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Seven, three hundred and twenty-seven, higher ground, song three hundred and twenty-seven, higher ground, let's sing it out together. I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I'm onward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's stable land, a higher plain than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, my heart has no desire to stay, where doubts arise and fears dismay, though some may dwell where these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground, Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's stable land, a higher plain than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, I want to live above the world, though Satan's darts at me are hurled, for faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground, Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's stable land, a higher plain than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, I want to scale the utmost height and catch a gleam of glory bright, but still I'll pray till heaven I've found, Lord, lead me on to higher ground, Lord, lift me up and let me stand, by faith on heaven's stable land, a higher plain than I have found, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Great singing. Let's open with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day, and thank you for this place you provided for us to meet. I pray that you'd bless this service. Bless those that couldn't make it, and I pray that you'd help us all to be attentive to the word of God preached. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, for our second song, we'll go to song 105, All That Thrills My Soul. Hey, we have a lot of people here this morning, so if any of your children would like to come sit up here, here at the front, they're welcome to come and do that just so we can free up a few extra spaces. So if you're comfortable letting your children come and kind of sit up here for the service, that would be great. That just way we can have a few more open seats for some of our guests. Thank you so much. All right, song 105, All That Thrills My Soul. 105, All That Thrills My Soul. Song 105, All That Thrills My Soul. Let's sing it out. Who can tear the heart like Jesus, by His presence all divine? True and tender, pure and precious, oh, how blessed to call Him mine. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see, love of Christ so freely given, grace of God beyond degree, mercy higher than the heavens, deeper than the deepest sea. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see, what a wonderful redemption ever can a mortal know, how my sin, though red like crimson, can be whiter than the snow. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see, every need His hand supplying, every good in Him I see, on His strength divine relying, He is all in all to me. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see, by the crystal glowing river, with the ransom I will sing, and forever and forever praise and glorify the King. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000, in my blessed Lord I see. If you don't already have a bulletin you can lift up your hand nice and high and one of our ushers can come by and get you a bulletin. Also we have a lot of water up here and if you'd like our ushers can come by get you a water just ask them for a water just be like hey water you know whatever and they'll come and get you. Thanks so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church and we have our Bible memory passage John 1 verse 19. Any child 18 or under that can quote the verse of the week can receive a special prize at our midweek service the Bible study time they can get a couple pieces of candy so keep working on the Bible memorization. Also on the inside we have our service in soul winning times take a note that a lot of the regional soul winning times have been increased just because of where we're meeting locally right now and the church wide is just going to meet wherever we're meeting so today we'll just be meeting here at two to go out so winning on Wednesdays where we're having service we'll just meet there at 515 and then the regional so many times we're gonna meet at the destination for soul winning you just need to get with this specific leader of that soul winning time in order to go so winning then. For the regional so many times we have the ladies time on Tuesdays so just see my wife also we have brother molten on Tuesday nights for the Sue Ellen Thursdays at six brother molten again on Fridays brother Marcel is starting us so winning time and the easel Rome just an area on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and then brother West has a Saturday time at 10 as well that's kind of more centrally located the DFW area and then I guess they're doing a combined so many time on the last Saturday of the month and that'll be at a destination that they determined so you really just need to get with the West clan or whatever it is the West tribe and they'll help you out we still have some seats up here up front for the ushers if you need to help people find a seat or anything like that just FYI also we have our church stats down below right across on the page we had our soul winning seminar week this week and we ended up having 76 salvations for the week and so praise the Lord on that I know a lot of effort and energy goes into a number like that thousands of doors being knocked and hundreds of people coming out we had a great turnout we had a lot of people show up there is still some of the handouts and stuff like that on that back table in the far back room so if you'd want one of those handouts you can get one I'll try to put it online and post it as an attachment to the videos when I get a get a chance but there is a lot of soul winning material out there so if you you have questions or if you're not sure how to do so winning or you're interested or you want to learn more we have a lot of resources we can give you you can just ask us also pure words Baptist.com I have a soul winning tab on that website that gives you sermons and printouts and things like that you can use I'm planning on updating some information and then also putting it on our website as well so that's just out there for you also we have the list of expecting ladies continue to pray for them we also have our prayer list on the back we have a couple upcoming events we have April 2nd so you know if you if you missed out on the soul winning you you don't have to wait long to jump back on that that horse because this Saturday here where it's Baptist Church is hosting a soul winning marathon College Station April 2nd and we went there a couple years ago and it was really fruitful it went really well and I anticipate probably be the exact same so if you're in that area it's about an hour and a half north of Houston it's maybe three hours south of the Dallas Fort Worth area approximately depending on what where you're coming from but we'll have a group traveling down I'm gonna take the van I know we haven't we have a sign up sheet back there okay if you're interested in church transportation just email the church just say hey I'm planning and we'll probably just have like a meetup somewhere I'll take the church van and so a group can go down in the church van if they want to otherwise we may even just try to coordinate with some people if they can give a ride or something like that but if you need church transportation to College Station please just email the church steadfast Baptist KJV at gmail.com and we'll work on that also April 29th we have a homeschool field trip May 21st there's an Austin Texas soul winning marathon and then we still have our soul winning tribe competition we're still doing baptism actually there is a baptism right after the service so if you want to stick around you can there's water here so you know you can do baptisms and we'll be doing that that's pretty much all I have announcements as far as the bulletin but I do want to make one other announcement and it's definitely a sad announcement but the Goodwin family specifically Miss Wendy Daniel Anna and Hannah were in a car accident on Friday and I have to deliver some bad news unfortunately Hannah passed away on Friday and so she was their their baby she was about nine months old and a very sweet baby definitely a horrible loss also Daniel had suffered a broken leg and Miss Anna was in the ICU definitely a lot of just basic pain a lot of injuries as far as their condition I talked to Jeff yesterday they did say that Anna seemed to be fighting and doing pretty well but she's still just been kind of on sedation and everything like that but please pray for the Goodwin family as far as just what's going to happen in the next few days I don't have any announcement yet but I will make announcements to the church if there is any kind of proceedings as far as like a funeral arrangements or meal trains things like that right now they have a lot of family that are helping them so you know I have offered all of our services and I'm just basically in communication with them about that but I will update the church you know via email and everything like that about that information it's definitely a horrible thing that the Goodwins are a great family we love brother Jeff and Miss Wendy and so if you can you know I think it'd be great you could text them they get a lot of calls right now so you know they may not be able to answer the phone but you know if you text them and as as time goes on I'll give more update as far as if you'd like to do something for them how you can do that but I just want to at least let the church know and so that way we can mourn with them we can be sad with them and but also rejoice that Hannah's in heaven and so you know the death of a saint is sweet the death of a young child while tragic we know that they are with Jesus and so the family's definitely mourning right now but and when we're with them and I just want to say a quick word of prayer for the family and then we'll go to our third song thank you Heavenly Father for the Goodwin family I pray that you just be with Jeff and Miss Wendy and Daniel and Anna that you could just help them to recover you could help be there with them during this moment of sadness and grief that you could just strengthen their hearts that we know that you are sad with them that you mourn with them and but we also know that one day they'll be with with Hannah again I pray that they will just cherish every moment that they had with Miss Hannah and that you would just help them realize that this is all going to work for for your glory and your honor in Jesus name we pray men song number 89 does Jesus care song number 89 does Jesus care song 89 does Jesus care does Jesus care when my heart is pain do deeply for mirth and song as the burdens press and the cares distress and the way grows weary and oh yes he cares I know he cares his heart touched with my grief when the days are weary the long nights dreary I know my Savior cares does Jesus care when my way is dark with the nameless dread and fear as the day light fades into deep night shades does he care enough to be near oh yes he cares I know he cares his heart is touched with my grief when the days are weary the long nights dreary I know my Savior cares does Jesus care when I've tried and failed to resist some temptation strong when for my deep grief I find no relief though my tears flow all the night long oh yes he cares I know he cares his heart is touched with my grief nights dreary I know my Savior cares does Jesus care when I've said goodbye to the dearest on earth to me and my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks is it ought to him does he see oh yes he cares I know he cares his heart is touched with my grief when the days are weary the long I know my Savior cares good seeing if you would turn your Bibles to Job chapter 1 while the offering plates are being passed around please turn your Bibles to job chapter number one job chapter number one Bible reads there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil and they were born unto him seven sons and three daughters his substance also was seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels and five hundred yoke of oxen five hundred she asses and a very great household so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East and his sons went and feasted in their houses every one in his day and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them and it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about the job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all for job said it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts thus did job continually now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them the Lord said unto Satan whence comest thou and Satan answered the Lord and said from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it the Lord said unto Satan as thou considered my servant job that there is none like him in the earth perfect and an upright man one that fearth God and a shoe with evil then Satan answered the Lord and said with job fear God for not as thou not made and hedge about him and about his house about all that he hath on every side thou has blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land but put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face Lord said unto Satan hold all that he hath is in thy power only upon himself put not forth thine hand so Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and there came a messenger unto job and said the oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them and the Sabians fell upon them and took them away yay they have slain the servants with us with the edge of the sword and I only am escaped alone to tell thee while he was yet speaking there came also another and said the fire of God has fallen from heaven and hath burnt up the sheep and the servants and consumed alone and I only am escaped alone to tell thee while he was yet speaking there came also another and said the Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away yay in the slain and slain the servants with the edge of the sword and I only am escaped alone to tell thee while he was yet speaking there came also another and said thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house behold there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house fell upon the young men they are dead and I only am escaped alone to tell thee then job arose and rent his mantle shaved his head fell down upon the ground worship and said naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord all this job sinned not or charged God foolishly it's that word forever amen the title of my sermon this morning is the death of the Saints the death of the Saints and we here have a story about a man in the Bible at the time that this is written is virtually the greatest man on the planet job is one who fears God and eschews evil the Bible basically describes job and other places the Bible is being one of the greatest men to ever live one of the most godly men one of the most faithful men in the Bible yet he suffers great loss and goes through some of the worst trials ever known to man and of course job is to illustrate the Lord Jesus Christ and how he himself also suffered greatly for us obviously the worst suffering of course is been taken on by Jesus Christ himself yet he uses many prophets in the Bible to give us some kind of inkling or idea of what that suffering was like the emotions are attached to their suffering and when it comes to this life an inevitable consequence is death the Bible describes death as an enemy Bible describes death as you know something that's not to be desired it's a it's a punishment it's it's a consequence of sin as the Bible describes it and the reality is everyone's gonna die it's inescapable it's not something that you can escape obviously we understand that there is a coming return of Jesus Christ in which some people fortunately get caught up together but you know putting that aside we all die and there's really not a great way to die I mean just death in and of itself is just sad death is just a horrible thing that's gonna happen to every single person and we never know when that's going to happen you know when we go out and we preach the gospel we try to ask people if you were to die today you know God forbid you know where you would go because no one's promised even the next five minutes no one's promised tomorrow no one knows when they will go our life is but a vapor and death is going to inevitably happen even to the saved all of the saved will also die just like the unsaved their spirit and soul will depart from their physical body and I have three points that I want to talk about this morning and and really it's just kind of about the death of a saint I think the number one thing that happens after death is people are always wondering what the reason is for the death you know the reason is something that plagues a lot of people they want to question why and really when you think about the book of Job there's no better book than to sit here and think about that because Job is constantly asking why in the book of Job if you really don't understand Job or you've read a lot of Job and it's kind of confusing most of Job what he's trying to do is just kind of questioning God like why like why is this happening to me well let's read a few more verses and then we'll kind of answer this it says in Job 1 1 there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and issued evil and they were born on him seven sons and three daughters so Job has ten children according the Bible verse four and his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day and sinned called for the three sisters to eat and to drink with them and it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the Bible not only asked ten children but he loves them so much it's almost indescribable he's literally offering a burnt sacrifice for every single child every single day now in the New Testament you don't have that many cattle okay but also on top of that you know we don't do burnt offerings and burnt sacrifices what this actually looks like in a New Testament application would be praying getting on your knees and praying for every single one of your children every single day for God's mercy and for God's grace now what I love about this story is when you read it you know you have to constantly wonder when you when you lose someone that's close to especially a child there's definitely this blame game that can go on where you just feel like there's something you could have done maybe there's more that you could have done but with Job there's literally nothing more he could do I mean Job is right with God Job loves the Lord Job is the greatest man on the planet Job is offering a burnt sacrifice for extra grace on every single one of his children every single day I mean this man loves his children he's doing everything right yet the Lord allows a horrible loss to occur look at verse 18 while he was yet speaking talking of the other servant there came also another and said thy sons and my daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house and behold there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young men and they are dead and I only am alone escaped alone to tell thee so he loses all ten children just like that and of course you know what a horrible loss I mean they're all hanging out having a great time fellowship obviously these are great children because they all love each other and they're hanging out I mean most siblings can't even stand each other I mean these people are hanging out they have a great relationship the eldest brothers leading they I believe they're all saved they all probably love the Lord just as much as job but job in comparison even his own children is greater than his children a man that has a great faith and he's going to be tried and tempted and he loses all his children now here's thoughts that I think you could have had where was the tornado warning siren we know was this building you know made structurally sound right maybe we should have reinforced the the walls better maybe we should have done this maybe I should have called them maybe we shouldn't have all been in you could play this what-if game about the reason but here's the thing when the Lord allows the devil to kill your children you're not gonna escape that there is no what-if or you know it really just you plague yourself by playing the what-if game because at the end of the day we're all gonna die you can't escape it keep reading in this passage it says then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground of worship and said naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away blessed be the name of the Lord and all this job sin not nor charge God foolishly notice the Bible even just tells us from the narrator's perspective job did nothing wrong job was right with God even after the loss of ten children which is unimaginable the Bible says he still had faith in God he still blessed the Lord he still knew that the Lord is faithful and that the Lord is with him and admittedly in this book of the Bible this is a horrible situation that job has to go through endure because it's not just one day it's every day you know it's not like you just lost your children one day it's forever right I mean death after it's taken its toll it's not gonna be fixed until the resurrection okay until that final day and so it's a per there's a permanency to death which is probably what makes the it the worst the worst part of death is the permanency of death there's no going back you've lost all of those future moments you would have with that person and and job when he talks about this he really struggles and I think that it's it's normal it's natural when you love someone so deeply that you're gonna struggle and go to a really dark place even at times look at job chapter 3 verse 1 after this opened job his mouth and cursed his day and joe spake and said let the day perish wherein i was born and the night in which it was said there is a man child conceived let that day be darkness let not god regard it from above neither let the light shine upon it let darkness in the shadow of death stain it let a cloud dwell upon it let the blackness of the day terrify it as for that night let darkness seize upon it let it not be joined in the days of the year let it not come into the numbers of the month low let that night be solitary let no joyful voice come therein then that curse it that cursed the day who are ready to raise up their morning let the stars of the twilight there be dark let it look for light but have none let neither let it see the dawning of the day because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb nor hid sorrow from mine eyes so it's saying i just wish i'd never even been born essentially is what he's basically saying he's saying this is horrible i wish i wish that it was just i never even been born in fact me being born was a curse it was such a horrible thing it was such a terrible thing he's saying in verse number 11 why died i not from the womb why did i not give up the ghost when i came out of the belly he's saying i wish i'd never even been born i wish i'd just been a miscarriage i'd just been discarded without even having to see life because he's basically saying the pain and the sorrow and the suffering that he's going through is so unbearable he just wishes he didn't even exist so that he could feel that level of pain okay and so the bible describes that there's a pain that's unbearable you know the bible talks about the unsaved when god pours out his wrath desiring to die the apostle paul is uh is pressed out of measure the bible says he goes through such tribulation in horrible agony he's wishing himself to die you know he's wishing to depart and be with christ which is far better so there is a worse punishment than death according to the bible and job is going through a very low point you can see the human emotion you can see the suffering you can see the agony you can see the great loss this man truly loves his children he says in verse 12 why did the knees prevent me or why the breasts that i should suck for now should i have lain still and been quiet should have slept then i had been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth which built desolate places for themselves or at the princes that had gold who filled their house with silver or as an hidden untimely birth i had not been as infants which never saw light there the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest he's saying look whenever you you just die from the womb you never have to see any of the evil of this world you don't know george soros is okay you don't know who all the evil are you don't know what a democrat is okay you don't know what a flat earther is okay you don't know what all this evil and weird and wickedness and the theft and the murder and and just all the evil that happens on this earth you just are completely ignorant of that and he's basically describing how it sounds better because you're at peace you're at rest also signifying that a child that dies from the womb miscarriage young child that dies it's at rest okay whereas you know the bible describes those that are unsaved they have no rest day nor night so the bible says bible says in uh verse number 60 or verse uh let's go to verse 18 there the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressed or the small and the great are there and the servant is free from his master wherefore is light given to him that is in misery life under the bitter and soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than hid treasures which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave why is light given to a man whose way is hidden whom god has hedged in for my sign cometh before i eat and my roarings are poured out like the waters for the thing which i greatly feared is come upon me and that which i was afraid of is come unto me i was not in safety neither had i rest neither was i quiet yet trouble came so joe in these last few verses are really impactful really powerful joe is saying my absolute worst fear has happened the thing that i dread the most the thing that i'm the most terrified of happening happened and of course it did because notice the the man is offering 10 burnt sacrifices every single day for all of his children and then he loses all of them obviously that was a great fear obviously that was a great struggle with him and any parent who loves their child is going to is going to feel this way at the idea or even going through the reality of the loss of a child horrible agony horrible suffering and while in this life sometimes our greatest fears the greatest evils the greatest trials that you could possibly go through you will literally have to go through that's part of the human experience that's part of the sufferings of this life but the bible does give hope it says the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us you know hey the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared okay we don't have to feel like oh god's just being mean to us on purpose or god wants evil stuff to happen to us no god doesn't want any evil to happen to us from the perspective of he cares and loves but he allows evil to happen he allows suffering to happen he allows tribulation to happen for a very specific purpose but while you're going through it there's really no point in trying to figure out the reason because you're not going to know and in many cases we'll never know in this life why the things that happen happen okay and really you're just plaguing yourself by wondering go to chapter 13 for a moment and look let's look at one verse here chapter 13 you want to know the reason why saved people die because everyone has to die and there's not a glorious way to die and obviously you know getting beheaded for christ sounds better than others but at the end of the day i'm just saying nobody's looking forward to any type of death you know everybody's like wants to die in their sleep that one sounds the nicest but even that i mean nobody if you knew it was going to be your last night you would stay up all night you would eat everything you would eat the cupboard full you'd keep watching movies until you fell asleep why because just the thought of death is a little bit terrifying it's a little bit scary of the unknown going through that experience you know we want to hang on to the things that we have here our family members our friends the things that we enjoy of course and so there is a mourning there is a loss to death that's why the bible describes death as an enemy and why god will eventually destroy that enemy so that there will never be any death ever again but the reason that we have to die is because for all of sin and death was entered in the world through adam and eve you want to know why there's death you want to know why everybody's gonna die adam said you know why because everyone's in okay now of course children who are little infant babies they didn't sin they're innocent but you know what they have to suffer the consequences of living in a fallen world as a result of adam sinning and us sinning okay but the bible says in job chapter 13 look at verse 15 though he slay me yet will i trust in him but i will maintain mine own ways before you know when you should stop trusting the lord never he says no matter what evil i face no matter what trial i have to go through no matter what loss i have to experience the bible says they're supposed to trust in him and we're not supposed to wonder the reason don't you think that jesus christ suffered a little bit in the garden of gethsemane asking the lord you know if this cup may pass for me he's basically he doesn't want to go through that he didn't want to go through the cross he endured the shame as the bible describes it he endured the cross despising the shame as what the bible is describing these events and no one wants to go through any loss nobody wants to go through any of this suffering but you know what that's the human condition and if you're gonna have people that you love in this life you're gonna have to experience loss you know you don't want to be the type of person that never experienced loss because that means you never loved anybody the more loss that you experience in this life it's because you love that much more the more heartache the more you love that person the more times it happens the more people that you love and it's silly to question the reason god has his reasons for what happens now go if you went to chapter 16 and look at verse number one it might be on the same page and and what i want to bring up is the fact that sometimes we plague ourselves with the reason also sometimes others will plague us with the reason and you know the worst thing that you can do is plague someone that's gone through loss with the reason why like job's friends and of course job's friends they they've already been the judge jury and executioner they've already decided that job is a wicked sinner because no no bad thing could ever happen to a good guy so in their mind job is wicked he's not right with god and they've just basically been condemning job saying you didn't get sent out of your life brother you know you need to fix what's going on in your life but according to the bible job was perfect job feared the lord so when job gets to respond to his friends quote unquote look what he says in chapter 16 verse 1 then joe banson and said i have heard many such things miserable comforters are ye all you know when someone's going through loss when someone has death in their life you know the worst thing you can do is come alongside them and basically blame them in some way you know what you're supposed to do you're supposed to comfort them you're supposed to be there with them you're supposed to encourage them and help them and support them and love them not sit here you know the person that constantly is blaming christians is the devil the accuser of the brethren constantly blaming people for everything that they do you know that's gonna happen you can't avoid it go to ecclesiastes chapter number six go to ecclesiastes chapter number six now of course we want that to be as late as possible in our lives we want to get as many days on this earth as possible but at the end of the day it's all a vapor whether it was one day or a thousand days one day or a thousand years you know methuselah's life is still seems like a vapor to the guy even though being what 963 is that what it is i mean or 969 i can't remember look it up he didn't make it to a thousand okay but still you know it's it just went by like that i guarantee he feels like it went by like that just as much as someone that never even saw the light of day and the bible says in ecclesiastes chapter 6 look at verse 3 if a man beget a hundred children and live many years but the days of his years be many and his soul be not filled with good and also that he have no burial i say that an untimely birth is better than he you know some people look at an untimely birth as being the worst death but notice this guy has a worse death he lived a whole life he did all kinds of things he had tons of children but you know what when he died nobody cared because he was a wicked person because he didn't even do anything nobody cared that he died in fact most people probably happy you know people like this are going to be like bill clinton george soros you know gg ping you know of course they'll probably have a fake funeral where a bunch of people pretend to be sad but we all know you know there's gonna be tons of wicked people in this world they push everybody out of their lives no one cares about them anymore they didn't do good and essentially once they die everyone's just kind of relieved it's like when pharaoh dies and all the children of israel like sigh with relief they're just like oh you know finally that guy died okay because not everybody is missed when they leave earth okay pedophiles are not missed okay the wicked are not missed no one cares about these people and yet if you think about a little baby who dies often many people come out and support many people miss that young child and it's much better it's much better to have a lot of people mourn and miss you than to have lived your whole life and had all this opportunity for someone to care about you and yet no one does still no one even cared about them look at chapter nine look at verse 11 chapter nine look at verse 11 i return and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong neither yet bred to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favor to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all you know it's real easy to get prideful and to think that everything good that happens to you is a result of your efforts energies skills talents whereas the bible describes a different picture in fact you could be the smartest most talented and skillful person and basically go financially bankrupt whereas some fool some idiot ends up just making it rich by inventing the pet rock okay what a fool no one was like oh that's a really good idea the guy just got lucky right or some guy that some derelict who basically just is on drugs and alcohol of his life but then buys a lottery ticket and wins a multi-million dollar fortune and yet someone else could work their whole life be really good at their job have a lot of skills have a good product and then the government comes and forces and shuts you down through covid and just destroys your entire business or they pass some regulation and destroy your business you're building some multi-million or billion dollar pipeline and then the government just says oh no we electric cars that run on gas because they still have to be powered somehow okay you know the hypocrites come through and they basically just destroy everything that you have you know or you could just work really hard and someone just steals it all you could be the greatest athlete ever and then just the wrong player knocks into you and you snap your leg and it's all over i mean you could just be the one of the best athletes you could be literally achilles the greatest warrior of all time but an arrow gets you in the achilles and it's done right because time and chance happen to them all it's not saying oh well good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people it's saying look random things happen to everyone in light of this verse how could you ever blame somebody for anything that happens because we don't know there's no point and going through so many hypotheticals and plaguing yourself with the reason of why death happens death has to happen time and chance happen to them all and you never want to be joe's friends coming around somebody and and playing the blame game with them about everything that could should have would have because at the end of the day we're all subject to death go to genesis chapter number four go to genesis chapter number four you know i did want to read a verse for you the bible says for a man also knows not as time as the fishes that are taken in an evil net and as the birds that are caught in the snare so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them so the bible paints a picture you know when you go and you have lunch today you have to realize that for some animal that was like the worst day of their life they were just eating grass and just like frolicking and the pasture and then all of a sudden some guy came around and just chopped his head off you know or some chicken's like laying on a stump and he's like what's this about and then it's just like you know right or some fishy is just you know swimming around looking for its mom a little nemo or whatever and then all of a sudden there's this net and he's like what's that and then he's caught up boiled and cooked and you know or fried or i don't know how you like shrimp every way right bubba says you can do it everything boiled fried i mean just anything you can possibly do right shrimp scampi i just don't eat shrimp that's my option okay the bottom feeders that they are but here's the reality he paints that picture to help you realize the way the animals just die like this and a hunter comes out of nowhere and just takes them that's what happens just to men just all of a sudden just some evil predator just comes out of nowhere and just kills god's people just evil just happens to god's people and you would you didn't see it coming you didn't know what's gonna happen there's nothing you could do about it i mean just like a fish is just taken in the net just like the cow is just led to the slaughter the sheep is led to the slaughter they had no chance death sees upon them okay and look at genesis chapter number four here's another story verse number eight the bible says and cain talked with abel's brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that cain rose up against abel's brother and slew him and lord said unto cain where is able thy brother and he said i know not am i my brother's keeper and he said what has thou done the voice of thy brother's blood cryeth unto me from the ground now it doesn't take long to get in the bible to just experience horrific awful death that makes no sense right i mean abel's this great guy he offers an offering under the lord the lord the bible says that respect unto abel's offering and likes abel's offering but you know what just immediately death dies how does that make sense how does it make sense that there's only a few people on the earth okay god just created them abel's literally one of the greatest people ever he's serving god he's doing right and then just out of nowhere cain just kills able because that is life that is what god has ordained that's what constantly happens in the bible is where god's people just randomly just out of nowhere evil just comes upon them and they'll die and i could go to story after story after story but i just want to emphasize this point when it comes to the reason that's for god to let us know later hey god why did you kill able why did you kill joe's 10 children why did you kill stephen right why did you allow stephen to be martyred why did you allow the the church at sardis you know be thou faithful unto death why did you do that why why you know you could ask that question but at the end of the day you know it's foolish to charge god it's foolish to question why god does the things that he did we all have to die it's gonna happen none of it's none of it's great i mean do you really want that to happen to you do you want joe i mean it's all evil it's all bad that's why god wants to get sin and death out of this place and the only reason he's so long suffering and merciful right now is to get as many people saved and pulled out of there as possible okay but i do have some good news okay point one is this just quit worrying about the reason stop worried about why these things happen and number two focus on the fact that restoration can happen after death there is a restoration taught in the bible that happens after death in the bible and it often happens in these very specific examples look what it says in verse 25 and adam knew his wife again and she bare his son and called his name seth for god she said she had the point of me another seed instead of able whom can slip so notice even though she lost able she gained seth he had ended up having restoration and you know one of the best ways to basically move on from death is often having restoration you know having another child to look after you know and for joe it's tough because he has 10 children he loses all of them you know when you have a loss of child but you still have other children you got to fight for those children you got to be grateful for what god still has given you and what you have go to second samuel chapter number 12 go to second samuel chapter number 12 sorry it's a little warm in here okay i think we have broke our record all right but i don't have ice cream sorry you can hold me accountable later all right second samuel chapter number 12 look at verse number 19 the bible says but when david saw that his servants whispered david received that the child was dead therefore david said unto servants is the child dead and they said he is dead then david rose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came to the house of the lord and worshiped then he came to his own house and when he required they set bread before him and he did eat then said his servants unto him what thing is this that was done thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive but when the child was dead thou didst rise and eat bread and he said while the child was yet alive i fasted and wept for i said who can tell whether god will be gracious to me that the child may live now he is dead wherefore should i fast can i bring him back again i shall go to him but he shall not return to me so we have a story here and and i want to point out the difference of these three stories okay first story is job he does nothing wrong he's perfectly righteous and he loses 10 children and the children didn't do anything wrong either okay able offering sacrifice unto the lord he gets killed right so you basically just have a trial you have persecution and then in david's scenario he sinned and the child died but what i like about these three stories is even though there's kind of different circumstances surrounding the death they all experience restoration they all experience restoration let's keep reading in his passage he says and david comforted basheba's wife and went in at her and lay with her and she bare a son and he called his name solomon and the lord loved him so notice no matter what the circumstances are or why things happen the way they did god could still restore god can still bless god can still do good under these people and they can still have joy in their lives and they still have breath in their lungs and you know what as long as you have breath in your lungs we're here to serve god we're here to bless the lord we're here to do the best that we possibly can and you know what there's always a a reason to live there's always a reason to keep fighting and to keep going on and sometimes the lord will even be merciful and restore that which you've lost and what a great joy you know and david's attitude is a great attitude here he's you know as soon as he loses the child he says well you know what i can't change it so i might as well worship god i might as well just anoint the lord i might as well comfort my wife and move on with my family and end up having a great son solomon you know and obviously solomon has his weak points in the end of his life but solomon is a great young man at the very beginning of the bible in fact he becomes one of the wisest men to ever live specifically because of his humility and how much he loves the lord and that's clearly coming passed down from his father david david being a man after god's own heart and what if david had decided not to raise a great son like solomon after the loss of this child you know we would be missed out on a lot of great parts of the bible you know david had a lot of work to do for god even after the loss of this child so it's very important that even when we go through loss and we go through suffering and we go through difficulty and we we have all the evil that happens to us that we keep going we keep fighting we keep moving forward because it's going to happen you will lose people we've all lost people that we love that we care about that we know grandparents parents children aunts uncles everyone i mean there's just so many people that have been lost and everyone's going to die and and for our church is a little bit different because we have such a young church that we typically have more weddings than funerals you know what there's different phases and seasons of life there's going to be seasons where churches have a lot more funerals than they have weddings but you know what we're supposed to keep serving god and keep fighting you know he can still even restore that which we've lost go to joel chapter number two go to joel chapter number two now even if he doesn't restore it exactly in the same way the lord can still restore our joy he can still restore you know our purpose our vision and life joel chapter number two look at verse 25 the bible says and i will restore to you the years that the locusts hath eaten the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer worm my great army which i sent among you now i'm not going to go there for a sake of time but go to psalms 147 in the end of jobe what happens at the very end of jobe after all that horrible loss he ends up getting more money more sheep more oxen and 10 more children so exactly as god took away from joe he ended up restoring to him and giving him a 10 we get jamaima syrup i mean come on how can you not be excited about that you know his children and in fact his daughters are considered the most beautiful daughters in the entire earth i mean so he didn't just get like a run-of-the-mill family he got an exceptional family he was restored completely and he has a lot of life to live for he has a lot of good things to continue living for and you know the lord often will restore that which has been taken away but also the lord's not just going to necessarily restore physical possessions he can restore your mental and emotional state he can help you recover to a point where you have joy again and and i think in moments of great loss it's hard to to envision being happy again i mean in jobe chapter number three it didn't seem like that guy was going to be happy anytime soon and of course it takes time and there's nothing wrong with taking time to mourn you know in the bible people would mourn for 30 days 40 days 70 days people would mourn for a very long period of time because they need that they need a time to grieve they need a time to be sad they need a time for loss very healthy it's very normal very natural but over time the lord can heal that which is broken look what it says in psalms 147 verse number one praise you the lord for it is good to sing praise unto our god for it is pleasant and praise is comely the lord doth build up jerusalem gather it together the outcasts of israel he healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds the bible says that god can heal the broken hearted and you know when you suffer loss i think there's a great wording here broken heart where your heart just feels like it's just broken it doesn't work anymore it's been smashed it's been crushed it doesn't feel right you know when you when you have something horrible a tragic happen you know it just feels like you don't even want to live sometimes and and jobe describes this jobe describes this the bible describes people being broken in heart but you know what god can fix that heart god can restore that heart god can bring you back to a point where you have joy but in order for you to get there you have to do something really important you have to trust him go good to hebrews chapter 4 he was chapter 4 you know the bible says trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he's to direct thy past you know it's really hard to trust the lord when you go through difficulty it's easy when everything's easy and smooth and when you have something bad happen that's when it's hard to trust the lord but it's the most important time to trust lord you know the bible says we're supposed to cast our care upon him for he cares for us okay and and hebrews chapter number four the bible talks about the fact that jesus literally suffered for a very specific reason look at verse number 14 seeing them that we have a great high priest that has passed in heaven jesus the son of god let us hold fast a profession we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities you know the bible says that jesus can feel the same feelings that we are going through his heart truly is touched with our grief as the great song sings why because he too suffered loss he too had to weep he too lost lazarus and the bible says jesus wept you know that was a real emotion jesus was truly sad at his friend dying and you know what the bible doesn't tell us why he died you know we don't know exactly what happened but then jesus brings up the fact that well this did happen so that you would believe and you know you would sit here and think like why is lazarus dead and it seems like his sisters are so sad and they're just like why lord you know you know you could have risen from the dead you could have showed up why'd you take so long to get here jesus and wouldn't you think that you know you lose a lot you you lose someone close to you and you think he had a chance to save him why didn't he save him there was that opportunity why did he wait so long why did he tarry why did he allow this person to die but then he says you know what i allowed lazarus to die so that i could raise him again so that you'd believe and you know we can never know the mill the mind and the will of the lord in every circumstance but we can just know this he's a faithful creator who cares about us who loves us and he allows us to go through evil for a specific reason and purpose we may not know what that is but look lazarus got restored didn't he and so while they were weeping i mean imagine if you just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that your brother's gonna die and then three days later he's gonna come back you'd just be like all right see ya it's just like a vacation you'd be jealous that he gets to go to heaven for a few days and come back you'd be like i wish that was me right so from that perspective if they had known that they wouldn't even been sad at all but of course they're sad because they just don't know the future and we don't know the future but we can do this we can just trust that whatever the lord does is right go to ecclesiastes chapter number seven go to ecclesiastes chapter number seven and you know i bring this up because there's been a lot of loss you know even in our church in the last year there's there's going to be loss in the future we don't know what the end beholds you know if we actually go through the tribulation or great tribulation there's going to be more loss than we can count we won't even remember all the loss it'll just be so much loss so much death so much bloodshed and you know it's important to realize that the lord is still with us even in those moments you know you should take moments of loss now to prepare yourself for future loss because it's going to happen you know there's going to be other future lost loved ones and these things are going to happen and you know take it as an opportunity to become a better person take it as an opportunity to become someone that's more empathy and more care for others show love towards other people ecclesiastes chapter seven the bible says in verse two it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better so the bible says if you never go through anything difficult if you never go through anything tough if you never go through anything challenging you actually missing out on opportunities to be a better person the greater the loss the greater opportunity you have to be a better person those who have the silver spoon in their mouth do not have the same opportunities as those that have a life full of sorrow and suffering and tribulation and temptation and in fact they're usually the worst people to be around the worst people to hang out with are those that have never lost anything and the greatest people often hang out with are the people that have lost it all and i'm so glad i get to hang out with jesus who literally had to lose everything lose his own life he became poor for our sakes he humbled himself he took off his immortality became a man suffered and bled and so you know what he knows what it's like to suffer you know it's not fun to be around people that never suffered in their life and you bring up something bad that's happened to you and they're just like why are you such a terrible person bro joe's friends joe's friends are not cool people to hang out with you know be a cool person to hang out with joe you know if you lost a loved one you know you'd want to come to your funeral joe you'd want joe to be there and be like hey i know what you're going through buddy hey i can be there to help strengthen you and encourage you and so it enables joe to be one of the greatest people to ever live in fact he is but let me tell you something if joe had never lost those 10 children we wouldn't have a book called job so you know what with great loss can also come a great opportunity to serve god that people don't realize i mean think about being beheaded for christ that's a big loss you know the bible says to count the cost the bible says that we're supposed to hate even our own life also and when you serve god there's going to be loss there's going to be difficulty there's going to be struggle but you know what god can use that for his glory god can use that for his benefit god can use that to encourage other people and help other people as they struggle well i just hope only good happens to me well it doesn't sound like you're going to be that greatly used by god because all the prophets of god suffered great horrible loss trials suffer sufferings afflictions i mean what guy in the bible is it just all good can you tell me tell me tell me the person in the bible that everything was always good that happened to them oh moses that that wasn't that great i mean you could say what about joshua yeah but i'm pretty sure joshua was a slave in egypt for a while he had to suffer quite a bit in his life no one just has a silver spoon in their mouth and only good no evil no problems no suffering oh what about daniel well the start of his life was pretty rough buddy i'm just telling he's literally a slave he's a captain in babylon how is that a great life you know joseph what a great man but he had to be sold away from his entire family in slavery i mean it doesn't matter who it is oh paul he had a great life your best life now read paul's book you know stoned and shipwrecked and beaten and he said in fact the more i love the less i'm loved he said hey the more good i do in fact he planted every church and the literally every church is planted by him basically think about that like literally every christian church it's like who started your church paul and and he started mine and this one and this one some of those churches wanted nothing to do with paul after he founded them think about that i mean just like a whole section of chick fil a just rebelled from the company and became like you know chicken r us or something you know i don't it's like you're like what you do but they're still selling the same chicken you know they're still using the same thing i mean you're gonna go through suffering you're gonna go through loss you're gonna have evil happen upon you and in fact most of the greatest people in the bible suffer the greatest losses the greatest evil the greatest problems i mean you got one of the longest books in the bible jeremiah was his life a bed of roses in fact probably one of the worst lives of the bible oh what about josea that was a that what he was in the bible what happened to him oh yeah his wife is a harlot okay literally he has to literally pay his wife not to sleep with other men that's weird okay and guess who told him to do that god what's the reason for that because he had a spiritual truth he wanted to show josea he wanted josea to realize how much god truly loves his people and you know jose is a great man of god and you know when horrible suffering and loss happens to someone you shouldn't even look down upon them and think like oh what's wrong with this person because are you gonna do that to all the other guys in the bible too good boy now in fact often god's giving that person opportunity to be greatly used by god and you know what god is with that person and loves that person just the same as the guy who's just all good all fun in fact if your life is literally just a picnic like you never have anything bad happen to you no suffering no evil here's my question are you even godly because the bible says yay and all that will have godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution if your life is just man everything's just great and wonderful i'm not even hot in church this morning and i'm loving it it's like you got some problems okay you need to eat a sandwich go to first thessalonians chapter four i'll wrap up point one is this quit worrying about the reason about death it's gonna happen number two realize that god can restore you when you're going through difficulty realize that it's not forever you know blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted is what the bible says they shall there will be a time even if it's not in this life it will happen you will be comforted okay and the bible says blessed are they it didn't even say like this is a terrible thing it says it's a great thing it doesn't make sense in the moment always but it can make sense in hindsight now in first thessalonians chapter four this is a great passage to remind people of the fact that after death we will be reunited we will be reunited so what's the reason for death we're all going to die what's what about the restoration god can often give you back everything that you had lost and on top of that you're going to be reunited with those that you did lose anyways it's not forever while death may feel forever and it may be forever in this physical life it's actually not forever there is a reuniting of the saints there is a reuniting of the saved and this is what gives us great comfort and great joy is knowing hey you're on a long vacation but i'm coming to see you in fact all of us are headed there every second you're just getting that closer i mean and it's kind of like you're sitting in the car and your kids are like daddy are we there yet daddy right there you're getting closer first thessalonians chapter number four look at verse 13 the bible says but i would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope so according to the bible we're not supposed to be ignorant of the fact that we will see our brothers and sisters in christ again we will be reunited with them again we will joy with them again and that joy will never be taken after that i mean it's going to be the greatest reunion ever i don't like any family reunion but this one's gonna be epic okay i'm gonna actually like this one this one's gonna be one that's fun because you're not gonna have that weird uncle okay you're not gonna have that crazy cousin you're basically gonna be joyous to see all your loved ones all your family members in fact it's gonna be so amazing you're gonna meet all these people you never knew they're great that happens at a family reunion too but you don't want to meet those people you're looking over there like i don't want to meet that person but you know what you're going to be happy to meet everybody in heaven all of the grandparents and great-grandparents and people you never met i mean there's plenty of people i never met in my family i never got to meet my mom's dad you know he died before i i was ever born you know there's certain people that my children my children have never met my mom and that's definitely very sad for me it's very sad that they never met certain family members or been in their lives but you know what those that are saved you will see them again in heaven with the lord jesus christ what a joyous day we're gonna gather at the river i mean all the sudden when we get to heaven when we all get to heaven too you know it doesn't says like hey no one's not gonna make it you know that precious little baby you will get to hold it again you'll get to hug it again you will get to be with it again you will get to have joy everlasting with them again it's not that you have no hope we have hope but of course hope is not what we see it's what we believe and we know through faith look at verse 18 wherefore comfort one another with these words we're supposed to comfort ourselves in the fact that we will be reunited go to revelation 21 last place i may return this morning revelation 21 let me just reiterate again when it comes to the death of the saints the reason is a mystery to us often it's often a mystery and that's okay we just have to trust the lord but number two you can have hope that god could restore you even in this life not even counting the future life but god will for sure restore us in the next life because we'll be reunited with everyone that we lose all of the saints revelation 21 look at verse 3 i have heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of god is with men and he would dwell with them and they shall be his people and god himself shall be with them and be their god and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrowing nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away you know i know jesus cares you know i know god cares because he's going to wipe away every single tear because he is going to get rid of death sorrow pain suffering he's getting rid of all of it he hates all of it god is love and he wants us to dwell with him and a paradise literally he wants us to have this great joy but while we're here this is our moment of suffering this is our moment of sorrow this is our moment of evil this is our moment to go through what the devil is will is in many cases but you know at some point the devil's gonna be lake of fire for all of eternity and he who cares what he wants anymore who cares what he wills who cares what he's allowed to do you know what even though the devil is allowed to do horrible things to god's people you know what god is still in control god still loves us god still cares about us and i just take great comfort and joy in knowing that i'll see all of you saved people in heaven let's go some prayer thank you heavenly father for giving us great comfort in times of loss and suffering i pray that we were reminded that you're still faithful you still care so much about us that one day we will wipe away every tear that one day we will have no more sorrow that one day we will have no more pain that one day there will be no more departing because death has been conquered death has been destroyed and i thank you that in these these difficult moments we can turn to the scriptures that we can cast our care upon the lord jesus christ i pray that those who go through loss to go through suffering in the future they would be reminded of the truths of the bible they could be comforted by the scriptures and that we'd all be motivated to preach the gospel and then to pull as many people out of the fire to get as many people saved because we know that we're going to take them with us to heaven in jesus name we pray amen on 121 like a river glorious 121 like a river glorious 121 like a river glorious is god's perfect peace on the first like a river glorious is god's perfect peace god's perfect peace over all victorious in its bright increase perfect yet it flow with fuller every day perfect yet it grow with keeper all the way oh hearts are fully blessed finding as he promised perfect peace and rest hidden in the hollow oh of his blessed hand ever folk and follow ever traitor stand and not a surge of worry not a shade of care not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there day upon jehovah hearts are fully blessed finding as he promised perfect peace and rest and rest every joy your trial fall it from above oh we may trust him fully all for us to do they who trust him holy find him holy true stayed upon jehovah hearts are fully blessed finding as he promised perfect peace and rest god bless you i just missed