The Development of Persevering Faith, Part 2

Well, here we are again. Thank you for joining me on this Wednesday night for our live stream Wednesday night prayer service. I trust you've had the opportunity to enjoy these last couple of beautiful days, a bit of a tease that spring is on the cusp and we're looking forward to it. At least I am and I trust you are as well, but the sunshine was a welcome delight to us and the warm temperatures. God is good.

He's good all the time, but it's nice to enjoy this kind providence of God in the weather. Just a couple of announcements for you as we begin tonight. This coming Sunday night we are having a memorial service to honor the memory of Stuart Waugh. It will be a people present service, so we're inviting you to come. We will accommodate you and we will observe social distancing and sit every other pew. But I'm very much looking forward to this service.

We talked again a bit about it at staff meeting this afternoon, making sure that everything was in its place. There will be refreshments served after the memorial service just to encourage fellowship. And if you're of a mind to stay, we welcome you to do that and enjoy that extended time after the memorial service.

But that is this coming Sunday night. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20 and 21 printed at the top of the prayer sheet. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Wonderful promises there. It reminds us that our salvation is all of God from beginning to end. What's amazing to me, the more I understand the purposes of God in salvation, that what God demands of us, what God requires of us, He has provided for us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God demands a perfect righteousness.

What else would we expect a perfect God to demand but a perfect righteousness? Well, that creates a real dilemma for us because we are unrighteous. The best we can do, our best works, our best effort is with filthy rags. So where do we turn?

What do we do? How do we meet this obligation of a perfect righteousness? Well, God has given it to us in His Son, the perfect righteous one. And when a man or a woman or a boy or a girl believes upon the Lord Jesus Christ, casts themselves upon Him to the saving of their soul, God grants to them a perfect standing because a perfect righteousness has been imputed to them.

But it's not just that. Two weeks ago, we took up the subject of the development of a persevering faith. Faith is a critical, critical matter in the Christian life. The writer of Hebrews says, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Impossible. We must have faith, faith in God to please Him. Well, here we are again, apart from the grace of God, apart from the intervention of God in our lives, we have no faith. Faith is a gift of God, for by grace are you saved through faith and this not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Some will look at that passage in Ephesians chapter 2 and say, well, the gift of God has nothing to do with faith, it has everything to do with the grace of God. Well, if you are a Greek grammar student, something I learned in Bible college and seminary, that reasoning will not fly. You cannot impose that on the text there in Ephesians chapter 2. You have to, you can't exclude grace from the discussion of faith.

It has to all be taken as one unit. So, for by grace are you saved through faith and it is a gift of God. What is a gift of God? Grace and faith. It is a gift of God.

Not of works, lest any man should boast. So, God must impart a faith to us that is required of Him in order that we would please Him. But God is not interested in just a static faith. God is not interested in just a one time faith that we exercise one time and we are void of it the rest of our lives.

No, God is interested in the development of faith. A persevering faith, a vibrant faith, a growing faith, a tested faith. And this verse in Hebrews chapter 13 speaks of God's activity. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight.

Working in you what is well pleasing in His sight. So, faith is an active thing. Faith is a living thing. And God is actively involved in the producing and the developing of faith. Now, faith is the gift of God, but we must exercise that faith. God won't exercise it for us, but if God imparts it to us, then it is our responsibility to act on that.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Holiness is another matter akin to a perfect righteousness. Be ye holy, for I am holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

Uh-oh. God commands holiness from us. Well, because of our struggles yet with this broken world and sin, we are not perfectly holy.

We are unholy many times. So, what has God done? God has come to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. And He's taken up residence in the life of every believer.

Well, why has He done that? Well, for a number of reasons, but one reason is to superintend a process of growing in holiness, of growing in sanctification, becoming more like the Lord Jesus Christ. So, do you see, as I suggested from beginning to end, God is the author and the finisher of our faith. We owe it all to Him. But again, same as holiness, pursuing holiness.

I mean, the same as we must exercise the faith God gives, we must cooperate with the Spirit of God in this pursuit of holiness. So, that's what we want to consider further tonight as we're considering here in the book of Job the development of persevering faith, but we'll get back to that here in a moment. Prayer requests, a bit briefer this evening than we usually are. Our government official of the week is Haw River Mayor Pro Tem H. Lee Lovett. And our college student of the week is Micah Latour, who is taking classes at Alamance Community College. Marseille Councilman is recovering from eye surgery and we're thankful that that has gone well and it's just a process that she's got to work through, talk about persevering.

On your back, cannot move for nearly a week while your eye heals. Drew Guthrie, continue to remember this sister as she's battling with cancer and has fought a good fight. She is persevering in the faith, but she needs our prayers, she needs our encouragement. Charlie Watkins is at home, she has been in and out of the emergency room a couple of times in the last few weeks.

So, pray that she regains her strength and can avoid COVID-19. Under missionaries, I'm confident as we've been reminding you of Stuart Waugh and his passing and the memorial service that we'll be holding for him, that you have been reminded of Laverne and the family as they are grieving Stuart's home going. Please remember Laverne.

Mike Webster as he's battling colon cancer. We are expressing our sympathy as a church to the family of Mary Hilda Hicks. This is an aunt of Sue Elliott who died last week and then the family of Ronnie Wright, a friend of Tony and Dolly Benesch, also passed away last week. Under shut-ins, we have one name that's highlighted and that is Betty Duncan, who is just weak and just dealing with chronic back pain.

If you would, remember her in your prayers. A couple of things related to missions. Here's a thank you from David and Lynn Champlin in Suriname. They write, Dear Beacon, we wanted to wish you a joyous holiday and a blessed new year, 2021. Thank you for your faithful giving toward us over the past years. Folks, when we get these thank you notes, I've had this one for several weeks, but it was dated December 28th. It reminds us of how far-flung some of the missionary families that were in partnership are, how far away they are from us.

They continue here. Lynn has been busy assisting coworkers and family who live outside of the area with purchases, banking, and paperwork. He has preached as the regulations have allowed. Friends and church leaders have sought him out for counseling. Lynn has been teaching online all semester.

With the extra time needed to format, the learning process has put her way behind in correspondence. Over the holidays, we were able to host a Bible study group for Pete's after months of not being together. The traditional holiday gatherings were canceled, but we have been able to bake sweet breads, which David enjoys delivering, along with the visits which accompany them. So may the Lord be with us as we await a better 2021, David and Lynn Champlin.

This is a... It says, We are grateful for your gift to Samare. This is the project that we took up to help replace a float plane that John Harmon had made us aware of. We're grateful for your gift to Samare, which will help us replace our lost float plane. This aircraft is uniquely equipped to support Kingdom Ministries in the most remote corners of the Amazon rainforest. Thank you for your partnership, making it possible for us to quickly restore critical float plane service to the peoples of the Peruvian jungle. We count it our privilege to share in the Gospel with you. So that was very encouraging to see the broad and generous response to that need.

They raised, I think, a quarter of a million dollars to not only replace the float plane, but a hangar and other things. So very, very encouraging to see God's people responding to that need. Here is a letter from Tony and Kathy Payne dated February 22.

They write from South Africa. Dear Pastor Barkman and Friends at Beacon, South Africa's second surge of COVID infections has been exponential and highly ineffective due to our own variant, 501YV2. Our president put the country under lockdown level 3 on December 28 due to the year-end summer holiday in beach mode. On February 1, the lockdown was eased and churches have been able to begin to meet again. However, Edinhoven Baptist Kirk is still without a venue to meet since the government school where we have held services since 2010 will not be allowed churches to use their facilities as long as the pandemic requires extra caution. So that brings about a prayer request. And will you please pray for the Lord to move on the principle of a small preschool to grant us permission to meet at their facility.

It is an excellent location and it is central to our people in Edinhoven. It is a joy to meet again in person even with social distancing and masks. That is, they've been meeting outside of their home. As yesterday was the fifth time we've been able to meet at our home, we're thankful that our neighbors, Brian and Natasha, visited our services again. They know that they are lost and they are concerned about their souls, especially since their friend and housemate, Ben, died suddenly in September.

I had witnessed to him at his home and in our home just before the COVID lockdown first began in March of 2020. Brian and Natasha also heard the gospel along with Ben last year. Brian and Natasha attended one service last year and Ben had asked for a home service just before lockdown. Natasha came to visit Kathy last Wednesday and Kathy was able to share from my message from Galatians about justification by faith alone in Christ. So they're asking prayer for Brian and Natasha, this couple that God is dealing with.

They're coming under conviction of sin, dealing with their lostness, aware of it, so that's all a work of God and His grace. Since our January prayer letter, Kathy, who is a registered nurse, has volunteered with the Western Cape Health Department to help with the vaccine rollout, particularly in Delft, but anywhere in the city of Cape Town, Metropolis. Will you pray for the Lord to open this door of ministry for her if He so wills? As of this weekend, only 10,000 of the 80,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had been administered and all for healthcare workers. There are another 500,000 doses to be delivered in four weeks and a further 500,000 doses shortly thereafter, but this is far short of the 40 million doses needed for herd immunity that is targeted by sometime in 2022.

So just an update from the pains. Well, let's turn to the Word of God, Job chapter 1. We find in this first chapter a bit of a drama in the historical narrative that's given to us about a man named Job.

There are four scenes that make up the chapter, and we have been considering this chapter under these four headings. Verses 1 through 5, faith stated. Verses 6 through 12, faith challenged. And then tonight we will look at verses 13 through 19, faith tested, and then scene 4, verses 20 through 22, faith sustained.

But let me read the chapter, and then we'll get into our study. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

Also, his possessions were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, thus Job did regularly. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it. Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? So Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, around all that he has on every side?

You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person.

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. I'm going to stop there and we'll pick up at verse 13 in a minute. But I want to read an excerpt out of Johnny Erickson taught his book, A Place of Healing. An excellent, excellent book, A Place of Healing. Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty. Listen to this woman's perspective on suffering. She says, To be confronted with suffering, whether observing it in another or struggling against it with your own aches and pains, to be confronted with affliction is a reminder that something immense and cosmic is at stake. A heaven to be reached, a hell to be avoided, and a life on earth to be lived seriously and circumspectly. Our souls are the battleground on which massive spiritual battles are right now, right this minute being waged.

And the stakes are enormous beyond our conception. Here on earth, we're being observed by both the sons and daughters of God, and by those who have not yet bowed their knee to the Lordship of Jesus. And beyond these earthly eyes, there are other eyes in the spirit realm, both angelic and demonic, who observe and take note whether or not we trust our God in the crucible of trials and afflictions.

And those who have gone on before us, are they watching too? Some interpret Hebrews 12 one to mean that they literally are saints seated in heavenly grandstands, observing our battles and cheering us on to triumphs of faith. There is yet another reason why right now counts for eternity. The New Testament brims over with the promise of everlasting rewards for those who remain faithful to their calling, even in the face of great suffering. To the suffering believers in Smyrna, Jesus said, Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2 10. Every day of our short lives, even every hour, has eternal consequences for good or ill. Eternity and the way we'll live in it is somehow being shaped by our moment-by-moment responses to the life we have before us to live right now. And so it is only fitting that God should give us some sense of the stakes involved. I'm so grateful that life for us is not an easy road. Now think about who's saying that.

A woman who has suffered with quadriplegia for over 50 years. I am so grateful that life for us is not an easy road. If it were, if the Lord did not occasionally give us a taste of hell's splashover, you and I would soon forget that this world is not our home. I'm also grateful that He opens our eyes from time to time to the magnitude of the spiritual war we are in. He does this by giving us wonderful fortes of glory divine in the joys we experience.

And He does it by allowing us fortes of hell in our suffering. Whatever we are experiencing today, we can be reminded of the eternal stakes involved. She says that too keeps me going.

It's not easy going on right now in my life, but I must go on and I will go on until He calls me home. And for however many more days He gives me to live for Him on this side of heaven, every one of them counts forever. And I thought that was just a good perspective as we begin to revisit this classic narrative of Job.

And again, very quickly, a review. Faith is stated. Job's faith is stated in verse 1 that he was a man blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. And God reminded Satan when Satan came into his presence about Job. And we have the words of verse 8. Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job?

And almost the identical words of verse 1 are said again in verse 8. There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. Now it's one thing to have a reputation as a God-fearing man, a man of integrity, a man of character, one who fears God and shuns evil, but it's another thing when God Almighty says that about a man. And that's God saying that about a man named Job. Here is faith stated. And there are many other things said about Job, but our interest is in this man and his faith and the development of persevering faith.

So faith is stated. And then we have scene 2 where his faith is challenged. And when God asks Satan, Have you considered My servant Job? And then gives this description of him. What does Satan say?

Does he say, No, I don't know who you're talking about. Job who? No, he knew exactly who he was talking about. Which seems to indicate that Satan had been trying to get at Job. He'd been observing Job's life. And he knew a lot about Job. He knew about his large family.

He knew about his wealth. He knew about how God had hedged him in and how God had blessed him and how he was a man who feared God and worshiped God. All those things are stated in the text that Satan knew about Job.

But Satan challenges Job's faith. And in essence he says to God, Yes, he worships you. Yes, he serves you.

But it's because it pays him to do so. You've bought his worship. Who wouldn't worship a God who blessed him the way you've blessed this man?

But take away his stuff and he'll curse you to your face. In other words, Satan was suggesting that Job worship God out of self-interest. That it paid him to continue to worship God.

The stakes were too high not to. That he served God out of self-interest. And God responds to this challenge as he's challenging Job's faith. Verse 11, this was the challenge. Stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will surely curse you to your face. That's the challenge. God's response, and the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power.

Only do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. And that brings us to verses 13 through 19, which I've entitled Faith Tested. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And a messenger came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them when the Sabeans raided them and took them away. Indeed, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking another also came and said, The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking another also came and said, The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away. Yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking another also came and said, Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people and they are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you. Faith tested.

I don't know how that scene sets with you, but it is sobering. We are in awe of the devastation and the calamity that has come upon this man. In rapid fire succession, Job's life was hit by a tidal wave of disaster.

And who is behind it? Well Satan is behind it with his malice and his persistence and his agenda to destroy, to crush, to destroy this man's faith. There was no warning that came to Job.

It just happened in rapid fire succession. No word of warning from the Lord. Verse 15, the Sabeans came. He lost his servants, his cattle. Verse 16, while that man was still speaking, lightning came and killed all the sheep and the servants. Verse 17, while he was yet speaking, his camels, his servants and all of his children, seven sons and three daughters.

Who of us can comprehend the horror of Job's circumstances? He lost all of his wealth, all of his servants, all of his children in a single day. God tested his faith. God sorely tested his faith. And the question is, why does God test our faith? Why does God test our faith? Well God tests our faith to see the genuineness of it, whether we have real faith or whether we have a counterfeit. God tests the quality of our faith. God tests the strength of our faith. Someone has said, if you obey God only because He blesses you, the shallowness of your faith will show up in the time of testing. Faith that is not tested cannot be trusted.

Faith that is not tested cannot be trusted. It may help us to understand more fully why God allows Satan to attack Job through the trial of suffering if we keep in mind the nature of trials. In the Bible, trials have a double aspect. Satan has one purpose and one agenda, God has another. Satan uses trials to seduce the believer into sin and disobedience. And he wants us to dishonor God by doubting his love and doubting his goodness.

God uses the same trial not as an enticement to sin, but as a test to strengthen our faith so that He may use us more fully for His purposes. God is interested in the development of persevering faith. O for a faith that will endure, though pressed by many a foe, a faith that always stands secure through every earthly woe, that will not murmur nor complain beneath the chastening rod, but in the hour of grief or pain can lean upon its God. A faith that shines more bright and clear when tempests rage without, that when in danger knows no fear in darkness feels no doubt. A faith that keeps the narrow way till life's last spark is fled and with a pure and heavenly ray lights up a dying bed. And then the hymn writer concludes the last stanza with a prayer request, O Lord, give me such a faith as this, and then, whatever may come, I'll taste and hear the hallowed bliss of an eternal home. Job's faith was tested.

This is not an isolated case. I submit to you tonight that God tests the faith of every one who has faith, because God is not interested in a static faith. Faith is like a muscle.

It must be exercised. Because God is interested in the development of persevering faith. So, child of God, tonight, whatever it is that God has brought into your life, yield yourself, submit to God, understand God's agenda.

God is far, far, far more interested in the development of your persevering faith than He is of rescuing you out of the temporary pain that you're in. Because what God is doing has eternal consequences. God wants you to honor Him in the midst of whatever it is He's brought into your life. Again, Psalm 50 verse 15 is a wonderful promise, worthy to commit to memory, worthy of meditation.

And it says this, God gives an invitation. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee, and you shall glorify me. Call upon me in the day of trouble, God says.

Why? Because we're confident that God has grace and mercy to help us in our time of need. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee. Heaven won't be silent. God will hear you. God will answer you. But God will answer you in such a way that you will be enabled to glorify Him, respond to your circumstances in such a way that it looks favorably upon the God you claim to believe and know. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee, and you shall glorify me.

That's what God wants. God wants to answer you and enable you to respond in such a way that He is glorified. I'm reading the last week or so in this little book by Sinclair Ferguson, Deserted by God. Deserted by God, and it's a collection of sermons. And I want to just read a couple of stanzas out of a poem to you.

Don't know the author of it, but I'll read the first and the last stanza. Twist gleams of joy and clouds of doubt, our feelings come and go. Our best estate is tossed about in ceaseless ebb and flow.

No mood of feeling, form of thought is constant for a day. But thou, O Lord, thou changest not the same thou art all way. The last stanza of the poem. Thy purpose of eternal good let me but surely know.

On this I'll lean, let changing mood and feeling come or go. Glad when thy sunshine fills my soul, not lorn when clouds or cast, since thou within thy sure control of love dost hold me fast. And then the words of this hymn written by John Newton that I think captures the confusion sometimes we face when clouds gather and circumstances become difficult and trials come and temptations come and we wonder, what is God doing? Listen to the words of this hymn by John Newton. I ask the Lord that I might grow in faith and prayer and every grace. Might more of His salvation know and seek more earnestly His face? Twas He who taught me thus to pray and He I trust has answered prayer.

But it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hoped that in some favorite hour at once He'd answer my request and by His love's constraining power subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, He made me feel the hidden evils of my heart and bade the angry powers of hell assault my soul in every part. Yea, more, with His own hand He seemed, intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair designs I schemed, blasted my gourds and laid me low. Lord, why is this, I trembling cried, wilt thou pursue thy worm to death? Tis in this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and faith. These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set thee free and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou mayest seek thine all in me.

That helps us, that helps me. Well, quickly tonight let's look at faith sustained. Faith sustained, faith stated, faith challenged, faith tested, now faith sustained. Verse 20, then Job arose, tore his robe and shaved his head and he fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. There is Job's response to this assault upon his life. We can understand his deep expression of grief and mourning. That was natural.

But what's recorded here is supernatural. He fell to the ground and he worshipped. Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head and he fell to the ground and he worshipped. And what did he say in verse 21?

Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job did not believe that he was entitled to anything. Job understood that he was a steward. Job understood that the God who gave him everything that he enjoyed had the prerogative to take it away when it pleased him.

And for whatever reason, Job understood that. Too many in our day have an entitlement mentality that somehow God owes us. God owes us health. God owes us a comfortable living. God owes us so many things. No, God doesn't owe us anything.

All good things come from God are sourced in grace. And Job understood that. He did not understand what was happening to him. He did not have an explanation for what was happening to him. But he did not do the one thing Satan said he would do. Satan said, touch him, touch his stuff, take his things from him and he'll curse you to your face God.

And Job said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, you notice what he started with. He started with the Lord gave. His focus wasn't on the Lord took away.

And that begs another question. Was it the Lord who took away or was it the Chaldeans? Or was it the Sabeans? Those were all secondary causes. Those were involved in the devastation that came upon him. He looked beyond all of that and he understood God, that God controlled all things. And he understood that God was behind it. That God had given and God had taken away. That it was God's prerogative to do so and he worshipped God.

He's saying God doesn't owe me anything. All that I possessed was held in stewardship for God. And as I've said, it will help us in our times of loss to remember this as well.

And I do not say that lightly. We're talking about the development of persevering faith. We're talking about the manifestation of a mature faith, a grounded faith, a faith that will take any blow and remain persevering.

That's what God is interested in developing in every one of us. And all this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. Faith sustained.

Now is that to Job's credit? I want you to know that the God who gives faith is a God who grows faith, tests faith, superintends faith, and is the God who produces persevering faith. Job was a man, a mere man, a godly man, an exemplary man, but he wasn't a sinless man.

But God kept him in that moment of crisis, in those days of crisis that he was going through. God will do the same for us. It is God's will, God's purpose. He's working in us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will.

Working in you what is well pleasing in his sight. Why? To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. That you might glorify him.

That's why. So, I trust that this has been helpful to you tonight. It is a book very worthwhile to pray over, read, study, meditate over.

Wonderful lessons here for us. Well, I want to pray. It's a burden tonight for Tony and Kathy Payne and their circumstances for this couple that God is dealing with, for their need of a meeting place. We're encouraged by the prospect of things improving rather quickly here in our country and here in our church. We're hoping that we will see things returning to a normal schedule sooner as opposed to later. So, pray with us about that end.

We need wisdom to know how to move forward wisely and not too quickly, but we don't want to be overly cautious. So, we have thought this through, been praying about this for weeks and months. And our first start will be on Sunday night with the memorial service for Stewart Wall. It was good to see the auditorium as full as it was and the Welcome Center was more crowded than it needs to be, but we're grateful for everyone who was here on Sunday.

So, that's another indication to us that things are improving. There's a desire in the hearts of the people of God to get back and to enjoy fellowship and the gathering of the body of Christ. Well, join me as we pray tonight. Father, we are mindful that our faith is sometimes weak, it's sometimes fragile, sometimes we're plagued with doubt, sometimes fear grips us, and yet, Lord, you know all this about us. And we are encouraged as we see you working in the lives of your chosen apostles when you were on this earth for three plus years. And some two years, two and a half years into their walk with you, you had to say to them, oh ye of little faith, where is your faith?

We don't want to use that as an excuse, but it is a reminder that this process is a long enduring process. It is a lifelong process, and we need the exercise of our faith, we need the development of our faith, we want a persevering faith. Help us to understand what that means, help us to understand what that invites into our life, help us to understand what it is you will bring into our life in order for that to be produced. We thank you for the goodness of God, that the goodness of God leadeth to repentance. We thank you tonight that you have many, many tools in your toolbox to accomplish your purposes in the lives of your people. So Lord, we are grateful for this record of the historical narrative of this man named Job, and how his faith was sorely tested, and yet how you sustained his faith and caused his faith to be a persevering faith.

Lord, we want that, we desire that, do that in us, we pray. We thank you for Tony and Kathy Payne, we sense some frustration in them with this correspondence, not able to meet at the school they've been meeting at since 2010, asking for us to pray and intercede on their behalf for this preschool that is close to the proximity of a lot of their people, that the principal would be sympathetic to them and would be willing to rent that to them. We thank you that Tony and Kathy apparently have a home that's large enough to accommodate the gathering of the church. Thank you for those who have been gathering, thank you for this couple who have come, who have been exercised by the Spirit of God to the point that they know they're lost, and they're seeking truth, and we pray, our God, that you would save them by your marvelous grace. Make them trophies of your grace. Encourage Tony and Kathy in that local assembly in the salvation of this couple.

We pray for Kathy, that you'd give her wisdom, her and Tony, as she has the skill of being a nurse and has volunteered her services in the distribution of the vaccine. And not only to do that, but to use that as an opportunity to expand their presence and expand their witness. So, Lord, if it would please you to open that door to them, we pray you would.

Lord, we thank you for the marvelous way you supplied for the need for this float plane. We bless you, God, for encouraging the church and these people in this critical work. Tonight, we want to pray for Marcy Councilman. We thank you for her and for Bruce, and we pray that she soon will be back on her feet and back among us. We pray for Betty Duncan tonight, that you would be pleased to minister grace to her in this time of chronic pain with her back. For Drew Guthrie, draw it near to this dear sister, dear Lord, we pray, encourage her, help her to fix her hope upon things eternal. Lord, thank you that you have promised never to leave us nor forsake us. You promised to give grace to help us in our time of need.

Grant that to her. Thank you for Shirley Watkins, that she's at home. We pray that she would soon renew her strength. We pray for these families who have buried loved ones, for the family of Mary Hilda Hicks and for the family of Ronnie Wright. Lord, these are days where death has confronted them and altered their agendas and brought sorrow and pain and separation. Lord, use this for their eternal good.

Bring people to an awareness of the brevity of life, that there is... appointed unto man wants to die and after this the judgment. Lord, we are so looking forward to the memorial service on Sunday night. We pray for good weather. We pray for good attendance.

We pray for a spirit that would honor the memory of Stuart Waugh but would eclipse that and bring honor and glory to Christ and the gospel and the work that's going on in the land of Zimbabwe. Lord, may it be a praise-filled time as we gather here together and rejoice together in what you have done and are doing and yet will do. Lord, we're concerned about many things and yet, Lord, help us to be discerning and to be more concerned about eternal matters. Be more concerned about the matters of the inner man than we are about the affairs that seem to dominate our lives, the temporal affairs of life. Lord, help us to be yielded to you, to be surrendered to you, to be submitted to you, to understand your great and glorious agenda for our lives, to grow us in Christ's likeness, to develop our faith that it would be a persevering faith. Lord, cause that to be so. For the good of your people, for the strengthening of your church, for the prospect of increased fruitfulness in gospel work, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.