if you don't have a bulletin.
But let's go ahead and take our bulletin.
Psalm 118-24 is the verse this week.
This is the day which the Lord hath made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
And that's a good verse there.
We like that.
You open up your bulletins, you'll see our service time Sunday morning, service 1030 a.m.
And, of course, we do invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for Church.
And we have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m.
And we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m.
We're glad you made it out to the midweek service.
We call it the most encouraging service of the week.
And we're glad, of course, that you are with us.
If you look at the bulletin there, we, of course, are a family-integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants always walk in the service.
We don't separate children from their parents.
And we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service or if you need some privacy,
we'd encourage you to please use those rooms.
If you need to be baptized, let us know on your communication card.
And we'll follow up with you and talk to you about that.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have the baby shower coming up for Ms. Taylor-Marin this Saturday, June 1st.
So all the ladies are invited to that.
If you've not yet RSVP'd, you can do that on your communication card.
And she is having a girl, and she's registered on Amazon.
And it is a potluck, so if you can, please bring it just to share.
And that'll be this Saturday, June 1st at 3 p.m.
And then on Sunday is our graduation service, June 2nd.
You're not going to want to miss that.
And make sure that you are here to support all the graduates.
I don't know the exact number, but I think we have like nine kindergartners that are graduating and three high schoolers.
And then we have all sorts of kids that are being recognized for graduating from different schools or graduating sixth grade, eighth grade, even college.
So make sure you're here.
We'll have a special service on Sunday night.
And then after the service, we're going to have pizza and fellowship in honor of the graduates.
So we'll have food after the service as well.
And if you are participating in the graduation service, meaning you're walking that night, we need you to be here in the auditorium at 5 p.m. on Sunday to have a practice and a walkthrough.
And then, of course, we've got other things there.
Father's Day is coming up on June 16th.
Just want you to be aware of that.
We'll be giving out the T-shirts for all the men and boys in attendance on that day, the Verity Baptist Church T-shirts.
And also we'll have special music from the BBC Men's Ensemble.
And then we have the Red Hot Preaching Conference, of course, just right around the corner, June 20th through 23rd.
And we have opportunities for you to be able to help us as a volunteer.
So if you'd please take a moment to look at the card and look at where you could fit in and help, we would appreciate your help with that.
And especially on the back, if you're in one of these ministries, orchestra, safety team, or usher,
if you could let us know your availability during the conference so that we could plan on having you serve and help during that time.
BBC Choir, there is no choir practice this Sunday due to the graduation service.
So just make a note of that. It's postponed.
Ladies have a weight loss and accountability group.
If you'd like to be a part of that, ladies, you're welcome to be a part of that.
My wife leads that group, and they meet on Wednesdays at 615 in her office.
There's other things there for you to look at.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so they're not a distraction to anybody.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of May this week.
We had Jehu Pompa's birthday on May 26th.
Stephanie Zuniga's birthday on May 27th.
Brother Serge and Miss Ajana Goncharov had an anniversary on May 27th.
Brother George McQueen had a birthday yesterday on May 28th.
And then tomorrow is Daniel Cruz's birthday on May 30th.
Also, Miss Abby Santos has a birthday on May 30th.
And Brother Joel and Miss Courtney Usher have an anniversary on May 31st.
And the praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at.
I'm sure that you've all noticed, but we have our new backdrop here.
And we hope you like it.
It's not all done. This part of it is done.
Praise the Lord for that. Brother Jay helped get that all situated this week.
But we've got verses that are coming that will go on either one of these walls.
So just keep an eye out for that.
And we're of course continuing to do a lot of different things and work throughout the building.
I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and sing the, not the chorus of the week, we're going to sing page number 245.
Page number 245.
The old account was settled.
And we're going to sing that as we prepare to receive the offering this evening, 245.
Sing it out on the first.
Long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the old account was settled long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
The account was settled long ago.
245, sing it out on the second.
The old account was large and growing every day.
For I was always sinning and never tried to pay.
But when I looked ahead and saw such pain and woe, I said that I would settle this.
Long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the old account was settled long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
Was settled long ago.
When in that happy home, my Savior's home above,
I'll sing redemption's story and praise Him for His love.
I'll not forget that book with pages wide as snow.
Because I came and settled, and settled long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the old account was settled long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
Was settled long ago.
Good singing out on the last.
O sinner, trust the Lord.
Be cleansed of all your sin.
For thus He hath provided for you to enter in.
And then if you should live a hundred years below, up there you'll not regret it.
You settled long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the old account was settled long ago.
And the record's clear today, for he washed my sins away.
Was settled long ago.
Amen.
Good singing.
We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time.
And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight.
Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver.
We ask that you'd meet with us as we open up your word as we study the Bible together.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Because if you think in these Bible notes, You mean that God says that God Resistles
it.
You mean that God every time has such an additional amaze of Jesus, you become occupied
and let it in from G-d or other things and it dressed up in God's hands
most of the time through the whole question mark.
And so to define that verses, that's really part, hear hear hear, we can share
down at least 10 words.
So when God's lookout words, I think that's the way, He tells us something.
Look, this race of the Christian life, you can become weary, you can
become faint, you can get tired and what He's going to do is He's going to
give us several things that help us to not grow weary in the Christian life.
Because the truth is this, that in the Christian life, obviously we should
never grow weary of the fight. The Christian life is not only used as an illustration,
the illustration of a race, but also the illustration of a fight. It's a war. We're
engaged in spiritual warfare and we should not grow weary of the fight, but it is
true that we can sometimes grow weary in the fight and sometimes while you're living
the Christian life, while you're fighting the battles of the Christian life, while you're
running the race that is set before us, we can grow weary and the writer of Hebrews is
telling us, look, this is a race that must be run with patience. This is a race that
is going to require endurance. This is a race where you're going to get tired at
times, you're going to get weary, you're going to faint and you got to stay at it.
This is the kind of race that you want to get to the end of your life like the
Apostle Paul and say, I have finished my course. The Christian life, I've often said,
it's not measured in years, but it's measured in decades and you and I should have
a goal of living the Christian life, being faithful to the things of God, being a faithful
soul winner, being a faithful church member, being a faithful servant of the Lord, not
just for weeks or months or years, but for decades. This morning my wife and I had the privilege
of having breakfast with several of the senior saints here in our church and we had
a good time, of course, and I was thinking about how they are the example for us. We
want to get to the place that they are in life and still be in church and still
be loving God and still be faithful and still be doing the things of God. You know,
the Bible says that there's a blessing in having a hoary head if it be found in
the way of righteousness and we want to get to the place in the Christian life where
we don't quit because we're weary, because we faint, so we learn here from Hebrews
chapter 12 how to not grow weary in the Christian life. Let me give you several
thoughts. In fact, there's six things that the writer of Hebrews here tells us and
if you'd like, maybe you can jot these down for your own notes on the back of your
course of the week. There's a place for you to do that. The first thing we see in verse 12 is this.
In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 12, he says, Wherefore, which means for that reason,
he says, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. Of course,
we're talking about how to not grow weary, how to not faint in the Christian life. Here,
he's saying, in order to not faint, in order to not grow weary, we must lift up the hands
which hang down and the feeble knees. The idea is this, that when someone is weary,
when they're faint, when they're tired, their hands, they might just, if you're looking at
somebody who's tired, they're just going to walk around like this, either because they're
tired or they're a teenager. That's just kind of what happens. This idea that the hands hang
down and the knees are feeble and you're tired and he says, look, we must lift up the
hands which hang down and the feeble knees. Let me just give you several verses to run
real quickly. Keep your place there in Hebrews chapter 12. That's our text. Go with me,
if you would, to the book of Job, Job chapter number 4. Here's what's interesting and here's
what I want you to understand. We're talking about how to not grow weary in the Christian
life. And in verse 12, he says, Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the
feeble knees. But the writer of Hebrews is not telling us that in order for us to not
be weary, someone needs to lift up our hands or strengthen our feeble knees, although that's
could be helpful and it's great to have people minister to you and help you. But what he's
saying is, in order for you and I to stay in the race, in order for you and I to not
grow weary, we must lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. That we
should be the people that are encouraging others and strengthening others. Notice here
in Job chapter 4 in verse 3, I want you to notice these are not the words of Job,
these are the words of Job's friends. Here's what one of Job's friends said about Job.
Job chapter 4 in verse 3, he said, Behold, thou has instructed many. This is an accusation
being given to Job and it's a good testimony. It says, Thou has instructed many, thou has
strengthened the weak hands, thy words have uphold in him that was falling and
thou has strengthened the feeble knees. Doesn't that sound a lot like what we read
in Hebrews chapter 12, thou has strengthened the weak hands, thou has uphold in him that
was falling and thou has strengthened the feeble knees. That's what we read in Hebrews
1212, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. Here's what I want
you to notice, the friends of Job could identify that Job had instructed many, Job
has strengthened the weak hands, Job had uphold in him that was falling, Job has strengthened
the feeble knees. Here you find a key to the Christian life and a key to staying
in the Christian life and being energized in the Christian life. Think about Job,
did not Job have a lot of problems? He went through a lot of heartache, went through
a lot of trials, a lot of hardship, a lot of pain, but yet what is the whole book
of Job about? That he never quit. In fact, that's what the whole bet, if we want to
call it that, that God and Satan were having about Job is that I could take everything
from Job, I could take all the blessings and he will not quit, he will not charge
God foolishly, he will not curse God. Job did not grow weary in the Christian life.
He did not grow weary, he did not faint, but what we know about Job is this, that
he instructed many, he strengthened the weak hands, he upheld the falling, he strengthened
the feeble, and here's what I need you to understand and what we all need to understand,
that a key to the Christian life is this, because often times when people are
feeling tired, they're feeling discouraged, they're feeling like maybe they want to
quit, they're sitting there hoping that someone will come to them, that someone
will strengthen them, that someone will uphold them, that someone will be a blessing to
them, and of course, we hope that happens, nothing wrong with that, but you know the
truth of the matter is this, that the way for you to be energized is for you to help
others. When you're feeling weak, when you say, I'm feeling pretty discouraged,
you know what you don't need is someone to come encourage you, because the truth
is this, that it may or may not work, but you know what's a surefire way for
you to be encouraged when you're discouraged? Go encourage somebody else. Go serve somebody
else. Go invest yourself in somebody else. See, a way for us to stay strong in the
Christian life is not for us to sit there and say, well I hope somebody comes and serves me. No, you get up and you go serve somebody, and that will keep you going in the Christian life.
Go to Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35. If you're there in Job, you go past Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, I meant to ask you to keep your place in Job if it's not too late,
maybe just keep your finger there, we're gonna come back to it. Isaiah 35 and verse 3, the Bible says,
strengthen ye the weak hands, doesn't this sound familiar? And confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, he will come and save you.
See, you say, how do I stay in this thing? How do I stay in this race? How do I not grow weary and faint? The way that you do it is by you strengthening others, you helping others, you being a blessing to others.
It's always interesting to me how it seems like the people that are the busiest, the people that have the most going on, they also seem to be the strongest, the most joyful, the ones who are just struggling the least.
And then sometimes you look at individuals and you're like, man, you don't do anything. You're not helping anybody. I remember when we first started Verity Baptist Church.
When we first started, my wife and I of course started, you know, 13 years ago, we started in our living room. And of course we had some great church members right from the beginning, my family, brother Ray and Miss Denise.
But a lot of the people that we were reaching back in those early days, a lot of them were just really just not doing well in life and poor.
And there was a time when like 80% of our church, I would joke, was homeless. Now they weren't homeless like these people are homeless.
They didn't really have, you know, they were just kind of like couchsurfing and they were just not in good places in life and a lot of them did not work.
And you know, I thought to myself, well, here's the good thing about these people. They don't work.
You know, we're not talking about like they're retired, they're elderly. We're talking like they're in their 30s and they don't work, just being supported by the government.
And you know, obviously this was, I was very young in the ministry at this time. And I used to think, obviously we're trying to help people. We're trying to teach them character and integrity and work ethic.
We're trying to do those things. But I was thinking to myself, well, at least they'll probably serve and they'll go soul winning. I mean, they got nothing else going on.
You know, none of them did anything. And then people started coming to our church that had full time jobs, that had families, that had all sorts of things.
And they would volunteer to serve and they would show up for so many. And I was really confused. I'm thinking to myself, how can it be that all these people got nothing going on all day long?
They do nothing. And these people, they're busy all day long and yet they come to the work days and they're coming to soul winning and they're volunteering for this and volunteering for that.
But let me tell you something. It's because they're working. That's the key. You say, I'm feeling really tired. I need a break. No, you need to get to work.
You don't need a break. I need somebody to encourage me. No, you need to go encourage somebody. I'm feeling discouraged. Go help somebody. Go strengthen somebody.
Go lift up the hands of somebody. Go be a blessing to somebody. You'll get so busy and wrapped up and helping others, you'll forget about your struggles.
Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Because the truth of the matter is this, that we were not meant to live lives that were self absorbed.
We only think about ourselves and we're only concerned with ourselves. Our lives are meant to be lived in service of others.
So you want to know a key or a secret to not grow weary in the Christian life? Strengthen others.
You say, but I'm tired. If you're tired, you strengthen others and you'll find that the Holy Spirit of God strengthens you.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. I've found in ministry, my wife and I have found in ministry,
sometimes when we're dealing with issues and we're dealing with problems and we've got heavy burdens and people will come to us with their burdens.
And I'll look at their burden and I think, you've got a pebble and I've got a boulder, you've got a pebble.
I don't say that. But in the process of helping others, the Holy Spirit ministers to us.
It's a secret to staying in the Christian life, how to not grow weary, strengthen the weak hands.
And listen, the minute you start saying, I don't have time for soul winning. I don't have time to serve.
I don't have time for other people. I've got to focus on myself. You are on your way out of the Christian life.
I didn't say you'd lose your salvation. I'm saying you're not going to live the Christian life very long.
Because the key to the Christian life, the key to staying in the race is to strengthen others.
So we see number one, to not grow weary, we must strengthen the weak hands. We saw that in verse 12.
And I want you to notice in verse 13, then he says this, and make straight paths for your feet.
Make straight paths for your feet.
So we see in verse 12, that to not grow weary in the Christian life, we must strengthen the weak.
And verse 13, we see to not grow weary, we must straighten our paths and make straight paths for your feet.
Lest that which is lame be, notice these words, turned out of the way and let it rather be healed.
He says, look, you want to get to the end of this Christian life? You want to get to the end successfully?
You want to get to the end and say like the Apostle Paul, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith.
He says, you need to make sure that you are making straight paths for your feet, lest ye be turned out of the way.
Go back to Job, if you would, Job 31, if you kept your place there in Job, Job 31, look at verse 7.
Job 31 and verse 7, notice what Job himself said.
Job 31 and verse 7, he says, if my step hath, notice these words, turned out of the way.
Job 31 and verse 7, if my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes,
and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands, and then he goes on to talk about, if I've done these things,
then let God do this to me and whatever, and of course he's saying that he hasn't done these things,
but the idea is this, in the Christian life, we must make a point of making straight paths for our feet.
If my steps have turned out of the way and mine heart walked after mine eyes,
go to Proverbs real quickly, Proverbs chapter 4, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 4.
See, the truth is this, it's human nature for us to get off course, isn't that true?
It's human nature for us to get off track.
Look, it's human nature for us to get distracted, to start thinking other things,
and moving in a direction that we should not move in.
It's human nature.
The songwriter said, oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be.
Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
The truth is that you and I are prone to wander.
We are prone to get distracted and get off track.
We're prone, it's human nature to get off course,
and what the writer of Hebrews is telling us is that we need to make an effort, a purposeful effort,
to make sure that our path, the path in which we're running, is a straight path.
Notice Proverbs chapter 4, look at verse 25, Proverbs 4.25.
Proverbs 4.25 says this, let thine eyes look right on.
That reminds me of what we read in Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Jesus is at the finish line, in fact Jesus is the finish line.
And we need to be looking to him.
Let thine eyes look right on and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, remove thy foot from evil.
And here's what I'm trying to tell you, in this race, in this Christian life, this race that we call the Christian life,
it's human nature to begin to veer off the path, to get off course, to get on the wrong path.
And look, there are some people that are going to get to the end of their lives
and find that they ran all the way to the finish line on the wrong track, on the wrong course.
That they were putting energy and effort into the wrong thing, not what God had called them to do.
And every once in a while you and I need to remind ourselves that we are prone to wander,
Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
And every once in a while we need to look up and make sure that we're looking unto Jesus
and that we're looking straight on and that we haven't taken ourselves off the course that we decided to be on.
This year I've tried something new when it comes to goals and things of that nature.
In the past I've said yearly goals and things like that.
This year I did something different, I'm doing monthly goals.
And for me I think it's helpful because every month is like a new year.
You know, all that motivation that you get at the beginning of the year,
I'm going to lose weight and I'm going to save money and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that.
The problem sometimes is, and we're just a few days from June here,
the problem is that on January 1st you're like, I'm going to lose 20 pounds.
Then you weigh yourself on June 1st and you're like, I've got 30 to go.
And it's easy to get off that track.
It's easy to just kind of get off course.
But if you've got times where you've set aside to say,
you know, I need to just make sure, what are we doing in our marriage?
What are we doing with our children?
How am I doing spiritually?
How's my soul winning?
How's my Bible reading?
How's my prayer time?
How's my heart towards other believers?
And how's my heart towards your spouse and your children?
You need, look, if you're going to stay in the Christian life
and running the course that you're supposed to run,
you're going to have to make sure you don't get off track.
And work and the world and media and all sorts of things out there
will begin to get your attention and distract you and will start veering off.
And all of a sudden we've ran a long way down a path we should have never gone down.
So make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 12 if you would.
So we see in verse 12, we need to strengthen the weak.
And in verse 13, we need to straighten our paths.
And I want you to notice in verse 14, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14,
how to not grow weary in the Christian life.
Strengthen the weak, straighten your paths.
Number three, we must seek after peace.
We must seek after peace. Notice what he says there, Hebrews 12 and verse 14.
Follow peace with all men.
He says the way that you make it to the end of the Christian life,
the only way you can do this,
the only way you can do this for decade upon decade upon decade
is to follow peace with all men.
We must seek after peace.
Go to Matthew if you would, Matthew chapter 5.
First book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find.
I know you know the verse, but let's look at it together.
Matthew chapter 5.
We must seek after peace.
The Bible talks a lot about this idea of being peacemakers, peacemakers.
Matthew chapter 5 verse 9.
Hebrews 12, 14 says follow peace with all men.
Matthew 5 and verse 9, Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
Now this is not saying that if you're not a peacemaker, you're not a child of God.
What it's saying is this, that the way to live your Christian life in such a way,
if you want to live your Christian life in such a way where people say,
that must be a child of God right there.
That reminds me of a child of God.
That seems like someone who is a Christian.
He says blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
It should be the testimony of a Christian that they are a peacemaker.
Romans chapter 12 if you would.
You're there in Matthew.
You go past Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter 12.
Look at verse 18.
Now do me a favor.
I know you have your place in Job.
Keep your place there also in Romans because we're going to come back to it in a little bit.
I'd like you to be able to get to it quickly.
Romans chapter 12 and verse 18.
Notice what the Bible says, if it be possible, if it be possible.
I like it.
It says if it be possible because sometimes it's not possible, right?
David said I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
That's how I feel sometimes with my preaching.
But he says here if it be possible, as much as lieth in you.
What does that mean?
As much strength as you can muster, as much as you can help it.
As much as lieth in you.
Here's what he says.
Live peaceably with all men.
We should be peacemakers.
Keep your place there in Romans.
Keep your place in Job.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 3.
If you're there in Hebrews, after Hebrews you have James and 1 Peter.
1 Peter chapter 3.
While you turn there, let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 11.
Remember, Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
He said you want to be called the child of God?
Be a peacemaker.
1 Corinthians 11 and 16, here's what Paul said.
He said, but if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
He says if any man seem to be contentious, what does that mean?
You're just constantly fighting, want to fight, want to argue, want to have conflict.
Paul said we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
Look, we as Christians should not be known as people that are contentious.
Now we should not be afraid of a fight if it's the right fight.
Paul said I have fought a good fight.
When Paul said I have fought a good fight, he was not talking about his ability.
He wasn't saying like I fought a good fight, like I was really good in that fight.
That's not what Paul's saying.
Paul said I involved myself in the correct fight.
Paul says I gave my life to fight a good fight as opposed to fighting a bad fight.
Look, this is the same thing as straightening your paths.
You know, some Christians, they get so distracted fighting the wrong fight.
I mean, you got Christians out there, it's all about we got to go, let's go down to the Capitol
and let's hold signs and let's go to Washington, D.C. and let's try to get the law changed and this and that.
And look, I'm against abortion and I'm against all those things, but that's the wrong fight.
Well, we can't let, you know, the vaccines.
I'm against vaccines, but that's not the right fight.
You can spend your life fighting.
I'm not saying a bad fight, just not a good fight, just not the right fight,
just not the fight that you're supposed to fight.
Now we should fight and be willing to fight for things that are good and things that are right,
but we should also, as much as life in you, try to live peaceably with all men.
1 Peter 3, look at verse 11.
Let him eschew evil and do good.
Notice these words, let him seek peace and ensue it.
Let him seek peace and ensue it.
The word ensue means to follow after, to come after.
You say, well, what does this have to do with not growing weary in the Christian life?
And please understand this.
If you do not learn to live in peace, to be a peacemaker, to live peaceably with all men,
you will not make it in the Christian life.
You say, why?
Because the Christian life is already a fight.
You know that we have enough people to fight, we don't have to fight ourselves.
You say, well, who do we need to fight?
You know who we need to fight is the world.
When we're talking about human beings, of course we know that this is a spiritual warfare.
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but we're fighting the world.
We're fighting the devil.
You should be fighting your own flesh.
Every day you're fighting your own flesh, the world devil.
That's enough people to fight.
We don't need to be fighting ourselves, fighting amongst ourselves.
And look, this is what you need to understand.
Fighting is exhausting, and it will make you quit.
You say, in the Christian life, in anything, if you don't learn to begin to ensue peace within your marriage,
you will end up divorced.
You'll end up divorced.
You're going to have to figure out how to stop fighting in your marriage
if you want to be married for years and decades.
Because you know what happens is when couples fight,
and generally speaking, when people are first married, there's a lot of fighting
because there's a lot of transition and a lot of tension and a lot of friction,
and we understand that, and that's just, look, that's just part of life.
Oftentimes when couples, not all the time, but many times when couples first get married,
there's a lot of friction there and a lot of fighting.
But if they don't learn how to figure that out, they're not going to last very long.
You say, why? Because it's exhausting.
It's exhausting.
Sometimes I'm just myself and my wife as counselors.
Sometimes I'm looking at people and I'm like, don't you get tired of this?
You're still fighting about this?
Like, it's good night. Yeah, I want to divorce you.
I mean, it's tiring.
Why don't you just decide, you know, I want to be a peacemaker.
I understand it's not always possible, but if it be possible as much as life,
then you live peaceably with all men.
Let him seek peace and ensue it.
Why don't you just decide, I'm not going to be the person that just always has to put in my two cents
and always give my opinion and always slide in that little jab.
Why do you have to do that?
Why not just decide, look, it's a happier life when we seek peace,
when we try to live at peace with all men?
Because being this chaotic drama mama,
and I'm not picking on ladies because there's a whole lot of drama papas,
isn't it exhausting?
Isn't it just exhausting living that life?
I mean, everywhere.
I mean, at work, you're fighting with your boss.
At home, you're fighting with your wife, fighting with your kids, fighting with them,
yelling at people on the street because they cut you off.
Isn't it exhausting?
Why don't you try peace?
You might find that when you start making peace, you start having peace in your heart.
So to not grow weary in the Christian life, we must strengthen the weak.
We must strengthen our paths.
We must seek peace.
And number four, I'd like you to notice it there in verse 15.
We must stop bitterness.
Stop bitterness.
Look at Hebrews 12, 15.
Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.
Notice these words.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled.
It's interesting to me how bitterness is described here because it's so true.
It's described as the root of bitterness.
What's a root? Something that grows underneath.
And oftentimes when people are bitter or they have bitterness,
it's something that's not seen.
It's the root of bitterness that takes hold in their heart.
But that root doesn't stay in the ground.
It will spring up and bring trouble.
But notice what it says.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up.
Look at these words.
Trouble you.
It doesn't say trouble them.
It says trouble you.
You say why?
Why?
Because bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person drops dead.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.
But listen, when you allow bitterness to trouble you,
it will hurt others and thereby many be defiled.
I won't have you turn here.
In fact, I'd like you to go to Romans if you would.
But when I think of bitterness, I think that one of the...
A great example in the Bible, there's many of them,
one great example is Absalom.
Absalom got bitter at his father David.
And part of it was because of David's inability or unwillingness to bring justice.
And to some extent, at the beginning Absalom was correct about that thing.
But he got bitter about it.
And that root of bitterness springing up not only troubled him,
but Absalom ended his life hanging from his long hair on a limb,
having darts thrown into his heart.
That was the result of bitterness.
That's how his life ended.
He brought a civil war upon David.
Many men died as a result.
And look, you and I need to be very careful about bitterness
because here's the thing about the Christian life.
In the Christian life, we are in community.
We were not created to be islands.
We were created to live within community.
And as part of community, we have to be around people.
But the problem with being around people is that people will hurt you.
People will do things that offend you.
People will make you angry at times.
And if you and I don't learn how to deal with the root of bitterness,
it will spring up and trouble you.
And it will defile many.
And thereby many be defiled.
So how do you deal with bitterness?
Now, we've probably spent a whole sermon series on the subject of bitterness.
I'm not going to do that.
I'm just giving it one point in this sermon.
But let me just quickly show you a couple of things
in regards to what the Bible says about bitterness.
The first thing is this.
Do not take vengeance.
You say, how do I deal with bitterness? How do I stop it?
You've got to decide to not take vengeance.
Romans 12, 17, the Bible says this,
recompense to no man evil for evil.
Romans 12, 17.
Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things on us in the sight of all men.
Remember this verse?
If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 12, 19.
Dearly beloved, look at it, avenge not yourselves.
I'm going to get back at him and I'm going to get back.
I'm going to get even with her. No, no, no.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath.
The idea is that we should put wrath to the side.
We should put it away.
Give place unto wrath.
Why?
For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.
You say, how do I deal with bitterness?
You must decide that you will not take vengeance,
but you should take comfort in the fact that God will.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath.
For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.
And when you comfort yourself in the belief that, you know what,
there's a God in heaven who knows the truth,
who knows what's right, who keeps track and keeps score,
and I'll put it in God's hands.
How do you deal with bitterness?
Somebody's hurt you, somebody's wronged you.
Obviously, if somebody's wronged you, there's steps to take.
Matthew 18, there's steps to try to resolve conflict.
We understand that.
Maybe it's something you don't have control over, something you can't.
It can't be fixed. It's been done.
You take comfort in knowing that vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.
And you decide to not consume yourself with vengeance,
because all that will do is bring bitterness.
So, step one, you do not avenge yourself.
You let God avenge you.
And in step two, you do the opposite of vengeance, the opposite of vengeance.
Look at verse 20.
Therefore, you say, what's the opposite of vengeance?
Kindness, forgiveness.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him.
If he thirsts, give him drink.
For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
So, what does that mean, that heap coals of fire on his head?
To be honest with you, I don't really know,
but I think it just means to, like, kill them with kindness.
You say, why would I do that?
Here's why.
Verse 21, be not overcome of evil,
because evil will overcome you.
Bitterness will overcome you.
You'll end up being the victim of bitterness.
You say, well, how do I not allow that?
Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
Look, this is the Christian life.
Go back, go to Ephesians, if you would, Ephesians chapter number four.
You learn Romans, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians.
So we not take vengeance, we do the opposite of vengeance.
We show kindness when possible.
When possible, therefore if that enemy hunger, feed him.
If he thirsts, give him drink.
This is what the Bible teaches.
Jesus said, but I say unto the law of your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.
You say, but they don't deserve that.
It's not about them, it's about you.
Bitterness will destroy you.
And bitterness will throw you out of the Christian life.
You don't think in the last 13 years of ministry,
there's been things that I would have been justified,
that my wife and I would have been justified in growing bitter about?
Look, I'm not saying that whatever you say,
I'm struggling with bitterness in this area.
We're not saying it's not justified.
We're just saying it's going to end up hurting you.
Your bitterness is not going to do anything to the other person.
So why not put your trust in God and let God deal with it
and put it in God's hands
and you just do the opposite of vengeance,
kindness, forgiveness.
Are you there in Ephesians 4? Look at verse 31.
Ephesians 4 31, look at what he says.
Let all bitterness, let all bitterness,
not just that, because these things all go together,
and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking.
Don't all those things go together?
He says, be put away from you with all malice.
Put that away.
Say, well Pastor, you don't understand, that's just the way I am.
I just have a temper that will stop it.
I'm just an angry person.
Well, become a different person.
I'm the type of person, I just can't let things go.
We'll learn to let things go.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice.
Look at verse 32.
Look, isn't this following the same thing we saw in Romans?
Don't seek vengeance and then do the opposite of vengeance.
Verse 32, and be kind one to another.
Tender hearted.
And here's the key. Here really is the key.
How did I kill bitterness?
Forgiving one another.
And lots can be said about forgiveness, and we could do a whole study on forgiveness,
and I'm not going to do that tonight.
Let me just show you the key to forgiveness,
because the minute you read that, or the minute I said that,
some of you just kind of pushed back and said,
I'm never going to forgive that.
I never could.
Well, here's the key to forgiveness.
Ephesians 4, 32.
And be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another.
Here's the key.
Be kind to forgiving anything, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
When you and I consider that I have no right to hold back forgiveness from someone
when I've been forgiven for so much.
That's the key. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not telling you it's easy.
I'm just telling you.
You're going to live the Christian life.
You're going to run the race that is set before you.
You're going to have to strengthen the weak.
Life can't just be all about you.
You're going to have to straighten your path and make sure you don't veer off
and get off the wrong path.
You're going to have to learn to seek peace,
because living in conflict and living in chaos
and living in drama is just too exhausting.
You're going to have to stop bitterness,
because bitterness will only poison you.
I'd like you to notice fifthly tonight, go back to Hebrews chapter 12.
We've already looked at verses 14 and 15,
but there's another theme here in these verses I'd like you to notice.
Here's point number five.
To not grow weary, you must sanctify yourselves.
Sanctify yourself.
We said strengthen the weak, straighten your path,
seek after peace, stop bitterness.
Number five, sanctify yourselves.
It's interesting to me that the Bible makes this connection
between holiness and seeing God.
Hebrews 12, 14, follow peace with all men and holiness.
So we ought to follow peace and we ought to follow holiness.
Notice these words, without which no man shall see the Lord.
Now some people like to turn this verse around and say,
Do you see this means that you're not going to go to heaven unless you're holy?
That's not what the verse is teaching.
The Bible teaches that salvation is believe on Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved, period.
And it doesn't matter how holy or unholy or whatever,
because salvation is not earned by how we live our lives.
But when the Bible says here, follow holiness without which no man shall see the Lord,
this does not have to do with salvation.
It has to do with sanctification.
And it has to do with this, that you and I will only ever get close to God
in relation to our holiness.
Because holiness, we like to make it a real spiritual and mystical word,
but the word holy simply means to be set apart.
To be set apart unto the Lord.
Now, to be set apart means that you need to be set away from,
come out from among them and be separate, sayeth the Lord.
But we are set unto the Lord.
And most Christians, listen to me, and I'm not trying to hurt your feelings,
but most Christians will never have a real relationship.
I'm not talking about salvation.
You don't need a relationship with God to be saved, you know that?
But you know that God desires to have a relationship with you?
And most Christians will never experience a close and sincere relationship with God.
Because they're just too worldly.
He says, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Jesus taught something different, something not different, something similar in Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew chapter 5, I'll just read this for you unless you'd like to turn there.
Matthew 5 and verse 8 says this, this is what Jesus said,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
And there is a connection between holiness and seeing God.
There's a connection with the more we draw near to God, the more that God draws near to us.
And look, to not grow weary in the Christian life, you've got to sanctify yourself.
You've got to get close to God because here's the truth.
Trying to live up to just a checklist of rules.
My hair has to be this length because the pastor preaches about hair.
And my skirt has to be this length.
And we have to do this and we have to do that.
That's exhausting.
And if that's how you live the Christian life, you're not going to make it.
Because I don't go soul winning because I have to check it off somewhere.
And you should, I hope now if you're in church tonight because I'm going to drag you here,
well praise the Lord for that person.
But you have to get to the place of Christian life.
You know why I go to church? I just like church.
I just like being around God's people.
So when you're the pastor, even if I wasn't the pastor, there's no way I'd rather be.
And look, there's something about the Christian life.
When you actually begin to separate yourself from the world and separate yourself unto the Lord,
you begin to see God and you begin to walk with God.
I'm not talking about physically, but you begin to have this close relationship with God.
He walks with me and He talks with me.
Follow holiness without which no man shall see God.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Look at verse 15.
Not only is there a connection between holiness and seeing God,
but there's a connection between holiness and the grace of God.
Now these are not things that we normally connect together or we think are not connected.
Notice what he says there in verse 15.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.
And today we've got the hyper-grace movement out there,
which is really just teaching people to live lives of lust and lasciviousness, the Bible says.
And look, obviously we understand that grace is unmerited favor and where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Praise the Lord for that.
And just because you and I have access to grace does not mean that God wants us to just live however we want.
Now you can live however you want.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
But in that context in Romans 6, Paul says,
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
And the answer is God forbid.
How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?
See there's a connection between holiness and grace.
Go to Titus real quickly, Titus chapter 2.
You're there in Hebrews if you go backwards past Philemon into Titus chapter number 2.
And it comes back to this idea.
Paul said it this way,
The love of Christ constraineth me.
What's constraining you Paul? What's keeping you going?
What's keeping you fighting? What's keeping you from quitting?
Is it legalism?
What they always like to say to us, right?
Just being a Pharisee, keeping rules.
He says the love of Christ constraineth me.
The fact that Jesus loves me and he saved me and he gave me salvation.
The fact that he loves me.
We love him because he first loved us.
Makes me want to serve him with my life.
Look at Titus 2 and verse 11.
Notice what Paul says to Titus here.
He says,
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation.
We like that.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works.
But hold on a second.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men.
Look at verse 12.
Teaching us, who's teaching us?
The grace of God.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation.
Not only does it teach you that salvation is not of works and it's a free gift and you don't earn it.
But it also teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.
And the idea is this.
That what should draw us towards holiness.
What should draw us towards holiness.
Is not a checklist.
Will we dress this way and we look this way and we act this way and we talk this way?
I'm not against checklists. I'm fine with checklists.
You want to compare lists? We can compare lists after the service.
But you know what should motivate you?
Is a love for God.
It's the grace of God.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation that have appeared to all men.
It teaches us to love God.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Follow peace with all man and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
So how we stay in this Christian race.
We strengthen the weak. We strengthen our path. We seek after peace. We stop bitterness.
We sanctify ourselves.
And then lastly tonight, I've got a couple of minutes to wrap this up.
Look at Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 16.
We strive for the eternal.
Now I just want to show you these couple of verses and explain them to you and then we'll be done.
He says, lest there be any fornicator.
He's talking about fornication and he's using fornication as an example.
The context is not really about fornication but fornication is a good example.
And by the way, God hates fornication.
Lest there be any fornicator or profane person.
And the reason that he brings up fornication is because he's going to use an individual as an example.
And he's using this old character example of Esau.
He says, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for a morsel of meat sold his birthright.
I'm not going to have you turn there.
You can look at it later on if you'd like on your own.
But if you remember the story of Esau.
If you remember Jacob and Esau were twins and Esau was a man of the field.
And Jacob was more of a homebody and Esau was hairy and Jacob was smooth and all those things.
But if you remember, Esau was obviously the firstborn and he had the inheritance.
He had the birthright.
And the birthright was the right of the firstborn to receive the blessing of their father.
Also when their father dies and their worldly goods are divided, they received a double portion.
So for example with Jacob and Esau, Isaac's fortune would not be divided in half and given to one or the other.
It would have been divided into three and one third given to Jacob and two thirds given to Esau.
Not only that but he carries on the name as the patriarch.
He's the later in the Bible is referred to as the kinsman redeemer.
There's a lot of things that go with this birthright.
And if you remember Esau was out hunting and he comes home.
Jacob's cooking in the kitchen and he's hungry and he asks Jacob for a bowl of soup.
And Jacob of course being the supplanter, the deceiver.
He says, I'll give you soup but you've got to sell me your birthright.
And Esau, his response is, well what good is my birthright if I'm going to die?
Was he actually going to die? I don't know.
But he sells his birthright for some food.
And here what the writer of Hebrews is telling us, he's telling us, look don't be this person
lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
So what is he saying? Here's what he's saying.
Don't give up that which has eternal value for that which provides temporal gratification.
And seeing that, he's saying don't give up that which has eternal value for something that just gives you instant gratification.
He was hungry, physically hungry and he gave up his birthright.
Something that would have affected him for the rest of his life and for all of eternity.
I mean consider the fact that if Esau would have had the birthright
and I understand that it was not God's will for Esau to have it and Jacob had already been told by God.
I understand all that but if it would have gone the way it was supposed to with Esau,
we would have said the God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau.
Not Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not the 12 tribes of Israel but the 24 dukes of Esau
or however many dukes he ended up with if you remember Genesis.
He sold that for a morsel of meat.
He gave up that which had eternal value for that which had instant gratification
and in that context, he brings up fornication.
You know what he's saying? He's telling young people, hey young people,
don't give up something as valuable as your purity for instant gratification.
You'll carry that for the rest of your life.
You'll carry that remorse and that regret for the rest of your life.
Don't give up that which is of eternal value for that which provides instant gratification.
2 Corinthians 4.17, I'll just read this for you.
The Bible says for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory
while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen
for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal.
If you and I are going to live the Christian life and not grow weary, we need to strive for that which is eternal.
We must not give up that which is of eternal value for instant gratification.
And then in verse 17, here's what we learned.
Look at verse 17.
For ye know how that afterward, after what?
After Esau sold his birthright for a morsel of meat.
When he would have inherited the blessing.
You should underline, especially young people, you should underline these two words, would have.
Would have. You know what those two words mean? Missed opportunity.
When he would have inherited the blessing, look at it, he was rejected.
For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
The Bible tells us here that Saul regretted what he did and he sought, he had repentance and he sought the birthright.
And look, people like to twist this and turn this about salvation and say, oh this proves that you can lose your salvation.
This is not talking about salvation.
This is talking about the actual blessing that Esau was supposed to reveal.
Verse 17, for ye know that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, not salvation, the blessing that he was going to get from his father.
He wanted the blessing, but when he said, oh I repent, no it wasn't worth it, the soup wasn't worth it, please give me the blessing.
He was rejected.
For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Remember the story?
Remember when Isaac decides to go ahead and bless Esau and he sends him out to catch venison?
And Jacob, with the help of his mother, deceive Isaac into giving the blessing to Jacob.
He steals the blessing from Jacob, even though Esau had already sold it to him, then he steals it with regards to Isaac.
And when Esau comes back, read those verses, go home tonight, open up the book of Genesis and read those verses.
What do you see? A broken man saying, have you not withheld a blessing?
He's crying to his father saying, there's no blessing for me.
With tears and repentance.
This is not about salvation, but you know what this is about?
It's about the fact that there are some things that once they are gone, you cannot get them back.
And whether it's a blessing for Esau, or virginity for a young person,
the Christian life, the life of all human beings, let's just say that, is a life of opportunities.
And if you don't strive for that which is eternal, you're going to miss it.
And there are some things, there are some things, that once they're gone, you can't get them back.
We're not just talking about purity with young people, and we're not just talking about blessings.
You know, you only get to raise your children one time.
And once they're grown, I'm starting to feel, my wife and I are starting to feel this a lot,
our kids are getting older and becoming very aware of the fact that we're running out of time with them.
Because once they're grown, it's done.
And I've been picking on this a lot lately, and I don't know if this is the Holy Spirit or what.
But I fear for some of you moms out there, and for some of you dads out there,
because this is what your kids are going to remember of you.
When they think back of childhood, how was your dad at home? He was like this.
You only get to raise your kids once.
And once they're old, and once they're grown, and once they're gone, you can sit there and cry and repent,
and say, I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back.
But there are some things that you give up for instant gratification,
for instant gratification, which have eternal value.
And what we learn from Esau is this.
Like, look, there's lots of things that you can go back and redo and get right.
There's lots of things, but there are some things in the Christian life.
There are some things in human life that once they're gone, you cannot get them back.
So what do you do? You live your life every day in this Christian walk, saying, am I running?
Am I striving? Am I running the race for that which is eternal?
Or am I running for distractions and gratifications?
Some of you are going to be very successful at the wrong thing.
And the worst thing is to get to the end of your Christian life and realize you ran really well in the wrong direction.
Somehow, somewhere along the way, you got distracted and you just stepped off into the wrong track.
You ran down the wrong path. You got tired. You quit.
I don't know about you, but I want to be like the Apostle Paul who says, I have finished my course with joy.
How do you get there?
Strengthen the weak hands, verse 12.
Straighten your paths, verse 13.
Seek after peace, verse 14.
Stop bitterness, verse 15.
Sanctify yourself, verses 14 and 15.
And strive for that which is eternal, verses 16 and 17.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
And Lord, we thank you for these admonitions.
The writer of Hebrews is warning us that it's going to require work to stay on the right path.
It's going to require work to finish the Christian life.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to do it.
I pray you'd help all of us here that are younger and know age is relative.
Help us to be like these sweet senior saints my wife and I had breakfast with today.
Help us to get to that age in life and to still be in the way.
Still be on the right path.
Still be doing what we're supposed to be doing.
We love you.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
I'm going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
I just want to remind you a couple of things.
First of all, don't forget that this Saturday is Ms. Taylor-Marin's baby shower.
Make sure that if you've not signed up, make sure you do that.
Or if you have any questions, see my wife.
She's the one that's running all of that.
And then of course this Sunday night is the graduation service.
Make sure you're here for that.
You're not going to want to miss that.
I want to encourage these young people as they enter into a new phase of life.
And we're going to have pizza after the service as well.
So make sure you don't forget about that.
If you are participating in the graduation, don't forget about being here at 5 p.m. to practice.
And then if you could help us with the Red Hot Preaching Conference.
You want to serve others, we're giving an opportunity right here.
And if you are able to, especially those of you that are on the back there,
if you're an orchestra safety team or usher, if you could just take a moment to let us know.
If you're planning on being there Thursday night or Friday morning, Friday night, whatever,
especially Friday morning, we could use some help with that.
Just fill that out and let us know so we can make plans for that.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
We'll have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Please enter your song books to page number 121.
Page number 121, we're going to sing Like a River, Glorious.
Page 121, let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Like a river glorious Is God's perfect peace
Over all victorious In its bright increase
Perfect yet it floweth Polar every day
Perfect yet it groweth Deeper all the way
State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed
Binding as he promised Perfect peace and rest
Hidden in the hall of his blessed hand
Never folk and follow Never traitor's hand
Not a surge of worry Not a shade of care
Not a blast of worry Touch the Spirit there
State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed
Binding as he promised Perfect peace and rest
Every joy or triumph Falleth from above
Traced upon our diode By the Son of God
We may trust him fully All for us to do
They who trust him wholly Find him wholly true
State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed
Binding as he promised Perfect peace and rest
Great singing. Can I please have Brother Darrell close us in a word of prayer?
Amen.