you y'all still stay on page 17. On the cross of Calvary, our blessed Savior died, gave his life to save the world from loss. In his pain and agony, For every sin to die, shed the blood that stained the old rugged cross. For his blood, his precious blood, has stained the old rugged cross. was his love that paid the old coal cost. Oh, so, so for us three, come and watch And the blood that stained the old rugged cross. With the cross, the rugged cross, they nailed his precious hand. And in death he fully paid the cost. For everyone. cause. Oh, so, so far astray, of a price to pay, in the blood that stained the old rugby court. what an awful death he died he pardoned you and me for the holy agony he told Whose lost and sinned can now be whole and free. By the blood that stained the old rugged cross. Was His blood, His precious blood, that stained the old rugged cross. Was His love that made the old road tall. Amen. Aren't you grateful for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's the only reason we're clean. It's the only reason we're right with God. He made the payment. He paid the cost. We owed a debt we could not pay, but thank God he paid the debt he did not owe. And I thank the Lord for Jesus Christ tonight. And that's why we're here to celebrate and love him. Brother Terry's going to come around here in just a moment. and sing another one for us. What I want to do tonight is I want to go ahead and take up our mission offering. You can be seated. If I could get a couple ushers tonight. Let's do that. And then I want to take up prayer request as soon as we've taken up offering and go forward in prayer and then ask Brother Terry and our orchestra. to play another one for us here in a moment. So you honor the Lord through your giving tonight. And I want to go ahead and be all right. I'd like to go ahead and just put it on the church's heart. I know we've been anticipating and praying for him here regularly. And I've tried to be sensitive to the Lord. And I want to make sure that we're doing right by the church. But it's on our heart to help Brother Andrew Tonkin. He's in Northern Iraq tonight. The Lord is doing a great work. And I'd like to fill you in more on that maybe a little bit later, but pray about that church. We want to move forward with that shortly. I know the Lord made him to our heart when he was here. So let's pray for our missionaries and and every single work out of the church. I want to thank the Lord for it. I tell you what, but Jeff, won't you say a word? Let's do what we've done last week. But Jeff, you pray for us first. Brother Tim, pray for us second. Ask the Lord to bless the offering and touch the service. Go ahead, brother. I love you. Yes. Yes. Yes. a a a a a is Amen. Thank the Lord. I have a card here tonight from folks on our prayer list, folks that you and I love. They sent us this card this past weekend. I wanted to read it. Matter of fact, we got out this past Sunday from Sister Margaret and Brother Leo. Thank you all for your prayers, visits, calls, texts, and delicious food. Your thoughtfulness will always Be remembered. We love and miss you, Church. Sister Sam and Brother Leo. Let's continue remembering Leo and Sister Sam. And on top of all that they've had going on, poor Sister Sam has had to put up with Brother Leo behind a lawn cooped up in a house. So y'all remember, the Lord does let suffering come into our lives. So y'all, y'all remember, remember them tonight. No, in all seriousness, thank the Lord for them. We've missed them. And so let's remember, continue to pray. Brother Vickers, do y'all have updates on... Yes, yes. Next steps. Yeah. Y'all Vickers, continue to remember Miss Gayle. We've been praying for her for some time now. Continue to remember Sister Janet Matthews. Remember her, Miss Melinda, everything they've been going through since their place burned. And my gracious, y'all, so much stuff that was lost. But when you look at that picture, I'm sure Sister Melinda would be glad to show it to you, see how far, literally, that fire came from their house. It's just the Lord. We thank the Lord for what He's done. I appreciate Sister Melinda. If that was me, I'd probably be down in the mouth and very frustrated, but she's praising the Lord, how the Lord kept them safe. And so I want to thank the Lord for her faith. We love you, Sister Melinda. Appreciate you. Let's remember Brother Rick and Sister Karen, that the Lord would help them continue to help. It's been so good to see them here recently. The services they've been here, such an encouragement. I actually, Brother Rick, this past service he was here, he was standing. I didn't know how tall he was. He's taller than I thought he was because I've only seen him sitting down or in a bed. He hadn't been able to get up, so it's a blessing to see him standing upright and wonderful to see him. So let's remember that. Let's continue to remember Brother Ron and his pain and these kidney stones that's been getting him. And Church, let's just take a minute tonight. I had to do a double take when I came in here. Sister Carolyn is back with us this evening. So let's thank the Lord for that tonight. Yeah, that's all right. So good to see her back. And we're not letting you go anywhere now, Sister Carolyn. You're here. And no, we've been praying for this day to come. Sister Carolyn and I, when this all first happened, we just bonded together in prayer that what we're seeing tonight would happen. And God answers prayers. And I thank the Lord to see her tonight. Encourages my heart. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful miss Charlene Anderson. She's going back for a CT scan. She went today. Okay. Going into surgery tomorrow. Oh, to a surgeon going to see a surgeon tomorrow. I was fixing to say gracious. This escalated quick. So let's pray for sister Charlene Anderson, brother Ray. God help him and touch them. Let's remember little Aniston. She's had some stomach issues, brother Josh and sister Ashley's daughter. And she was actually in the hospital on Monday and I think they've gotten some of the issues under control, but now her stomach is very sensitive. So thank the Lord to help her there. And let's remember, yes, just these prayer requests. I have some more here. It was passed on to me. Miss Frances Cato. Remember this? Remember this lady? and then Debbie Walters. So remember Francis Cato and Debbie Walters. And let's remember Brother Matt. He's going to be preaching Sunday morning all for his first time preaching off. So let's remember him. It's a blessing Lord's using so we'll thank the Lord for that and pray for him this coming Sunday and Thank the Lord for his goodness. Anyone else tonight that I've missed, and if I have missed any, they're probably on my prayer list at home, but I didn't have them on this list. So any prayer requests tonight? Yes, ma'am. Bonnie Bowling. B-O-W-L-I-N-G. Yes, ma'am. Rita Burnett. Let's remember Rita Burnett, his family, his mama's sister. Judy Pittman, okay? It's Judy Pittman. So much to remember tonight, so much to pray for. Well, we don't have to look far to, look, somebody asked to pray, I'm sorry, go ahead, Miss Diane, I'll save that. Judy and Alan Jones. Somebody came to the pastor one time and said, said, Preacher, I can't pray for more than five minutes. That's all it takes me to ask God for the things that I want. And the pastor looked and said, Well, that's about how long it'd take me to ask God how much I want. He said, It takes me a little longer to ask God what he wants. We could spend some time in prayer over that. And thank the Lord for the body of Christ tonight. I love you, church. I was excited about getting back in here tonight with you. We're one. We're one. We're diverse in the giftings the Lord's given us, but we're one body. We have one head, which is Christ Jesus. And I say here in just a minute, Few seconds, we're gonna come and do, remember this, that no one before Calvary and the resurrection had direct access to God. Had to offer sacrifice. Only once a year could the priest go in to the Holy of Holies. And he was interested in getting in there, doing his job and getting out of there. No lingering, just fear The fear of dying, the fear of maybe an impure thought coming in. I mean, just so much. But we have access to God continuously and can come in tonight to the Holy of Holies and ask in faith according to His will and fellowship with the Spirit of God and pray and talk with God and the Holies Christ make an intercession for us. And even when we don't know how to pray, the spirit heareth and the spirit beareth with our infirmities and praise on our behalf. So tonight as we come, it's so easy to come to prayer and just be quick and make quick turns. And tonight as we come, let's come knowing that he is a God that hears and answers prayer and that we have access to him. Amen. Yes, sir. Brother Charles will have surgery in the morning. Knee surgery. Let's remember that. Let's remember that. Amen. Let's all gather around, sister, if you would, play softly. Let's gather around for prayer tonight, church. Seek the Lord. Look to Him. in prayer. Thank you. so so I don't know. I don't know. so so Sing this old song page 51 in the brown book. Once I was praying, it's a dark valley. No hope within, good I see. They searched through heaven and found a Savior to save a poor, lost soul like me. Oh what a Savior, Alleluia! His heart was broken, O Calvary. His hands were built strong. His son was driven. He gave his life, Lord, for even me. He left the father with all his riches. and sorry. Hang down from heaven, hang me with thy flood. You make the body slender be. Oh, what a Savior! Alleluia! His heart was broken, O Calvary. His hands were misfired, His soul was riven, He gave His last blood. For if a thief is till he wanders, Has to recourse him, his hank will he be. save poor. I'll join the chorus in that great city and sing of their poor and their poor. Oh, what a Savior, oh, how I love oh is He gave his life's blood for me. This chilly water I'll soon be crossing. His hand will lead me safe for ♪ I'll join the chorus in the great singing ♪ ♪ And sing a prayer for heaven on high ♪ Sing it out now. ♪ Oh what a savior, oh what a savior, oh what a savior ♪ His heart was broken, O Calvary. His hands were built strong, His heart was revived. He gave his last love for Emmanuel. Glad you saved. Far away. We're going to see him. And this veil of tears. This veil of trials and this veil of sorrow. It'll all be gone. And this is that lively hope. that we have, the world doesn't have that. This is as good as it gets for the world, right here. And when I say as good as it gets, I mean, look around at all the world's got to offer. I sat in the presence of a very wealthy man this week, who just said, all this stuff just ain't much. There just ain't much happiness in it. There ain't no happiness in it. But to see that from a man who's given his life to the accruement of wealth and things, to look and say that it brings no satisfaction, no joy, no peace, no settledness. We have a better hope. We have a better covenant. For the child of God, we're just passing through. That's all we are. We're pilgrims and strangers. That's it. Pilgrims and strangers passing through. I'll say it. Old preacher said it my whole life growing up. He said, don't drive your tent pegs too deep. We're only here for a little while. Life is but a vapor. Charlie been cooking some green beans. Can I get a witness? here recently and I was about to have a fit. I popped the top on them things, you know what came up? A vapor. You know how long it lasted? Life is but a vapor. Appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away. For the people of God, eternal life through Christ Jesus. I'm glad you saved, say Amen. Part number five. This evening, Ephesians chapter number four, part number five. I'm excited about preaching this. I wanna work through just a couple things and really working our way to the last point quickly. We've been dealing with this question on part number, of course, this is part five of what is the church? And we've generally started with what the church is not. Tonight, I don't necessarily want to take that direction. I believe we've set that foundation pretty well. Not well, but I believe we've set it with enough vehemency. We understand what the church is not. Just to say this, we've been drawn from other texts. One in Matthew where Jesus said, upon this rock, I will build my church. We've said we're not building it. He said he would build it. We've said it's not our church, it's his church. We've made the statements that it's His church because He's purchased it. And when we refer to the church, we're not referring to a building. We're not referring to a place. We're referring to a people. The Ekklesia. The called out ones. Those that have been called out by Christ to Himself. When we speak of the church, we're not speaking of Israel. We're not speaking of the nation of Israel. We're speaking of a new thing that the Lord has done. And the body of the church is individuals that have been saved that God have called to Himself. And we've dealt out of Ephesians chapter number four, which is where we really want to hunker down. And particularly in verses 11 through 16, we dealt some with the gifts. What we said was this, that the creed of the church is Ephesians 3 and 21, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. And then we said, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, Paul was begging them, beseeching them, that they walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they have called. Of course, he's covered that vocation in the first three chapters of Ephesians, which was Paul's manner, which should be our manner. Our doctrine should come before our duty, our position before our practice. You're never going to be able to practice or fulfill your duty without understanding your position in the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, Paul has laid that out in the first three chapters to the church at Ephesus. and tells them many things, and with all that in mind, he says, on the basis of this, I beseech you, walk worthy of that is, that is the position that you have, now practice it as a church, as a body, as one, and goes into the way in which we are to walk, which is in lowliness of mind. The Christian is not a prideful individual. The teachers are not prideful individuals. The elders are not prideful individuals. The ministers are not prideful individuals. The servants of the church are not prideful individuals. No, we are to walk with all lowliness of mind one towards another. esteeming one another better than the other, better than ourselves, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, we cover the fact that we're one body. There is one body and one Spirit. Even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all, but unto every one of us is given grace to the measure of the gift of Christ. So we're one body. Let's not start dividing the body up in a bunch of different ways. We're one. I told a young man this past week who was struggling with some of the older individuals in his church. Y'all cut him some slack. These young people, they don't know what they're saying. They don't know what they're talking about. We don't, do we, honestly. I'm still going to say we as long as I can when it refers to the to the to the elders. I'm going to hold out. I used to be a real young preacher, but I don't get those invitations like I used to come preach youth meetings. But he was calling, wasn't expressing aggravation much so as just I said, I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I said, hold on now. I said, there's a division I'm hearing here. That's not in that book. You'll find it nowhere in there. That I'm divided from you because of an age gap. It's not there. So, the danger is not in saying, okay, we want imperatives or a special ministry to this demographic. The danger is, is when we break the body up into fractions and consider each individual church of one church. No, we are one. And that was the predominance that the Apostle Paul wanted to get over. As a matter of fact, in the book of 1 Corinthians, I mean, I'm talking horrible things were going on in that church. Unimaginable. Sin and flesh and carnality was going on in the church. You want to know the first problem Paul dealt with at Corinth? It was division. out of anything he could have picked apart and he did, but out of anything he knew if they were not united in Christ going forward, that it wasn't going to matter what he dealt with in particular. All right. Now I'm off track, but unity, we've covered that, but where ultimately The heart of the entirety of where the, through the impression and through the empowerment and through the inspiration of the Spirit that Paul was speaking with, the heart of where he's getting is verses number 11 through 16. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry, and we're going to park right there tonight on that first statement for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and to a perfect man and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children. Listen, that we henceforth be no more children. There is nothing worse than an overgrown infant. We got a generation full of them right now. They ain't grown up. They still 30 years old living with mom and daddy and playing video games. Y'all hearing me tonight? Overgrown infants. I heard you last night. I'm pretty sure last night of a 30-year-old man who had went to see a therapist because thank God he realized he had a problem. Even though he's looking in the wrong direction for help, he had a problem and he had gotten a young lady pregnant. And so this massive crushing responsibility come down on him. But he was living in his mama's spare room playing video games every night. The floor had not been vacuumed. The clothes had not been cleaned. Nothing had been done. I mean, just an absolute abysmal hygienic state. And the first thing the therapist told him to do was vacuum your room. And his mother told the therapist, said, he took the vacuum, you know, got those stand-up vacuums that you just stand them up and they sit there, that he had laid it at a 45 degree angle and had walked over it for a week. There's nothing worse than an overgrown impotent. And listen, church, as individuals, it is God's desire that we grow up, that we grow. How do we do that? For the perfecting of the saints, verse number 14, that we, he said, I've said all this so that I may say this, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slot of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love. may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint which is you and I as individuals, united as one, every joint supplieth according to the effectual working and the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. And you say, Brother Jay, I have no clue what any of that means. Well, let's just buckle up right here and take it step by step. The heart of what Paul is getting at is that they would be perfect. Listen, we're not here to entertain people. That's not why the church is here. We've covered that in other lessons, in other parts of this thought study, of this text study. We're not here to coddle saints. Gifted members, however, of the body are here to minister to one another, to one end. The perfecting. of the saints and we'll touch on all the rest of this going forward. But this first statement, I want to look at it there. There are two aspects of the perfecting of the saints that Paul speaks of here. The first aspect is to bring the individual member of the body of the church into unity rather to maturity. The second aspect of the perfecting of the saints is to take the collective of individuals that are in the body, and we've spoke to this in some degree, but to take the collective individuals and be united in one group. You see, it's one body made up and comprised of individuals that minister unto itself. God set it up that way. 1 Corinthians 1 and 10, Paul says this, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. The same thing. We're to have the same thing that we speak to one another. The same thing. Why? Or how are we to look? That there be no divisions among you. 1 Corinthians 1 and 10. but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. The perfecting of the saints is not only individual saints matured, but it is the collective unity of the whole body brought together in oneness. Anything other than the perfecting of the saints hear me when I say this in context of what Paul is saying in Ephesians four, he says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. So the Lord has called me as a pastor to Murrayville Baptist church and what should be on a pastor's mind is the perfecting of the saints. That's what should be. Now, and again, I'm not saying that I'm hitting that mark, but I'm asking God, as I see His truth, that what should be on my mind is for the perfecting of the saints. Many places, many pastors are pushing for something else, but as pastors, we are commanded to bring the saints, to help usher the saints into perfection. Of course, that requires me giving attendance to my own perfection. Well, what do you mean by perfection, Brother Jay? Let me say this. Anything other than the perfecting of the saints when it comes to the pastor's mindset or the teacher's mindset. You as teachers, hear me tonight. As teachers, the perfecting of the saints is the job. leaders and elders in the church, the perfecting of the saints is the motive. What does perfection mean? Well, the Greek word for perfection can mean different things depending on the context in which it is situated. For the sake of this study, we want to look at three different ways that it is understood in Scripture. Perfection. There is a positional perfection. what we are in Christ, that Christ has made us, that He's made us one with Himself, that we're seated together in heavenly places, that we are kings and priests in Christ. It's exactly what Brother Taylor preached to us on Sunday morning, becoming what you already are, this positional sanctification, this positional perfection that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He has He has literally washed our sins away. And when we stand before Christ, we stand as perfect before him. That is positional perfection. And if you're saved, you have that. There's a second acts. Um, there's this second aspect of perfection. Y'all pray for my voice. It's a lot of pain tonight. And this was a lot of sinus drainage. So I feel myself wanting to pick up a little bit here, so y'all pray for me. The Lord would help me, but there's positional perfection. There is also ultimate perfection that is taught in Scripture. That is the glorification of His saints that will one day ultimately take place. That's ultimate perfection. These two aspects of perfection have nothing to do with you, and you had nothing to do with them. When it comes to the Lord, when God saved you, you had nothing to do with attaining a positional perfection at all. Spiritual gifts that we have been blessed with and all, all places in heavenly places. You had nothing to do with attaining that that's Christ gift to you. for the glory of God. Ultimate perfection, glorification in the body. Listen, I'm not going to bring this body back together. I'm not going to give myself a new glorified body. When this creation, when this mortality puts off mortality and takes on immortality, I'm not going to have a thing in the world to do with that. That's going to be all Him. These two have nothing to do with you. You didn't make it happen and you won't make the latter one happen. But lastly tonight, I want to focus on this one, this practical perfection. That the believer here and now living in the world and what is referred to in verse number 12 of our text for the perfecting of the saints. I've already said it. There's nothing more sad or disappointing than a grown than a fully grown infant. I literally saw recently where a man literally got disability from the state because in his mind he identified as a baby. Sucked on a Pasi, sucked on bottles. Charlie saw this, I showed it to her, I couldn't believe it. Had a special crib made that he crawls up into, wears diapers. I'm serious. There's nothing more sad or disappointing than a grown-up infant. Men or women that are not willing to grown up. But listen, what the text is referring to in Ephesians chapter number 4 is a mature, complete, grown-up, a fully adult Christian. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Lord wants for us. Don't y'all desire to be a mature Christian? A mature Christian. Sadly today, there are many Christians who do not wish to grow up. Last week we spoke about gifts that minister in Romans chapter number 12. It is God's desire that you present your body, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Then turn and use the gifts that He's given you by grace through the operation of faith that He has measured out to minister to the body. And He has called pastors, evangelists, teachers to work toward the perfecting of the saints to preach and teach the Word of God. You will never be mature minus this work in our lives. That's the job. To be mature. I have no other thing that I'm committed to except towards working for the perfecting of the saints of God as pastor. That's it. Verse number 13, 14, and 15, we are working towards that till we, we are laboring towards that till we all come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God and to a perfect man and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Verses 14 and 15, we just read those. Speaking the truth in love is my calling. And it is our calling to one another, to minister to one another, to speak the truth in love to one another. I'm thrilled because I believe we have a congregation of people at Murrayville Baptist Church who have committed themselves to Christ. And I believe that there are many in this building that are interested in maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ. How important is it for us to become perfect? or mature, or an adult, or grown up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the final words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians chapter number 13 and verse number 11. He said, finally, brethren, his last words, some of the last words that he would ever write to the church at Corinth. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect. Be perfect. Grow up mature in the Lord Jesus Christ. The same sentiment is made in Hebrews chapter number 13 and verse number 20 and 21. Now the God of peace that brought again the last words of Paul, you have the last words of the writer of Hebrews here. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work. to do His will. I say it is God's will for us to be perfect, mature. This is not teaching sinless perfection. This is teaching maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5 says, But the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, perfect, grown, mature. Hear me when I say this, this is what pleases the Lord, that we would mature as a church, as a body, as individuals, that we would grow up. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said it on the Sermon of the Mount, Be ye perfect. Paul said it to his hearers in the text that we're in tonight, the perfecting of the saints. The writer of Hebrews said it as his farewell address. Peter says it as his goodbye, the first letter that he wrote to the scattered believers. You say, well, that's wonderful, brother J. How do we get there? And I would like to affirm this to you tonight in our closing words, that the agency of perfection, the agent that Jesus Christ works through in our perfection, in our maturity is the Holy Spirit of God. The only impact that I can have on you is when Christ is working through me to help you. That's it. Many people believe that they can perfect themselves through the works of themselves. Many people believe that they can come to maturity by doing things, by doing more. Many people, well that was the issue at Galatia, wasn't it? Many people believe that they can perfect themselves through the work of themselves. But what did Paul say to the Galatian believers? The Galatians thought this. They finally decided they were going to grind it out on their own through the works of the law and that they were going to feed on themselves. Paul said in Galatians 3 and 3, Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Paul is saying, are you kidding me? Are you so foolish? You've been born by the Spirit, placed into the body by the Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, energized by the Spirit, and now you're going to be made perfect by the flesh? By the works of the law? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3 and 18, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. That the agent of perfection in our life is the Holy Spirit, who through beholding Christ, through, what did Jesus say? Watching and praying. As Jesus told his disciples in the garden, we are changed into his image and brought into maturity. Listen, I can preach until I'm purple in the face. I can holler, I can scream, I can jump up and down, but the Spirit of God is the only one that can mature you and I. Now, I'm going to stop after this point right here and we'll pick up next week. This is so dense. Listen, I know a man who hunkered down and preached here in Ephesians about the church for eight years. Now, I know some of y'all don't want to say like, oh Lord, please no, Brother Jay. But you can preach from these texts for eight years. You can preach from these texts for a lifetime. We're going to stop at this point. What are the tools? We've talked about the agent that the Lord works through, which is the Holy Spirit. But what are the tools that Jesus Christ uses in our life to perfect us? Difficulty. Difficulty. Trials. Tribulation. Suffering, obstacles, tests, opportunities. Knowing this in James 1 and 3, get this church, in James 1 and 3, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Here's what he said, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire. being mature, growing in Christ, growing in him as a church, as an individual, as a body made up of individuals that is one, growing requires difficulty. Yes, trials. Yes, tribulations. Yes, difficulty. Yes, pain. Yes, suffering. Yes, obstacles. Yes, tests. Yes, failures. Yes, opportunities for you to exercise faith in God when all indications and logic tells you to look to yourself or to look to outside sources. God uses difficulty. to mature us in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm telling you, and I don't know if I can get a witness from some folk in here. You retired folk don't even want to hear it tonight. This week has been a difficult week with work. I've told some of you, just in passing, nothing in large degree. There's, there's a lot of things going on in our industry right now. You know, we've got more importantly, before I even say that more importantly, we have some, I mean, y'all saw the, y'all heard the prayer list tonight. We've got so much going on. Folk hurt, folk in pain, folk with sickness, folk with disease issues going on in the church. This weighs. coupled with these issues of difficulty in industry. But let me tell you what the Lord is doing in each of our lives. He will utilize as a tool in your life difficulty to mature you. to bring you to a place on your knees. Finally, I did. I'm going to be honest with you as a church. Listen, I'm not setting up here and telling you that I don't face the same difficulties that you face every single week. I know it's hard to believe that, that the pastor or the preacher has struggles, but believe it or not, it's a reality. Can I get some help tonight? I fell on my face on Monday night. And I prayed, Lord, I can't feel my way through this thing. I can't figure it out. But this much I do know, you are God and you will lead the way. That's faith and action when you can't feel what's going on. But I'll tell you just a moment of pouring it out before God. Peace came in that study. Peace came in that secret place. Listen, church, we live in a generation and somehow I think it's because there's been so much success in the American culture. and so much ease and so much convenience that we feel like opposition, there must be a problem somewhere if there's opposition going on, or difficulty going on, or some pain going on. Hear me tonight! God has invested Himself in your life and in order to mature you and make you perfect, He has chosen that difficulty and opposition be one of the tools that He uses in your life. What did Paul say in Romans 3, 3-5? And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Don't get off track, church. Understand that sometimes on this journey of maturity, on this journey of perfection, on this journey of growing up, on this journey of seeing Jesus, there is some suffering and some pain that we will go through. But don't give up! Oh, Satan would like to see you throw in the towel! But don't throw in the towel! Stand fast. God's working on your faith. You can know this and lay your head down tonight when it feels like your world is melting down around you, and you've got pain, and you've got obstacles, and you've got issues, and you've asked God about them to turn them around. Remember this tonight, God is growing you, and God is maturing you, and God is using, yes, maybe a thorn, maybe an issue, maybe an obstacle. Oh, why, why, why, 1 Peter 5 and 10, but the God of all grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while. Make you what? Perfect. mature us. You see, it's not random, just, and I'm afraid here's what most of us, most of us hear me tonight. Most of us consider church or the body as a, as a, as a place or a building that we go to, to get our sorrows and pain alleviated. The church as a body gathers together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we gather. And in our trials, and in our pains, and in our tribulations, we affirm that He is God and we will follow Him. And we will walk to Him on the storm. The storm didn't stop when Peter stepped out of the boat. If anything, it picked up. When he took his eyes off Christ, see what the devil is trying to attempt to do in your life is shake you up. But see, the trial of your faith is precious. And what he said in first Peter, chapter number five and first Peter, chapter number five, let me read it one more time and we're done. He's saying, I ain't believing this brother J. We're 31 minutes and we're out of here. First Peter chapter number five. In verse number 10, but the God of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. That's what God deserves in our life. That's why He's working in our life. But so many of us, again, I say us, so many of us feel like that this pain and suffering and this issue, this obstacle, this situation, this problem, we just want to run from it and get away from it rather than leaning into it. Easy preaching. Easy preaching. It sure is. But when you're in the fire, Sometimes literally. Sometimes physically. Sometimes spiritually. Oh, hear me. Sometimes mentally. Sometimes emotionally. You say, Brother Jay, I just want this problem gone. God is using that to grow and mature you. Let patience have its perfect work in your life. I said, Lord, if this is the valley you want us to stay in, and if we have to live here, and if we have to be here, and if we have to die here, God, you know the way, and those spiritual muscles will start stretching. That's what bodybuilding is. You're literally ripping your muscles to shreds. That's what exercise is. That's what therapy is. You're breaking down. You're making some things weak on you, but when it grows back, brother Warren, it grows back stronger. I'm not telling you nothing. You're a muscle man, so we won't worry about that. I am too, ain't I, baby? She nodded, but she didn't say amen. God is using. Let me put it this way. God is orchestrating. God is lining up some pain, some struggle, some difficulty. Why did Paul say that I might know Him, brother Matt, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death? Oh, but what's wonderful, I've seen some mature saints that are going through so much pain and so many issues in life, but they weep and they say, I know the Lord will see me through. How many of you have seen some mature saints that have went through the fire, and in the middle of the fire, you go to encourage them, but you leave encouraged? You leave strengthened in the faith. I'm telling you, God is working to perfect. mature us. So don't just shake off, use the church as a McDonald's drive-thru to come through, to get rid of some pain, sing a few songs and shake off the sadness. Listen, let's lean into Jesus. By doing so, we grow in our maturity and that through yielding ourselves to God, to His will, not my will. If it be Thy will, let this cup pass from me, but if not, Thy will be done. Yielding to Him, saying, Lord, have Your will, through that, as we, as the Holy Spirit of God, as the agent by which maturity is achieved, being filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, walking in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, walking in truth, in the Word, as a church coming together to utilize the gifts that God has given us, each in particular, by grace, through the operation of faith, that we lock arms with one another. We don't try to make each other be what one another is not, brother Marty. I don't try to make Brother Warren or Brother Marty or Sister Vickers or Brother Tim or Sister Kathy or the Satterfield twins. I don't try to make them be what I am. And vice versa. They don't try to force me to operate in the body how they operate. No. But us as a collective unified body. We come together as one, the various gifts that God has given each of us. We discussed this in Romans 12 last week. You can go back, whoever wasn't here, listen to it. These gifts that the Lord has given, we unite as one because we are one. Jesus made us that. That's why it's so unnatural for the church to be divided. The most unnatural thing that happens in churches is that they split. That is an unnatural thing. That's like me taking out my pocket knife and going to work, getting rid of this left arm. I ain't doing that. It's unnatural. I gotta stop. Come back next week, next Wednesday night. Let me say this, church. It's unnatural for us to be disunified. But we in unity, praise the Lord for the for the gifts that He's given, and we are each going on into growing up in the work of the perfecting of the saints. And one of the tools God uses, and we'll discuss more later, but one of the tools God uses is suffering. It empties us of ourselves to where we can see Christ. And our faith is grown. Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost. I'm glad I'm saved, aren't you? I'm glad I'm part of this local body of believers. Hey, church, I wanna tell you something. If God forbid somebody comes, some devil-filled soul comes by and sets this place on fire, Brother Terry, not one thing would have happened to the church. If y'all gotta come over to my house and we meet in the basement down yonder, we set up chairs and we get a guitar or a keyboard or whatever, do whatever we gotta do, It doesn't affect the church. We're one with one another. That's why my heart is ached so hard this week for folks hurting in our church. And that's why many of you tonight, as the church body hurts, you hurt with them. It's a natural reaction. The concern is when others in our church is hurting and we're not hurting, that's a problem. But we're united in that front with Him because we're seeing that God's working faith in that child of God. God's working maturity in that child of God. And we're going to be there for Him during this time because that's what God is doing in each of our lives. Forming us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the church said, Amen. So, so, so, so glad to be in church.