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[0:00] If you could turn your Bible's priest to James chapter 5. James chapter 5, but I think we'll read in from James chapter 4.

[0:13] The verses that we're looking at tonight are from verse 7 to verse 12. But we'll read in from verse 13 of chapter 4.

[0:25] And suppose this whole section is a section that addresses those who are living simply for the here and now. Those who feel very much that they have the strength to be able to make and make their own plans and then make their own plans happen.

[0:45] Those who are looking only at the reality of this world and are overlooking the fact that there is coming a day where Jesus will come back or Jesus will call them from time into eternity.

[0:59] So James chapter 4 verse 13.

[1:32] He says, Be patient then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.

[2:20] See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop. And how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm.

[2:32] Because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against each other, brothers. You will be judged. The judge is standing at the door. Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering.

[2:45] Take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.

[2:58] The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Above all, brothers, do not swear. Not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your yes be yes.

[3:10] And your no be no. Or you will be condemned. Amen. And may God bless that hearing of his word to us. May God bless that hearing of his word to us.

[3:23] Let us unite our hearts in prayer for a moment. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word which we have sung.

[3:39] And even as we sing these words, we find our minds going back to the passage that we were reading in the morning. And we see the answer to the prayer and the cry of the psalmist and the words of Jesus, our Saviour, when he said it is finished.

[4:01] We thank you, Lord, that you are the one who sent salvation to us. We could not save ourselves. We had no hope if you did not intervene.

[4:14] But we thank you that as the cry went forth, as the Spirit inspired, we see the answer and hear the answer to that cry in Christ.

[4:27] We thank you that the salvation that we could not buy or earn, he has secured for us and he offers up freely to us by grace.

[4:40] We're saved not by works, but we're saved by grace. It's the gift of God. And we thank you, Lord, that we receive it as we wait upon you, as we trust in you.

[4:55] As, Lord, we confess our sin and ask that you would cleanse us of our sin and that you would come into our lives and be the one who guides and directs us.

[5:05] We thank you that we can sing with conviction that the sins and faults of our youth you have forgotten. Lord, your word tells us that you remember our sin no more because of all that Jesus did, because of the price that he paid, because of the suffering that he endured on our behalf.

[5:29] So, Lord, we thank you for your salvation. And we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your word to us and for the fact that as we look to you, you continue to lead and guide us in life.

[5:47] You show us your ways. You direct us on your paths. And, Lord, we thank you that you make it possible for us to be prepared for the day that you will call us from this world into eternity or the day when Jesus returns.

[6:03] We give us, Lord, because often our minds can drift and we can become like those that James rebukes in this letter, those who have their minds fixed on the here and now and who make plans as if we have a guaranteed number of tomorrows.

[6:22] But we know that none of us know how many days we have. And so, Lord, we are called to be prepared for the return of Jesus or the call that we are given from time.

[6:35] And, Lord, we thank you that it's possible for us to be prepared as we look in faith to Jesus. So, help us, we pray, to be those who are trusting in Christ, to be those who have made a calling and election sure by repenting of sin and believing in him.

[6:52] And, Lord, we pray, to be living wisely as we look to Jesus and as we live in the present tense in the light of the eternity that we know is ahead of us.

[7:09] So, hear our prayers. Take away the word of sin. Be with those who are struggling tonight. We continue to remember those who are grieving as we hear of another death in Weaverborough.

[7:22] We ask, Lord, for your comfort and for your strength. We give our John McSween as he loses a cousin. And we ask that you would uphold him and all who are affected by that, Lord, that they would know your spirit, the peace of God that passes all understanding, ministering to them.

[7:42] And we ask, Lord, that as your word will be read and as your people and those who are not your people as well will gather, that you would be speaking, Lord, words of comfort and words of challenge that will call people to look to Jesus.

[8:00] We thank you that as he speaks, his sheep hear his voice. And we ask, Lord, that we would see and hear of many more coming into the fold to be those who are able to say, The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want in life and I shall not fear death.

[8:21] So, hear our prayers and help us, we ask, as we turn now to your word. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. James chapter 5, if you could have that open before you, that would be of help.

[8:45] James chapter 5. James chapter 5. And we look at verses 7 through to verse 12 this evening.

[9:04] I'm going to start with a story. And I may have told some of you this story before, but you're now becoming acquainted with the fact that I tell the same stories three or four times over.

[9:18] But this is a story about my old next door neighbour in Loch Cairn, Kenny. We'll know him well. A man called Donnie Kerner. And he's a great character.

[9:31] He still is a great character. And he was one of these men who never sat in a chair for five minutes. I think Donnie's probably 93 or 94 now. And he's still not sitting in a chair.

[9:44] But I remember him coming round one morning and saying, the ground at the back of the man's stair, just slightly up, used to be a potato patch.

[9:54] And I said, oh, right, that's interesting. He says, and we should make it a potato patch again. So put your wellies on and let's get going. So we, with Donnie's prompt, started to turn the grind over.

[10:11] And we spent two days, I think, turning the grind over and then planting the potatoes. I was there with Donnie. Mary was helping out a bit as well. And I think at that stage, Anna was at the age where she also wanted to be involved.

[10:27] And so Anna put her wellies on too. And she got her old togs on. And she was up in the potato patch. And we did the work.

[10:37] And we put in a good seven or eight hours. Did all that was necessary. And that was fine. Job was done. We went in, had our tea and went to bed.

[10:52] And the following morning, we got up and had breakfast. And just after breakfast, looking for Anna. No sign of Anna. And she'd taken off out of the house, along the path, up the hill, which was like a mountain for her when she was three years old, I think.

[11:13] And she was up at the potato patch. This is the day after. And then we saw her as she was coming back down from the potato patch with a face like thunder.

[11:23] Thoroughly displeased. She went to the kitchen and said, what is it? What's wrong, Anna? She says, well, nothing's grown yet. We spent all day yesterday planting.

[11:35] There's not one single potato there yet. And so we had to explain to her, well, patience is required. And you know that.

[11:46] The first rule of crofting is you need to have patience. And James is opening line in this chapter 5 and starting at verse 7 is patience.

[12:00] The first thing we look at tonight is there's an exhortation. Boys and girls, you don't know what an exhortation is probably, but an exhortation is just a big word for it.

[12:12] When somebody tells you to do something, the teacher might say, tomorrow I want your homework and no excuses, so get it done. So you're given an exhortation, do your homework.

[12:23] And the exhortation, the instruction that James gives the people there as they received the letter, God's people was, verse 7, be patient.

[12:35] Be patient. The word that's used there in the Greek is a word that speaks about having a long fuse. You know, sometimes you meet people.

[12:49] Sometimes there'll be people in every company and they have a short fuse. You know you have to handle people with care when you have a short fuse. There's a discussion going on.

[12:59] And with very, very little notice, bam! The temper goes. You see, oh man, you've got to watch it. He's got a short fuse.

[13:10] Well, the word that's used here is a word that speaks about being long-suffering, having a long fuse. Not losing your temper quickly. Not getting frustrated quickly, but just being patient.

[13:25] And that's what James says, or God says through James to his people. He says, I want you to be patient. Here's the exhortation. Be patient.

[13:37] Wait. Put your hands up if you find waiting easy. Nobody finds waiting easy, do they?

[13:51] Whether we're waiting for our birthday to come around, or whether we're waiting for Christmas. Whether we're waiting for the traffic lights to change. We don't find waiting easy, but that's something that we are called to do.

[14:07] As verse 7. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Be patient then, brothers. The word that's used there could equally be translated brothers and sisters. Be patient.

[14:19] You know, and that's one of these exhortations that were given over and over again in the Bible. Psalm 40 we sang.

[14:32] I waited patiently, says David in the Psalms, for the Lord. And at the time that David wrote that, he was in trouble.

[14:47] He was in a whole lot of trouble. There were people who were chasing him. There were people who wanted him dead. And so David was in big trouble.

[14:58] David was struggling. And he cries out to God in this quiet time. And he's praying. And God says to him, as he takes time with him. David, I want you to be patient.

[15:11] I don't want you to charge off and act and do things in your own strength. I want you to be patient. And so David says in that Psalm, I waited patiently for the Lord.

[15:24] We tend to think about waiting as wasted time. I don't want to waste time waiting. But waiting for the Lord.

[15:36] Being patient. As we're called to hear. It isn't wasted time. It's actually precious time.

[15:48] It's focused time. It's time that we have to carve out in our week. We are called repeatedly in the Bible.

[16:00] To look to and to listen to and to trust and obey the Lord. That's what it means to live patiently.

[16:13] To look to him. To listen to him in his word. To speak to him. And to obey him.

[16:24] I was reading this morning in my devotional book. And the passage that the author was writing about.

[16:38] It connects with us. Now what does it mean? To wait patiently. What does it mean to trust God? These are words that we speak about all the time.

[16:49] But what does it actually mean? What do we have to do? Well the verse that he quotes here is from Proverbs chapter 16. And the verse says this. Commit to the Lord whatever you do.

[17:00] He will establish your plans. Then the commentary underneath it says this. Every area of life. To trust God. Is to obey him in whatever he says.

[17:14] And to submit to his will in whatever he says. Here we are challenged to do this across every arena of our life. In whatever you do. That includes our work.

[17:26] Our leisure. Our intellectual. Thought life. Our inner. Thought life and imagination. Our friendships. Health. Treatment of our body. Marriage. Romantic relationships.

[17:38] Money. Possessions. Relationship to church and other Christians. Emotional life. And personal identity. To commit to the Lord. Whatever you do. Is to deliberately go through each of these areas.

[17:50] And list what trusting. And obeying. And submitting to God would require. Then ask God for his help. To implement.

[18:01] The list. Tim Keller says. Unconditional obedience. And prevailing prayer. Are constituents of waiting. Eagerly.

[18:12] For God. God. And that's our calling. So that's something that we can very deliberately do.

[18:23] The first day of this week. We don't know what's ahead of us. But we are called. Whatever is ahead of us. To trust God. To.

[18:35] Be patient. In the light of. Who he is. And what he's brought into our lives. So in our marriage. In our friendships.

[18:48] Any romantic relationships. We're involved with. The thoughts that go through our heads. The plans that we have. To use our hands. And do. Protect our jobs.

[19:00] The money that he's given us. The relationships. In every area. Of life. To be patient. And to wait.

[19:11] And to trust in God. Is to commit. Every one of these things. To him. Day by day by day. And say. Lord. Help me. To.

[19:22] Live. In a way. That glorifies you. In my workplace. Help me. To. Live in a way. That honors you. In my marriage.

[19:33] In my friendships. Help me. Help me. To get control. Of my thoughts. Help me. To get control. Of my temper. Of my fuse.

[19:46] Everything. I lay it out. Before you. And I commit it to you. And I'm asking you. To help me. To wait patiently.

[19:59] In your presence. And to wait patiently. Through everything. Thing that you're allowed. To be in my life. So that I will use it. In a way that will glorify you.

[20:12] So be patient. Says James. Be with God. And ask for God's help. From this day. Until the day. That he returns. Or calls you.

[20:23] To heaven. So your life. Will be. Pleasing to him. That's the first thing. Is the exhortation. And that's. To patience.

[20:34] The second thing here. Is expectation. The driver of this. Is a sense of expectation. Still in verse 7. Be patient then. Brothers and sisters.

[20:45] Until the Lord's coming. Coming. And this really is where we. Get to the thrust. Of the service here. The focus for tonight. Is on the fact. That the Lord. Is coming. The Lord is coming.

[20:57] The Lord Jesus. He is coming. One of the wee ones. This morning. Was saying. In the week past. He was thinking about the fact. That Jesus came. He came to this world.

[21:07] That's true. And he lived for us. And he died for us. And he rose from the dead. And he has promised. That he is coming. Be patient then.

[21:19] Brothers and sisters. Says James. Until the Lord's coming. You know. If you're not expecting. To receive the package. The post. That it may deliver.

[21:31] You don't need patience. You haven't clicked. Purchase. On Amazon. Or whatever. You're not looking for the package. So you don't need any patience. In waiting for it. If you don't expect.

[21:44] Any potatoes. To grow. You're not going to be up. At the patch. Waiting. But if you've received. The confirmation email. And the money's going out. Of your bank. And you have.

[21:54] The purchase order. On Amazon. You're waiting. For the postman. To arrive. With your package. If you've taken the time. To put on your wellies. And graft away. For a day. And plant the potatoes.

[22:06] You're waiting. And you're expecting. That someday soon. You're going to see. These shops. And then there's going to be. Potatoes. You're waiting. James says.

[22:16] Be patient. Then. Until. The Lord's coming. Are you expecting. The Lord Jesus. To return. Here's a question.

[22:32] Are you expecting. The Lord Jesus. To return. The Bible says. He will. We live in a world.

[22:43] Which. In large measure. Is not looking. For Jesus. To come back. But the Bible says. He will. Go to Acts chapter 1. Please. Amen. Amen.

[22:54] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's read this.

[23:16] Just so you have. God's word. And not my word. Amen. Acts chapter 1. We see here. Jesus. Is ascending. Into heaven. And at verse 9.

[23:27] It says. He was taken up. Before their very eyes. And a cloud hid him. From their sight. They were looking intently. Up into the sky. As he was going. When suddenly.

[23:37] Two men dressed in white. Stood beside him. Men of Galilee. They said. Why do you stand here. Looking into the sky. This same Jesus. Who has been taken from you.

[23:48] Into heaven. Will come back. In the same way. You have seen him. Go into heaven. It's a promise. Jesus is coming back.

[23:59] Go now to 1st Thessalonians 4. Please. 1st Thessalonians 4.

[24:20] And we'll just read. In there from verse 16. Apostle Paul. He is addressing. The Christians in Thessalonica. They weren't quite sure. What happens.

[24:30] After you die. They weren't quite sure. What to expect. In the future. And so Paul. Is writing. To comfort. Those who. Who were. Feeling a sense.

[24:41] Of grief. And loss. And he says. In verse 16. For the Lord. Himself. Will come down. From heaven. You got that?

[24:52] The Lord. Himself. Will come down. From heaven. With a loud command. With the voice. Of the archangel. And with the trumpet call. Of God. And the dead. In Christ. Will rise first.

[25:04] After that. We who are still alive. And are left. Will be caught up together. With them in the clouds. To meet the Lord. In the air. And so we will be with the Lord. Forever. Therefore. Encourage.

[25:14] Each other. With these words. Does this encourage you? Or does this put the fear into us?

[25:28] Are we encouraged day by day. By the fact. The promise. That the Lord. Is coming back. Are we living our lives here. Patiently.

[25:42] Expectantly. In anticipation. Of the Lord's return. Turn. Wilberforce. The politician.

[25:52] Probably. One of the most. Influential politicians. Of past centuries. Was quoted. To have said that. Not an hour past. When he didn't think about the Lord's return.

[26:06] And yet. He was probably. The most. Useful person. In the political realm. In terms of. This world. Earthy stuff. What drove him.

[26:18] The fact that the Lord Jesus. Was coming back. Or was going to be calling him. From the scene of time soon. So he was living his life. In anticipation of that. Martin Luther.

[26:28] Famously said. There's only two days. In my calendar. This day. Today. And that day. The day. When the Lord Jesus. Will come back.

[26:39] And we don't know. When that day is going to be. And we don't know. For sure. In detail. What that's going to look like. And there's no point. Getting into debates. About that. In my opinion. But we do know.

[26:53] That Jesus will return. We do know. That Jesus will return. And James says. Expect him.

[27:05] Don't be sleeping. Don't be living. As if you have a continuing city here. Expect him. Expect him. Live today.

[27:18] In the light of eternity. Wait patiently for him. So there's the exhortation. Be patient. There's the expectation.

[27:28] That his patience. In respect of. Of the Lord's return. And thirdly. And finally. Here. There's. There's an example. That's given to us. Examples. Examples.

[27:39] Are given. To help us. Understand. And. So we will. We'll learn from them. I'm no car mechanic. But. I know you can buy. These. Haynes.

[27:51] Manuals. And. They'll. They'll tell you. How to change the brakes. In your car. They'll get a description. A paragraph or two. About. How you take the discs off. And how you take the pads off. And. And how you do the.

[28:01] The fitting. But. Always. With the description. There's a picture. There's an illustration. There's an example. A working example. Of. How you actually do this. And. You know. A picture.

[28:12] Is worth more than a thousand words. And so. James here. He gives us. He gives us actually. Two illustrations. He says. Here's two pictures for you. To help you understand.

[28:23] What it looks like. To be patient. To help you understand. What. What you should be. Living like. In anticipation of the Lord's return. And so. If you. Start at verse seven.

[28:35] Here. The first example. He gives us. Is that of. Of the farmer. He says. See how the farmer. Waits for the land. To yield. Its valuable crop. And how patient. He is.

[28:45] For the Ottoman. Spring rains. You too. Be patient. And stand firm. Because the Lord's coming. Is near. Don't grumble. Against each other. Brothers. Or you will be judged. The judge.

[28:56] Is standing at the door. Then he gives us. The example. Of the prophets. He says. Brothers and sisters. As an example. Of patience. In the face. Of suffering.

[29:08] Take the prophets. Who spoke. In the name of the Lord. As you know. We consider. Bless those. Who have persevered. You have heard. Of Job's perseverance. And have seen. What the Lord. Finally brought about.

[29:20] The Lord. Is compassionate. And full. Of. The Lord. Is full of compassion. And mercy. So. James says. Here's two examples.

[29:30] You can learn. From the prophets. You can learn. From the farmers. You can learn. From the crofters. What it looks like. To wait patient. So what can we learn?

[29:45] A couple of wee points. As we finish. First thing. James. Says here. And I'm going to cross. With two examples. Here. He says. Do watch. Do watch.

[29:57] Do watch. The farmer. He says. He watches. For the autumn. And the spring rains. He's aware. Of the seasons. With each passing rain.

[30:09] And with each season. That comes. And goes. The farmer. Is reminded. The day of the harvest. Is getting nearer. Again. My mind goes. To Donnie Colonel. My next door neighbour.

[30:20] For every year. For I don't know. How many decades. He's kept a diary. And the diary. Doesn't tell us. What he has. Going through his head. And what's in his.

[30:30] His thought process. He keeps a diary. Where every year. When he sees the first snow drop. And he sees the first. Daffodil. And he hears the first. Cuckoo. And the first lamb. Comes out.

[30:41] All these things. Of the land. He records it. The weather patterns. That all that's going on. In the sky. In the land. He records it. He's. He's able to watch.

[30:52] These things. He's always watching. These things. He's now. At this stage in life. Able to read. These. These natural signs. So I can remember. One day. Him saying.

[31:03] There's snow coming tonight. I'm saying. There's snow coming tonight. How on earth. How on earth. Can you figure that one out. He says. See how the clouds are. On the loch there. And see the mountain there.

[31:14] And that's sitting. With the clouds coming down. That tells him. There's snow coming tonight. And I thought. That's nonsense. That's nonsense. Snow came that night.

[31:25] He got it right. Much more often. The BBC. Because he was able to. To see the signs. He was always watching. Jesus. And Jesus.

[31:37] Applied this kind of logic. In Matthew 16. Jesus. Is speaking to the Pharisees. And the Sadducees. They came to Jesus. And tested him.

[31:48] By asking him. To show them. A sign from heaven. And he replied. When evening comes. You say. It will be fair weather. For the sky is red. And in the morning. Today. It will be stormy.

[31:58] For the sky is red. And overcast. You know how to interpret. The appearance. Of the sky. But you cannot interpret. The signs. Of the times. They weren't watching.

[32:10] Jesus. Is saying to the Pharisees. And the Sadducees. Who were experts. In scripture. You're reading the words. But you're not watching.

[32:22] You speak about the Messiah. But you're not watching. For the Messiah. They should have. Been watching. For the Messiah. To come. Into the scene of time. They should have been able.

[32:33] To see the signs. They should have been able. To know the scriptures. And make the connections. And see. That Jesus. Was the promised one. From all the things. That he said. And all the things. That he did.

[32:48] And before we. Criticize them. We. Have to. Accept the fact. That we. With the full. Bible. More so than maybe. We should be able.

[33:00] To. To see Jesus. As the promised one. The one. Who did come. And who lived. And who died. And who rose.

[33:12] For us. We need to keep. Watching. Jesus. We are here. In order that we will. Fix our eyes.

[33:22] Upon Jesus. And as we read. Newspapers. We should be able. To see. That the time.

[33:33] For Jesus return. Is coming close. We open. To watch. We open. Our Bibles. To watch. To fix our eyes. Upon Christ. And yet.

[33:44] As we open. Our newspapers. We see. In light of scripture. Is coming. Is soon. I'll just read this.

[33:55] Because we haven't got time. To study it. 2 Timothy 3. And at verse 1. It says there. But mark this. There will be terrible times.

[34:05] In the last days. People will be lovers. Of themselves. Lovers of money. Boastful. Proud. Abusive. Disabeeing to their parents.

[34:16] Ungrateful. Unholy. Without love. Unforgiving. Slanderous. Without self-control. Brutal. Not lovers of the good. Treacherous. Rash. Conceited.

[34:26] Lovers of pleasure. Rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness. But denying its power. Jesus says.

[34:37] When you see this. Paul is saying here. God is saying here. Through Paul. 2 Timothy. When you see these things. Mark this. This is the last days.

[34:52] Be alert. Matthew 24. Jesus says. You will hear. When you open your newspapers.

[35:02] And you watch. Your news. Programs. You will hear. Of wars. And rumours of wars. But see to it. That you're not alarmed. Such things. Must happen.

[35:12] But the end. Is still to come. Nation will rise. Against nation. And kingdom. Against kingdom. There will be famines. And earthquakes. In various places. All these.

[35:24] Are the beginning. Of birth pains. Then you will be handed over. To be persecuted. And put to death. And you will be hated. By all nations. Because of me.

[35:35] These are the signs. Of the. The last times. We don't have to. Work hard.

[35:46] And look long. To see. The reality of us. And these. Serve. To us.

[35:57] As reminders. And encouragements. For us. To keep watch. Keep watch. Christ is coming back.

[36:10] Do watch. Says James. He also says. Don't grumble. This is a. Recurring theme.

[36:20] In James. He says. Don't grumble. Especially. Don't grumble. Against. Each other. Don't. As a family. Of God. Be. Be grumbling.

[36:31] Against. Your brothers. And sisters. And he deals. With that. In James 3. At length. As he. Talks about. The need. For us. To tame. The grumbling tongue. And then.

[36:43] He deals. With that again. Head on. In James 4. As he. Rebukes. God's people. There. For quarreling. And bragging. And now. He's back. To the same thing. Again. In James 5. He says. Verse 9.

[36:53] Don't grumble. Against each other. Brothers and sisters. Or you will be judged. The judge. Is standing. At the door. When do children.

[37:05] Fight. With each other. The most. These children. Never fight. We know that. But. When do children. Fight. With each other. And quarrel. With each other. The most.

[37:16] Well. I'll tell you when. It's when. They don't expect. Their parents. To walk into the room. It's when. They're quite. Sure. That their parents. Are not.

[37:26] Standing. At the door. When do we. Quarrel. Most. As brothers.

[37:38] Brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters. In Christ. It's when. We lose sight. Of the Lord. It's when. We lose. Sight. And expectation.

[37:49] Of. The Lord's. Return. It's when. We. Forget. That he's. Standing. At the door. At that point.

[38:00] That's when. We start. Fixating. On each other. That's when. We see. Everyone else's. Faults. And we don't. See our own. Faults. Because we're not. Looking at the Lord. And he's. His light.

[38:10] Is not showing us. Our own. Faults. All we can see. Is. Everything that's. Wrong with everyone. Else. We grumble. With each other. And James.

[38:22] Says. That's not. How to wait. For the Lord. To return. Don't grumble. Remember. Eternity.

[38:34] Remember. The Lord. Is going to come again. Remember. He is going to. Call us. At some point. To. Stand before him. Whether he comes back.

[38:45] First. Or he. Summons us. From the scene of time. The judge. Is standing at the door. Says James. So watch.

[38:56] Wait patiently. For his coming. Do. Watch. Don't grumble. Do.

[39:07] Persevere. And don't be. Double minded. The time is gone. So you can do. Homework. And look at these points. Your service.

[39:18] Let's pray. Heavenly Father.

[39:30] We pray that you would. Help us. To. Be those who. Weep patiently. Upon you. Day by day. To be those. Who.

[39:40] Are fine. Much in your word. And much in prayer. To be those. Who are fine. Trust in you. And obeying you. In every. Aspect of our lives. And Lord.

[39:53] We pray that you would. Help us to remember. In a world that. Is geared to. Cause us to forget. Help us to remember. We're here just for a while. Our lives are like mist.

[40:04] And then we will be called. To stand before you. In eternity. Or. Or you will come. Again. Lord Jesus. And.

[40:14] Every eye will see you. And every tongue. Will confess that you are Lord. But some will do so. With joy. As they meet you. As their Lord. And others. Will do so.

[40:25] With terror. And reluctance. Because they have. Lived their lives here. In. Rebellion against you. Jesus. Help us Lord.

[40:35] To be wise. In the way that we live. And as we see. Jesus. And as we. See all that he has done. In love for us. To make it possible. For us to know you.

[40:46] And to be with you. We pray. That we would trust. You. That we would live. Close to you. And that we would live. In a way that. Anticipates your coming.

[40:58] Help us Lord. To be watchful. To fix our eyes. Upon Jesus. And to be. Alert. And aware. Of the signs. Of the times. Which are pointing us. Increasingly.

[41:09] To the Lord's return. Help us Lord. We pray. Not to. To grumble. Not to grumble. Against you. And the. The providences. That we experience.

[41:19] In time. And not to grumble. Against each other. Help us to love each other. And to be long suffering. Not short fuse. And Lord.

[41:29] We ask that you would help us. To persevere. Sometimes when things. Are hard. And help us. We pray not. To be double minded. But to live lives.

[41:40] Of integrity. For our yes. Means yes. And our no. Means no. For we are known as people. Of the truth. And not. Of hypocrisy.

[41:50] So Lord. Help us. We pray. As we go from here. To go. With that assurance. That you are with us. And to go Lord.

[42:01] With. That sense. Of. Excitement. The fact. That. One day. We will be. With you. And that we will be like you.

[42:14] And we ask this in Jesus name. And for his sake. Amen. And now. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the love of God. The Father. The fellowship of God.

[42:26]  The Holy Spirit. Be with us all. Both now. And forevermore. Amen.