Episode Transcript
Good morning.
It's 10 o'clock.
And the real Brother Shepherd is up here, not a bobblehead.
If you didn't watch last week, you don't know what that means.
And we're in Job chapter two this morning.
Job chapter two.
And we're going to continue our study of verse 3 in just a few moments.
I was thinking of something yesterday as I studied when I worked for the state, and it's still the case as I work for the county.
We have a policy manual and that policy manual is the go-to.
If you want to know what the rule is on something or how you're supposed to do it or what form to turn in, you go to the policy manual.
And every once in a while, there's a revision that's sent out.
And you get an email notifying you what the change is.
And it's that way your whole career.
You're always getting a change here and there.
And I was thinking how wonderful it is that God never sends out.
Policy revisions.
He doesn't send out updates and all of that.
His word has remained the same from beginning to end.
And it's just wonderful to know that no matter where in the world God's people meet, they're going to read the same message if they study his word.
No revisions.
And to remind you of our setting this morning, Satan, with God's permission, has wreaked havoc in Job's life.
His livestock have been stolen or burned up.
Almost all of his servants have been killed by enemy forces or burned up in the fire.
His children died when the house was in which they were feasting had collapsed because of a great wind that came from the wilderness But Satan was not through trying to destroy Job.
It wasn't enough for him.
And God wasn't through proving himself and also testing Job through these fiery trials.
And last week's study left us with Satan once again presenting himself before the Lord when the sons of God Meaning the angels did so as well.
And one of the things Satan's actions did reminded me so much of the workplace When an employee who was once productive and useful to the company becomes so toxic that he has to be fired That employee is not always content to just go away.
Some of those former employees get on the internet. and trash their former boss, their workplace, and their fellow employees.
And others call their old coworkers and try to stir up trouble in the company that fired them.
And on a few occasions, former employees who've been fired have returned to their workplace with a gun and shot their boss or shot the people who they believe offended them.
Now Satan was cast out of heaven because he was a troublesome angel, to say the least.
He'd poison the waters by deceiving many of the other angels to believe the lie that he was telling He wanted to exalt himself above the Lord and be like the Most High God.
He wanted to go to the top, and he wanted them, or they wanted to go with him.
And when God cast him out of heaven, Satan wasn't just content to go off And go into the spirit world and wait on his final day of judgment.
No, he afflicted God's creation He deceived Eve and Adam and they sinned.
He let Israel rebel against the Lord.
He attacked the church and he still does.
And he walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
And in our study.
Satan was not content to let the sons of God present themselves before the Lord.
He just had to show up and make trouble.
I wonder if those angels rolled their eyes when Satan showed up on scene.
Like, here he comes again.
What does he want this time?
It can't be good.
And to say the devil is bothersome is quite an understatement.
He's vicious.
He's cunning.
And his purpose is the destruction of all things, except himself, of course.
Whereas God's purpose is the restoration of all things.
And when we meet in this building, Satan walks about seeking whom he may devour, seeking whom he may distract. seeking whom he may cause to doubt the word, seeking whom he may cause to disobey God.
So where God's word is preached, and you can be sure of this, where God's word is preached, the spirit of Antichrist is present as well And that's why we have to keep our eyes tied to God's word while we're here.
Now let's look at verse 3.
We're in Job chapter 2, verse 3, if you're just joining us.
After all Job had been through.
And after all Satan had done, God said, look in the text, and still he holdeth fast his integrity Now we studied that last week.
So let's look at the new part of our study where God told Satan, Although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Now the word movist, we don't say it that way, we would just say moved.
And it's also translated as enticed or stir up.
The Hebrew word literally means to prick, like a thorn would do.
Now how is it That Satan pricked God.
How did he provoke God against Job?
If you go back to where God asked Satan, In chapter 1, hast thou considered my servant Job?
Satan's answer to God was that Job Feared God only because God hedged him about and protected his substance and blessed his substance.
Satan essentially accused Job or accused God and also accused Job of being involved in this mutually beneficial Relationship, this mutually beneficial transaction where there wasn't actually any loyalty or love on Job's part.
Now, if it were true that Job loved God only because God protected his body, his health, and his substance, then that's not love at all.
That's an arrangement.
It would be more like a contract between a bodyguard and his boss.
Have you thought about why you love God?
Have you thought about why you fear God the way the Bible teaches?
In 1 John 4 verse 19.
1 John 4, 19 simply says, we loved him because he first loved us.
We don't love God because he keeps us alive We're thankful for our physical lives, our bodily health, but If those were the reasons we loved God, then our love for God would cease as soon as we got sick or when we died We don't love God simply because he blesses our substance, our possession, makes us prosperous.
And although I'm thankful for how God has blessed me financially.
And no, I didn't inherit a large sum of money.
I haven't inherited any money.
Just tried to obey God's principles of being a good steward of what He's given me.
But if that were the reason I loved Him, then my love would vanish if I went broke If the stock market tanked, if I lost all my money from a bank, that's not love.
Job loved God because God first loved him.
Job feared God because God was worthy to be feared, to be reverenced, to be respected.
And God said to Satan, Although thou movest me against him, he still retains his integrity, although you moved me against him.
So that brings up another question.
In what way was God moved against Job?
Because this might ruffle your feathers a little.
You might think, man, God described Job as literally the best man on earth.
And yet he's moved against him?
What does this mean?
The way God was moved against Job was in an earthly way.
It was in a physical way.
And we're going to look at that.
Job's possessions, Job's children, and Job's servants were all earthly gifts God gave him.
And Job could take none of those to heaven with him when he died.
None of those things or persons could follow him in death.
You know, during moments, perhaps if you've buried one of your parents, and you you just begin to miss them already, and you say, Man, I just I wish daddy was here.
Or I wish I was with Daddy right now.
I want to be where Daddy is.
And you can't, because Daddy's gone on and you're still here.
So that's the sense in which children, family are earthly gifts to God or from God.
So God being moved against Job was in a physical sense only, in my estimation, based on what I've studied here.
God wasn't angry with Job.
The possessions that Job had first belonged to God.
And that's important to understand.
The servants and children Job had first belonged to God.
And speaking to the children of Israel about the Lord, in Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 13, Deuteronomy 7, verse 13.
Moses said, And he will love thee and bless thee and multiply thee.
He will also bless the fruit of thy womb and the fruit of thy land.
Thy corn and thy wine and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep in the land which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee.
Who loved them?
Who loved Israel?
God did.
Who blessed Israel and their children and their livestock and all of their crops and their land?
God did.
So when something is taken away from us, or someone is taken away from us in any way, let's remember All of those things and all of those people were God's before they were ours.
We're the recipients of those gifts.
And we are to be responsible stewards.
Of all of those gifts until God takes them from us or He takes us from them.
And even in the deep despair that a mother and father have when their child dies, there's some comfort in knowing that the child first belonged to God.
And he knows what's best for the child.
So our burden is lightened just a little in knowing that truth.
Now, while it's evident that Job, or that God was moved against Job, as we've explained, in a physical sense, he was not moved against Job in a spiritual sense.
Notice in verse 3 the word servant, God still calls Job his servant.
He still calls him perfect and upright and one who eschews evil Job is righteous because of his faith in the Lord who made him righteous.
Job believed the one who would one day come and die for his sins, the one of whom God spoke in Genesis 3.
15.
And in many places after that, before Job was born, maybe you haven't considered But always wondered how a person was saved in the Old Testament.
And to help you understand why I call Job a Christian, even though Jesus Christ had not been born as a man, had not lived the perfect life and died on a cross for sinners. been buried and raised again for our justification.
I want to look at Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11, and I'll read a few verses from there, first starting with verses 1 and 2 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
For by it, that is by faith, the elders obtained a good report.
Now the elders are the ones who will be mentioned later in this chapter of Hebrews.
I'm going to read you the names of the ones whose names are given.
So these are the elders who obtained a good report with God by faith.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob.
Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel Now there are many others whose names weren't specifically written there.
But what did you notice about all of those people I just named?
Each one of them was born before the Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as a man.
And each one of them obtained a good report by faith, not by keeping the Old Testament law.
And see, that's a mistake that uh ignorant Bible teachers. will ha m will make is saying, well that Old Testament, you had to keep the law then to be saved.
Well then nobody ever would have been saved if that were the case.
Would everyone would be condemned to hell.
And so here are in that same chapter in Hebrews, this is even more specific for you.
This specifically tells us how Moses was saved.
And Moses was one of those elders who obtained a good report.
And I want you to think about Moses living thousands of years before the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's in verses 24 through 26, Hebrews 11, 24 through 26.
By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
How about that?
Moses, all those years before Jesus was born, all those years before he had actually heard the name Jesus Christ, oh, he had heard there would be a deliverer.
He had heard there would be one who would bruise the serpent's head, and the serpent would bruise that deliverer's heel.
But he had not heard of the name Christ.
And yet in those days he esteemed, he valued the reproach of Christ as greater riches. than the treasures in Egypt.
He wasn't a man of the world.
He was a man of faith.
And there's so many ways to put that.
Romans 15 verse 3.
Romans 15 verse 3.
For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me.
Now the reproach of Christ was his suffering as a sinner.
He was not a sinner, but he suffered where we should have suffered. suffering in our place with our sins, taking our reproaches and putting them on himself, taking our shame and bearing it on himself on his cross.
And by faith, Moses, Job, and every other Old Testament faith, or Old Testament saint placed their faith in the one who would bear their reproaches.
All of them. esteem the reproaches of Christ greater than the riches of wherever they were, whether it be Egypt or Babylon or Sodom and Gomorrah or wherever it may have been.
And so it's important to know that Old Testament saints were saved the same way as New Testament saints are.
By faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you're a Christian, you've esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than those of the United States or than those of this world.
You're not putting your faith in anything this world has done for you or will do for you or that you can do for yourself.
And because Job's faith was in Jesus, he was secure in his spirit.
God would never let Satan move him against Job spiritually.
Satan could never provoke God into removing the righteousness of Christ from Job.
Satan could never get God to recant Job's salvation.
And now that we understand that God was moved against Job in an earthly sense.
Let's look at what Satan's intended result was when he moved God against Job.
Look back in the text.
It says, to destroy him without cause.
The Hebrew word for destroy is first used in Genesis chapter 41, verse 7.
Genesis 41, verse 7, where we read about a dream that Pharaoh had.
The reason that's popping is that little cover is not on there.
I apologize.
I'll try to be a little softer with my hard consonant sounds.
The Hebrew word for destroy is used here in Genesis 41, 7, and it's going to be the word devoured.
That's how it's translated.
And it says, and the seven thin ears.
Devoured the seven rank and full ears.
And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
Now, as Joseph would later tell Pharaoh, this dream was about seven years of famine that would devour the seven years of plenty Egypt would experience.
Egypt would have seven years of prosperity, and then all that prosperity would be devoured or destroyed.
Or as what the word in our text says is destroyed.
It would be devoured or destroyed by the seven years of famine, just like that.
Now let's apply this explanation to Job's situation.
Job had many years of prosperity.
God blessed him in his substance.
He had many years of prosperity just like Egypt did.
And now, like the seven years of famine in Egypt, devoured the seven years of prosperity in Egypt.
Satan was provoking God to devour or destroy Job's prosperity by killing and burning those people and animals and things, stealing those things. with which God had prospered Job.
Now in Egypt, when God blessed their land, and he did so because of the children of Israel.
When God blessed their land, there was much food and the people lived.
When the famine came, there would be little food, and many people would die.
And as an aside, we who've studied this story in Genesis 41 about Egypt know that God used Joseph. to save Egypt from the famine.
But that was what the dream was about, and I hope we learned a little about what it meant When God said Satan moved him against Job to destroy him, now let's look at that prepositional phrase without cause. without cause.
Satan moved God to destroy Job without cause.
And the words without cause are from one Hebrew word that means freely Or for nothing.
In other words, Satan moved God to destroy Job's earthly possessions for no reason.
For nothing It wasn't that Job was sinless.
He needed a Savior and he trusted in a Savior.
It was more practical here.
Job lived in an earthly sense, he lived a righteous life in the sight of God.
And there was no good reason for Satan to want to destroy him.
Now, if you consider uh how this applies to our society, if Let's just say man on the street.
If you walked up to this man on the street, doesn't know God And you say, hey, do you know do you know this particular man over here who's a Christian and very honest and everybody loves him?
You go, oh yeah, man, he's a good guy.
Okay.
Well, how would you like to to see him destroyed?
And even the man on the street would say.
Well no, he hadn't done anything wrong.
He's a good fella.
He didn't kill anybody, or he's not a thief.
He's an honest man And yet that meant absolutely nothing to Satan.
Because that's what the people of Job's day would have said about Job, whether they were believers or not, they would have said, that's a good man right there.
And we ought to live a life so that people say that about us, not for our own glory, but to glorify God.
That's why we do those good works.
But uh Job lived this righteous life, and yet g Satan moved God to destroy him without cause.
And this shows us that Satan is absolutely evil.
Now let's contrast that with a verse in the New Testament or a passage in the New Testament.
It's in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and in this chapter, the Apostle Paul is addressing a particular sin committed by a particular Christian in the Corinthian church.
I'll read verses 1 through 5.
He wrote, It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you.
And such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
For I verily, as absent in the body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that has so done this deed In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my Spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Now we learn three things about this Corinthian Christian.
Number one, he committed fornication with his father's wife.
That's either his mother or his stepmother.
But in either case, it's not his wife Second thing, Paul said to deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
That's church discipline.
It's pretty harsh, isn't it?
But that's church discipline.
He said, You've known about this, and rather than mourning and putting him away, you're puffed up.
You say, we're going to let him hang out with us.
We don't think he's such a bad guy.
I don't know what all they may have thought, but it wasn't correct.
And if this man continues in this sin, he is destroying his own flesh.
Now you might ask, well, how is he doing that?
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in the next chapter of his letter to the Corinthians.
It's 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 18.
1 Corinthians 6, verse 18.
He wrote this about fornication, the very sin that this man committed in the in the Corinthian church, and for which he had not repented, very apparent.
And for which he was to be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
And here's the verse.
Paul wrote, flee fornication Every sin that a man doeth is without the body or outside the body.
But he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
That's his own flesh.
So because the man sinned against his own body through fornication, then he was to be delivered for the destruction of his own body, of his own flesh.
In other words, if you're going to keep doing that, you're sinning against your own body, and you're not going to do it while you're here in the church.
We've warned you, you refuse to repent, and you're done, you're out.
And you go, if you want to continue this sin and destroy your own body, do so outside of this assembly Because it's a bad example to others.
It's a terrible testimony for the church for somebody to continue to do that.
If you say, well, I didn't know that was wrong.
Okay, well then repent and stop it.
But you know it's wrong, and you're puffed up rather than mourning, you're out.
That's what he said.
And thirdly, we learn.
And we can't forget this, because this is what the passage told us in 1 Corinthians 5.
This man did not lose his salvation.
He wasn't delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the spirit, but for the destruction of the flesh.
Because it said that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Now, there's probably some naysayer out in the world who would read this or hear this And wrongly judged the church by saying, there you go, those Christians think they can sin all they want and still go to heaven.
Or those Christians commit fornication and they get by with it.
Well, that couldn't be further from the truth A Christian doesn't have the spiritual desire to sin.
But because a Christian, that's you and me, because we live in these bodies that are made of flesh, that are cursed because of the fall of Adam and the continuation of sin through all the generations.
There will always be temptation as long as we live.
And when a Christian sins and refuses to be corrected, There are some cases in the Word of God where he must be excluded from fellowship with the saints.
And Paul didn't want this particular church member to think he could get away with his sin.
He wanted him to repent.
But even in all of that, even with the church discipline exercised upon this member Paul said that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
And I could probably go on with a lot more exposition of that verse, but I wanted you to see a case. in which there was a cause for one to be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
But in Job's case, he had not committed fornication.
He had not stolen or blasphemed God or caused division in the church.
Satan moved God to destroy Job Without a cause, without justification.
This didn't, this fact that Job was an upright man didn't sway Satan one bit.
It didn't cause him to hesitate.
As God spoke, Satan was just waiting for his turn to speak.
Look now in verse 4 at Satan's reply to God.
And Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life Now that phrase skin for skin is a phrase that may not be so clear to us right away.
So let's examine it in context with the verse.
The rest of the verse.
It's used as an expression of how much a man values his own life.
In fact, we're given a clue about the meaning of it by looking at the next phrase in that verse, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
In other words, all that a man has, he will give in exchange for his own life, even his own skin, will he give.
He'll give up some of his skin to save the rest of his skin.
Now if you lose some hide from your knee or your elbow or even your face, you'll probably live But if you lose all of your skin, you will not live.
Your skin is the largest organ your body has And we know how much it protects us, what it's a barrier against infection, disease.
It keeps us warm and all a lot of other things that it does And I believe this is the sense of the phrase skin for skin.
Now Satan's Prior accusations were that Job would curse God to his face if God took away the hedge around Job's possessions And that accusation proved to be false, didn't it?
We studied it.
Job not only did not curse God to his face, but instead he blessed God.
He worshipped him.
You may have heard the story in the 22nd and 23rd chapters of the book of Numbers. about Balak, the king of Moab, who wanted Balaam, who was a kind of a sorry prophet really, but he wanted Balaam to curse Israel.
Also known as Jacob.
Israel was called Jacob.
Israel's been called Ephraim.
Israel's been called several different names in the Bible, but it's the nation of Israel, the people of Israel.
And Balak, without a doubt, was an agent of Satan.
And when, and he told Balaam what to say, when to curse Israel.
And when Balaam was supposed to curse Israel, God moved his mouth to instead bless Israel.
Listen as I read Numbers 23, verses 11 through 12, after Balaam blessed Israel instead of cursing them.
Numbers 23, 11-12.
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me?
I took thee to curse mine enemies, and behold, thou hast blessed them all together.
And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?
God literally put blessing in Balaam's mouth rather than cursing.
You know how Balak wanted Balaam to curse Israel.
And oh how Satan wanted Job to curse God.
But Job did not curse God.
God's spirit in Job was greater than Satan's spirit around Job.
God's spirit in Job was greater than Satan's spirit around Job.
And based upon what we read and what we know, Satan is about to suggest that there is still a way to make Job curse God.
And Satan doesn't give up here.
He'll always keep doing this to God's people until he's cast into the lake of fire.
And since we know that.
We need to be on guard and not get spiritually complacent.
You know, it's not pessimistic.
To be on the lookout for Satan, to intrude upon our most intimate times with the Lord.
And I've had some of those in prayer.
I'm out by myself somewhere.
I I used to mow the church lawn in the last church where I was a member.
And that's about a four-hour job.
We had uh about an acre and a half.
And I'd be out on that lawnmower and I'd have some good times with the Lord.
Just the hum of that lawnmower and me worshiping.
And let me tell you, Satan can jump right in the middle of that.
He presents himself where the sons of God present themselves even today.
Sometimes we have a Bible study that's particularly sweet.
Or we'll be in worship service together.
Or even in our daily living in this wicked world.
And even when we rejoice in the Lord, the devil still walks about seeking whom he may devour.
And if he did it to Job, he'll do it to you.
Look in verse 5 now.
Satan said, but put forth thine hand now.
And touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Notice it didn't bother Satan to be wrong about that the first time he said it, did it?
He didn't say, you know, last time I said that, I was proven to be a fool.
I think I'll keep my mouth shut.
I don't know who made the quote, but it's better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.
But there was no shame to Satan in losing that first battle.
He just came back for more.
And as he did the first time.
Satan wanted God to use his own hand to afflict Job.
He said, put forth thine hand Now this verse gets very close to home because we all have flesh and bone.
And none of us enjoys getting sick or hurt We don't enjoy the aches and pains and weaknesses that come with aging and all of its infirmities.
We don't enjoy In some cases having to take the medicine that goes with it that causes one side effect, so you have to get medicine to counter that.
And I know some of you have have had some of those experience and still do.
We don't enjoy that Brother Mike Downs wrote recently that his wife Gwen was so weak that she could barely walk 10 feet.
And nobody looks forward to that.
My great uncle Riley Caspar McKinney, that's a good Irish name, isn't it?
Riley Caspar McKinney was dying of stomach cancer back in 1986, and he was in the hospital.
And when we went to encourage him, he ended up encouraging us.
He said, either way, I'm going to get better.
Now only a Christian could say that, and he was a Christian, and he knew that he would either be healed, which was good, or he'd go to be with Jesus, which was far better.
And he went to be with the Lord very soon after that.
When Job was afflicted by losing his possessions, his servants, his children.
Satan was not allowed to touch Job's body.
God had told Satan, behold, all that he hath Is in thy power only upon himself, put not forth thine hand.
And now Satan in this passage wants God to put forth his hand.
Believing that that's the way to make Job curse God to his face.
Look now in verse 6.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life.
Now once again, God refused to use his hand To injure Job.
But he gave Satan permission to do it.
He said to Satan, he is in thine hand.
So Satan had been given limited authority for a limited time.
He had previously not been allowed to touch Job's body, but now he is.
And even so, he wasn't given complete authority over Job's body because God said, save his life.
You can do anything you want to him except kill him.
And this verse ought to remind us that God is in complete control of every detail of our lives.
Even if you're in a situation like this.
God didn't wring his hands and say, oh boy, I gave Job the Satan's hand.
I sure hope he doesn't kill him.
At one time, my agency issued me a Chevrolet pickup to carry out my duties as a traffic deputy and a weight enforcement officer.
And I carried a set of wheel weighers or scales so I could weigh those heavy trucks and 18-wheelers.
They were in the bed of the pickup.
And it was not designed to be a pursuit vehicle, but I was a traffic deputy, so I still had to do that too, chase down reckless drivers, speeders, and so forth.
So the factory had put a limiter in the engine.
And it would only go 98 miles an hour.
Now that's faster than anyone ever needs to go, but a law enforcement vehicle has to be able to go faster than that to catch some speeders.
And when I would try to catch up to a speeder on the internet, I needed to go faster than 98 miles an hour for a short time period, but that speed limiter would kick in.
Now I wanted to go faster with all my heart.
I even pressed the accelerator all the way through the floorboard.
But I could never go over 98.
The only way to go faster.
Would have been for the manufacturer to remove the speed limiter.
And next week.
I'll tell you how that applies to the situation we're looking at with Job.
Let's pray.
Father, it's been good to be in your house this morning and to study your word with these people these people who are hungry. these brothers and sisters who love you and who love your word and those who have tuned in and watched intently on the internet.
And now, Lord, I pray you'd take this truth and that you would help us to remember it, to live by it, to be comforted by it, and also to be warned by it where that is applicable.
And we pray for our pastor and for the message that he will bring us the next hour.
Thank you for our our tech team, our musicians, Lord, our people who do work around here that is often unseen, at least we don't know who does it, but Lord, we're just thankful for every one of them who have poured themselves into the work of the ministry, even all the very detailed, routine parts.
And we pray that you just bless each one of them in a mighty way.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
