Episode Transcript
All right, it's slightly after ten o'clock, so we better begin this morning.
Well we'll take whoever shows up.
We're in Job chapter 4 this morning.
Job chapter 4.
And we've been listening to the words of one of Job's friends.
His name is Elaphaz.
And during our last lesson, Eliphaz spoke his mind about Job and his circumstances.
And he properly stated the things, the great things Job had done, and how Job had been an instructor of many.
And we learned about that word instruction that it has to do with the chastisement that comes with teaching, that that is a part of teaching.
That's not all of teaching, but it can be part of teaching.
And after these what appear to be complimentary words, and I believe he was sincere.
He began with this unwarranted assumption that Job was under that same type of chastening or instruction. that he had dished out, how he had taught people.
And Eliphaz further implied that Job was being hypocritical. for fainting when he was on the receiving end of that instruction.
Which we'll say chastening and instruction because they're interchangeable when it comes to this Hebrew word.
And so now we're going to pick up in verse 6.
We're in Job chapter 4, verse 6.
And speaking of the instruction or the chastisement that has come upon Job. .
As Eliphaz assumes it to be, he said, Is not this thy fear?
Now that doesn't immediately make sense to me.
It didn't.
So it required some extra study.
And it requires us here to look at the word fear again.
We've studied the word fear.
In fact, we studied the word fear on Wednesday night in Proverbs.
And we've studied it here many times, so those of you who have been with us for a while may remember the Hebrew word for fear can mean terror and dread or It can mean reverence and respect.
It carries both of those meanings.
And in this text, I would argue strongly that it means reverence and respect.
In fact, this fear of the Lord was Job's basis of spiritual character It's what his spiritual character was founded on.
The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
And because Job feared God in this way, he loved God, and he loved God's word.
And because he feared God, he didn't want to do wrong.
And because he feared God, he also taught others not to do wrong, taught them to do right.
He instructed many.
And speaking of God's people, in Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 40, Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 40.
God says, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them.
To do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me.
That's an interesting phrase at the end.
He would put his fear in their hearts so they would not depart from him.
Now, when I think of fear in the traditional sense that we think of it today, I don't think of fear as something that would keep me from departing. from the person or the thing I'm afraid of.
If I saw a psychopathic serial killer armed with a large butcher knife, Coming toward me, my fear for my life would not cause me to try to remain close to him.
It would cause me to flee the area.
And if I were cornered and could not escape him, my fear would cause me.
To try to neutralize the psychopathic serial killer with a few grains of lead fired over a thousand feet per second.
But the fear of which Jeremiah wrote was a fear that God put into the hearts of his people so they would not depart from him.
So that's not the terror and the dread.
That's the reverence and the respect.
In fact, looking at the next word in our text back here in Job 4. 6 reminds me very much of what we studied on Wednesday night.
And I'll read you that verse, our Wednesday night verse, is Proverbs 14 and verse 26, which says In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge That was a wonderful lesson, by the way.
And I love it.
And I listened to it about 2 o'clock in the morning.
And I was working that night and didn't get to come to church.
And I uh found me a little place out on the highway and sat in the middle of the county and listened to that message and it was so wonderful.
It's better than listening to the radio, I can tell you that.
I was fed, fed And I love it when our lesson in here and Brother Fulton's lesson intersect like this And it happens more than you know.
But the fear of the Lord that was described in that proverb was not a cause for Solomon to run away, to depart from the Lord.
It was not a reason for him to feel unsafe.
That fear of the Lord, just like the one Job had. was the place in which Job had strong confidence.
In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence.
And Job's fear of the Lord, in that, he had strong confidence.
And the place which God gave his children in that strong confidence, in that fear of the Lord, which is strong confidence, That is a place of refuge.
That's not a place where you need to be afraid if you belong to him.
It was Job's protection.
The fear of the Lord was Job's protection.
So looking back at our text, that fear is connected with confidence.
And even though our word confidence and the one in the Proverbs from Wednesday night are a little bit different Hebrew words, they're closely connected in meaning.
They mean about the same thing.
So what Eliphaz is asking here, we're in Job chapter 4 verse 6.
What Eliphaz is asking Job here is a little clearer in another translation.
Which renders it this way.
Remember, we just read, is not this thy fear?
And in another translation Let me get my place back here.
It says, is not your reverence your confidence?
Is not your reverence your confidence?
And so that tells you that that fear of the Lord is a reverence here, a respect.
And isn't your reverence for the will of God the thing in which you feel secure?
Well, if you know the scriptures, then yes, it is.
It should be.
So the insinuation from Eliphaz Is that Job is not submitting himself to the fear of the Lord based upon the words He spoke about his life being wearisome to the extent that he just wanted to die.
So when Job said those things, when he said, I I just want to go to the refuge of the grave rather than continue living in this misery.
Those words, according to Eliphaz, is that Job Is seeking refuge in the grave rather than refuge in the fear of the Lord.
That's essentially what what Eliphaz is doing.
Not only does he question Job's fear of the Lord as his confidence, but look back in your text in verse 6, he also questions Thy hope.
In the fear of the Lord was Job's confidence, and in the fear of the Lord was Job's hope.
Now, do you know what the word hope means in this text?
This is pretty good stuff here.
Well, let's look at a Bible verse where the Hebrew word that's translated hope is translated as a different English word.
Means the same thing, though.
And see if you can figure out which word that is when I read you Joshua chapter 2 verse 18.
Joshua chapter 2 verse 18.
This is the story of Rahab the harlot.
Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst let us down by.
And thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee.
Did you figure out which word it was, the word that is the same as the word hope in our text in Job?
It's the word line, Eliani.
Rahab had hidden two Israelite spies in the roof of her house.
So that the men who were sent out by the king of Jericho to find them could not find them And in return, those men, those two spies, promised to save her and her family whenever the children of Israel came into Jericho and conquered it.
Now, how would the fighting men of Israel know, don't touch that house.
Leave it alone.
They would know this by a token.
And that token was a scarlet thread or a line that Rahab would bind in the window of her house.
That line, remember we're looking at the word hope in Job.
That line was her family's hope.
To be saved.
And that hope was a guarantee.
It wasn't a, well, we'll hang this, we'll tie this line here and just we'll just hope that the Israelites recognize it.
No, it's not like that.
It's an expectation.
And that's another way that word is translated.
Hope.
Line.
Expectation.
And that same hope that was in that scarlet thread, that scarlet line, was found in Jesus' blood.
That would one day be shed for the forgiveness of sins, in whose blood we have hope.
We have an expectation That we will be saved if we trust in what he did.
And in that line, that very line that I just talked about, Jesus' blood.
Job also had hope.
He had the expectation of a reality, which is, again, expectation is the same as the word hope.
So in the fear of the Lord was Job's confidence.
It was his hope.
And look back in your text. the uprightness of thy ways.
So Elipha said, is not this thy fear?
Your hope, the uprightness of your ways.
The uprightness of Job's ways was based on his fear of the Lord, just like his hope was.
Uprightness is integrity.
And the word ways refers to Job's manner of living, the course of his life.
Uprightness of his ways is a quality, an attribute that God enabled him to have, and God enables the believer to have. and by which he commands us to live.
God expects our ways to be upright.
And when God spoke to Solomon about his expectations of Solomon's character.
You go way back, well not way back now, but when we were in the study of the 1st and 2 Kings I'll read from 1 Kings 9 verses 4 through 5.
1 Kings 9, 4 through 5, where God told Solomon, this is what I expect.
From you.
He said, and if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked in integrity of heart. and in uprightness, to do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments, then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
As I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
Now in that passage, the word integrity.
Is the same as our word uprightness in Job.
When something has integrity, it's whole.
W-H-O-L-E.
It's entire.
In fact, it's also simple.
And the word is sometimes rendered simplicity in the Old Testament.
So if you think about it, integrity is not a complicated issue.
It is a simple issue.
Answering a yes or no question truthfully is not complicated.
It's not Avoiding answering a yes or no question is quite complex.
It takes a lot of words to dance around the answer, doesn't it?
And in the Greek, that's what the word politics means.
No, it's not.
I just, it does not.
Don't write that down.
But that's essentially what that turns out to be, isn't it?
Walking in uprightness or integrity doesn't require anything more complicated than obeying God's word.
You may say that's hard.
It is hard because we live in the flesh.
But it's not complicated.
God didn't try to trick us when he said, Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill.
He wasn't trying to trick us.
He was trying to make things very simple.
In fact, he gave Adam and Eve one rule.
All they had to do is memorize that one rule.
Thou shalt not eat of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, for the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
That was it.
They didn't have Ten Commandments, they didn't have four at one.
God made it real simple.
There was simplicity in his law, in his command.
So nobody can say, well, it's just too complicated to be a Christian.
No, it's not.
It's actually very simple and it's actually very difficult.
And if you know what God's word says about something and you obey it, then you have walked uprightly.
You've walked in the integrity of your heart according to the word.
And the basis of Job's uprightness or his integrity was the fear of the Lord.
Goes back to the beginning of that verse.
And as Eliphaz questioned whether Job had departed from that integrity, he was questioning whether Job really embraced the same integrity of God's chastening that Job expected others to embrace.
In other words, when Job instructed someone and then chastening was involved in that instruction, Job expected that person to take it patiently and to learn from it and to get better.
And Edelfaz says, Now God's doing that to you, and you're fainting.
You'd rather have go to the refuge of the grave than seek the refuge of of his will.
And that wasn't true.
But this is what Ela Faz was saying, I worked for a supervisor one time, and he was big on holding his employees accountable when they violated policy, and he let everybody know that And his his answer to everything was write them up.
I'd write them up.
And I totally agree with the position of holding employees accountable for violations of policy.
One day a citizen witnessed and video recorded this supervisor flat out running a stop sign in a marked patrol unit.
And by the way, that marked patrol unit happened to be mine that he was borrowing when I was off.
So the first thing my captain thought was, I got him now.
Shepard Brand a stop signing, I got it on video, and it wasn't me, it was a def a supervisor.
And while that supervisor was gung-ho about holding others accountable, He himself on that day did not walk in the integrity of the traffic law that requires you to stop at a at a designated point before entering an intersection that's controlled by a stop sign.
So Eliphaz seems to be accusing Job here of setting aside the integrity that he expected others to have. to have it when they were being chastened for a violation of some kind.
You know it's easy to look at someone who's being chastened and say, ha, that's what you get for violating God's word.
But what about when the chastening falls on you?
Does your integrity hold fast?
Remember the question Job's wife posed to him after all these calamities had befallen him.
It's found in Job 2, verse 9.
We studied it several weeks ago.
Where she said to him, It says, Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?
Curse God and die.
So if he retains his integrity, he does not curse God, and therefore he doesn't die because he cursed God.
If he forfeits his integrity, or if he curses God, he forfeits his integrity.
If he forfeits his integrity, he curses God.
And again, going along with Eliphaz's assumption here about Job not holding to his fear of the Lord.
He's saying Job's integrity was missing when he made those statements about wishing he were dead, when he wished he had never been conceived, never been born, never nursed, and so forth.
But as you already know, and as we'll continue to see in our study, Job had not lost his fear of the Lord.
He had not lost his confidence that was found in that fear.
He had not lost his hope that was based on that fear.
And finally, he had not lost his uprightness.
His integrity held fast.
Does that mean all the words Job spoke were correct?
No.
Verse 7.
Eliphaz continues to Job, remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent.
Now it's becoming clearer and clearer that Eliphaz is enlarging upon this theme that Job is being chastened by the Lord.
When Eliphaz looks at Job with all his boils head to toe sitting on the ash heap, miserable, probably dirty, starving.
I'm sure he looks terrible.
His hair's probably falling out.
Eliphaz sees that and he sees a man who is perishing.
Let's look at the word perished as it's used here.
In another place.
It's found in, it's actually translated as a different word, but it's the same thing as perished.
It's the same Hebrew word.
In Leviticus chapter 23, verse 30, if you're taking notes, you can write that down.
Leviticus 23 verse 30 Where God is warning the children of Israel about what will happen to those who work on the Day of Atonement And it says, And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy, that's our word perished, from among his people.
So the word destroy is the same as the word perish.
Next, the word innocent Innocent is pure, free from blame Blameless, as you'll see that word in the King James Translation as well.
And the word is used in most cases.
This is important for us.
The word innocent or the Hebrew word for innocent is used in most cases to describe a person's standing when it comes to a particular act they've done.
It's not generally describing a person's character as being innocent.
Here's an example of how a person could be innocent when it comes to a specific act.
And in this word, for the word innocent, you're going to hear the word free, because again, that's one of the meanings of it.
Deuteronomy 24, verse 5.
Deuteronomy 24, verse 5.
When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war.
Neither shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife, which he hath taken So he'll be free or innocent at home for one year.
Now, a man who would not go out to war would normally have been guilty of a war crime.
He would have been branded a coward.
He would not have been innocent of that war crime.
But in this case, God made a law that said a man with a new wife was free, was innocent from any such charge We apply that same principle to our judicial proceedings today.
I once assisted with the investigation of a man who was on probation for a felony.
And while he was on probation for that felony, he was accused of committing another similar felony.
And our investigation showed this man had been falsely accused of that second felony.
And we were able to clear him.
He was innocent of that second accusation.
He was free from the penalty of the law for the second accusation.
But as a whole, this was not an innocent man.
He had committed the first felony and he was still on probation for it.
So the word innocent or free here is referring to a specific act in most cases in the Old Testament.
So when Eliphaz asserts that innocent people do not perish, they do not get destroyed.
I believe he's referring to some particular act that he believes Job has committed From Eliphaz's point of view, you had Job, a righteous man, an upright man, who was an instructor of many, and strengthened the feeble hands and the weak knees, and all of that.
All those good things, and now bad things are happening.
So Elifaz may as well come out and say, what did you do?
And he will.
He'll come out and say, well, what have you done to bring all this on you?
He insinuated Job must not be innocent, otherwise all of this destruction would not be coming upon him.
In fact, God makes a very clear statement about the innocent.
Exodus 23, verse 7.
Exodus 23, verse 7.
He told the children of Israel, Keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay not, for I will not justify the wicked.
So the inference there is that only a wicked person would slay someone who is innocent and righteous of any particular act.
And by extension, God would not cause Job to perish if he were innocent in a particular matter.
Now, we know because of what we read in the first chapter or two that it wasn't some sinful act that Job committed that caused God to destroy him.
But Eliphaz did not know that at the time he was speaking.
Let's take a look now at whether Job was innocent as a man in general, not just specific to an offense here that Eliphaz supposes he committed, but was he innocent in general?
If you look at Job's life from beginning to his present condition, was he free?
Was he clear?
Was he innocent?
Was his life lived perfectly sinlessly?
No, of course it wasn't.
Job was made innocent.
By the blood of his Redeemer, the one who in his life would one day come and shed his blood on the cross for Job's redemption from sin.
All the sacrifices and offerings Job made every day were pointing to that Redeemer in whom he had already placed his faith.
Now skipping ahead briefly to Job 19, verses 25 through 26.
Job 19, 25 through 26.
Job said, For I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Now why would he need a Redeemer?
Because he's a sinner.
For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
Sounds like he knew about the book of Revelation, too, doesn't it?
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
So Job admits of a physical perishing, and the Bible tells us the wages of sin is death.
He admits of a physical perishing when the worms destroy his body.
He also confesses that he will not utterly perish, because in his flesh he will see God.
So if you question whether Job was a Christian, this is his testimony right here as we read it later, much later in Job 19.
His testimony includes what will happen when he dies, and he is just as sure of it as if it had already happened.
That's called faith.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
So I believe we can conclude that Elifaz's question about whether the innocent ever perished was to be applied to some earthly sin he imagined Job had committed.
Now the next part of Eliphaz's question to Job is, look back in the text.
Or where were the righteous cut off?
Now the righteous are the upright, and cut off means to literally means to hide or to conceal, but it's often used to describe the killing of those who were cut off.
If they were cut off, they were killed in in most cases.
And we're about to see where Eliphaz is really stepping over the line When it comes to what he's saying about the righteous, because now he's not just impugning Job.
He's about to impude God.
And he doesn't, I know he doesn't mean to.
You go back to Job chapter 2, verse 3.
Where Satan is challenging God about Job In other words, Job worships you because you've given him everything.
Job worships you because you protect him.
You put a hedge about him.
And to Satan God said, listen to Job 2, 3, and the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?
a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil, and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him to destroy him without cause.
It was God who called Job upright, which is the same word as righteous in our current verse that we're looking at.
And God has shown us in his word that he frowns upon those who destroy the innocent. and the righteous.
So if God called Job righteous, then Eliphaz is wrong for implying that Job's per may be perishing because of a lack of righteousness.
He's flat wrong.
And I begin uh I I believe that Elifaz again was speaking in an earthly sense when it came to the uh uprightness, the righteousness.
And I want to make sure you're clear here.
Maybe this is just a good reminder for you, or maybe it's the first time you've learned about it.
I want to make sure that you're clear on the difference between practical righteousness and positional righteousness.
From time to time, my wife and I have had conversations about people whose lives have just spiraled gone downhill.
Maybe they were in legal trouble and were arrested.
Or maybe their scandalous behavior caused them to lose everything they had.
And sometimes my wife will say, and she just reduces things to the most simple terms, it's wonderful, she'll say, they just need to do right.
And what she's speaking about is the practical righteousness they need to show. 100% surefire way to never lose a bar fight is don't go into a bar.
And we love to watch uh cold case and homicide investigation, forensic files, 48 hours, you name it, we're watching it.
And do you know how so many of those tragedies begin?
She and her friend went to a bar.
She and her friend went to an after party.
She met up with some guy that she was talking to online.
That's how so many of them end up in their and they're tragic.
But whenever backing up to these people whose lives have spiraled out of control, I'm not talking about homicide victims here.
I'm just talking about anybody in general whose life has gone out of control, one or both of us will say, he needs the Lord.
She needs the Lord.
So what we're referring to there isn't a case of practical righteousness, but positional righteousness Our positional righteousness is not based on our practical righteousness.
In fact, this is where all the false religions of the world get it wrong.
Every one of them.
They teach some form of works-based salvation.
The Bible teaches that we are righteous.
Because we are in Christ by faith in what he did for us, not what we did for him.
What we do for him is practical righteousness.
What he did for us allows us to be righteous positionally.
He did that when he shed his blood and died and was buried and rose again to the Father's right hand.
And based on our position in Christ, based on our positional righteousness His Spirit enables us to live out our practical righteousness.
I'm not saved because I don't steal.
I don't steal because I'm saved.
Our positional righteousness cannot fail.
But our practical righteousness can.
And it can because we live in a fleshly body that wants to sin.
We still live, we have this Adamic nature.
We got it from Adam, and until this body goes in the ground, we're still going to have it.
And that's why this body must perish.
It must be destroyed.
It must die.
This fleshly body will not go with us when we go to see Jesus.
He says in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be changed And we'll have a glorified body that is not only positionally righteous, but practically righteous as well, without fail.
And I believe Eliphaz knew that Job was positionally righteous, but I also believe, and it appears clearly enough for me in this text. that Eliphaz thought Job's practical righteousness had failed him, so he was on the receiving end of God's chastening.
And that appears to be Eliphaz's reasoning here for what he is saying.
Look now in verse 8 with me, please As Eliphaz continues, even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same.
So plowing iniquity is plowing wickedness.
Let's look at the word plow, which is a very lively metaphor here.
Plowing season is upon us, isn't it?
And some people like me This is about as much of a risk as you'll ever see me take.
Some people like me plant before tax day.
Even at the end of March.
Now I know I'm taking a chance of a frost.
You don't even have to have a freeze.
All you need is a frost.
And It weakens and kills your plants, especially if the seeds haven't come up yet.
The Hebrew word for plow here.
Means to cut in, to engrave, to devise.
And so as you can see, the word strongly implies effort, diligence. even if it is diligence in the wrong thing.
When I plow my garden, I devise a plan to turn over the dirt and to make furrows and mounds.
And then I execute that plan before putting my seeds in the ground.
I do not plow by accident or plow in ignorance.
I plow purposefully.
And when one plows iniquity, he is engraving iniquity on his heart and even with his hands.
He has not stumbled upon iniquity, but rather he has planned for it.
He's made peace with it.
And by the way, the Hebrew word for plow is translated as the word peace more than it is any other word in the Old Testament.
So not only are the plowers of iniquity the subjects of what Eliphaz is saying here, but also, look back, it says, and sow wickedness.
That is, those who plow iniquity and those who sow wickedness.
And again, we have a farming metaphor here.
In Psalm chapter 28, David I believe aptly describes what we're trying to learn when it comes to sowing wickedness and plowing iniquity.
Let me read you Psalm 28, verses 3 through 4.
David wrote, Draw me not away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors.
But mischief is in their hearts.
Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors, give them after the work of their hands, render to them their dessert.
What do the workers of iniquity do?
They speak peace to their neighbors.
But they're not actually plowing peace.
They're not sowing seeds of peace.
And that piece in that psalm is shalom, which is not it's not the same piece as the word plowing is also translated into.
It's a little different.
But if the workers of iniquity are speaking peace but not sowing seeds of peace, then what are they sowing?
They're sowing mischief.
That's what the psalmist said.
The psalmist said the mischief is in their hearts.
How many of you have ever been a car salesman?
I don't mean you sold your car off the lot.
I mean you were a car salesman.
You had a a general distinguishing number.
All right.
Well if you don't know what that is, you weren't a car salesman.
Okay, I don't hate car salesmen, but I think what they do gives us a fine example of of what we're trying to learn here about plowing iniquity and sowing wickedness.
As a longtime polygraph examiner, I have a pretty good knack for being able to tell when I'm being lied to and I don't need the instrument anymore.
And that's the reason I don't do the haggling when it comes to buying cars for the Shepherd Fleet.
My wife does it.
She is the best haggler in the world.
And she does it with the same sweet personality you see when you talk to her in here.
Because when I hear a car salesman tell me My manager and I are going to work with you today, Mr.
Shepard, to get you in that nice new pickup out front.
Do you know what I actually hear when they're saying that?
My manager and I have conspired to drain your bank account as much as we can and make you like it.
That's what I hear, and that's why I can't do that I'm more likely to go find a widow woman who's trying to sell her husband's pickup, and it's about five years old and in good shape.
Right off of her parking lot and take it home and then take it to my mechanic and fix whatever's wrong with it than I am to buy a brand new car I don't buy the nice guy handshaking persuasive sales pitch act.
I know exactly what that is.
I know exactly what is being plowed and sown. in that conversation.
It's price gouging for the sake of a quick profit.
And I have no tolerance for it.
And I believe in a capitalistic society and they can charge whatever they want and I can also walk away.
That's the beauty of it, isn't it But my wife, on the other hand, knows the same thing I do.
She knows what these people are trying to do, but she is very patient.
And it's no miracle at all for her to walk away.
With a new vehicle and pay 25% less than what the sticker price was on it.
That's what she did with my pickup out here over 10 years ago.
And I don't know if this helped you or not, but I think it's important to know just what Eliphaz was insinuating here in his words about plowing and sowing, uh, iniquity and wickedness.
And Job stood falsely accused of those things, at least by way of implication, based on what Eliphaz is saying.
So next week we'll pick up right there.
Where we left off, Lord willing, and I sure appreciate you all coming, and I appreciate every one of you who who watch this online, just like if you were here.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for what we've learned today.
And Lord, I pray that we just meditate on it because it's so good.
It's food worth chewing and worth, and it nourishes us spiritually.
And Father, we pray for our pastor and for our people during the next hour that our praise and song, our prayers and Lord, the preaching of your word. would be pleasing to you, and that we would grow thereby, in Jesus' name, Amen
