Growing in the Grace of Listening

Though troubles assail, and dangers affright, Though friends should all fail, and foes all unite, Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide, The Scripture assures us the Lord will provide.

The birds, without barn or storehouse, are fed. From them let us learn to trust for our bread. His saints, what is fitting, shall ne'er be denied, So long as it is written, The Lord will provide.

No strength of our own, or goodness we claim, Yet since we have known the Savior's great name, To this our strong tower, for safety we hide, Almighty His power the Lord will provide. We have admonition and our encouragement to tell you that God has provided the long prayed for and long awaited liver transplant for our brother Stuart Waugh. And I must admit to you that there have been times along this journey where I doubted, I didn't doubt the Lord, but I feared that those who were making the decisions were simply running out the clock on him because of his age, because of the scarcity of livers, because of the cost and the risk. And I'm not the only one who wondered what the will of God was concerning our brother. This is a text from Laverne on August the 20th, so it will be two weeks tomorrow that she texted this, and this was a text in response to the last time, prior to this occasion, that they had been called to the hospital, that there was a liver available.

And she writes, this is the third time we have been at the hospital 12 hours, but the tests have come back and shown problems, maybe HIV or COVID. She writes, somehow our sovereign God has closed this door three times, so maybe we should rethink transplant. Please pray for the Lord to give wisdom.

So, again, nobody has a crystal ball. We've been bringing this need before the Lord for years. I don't know exactly how long, but I surmise that it's been nearly 20 years that our brother has struggled with liver failure, and more acutely in recent years. And God has sustained him and kept him alive, and he has gone through the surgery. He's in ICU. He is off the ventilator, which is a tremendous praise and cause for rejoicing. Laverne was able to talk to him. We got this text early this morning that she was able to talk to him, that he was lucid. His words were a bit slurred because of the medication he was on, but he was happy in the Lord.

18th century Scottish theologian P.T. Forsyte said, quote, We shall come one day to a heaven where we shall gratefully know that some of God's great refusals were sometimes the true answers to our truest prayer. End of quote.

God said no many a time, and we did not know what God was doing, but we have cause for rejoicing this evening. This is a response from Juma, a Ruby, in Zimbabwe. Just to remind you of Juma, Juma Pastors Reflections Baptist Church. He and his brother Sayyidi were converted out of Islam. I don't know which of the two came to Christ first, but in the early years of Stuart's ministry, these two men came to Christ and have been involved in pastoring churches there. Sayyidi Pastors Village Baptist Church in Shurigui, and Juma Pastors Reflections Baptist Church.

And this is what Juma wrote yesterday. Oh, Pastor needs prayers for the Lord. Help us each and every step in my life for my family. May the hand of God be upon my family, my kids growing in this hostile world. May our Lord Jesus Christ lead, guide them each day. Pray for the brethren and sisters in our churches for their spiritual growth.

Pray for us that none of us will be affected with this pandemic. And of course, Pastor Wah. The Lord Jesus Christ has brought us together with him from a long way.

I love him. Our hearts are knitted together before the Lord. May our dear Lord's powerful hand continue his purpose and his will unto Pastor Wah.

So there you see the heart of Juma, and his heart is a reflection of all these men's hearts for Stuart, who's been sidelined and removed from the front lines, involved from a distance there in Johannesburg, but not there among the men in the churches. But we're rejoicing, rejoicing that the Lord has provided a liver and brought our brother through the surgery, and for the days ahead that God will strengthen him and keep him from illness and disease and keep him from rejecting this organ, and that he'll be stronger than he's been for a very long time. I came across this in my devotions. This man who's writing this devotion says, I was bragging to my wife recently about how my default setting is gratitude. When I pray during the day, I'm usually saying thank you God for something, for salvation, for forgiveness, for health, for family, for business, and on and on.

He says that's a good thing. Scripture is filled with verses about being grateful. But then I read this from Thomas Kelly, quote, When I give thanks, my thoughts still circle around me and to some extent, but in praise, my soul ascends to self forgetting adoration, seeing and praising only the majesty and power of God, his grace and his redemption. And then this man says there's a me and mine in my prayers that I hadn't noticed before.

To some extent that's appropriate, but there is something else, something more, something better. He says, how about our prayers of pure praise, of adoration, prayers expressing our awe of God, the wonder of a Heavenly Father so big and powerful and creative that he made this world and everything in it. So that's a good reminder, because sometimes we really have to stop and examine our lives and say, are we interested in God for what we get from him or are we a follower of him and we love him simply because of who he is?

And I don't think it's an either or, it's a both and. We're grateful for every blessing that comes from God. We acknowledge that every good and perfect gift comes from him. But when providence turns dark and we're not receiving good things from God, good things from our perspective, are we still faithful? Are we still lovers of God? Are we still looking to him in faith and trust? I trust that we are, but that's more of a mature faith.

We need to come to the place where we can say that, as Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him? So with these things in mind, would you bow with me as we begin with prayer this evening? Our Father and God, we bow in your presence and we say with the psalmist that from the rising of the sun until its setting, your name is to be praised. We praise you, our God, for the perfections of your being. We praise you, O God, for your sovereign rulership of this universe that you created. We marvel, our God, at the intricacies of the universe that we know, parts of the universe that man has yet to glimpse into and yet you have created it all.

And you uphold everything by the power of your word. You set the planets in their orbits. You set the stars in their place and you name them all. And we marvel that we can't even get an accurate count of how many stars there are in the created universe. Lord, we marvel that you're such a God, that you are majestic and you are awesome and you are worthy of our praise and our worship and our adoration. And as transcendent as you are, we are equally marveled at your willingness to condescend and come to us, come to this earth in the person of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and became like one of us, yet without sin, that he might go to the cross of Calvary and die as a substitute for sinners. Lord, we thank you that you know us. You know us better than we know ourselves. You know our thoughts. You know our motives. You know what we're going to say before we say it. You know us in such a way that it is beyond our comprehension.

You know the very hairs on our head. They are numbered to you, how great a God you are. So we come before you tonight with thanksgiving in our hearts for answered prayer on behalf of Stuart Waugh. Our hearts are rejoicing with Laverne and the family and the brethren and the churches there in Zimbabwe and everyone who knows this man for your kindness in providing this liver for him. How we pray that you'll superintend him in the hospital, keep him from infection, keep him from sickness, give wisdom to the doctors as they care for him. May his body accept this liver. May he continue to regain strength and soon be out of the hospital and reunited with his family. Lord, we believe you have yet purposes for this man.

How we long to see him back in the saddle, as it were, with his men, training them, directing them. Lord, we would pray to that end. Thank you for hearing our prayers. Thank you that you've helped us not to become weary in well doing.

Thank you that you've kept us steadfast in this matter. We come to you and ask that you'd meet with us tonight and help us, Lord, as we consider your word and the needs of our lives and the needs of our country and needs of the churches that are seeking to be faithful to you in this hostile, dark, and decaying world. Lord, we thank you for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, for forgiveness of sins. Lord, we thank you that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We thank you that we are adopted into the family of God, that we are children of thine. Help us to rejoice in our blessings.

Help us to rejoice in our privileges. Lord, we confess our sins to you and our failures, and yet we're thankful that when we are faithless, you remain faithful. So hear us tonight, not for our sakes, but for the sake of your dear, beloved Son, who loved us and gave Himself for us. We pray in His name. Amen.

We're glad that we can meet again this evening this way. We had every intention to do that last Sunday night, but in God's providence, we had technical difficulties that were outside of our control that we could not fix, did not know how to fix, and it took Comtech to come to our rescue on Monday morning. So that's the reason we were not able to livestream on Sunday evening, and understand that that was something that was not just unique to our church, but many, many churches in this area were unable to livestream their services on Sunday.

We weren't able to do that Sunday morning either. I don't think Pastor Barkman knew that while he was preaching, but that message has been archived, and I would strongly encourage you, if you didn't hear it, if you weren't here, that you would go back and listen to that message. It blessed my heart.

It was a well-crafted, well-prepared, well-delivered sermon that will help you, encourage you, and build you up in the most holy faith. Well, Coffee and Courage is beginning their new year. It begins next Tuesday, September the 8th. 9.15 is the starting time. Marty and the ladies are asking you to be present at 9 o'clock in the fireplace room of the Fellowship Hall.

If you've not picked up a book, they're available here at the Usher Station for $15. And there will be a nursery provided for the weekday sessions. There will be a Saturday, once a month meeting, starting sometime in September.

We don't know the date of that yet, so just an alert to all of our ladies. Coffee and Courage begins next Tuesday morning. Psalm 40, verse 5, Many, O Lord, my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Well, we've got an awful lot to communicate to you on the prayer side of your sheet, if you're able to download that off the internet.

Just follow me as I walk us through these things. We're praising the Lord for the safe arrival of two children. Logan Timothy Starnes arrived on August 24, weighing 6 pounds and 14 ounces, son of Thomas and Aaron Starnes, and grandson of Alan and Priscilla Starnes. And then Holt Mason Shaw Peters arrived on August 28, weighing 7 pounds and 3 ounces.

He's the son of Joseph and Alex Peters, and grandson of Adam and Brenda Beatty Shaw, and great-grandson to Howard Beatty. So we're rejoicing with these couples and the grandparents in these blessings. John and Christina Doss, who were in a motorcycle accident, are much improved. We're praising the Lord for that. Likewise for Sarah Gilmore, who's healing nicely from a broken pelvis.

That's Anne Enoch's mother up in New York. Tyler Rankin is home from Duke Hospital. He was involved in a serious ATV accident, had some skull fractures that looked very life-threatening, but God has had mercy on him, and the recent CAT scan looks excellent, and he is now home from Duke Hospital. Three of our ESL students that we've been asking you to pray for, two who had COVID, have recovered from that. And, let's see, there was a lady who had a mass who was anticipating surgery. We don't know about that. And then Warren Rogers is doing well from surgery.

So those are all praises. Rob Conrad went to Chapel Hill today for another procedure with his kidney stones. He's staying the night. The last time he went, his blood pressure was a bit erratic, and so thank you for praying for Rob. Drew Guthrie had test results that were a bit concerning.

They've detected a small area that is bleeding, presence of a small mass, things that they're watching very carefully. So please uphold Drew Guthrie, who has come through quite a battle with cancer. Our Pope had a scheduled MRI for September 2.

It's been changed now to September 15. And he is struggling in this heat and humidity with his breathing. Under others, Scott Delory, who was in the hospital in the Philippines, has now been released, and he is home, has recovered from the fever that put him there.

So we're thanking God for that. Mary Hicks, who Elliot's aunt is now in rehab recovering from a heart attack. Mark Mitchell, a brother-in-law to a friend of Jane Latour's, is still in ICU on a ventilator with COVID. He's declining. The doctors are asking what Mark's wishes would be. So he is at a very precarious place.

So pray for him and his wife. Jack Petry continues on dialysis. Robert Sweet had a heart catheterization today. And Ryan is here in the auditorium with me tonight and told me right before we went on the air that they were able to locate the blockage, reduce the blockage, and put a stent in to bring relief to him. So we're very glad to be able to report that. And he's in a bit of discomfort and pain tonight because of the procedure, but they were able to do for him at Duke what they were not able to do for him here at the regional hospital.

Things look good for him moving forward. I know you're praying for the Sniders and the Johnsons and their needs under sympathy. We told you on Sunday that Duane Craig's mother, Janice Craig, died early, early Sunday morning at 4 o'clock. Pray for that family, for Duane's father as he deals with that.

And the entire family. Then a friend of ours, Julie Davis, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in November of last year, died in the last week and she was 57 years old, a friend, and it was hard to see her decline so rapidly. But the Bible does tell us, doesn't it, that through the outer man be wasting away, the inner man is being renewed day by day. So Julie is healed from this infirmity and enjoying a heavenly bliss even now. Under cancer, we're asking you to remember Tammy Reedling as she continues her treatments. And Ben Vestal, brother of Lori Craig and brother-in-law of Sue Vestal, is under hospice care and has declined any further treatments. So, pray for these needs.

Our government official of the week is Village of Alamance, Alder Member Timothy Wayne Isley. And I noticed on my sheet, I've written a name that is not on your sheet because we failed to get it on there, but I want you to be aware that Leanne Michaelhannon is having her thyroid removed next Wednesday, September 9. She spoke to me Sunday about that. I asked her if it was alright to share it with the church and she said yes. So Leanne is having her thyroid removed a week from today. So pray for her.

Okay. I've got a correspondence here from Herb and Wanda Taylor as they're involved in Hispanic outreach and ministry, just to remind you that they have a three-fold purpose to their ministry. Planting Hispanic Baptist churches, partnering with churches to reach Hispanics, and preparing Hispanic ministry leaders, those three focuses. And they've known the same kind of changes that we've known and disruption in their normal ministry schedules. He begins, 2020 has been a year of changes and challenges for all of us, hasn't it? And then he says, praise the Lord that we serve an unchanging God.

So they've had to adapt and live stream and think outside the box to carry on ministry, and yet they are doing that very thing. And he says this about these changes, he says, and maybe the best change of all is us learning to trust the Lord in ways we never expected in this unusual year. They're rejoicing in the enjoyment of a granddaughter. Wanda has some praises.

This is from their newsletter from Wanda's window. Praising the Lord for an increase in ministry support. Praising the Lord for virtually connecting with many of our supporters. Praising the Lord for several virtual speaking opportunities across the country from our dining room in South Carolina. And then please pray for wisdom as we plan to travel and minister this fall in Virginia and Pennsylvania, in New York and in Maine.

So that brief update concerning Herb and Wanda Taylor. The chat ministries that we collect used Bibles and literature and materials and send and they recycle, they write. In July we shared our need of some additional funds in order to get our shipping up to where it needed to be. You all came through in such a big way. Thank you all so much for your faithfulness and your burden to see materials shipped and in the hands of those in need.

We will update you all on exactly where these specific shipments will be going. And then just two other things about that ministry. He writes, we were able to have missionary Robbie Askewian from the Philippines at the TAP facility where he was able to pick up about five boxes of books which he was able to take with him and arrange his own shipment. We're grateful to be able to partner with this church and missionary due to COVID.

We've not been able to have many visitors come through. So we were excited for this opportunity. And then they write, during July we were able to ship three cartons to a missionary heading to Zambia, one carton to the prison ministry of CLI and we had five cartons picked up by missionary heading to the Philippines. We continue to have quite a few donations being made and to our cabinet on a weekly basis. And we are making plans for August shipments. Well, August is here and gone.

It's now September. I've got a newsletter here from David Anderson who is in Richmond ministering with Capital Commission among the legislators there. And he writes, what an exciting month of opportunities to strengthen the churches of Virginia in prayer for her leaders. Thank you for your prayers. We were so encouraged to hear the response of the people not only desiring a greater fervency in prayer for our leaders, but also a greater zeal to share the gospel of Christ with those around them and above them in leadership. He says, we covet your prayers especially for the capital cookout and prayer walk coming on the eve of the elections.

That's November 2 from 5 to 745. And he says, we thank you for your partnership in prayer and sacrificial generosity. May the Lord bless and grant the light of his glorious gospel to shine into the hearts of our leaders. And I was really encouraged. He included with this newsletter his Bible study that he gives to the legislators who are willing to take it.

And a large number do. And it was from Acts chapter 22 where Paul gave his conversion testimony. And there were three points to the sermon outline Bible study. Number one, a divine confrontation. Number two, a delayed calling.

And number three, a demanding commission. And David is an expositor and he walked through Acts chapter 22 under those three headings. And then what really thrilled me was at the end he had at the very bottom questions to ponder. And as I thought about the legislators who received this Bible study and heard David teach this Bible study, and they were challenged concerning these questions. Question number one, have you responded to the light of the risen Lord and obeyed his word, calling upon him as your Lord and Savior?

That's very pointed and to the point. Number two, has the light of Christ confronted your sin and have you repented and turned from your sin to receive him? I love the way David understands the gospel. There is no gospel.

There is no salvation apart from repentance. And acknowledging the lordship of Jesus Christ and bowing in submission to his lordship. Question number three, are you doing what God has called you to do through his messenger and his eternal word? So what an encouragement to see David standing in a place that I couldn't go, I couldn't have access to these men, but God has prepared him and given him this ministry and he is being faithful to hold forth the word of truth in that place. Well, would you turn with me in your Bible to James chapter one. James chapter one and I want to read one verse and then give just a brief story of introduction and then walk you through some practical instruction. We have this word in James chapter one in verse 19 and 20.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. It's been 26, 27 years ago that on Wednesday night in a church in Columbia, South Carolina, Three Rivers Baptist Church that was at that time pastored by Gary Scott, that after the Wednesday night prayer meeting, he would meet with a number of men who were preparing themselves for ministry. And he called this High Impact Discipleship. And I remember we had to sign a covenant and our willingness to do the homework and come prepared for these meetings that really extended our Wednesday evening long into the end of the night.

We would meet after prayer meeting and go maybe till 9, 30, 10 o'clock. I'm grateful for his willingness to prepare and give himself in mentoring me and the other men. And I remember him prefacing this approach with these words. Men, I want to share with you some things, had God not taught me, had I not learned, I don't think I would have survived in ministry. Well, that piqued my attention and I wanted to listen very, very carefully. And one of those things was what I want to set before you tonight, certainly not to the fullest extent, but it's this business of hearing, being quick to hear.

As I think about Gary, that's one of the things that impressed me about him. Preachers make their living. They're called to preach and to teach and we spend so much of our time talking. And there is a gift from God to be able to engage people and to listen and to hear people before you ever speak a word. People can tell whether you are listening to them and whether you are really engaged with them and really want to hear them out before you say what you have to say. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, swift to hear, or quick to hear, quick to hear, slow to anger or slow to wrath. And there's a relationship, I think, between these things because, and I want to speak to you in this context, when someone comes to you and has something they want to say to you that is a bit confrontational, they are maybe rebuking you, bringing something to your attention that they are concerned about, or being, we trust, constructive in their criticism about, it's not our first reaction to listen. There's something within us, a defense lawyer, that rises up and becomes defensive and we want to not hear and we want to be quick to respond and rebuttal and give our say.

And often times, it's not with the spirit of gentleness, it's not with the spirit of humility that it's mixed with irritation, it's mixed with anger. And there's something for us here. We're to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to grow and one area that we need to grow in, one area I need to grow in, is being a better listener. Be quick, quick to hear.

Slow to speak. Why is that difficult for us? Well, pride is one thing. We think we're right.

We think we have the most accurate assessment of ourselves. We sometimes interpret others' efforts to correct us or point out this or that as an attack upon us. And we need to constantly be aware of the temptation to be prideful and to be defensive and to be unteachable and to be unapproachable.

And those are not Christ-like qualities. So how can we grow in listening, in being quick to hear? I've got a number of things that there's certainly nothing inspired about this, but just some thoughts as I have thought about this and my desire to grow in this area. And I didn't want it just to be nebulous in general. I wanted to be specific, at least in my own mind, so that I know I have some markers that I can gauge and be able to say, you know what, I think I'm making some progress in this area. One of the things that I think is helpful is that we view people's attempts to correct us or point out things to us as a good thing, as a good thing. And if we can start with that, not be put off by it, not be defensive about it, but have a posture that, you know what, this is good. Because Psalm 141 verse 5 says, Let a righteous man strike me, it is a kindness. Let him rebuke me, it is oil for my head, let my head not refuse it.

A kindness, it's a good thing. And we need to pray that God will help us to be humble and receive input and admonition from our brothers and sisters. Maybe we struggle. I've been married for 43 years.

It will be 43 years come December the 2nd. And I promise you, it's not easy to receive correction from my wife. There's something about me that just rises up and resists that.

And I've had to work hard at not being carnal and sinful in my response. I don't want you to get the idea that she's a complainer and constant, oh, I've got a wonderful wife. But she knows me better than anybody knows me.

She knows my weaknesses and she's a gift from God to me to help me to grow and I need to receive from her. And when I don't, I'm the loser and not the winner in that. So number one, view correction as a good thing, a good thing. Number two, remember that there is a danger here of being wise in your own eyes. Proverbs 26 12. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for him than for a fool.

More hope for a fool than for him. What a temptation this is, being wise in our own eyes. I know it all. No one can tell me anything.

No one can instruct me. And there are a thousand variations of ways we can think that we are wiser than others and that we have a more accurate understanding of things than they do. And there's nothing sanctifying about that attitude. Remember the danger of being wise in your own eyes. Or to consider others as better than ourselves.

And here's an area where we can. Number three, consider that God might be behind this person coming to you. How difficult it is to be the one going to confront or point out something. It's not easy for them to put yourself in their shoes. And if it's a matter that has risen to that serious a matter that they're coming to you, that ought to alert you, I need to listen.

I need to not get defensive in my posture. There's something here for me that I need to learn. Number four, you must determine, I've come to this conclusion, I must determine that I really want to hear and understand the concern that this person is bringing to me.

Now, you can't divorce the message from the messenger. So, depending on who it is that's bringing it to you, we make an assessment without voicing a word, whether we're going to listen or whether we're going to tolerate this and dismiss it out of hand after this meeting is over. And we need to determine that we really want to hear and understand what this person's concern is. And sometimes we need to learn to ask questions to help us see, clarifying questions like, okay, now let me see if I understand what you're trying to say. Are you saying this?

Are you saying that? So that you understand what it is that they're concerned about. Number five, keep an open mind. Keep an open mind.

Wait until you have really heard that concern before you decide whether or not to disagree with it. See, to be quick to listen means we really try to hear what someone is saying before we disagree or interrupt or take a hard stand or give our rebuttal. Be quick to hear.

Not quick to speak, but quick to hear. Now, again, I admit that takes the grace of God working in our life because that doesn't come natural to us. But we need to grow in this grace, being quick to listen. This has helped me.

What is that? By reminding myself that God gives grace to the humble and He resists the proud. When I sense that I'm resistant, when I get upset, when I get angry, that is not growing out of a humble heart. That is growing out of a proud heart and God resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble.

See, a humble person takes the posture, you know, there is something maybe here I can learn. Maybe I'm wrong here. Maybe I need to correct. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm blind to something here. You see, I would rather humble myself than have God humble me.

And I think you would as well. Let's not forget that we all have blind spots. None of us have arrived.

None of us fully are sanctified. And it's amazing how quickly we can find and spot defects in other people and absolutely blind to defects in our own lives. And it takes a humble person to ask a person that we love and we trust, help me here. Do you see this in me? Do you see that in me? This person is saying this. This person is saying that. This isn't just one time.

Am I blind to this? You see, we need to grow in that way. Also, we need to be slow to defend ourselves. Slow to defend ourselves.

And again, that doesn't come easy because that's the first thing we want to do. But the Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. If someone disagrees with us, it doesn't mean they're necessarily attacking us.

And we will help the situation if we will grow in responding in gentleness and in humility. Be slow to defend yourself. God is perfectly able to defend you. You don't need to defend yourself.

Sometimes we feel like we have to. Think about the... I'm not sure this is the right word, but the quandary, humanly speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ found Himself in. He was being treated most unjustly, was not guilty of the crimes that were brought against Him, totally innocent. It was a travesty of injustice that was happening to Him on the human side. But on the divine side, what was Christ doing? Christ was satisfying divine justice. He was satisfying the just wrath of God towards sinners and He was going to the cross in order to do that. So here He was, committed to satisfying divine justice and at the same time suffering this incredible injustice. And what did He do? The Bible says He opened not His mouth. Made Himself of no reputation.

Was as a lamb going to the slaughter. How we need the mind of Christ. We need to learn to ask questions.

Learn to ask questions. That's also, I think, a gift from God. You see, accusations harden the heart. Questions probe the mind. And I think as parents we need to be better at that. We need to grow in that. It's easy to catch our kids doing something wrong and violating a house rule, or worse yet, violating and sinning against God and accusing them, bringing accusation. Accusations harden the heart.

They build walls. But if we can ask questions and preface the question with an acknowledgement of the wrong. Your mother told me when I came home from work that you lied to her. Why? Why did you determine that it was the best course of action to lie? And you begin to probe the heart and begin to get at the motive more than the action itself. God will honor that and bring conviction. This is something that I've had to learn.

It's easy to discard and write off the concern that's brought if it's brought in an improper way. If a person comes and they're all blustery and they're all emotional and they're a bit angry about whatever, it's easy to just say, well, even if they come in the wrong manner, there still may be something accurate about what they have to say. So let's try and be open-minded and try and learn. There may be a kernel of truth. They may have embellished it. They may have exaggerated it.

But what they're saying, there may be something to it. So rather than dismiss it completely out of hand, realize, you know what, there's something here. I need to acknowledge this. I need to grow. I need to change.

I need to improve my life. When someone does come to you, they know and you know whether you're just blowing them off, whether you're just tolerating them, whether you're just, you know. Some people are that way and some people are combative, you know, engaging.

You know, it's back and forth, back and forth. Well, neither approach is helpful and edifying and sanctifying. So even if initially you don't see what this person is wanting you to see, don't just dismiss it out of hand. Thank them for coming to you. And in sincerity say to them, you know what, I'll give some more thought to this. I will bring this before God. I will pray about this.

And truly mean that. Because in our emotional response, it may be blinding us to the truth. And we need to get some distance between the encounter and begin to think about this and say, you know what, the more I think about this, I think there is something to this. So those are just some thoughts about how we can really obey this admonition. My beloved brethren, let every man, let every person be swift, be quick to hear. Slow to speak, slow to wrath, slow to anger. For the anger of man, the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. May God use this to help us, to instruct us, to admonish us, to correct us, to rebuke us.

I think we need all of the above and more. Well, again, thank you for joining with me this evening. I will conclude our service and prayer as I remember some of these requests. We have a throne of grace. And I am so thankful tonight that it is a throne of grace and not a throne of judgment for the people of God. And we can come boldly to this throne and receive grace and mercy to help in time of need.

So let's go there right now. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight for your word. We thank you that it is light for our pathway. It's instructions for how we walk the straight and narrow way. Thank you that there is no ambiguity here in this commandment. We confess our failures in this way that we too often do not obey nor align our lives with this divine instruction. We violate this and as we do, we do harm to relationships and do not grow in grace like we would or could if we would have a different mindset. Lord, we need your help.

We need you. And we thank you that we do have the Spirit of God living in us to help us to will and to do according to your good pleasure. So help us to work this out in our everyday life. And perhaps as I've taught this evening, there is specific application the Holy Spirit has brought upon my hearers tonight. Some relationship, whether it's a husband and a wife or a father and his children or a worker or a brother or sister in Christ or a neighbor or some relationship that needs addressed.

We need to assume a new posture, a better posture, a more biblical posture that it may do us good and do that other person good. So help us in these critical areas, Lord, we pray. Thank you for this large number of praises that we have tonight for these babies that have been born into these homes and have brought such joy to them and the grandparents and to the church at large. Thank you that Sarah Gilmore is doing better. Thank you that Tyler Rankin is out of the hospital. Thank you that Robert Sweet got help today at Duke Hospital.

Thank you that John and Christina Doss are much improved from this motorcycle accident. And for our ESL students who've recovered from COVID, we thank you, God. We pray for Ben Vestal tonight as he would appear losing his battle to cancer. We pray that he would draw near to this man and help him to cling to Christ and to receive your help.

Help him to finish well, Lord. We pray for Tammy Reedling that you would arrest these cancer cells in her body and return her to a full measure of health. Thank you for her courage and for her perseverance in this fight over many years. We pray for Trevor and Theresa Johnson and the needs in their family and the decisions that they're making about returning to the field and when. We pray the same for Paul Snyder and his family. We pray for those of lost loved ones, for Duane Craig's family and his father and his sister and others who are traveling in for an acknowledgment of this passing.

For our friend Julie Davis, I think of her dad and how hard this no doubt has been for him. We thank you for Julie and the gifts that she had in her life and we pray that you'll minister to those who are sorrowing her passing. We thank you for Jack Petry and ask that you continue to help him to not become weary in well-doing as he continues in dialysis. For Mark Mitchell, for Mary Hicks, thank you for Scott Delory being returned to his home from his stay in the hospital. We pray for Art Pope as he is struggling with COPD and has his MRI scheduled on the 15th of September.

Continue to be with this man and save his wife, Lord, we pray. For Drew Guthrie, Lord, we pray that you'd help her not to give up, help her not to be discouraged, help her to look to you, help her to grow in her faith and dependence upon you. We pray for Rob Conrad as he's spending a night there in Chapel Hill that you'll draw near to him tonight and encourage his heart.

And for Leanne Michael-Hannon who's facing a thyroid surgery a week from today, we pray that that will go well. Lord, we thank you for Christ, the head of his church. We thank you for the gospel and its successes. We thank you, God, for the way you have blessed Beacon Baptist Church and its people. We pray that you'll continue to strengthen us and build us up in the most holy faith, strengthen us not only physically but in the inner man that we might carry on in the work of the gospel of our Savior. We thank you, God, for meeting our needs in abundance. We pray for this country and the turmoil and the unrest that we see on every hand. Lord, it's a symptom. It's symptomatic of a disease of sin that's rampant in this country.

Lord, unless there is a revival in this country, these symptoms will continue to manifest themselves. Lord, give courage to pastors and churches, to leaders to stand for truth and righteousness, to defend justice and oppose injustice. Give wisdom to mayors and governors and legislators and senators and congressmen and to our president. Have your will and way, our God, in this dark hour in which we desperately need you. Fill our hearts with hope and confidence that you are indeed ruling and reigning in this world. Dismiss us now with your benediction of blessing. Watch over us and keep us, we pray. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.