Beloved congregation in the Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in this life is an aspect of the Christian life. It's something that is going to remain in this world until Christ does come again. We are going to have difficulties. We are going to have persecution. We are going to have tribulation and trials. It is something of a mainstay within the Christian life. We are those that have been called out of the ways of this world into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ. And therefore, we are going to be persecuted when we stand with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So recognize that. Notice we sang this, He leadeth me, O blessed thought, that third stanza, Lord, I would clasp thy hand in mine, nor ever murmur, nor repine. content whatever lot I see, since tis my God that leadeth me." The Christian is led by the Word of God, the Spirit of God. That's the providence of God. We are governed by God. So whatever situation we may be in, whatever difficulties we find ourselves in, this is the hand of the Lord. No matter who the messenger, it's God who sent them. So we need to understand the suffering, whether it's a moral suffering, a moral evil that's being thrust against us. Maybe it's a physical ailment that we're going through. Persecution as being a Christian. Tribulation and trials because we believe the truth of God's Word. Maybe it's those who are then despised by family members. We need to understand the truth of this through the teaching of God's Word. And the scriptures speak of this everywhere. The problem that we have is that we are not taught up on the Word, not nourished on the Word as we ought to be. And so when these things happen, we're in wonderment of why this happened to us. Why these difficulties? Why this persecution? And so let us look at some of these occasions in the Scripture. Get your Bibles out and track with me here. five or six, seven scriptures, short ones, and just let us look about what the scriptures teach with regards to suffering. So we see it in all of the New Testament. We find it also in the Old Testament, but you couldn't... I just had to enumerate some. I had to bring out some. Turn to Acts chapter 9. I can't mention every one of them. We'd be here for months if we went through every text that dealt with suffering and trials in the Christian life. Acts 9, beginning in verse 15. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." Notice, with regards, this is speaking of the Apostle Paul, that he is one who is called to suffer. And the Lord was going to show him how many things that he must suffer for the name and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Now, if you know anything about the Apostle Paul, you know that his life was filled with suffering. You find that. He had turmoil inwardly. He had turmoil outwardly. He had turmoil against false brethren in the church, outside of the church. It was a constant difficulty in the life of the Apostle Paul. What you don't see about the Apostle Paul is curling up in the fetal position and crying out like a little baby towards the Lord. He's constantly in motion, he's constantly moving ahead, because he saw his life as that which was being poured out as a drink offering unto the Lord. He understood that he was redeemed to serve the Lord, to honor the Lord, to worship Him, and that he was bought and purchased by Him, a slave of Jesus Christ, to do his bidding. Come what may, he was faithful with us. Turn to Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8 and verse 16 and 17. And here the Apostle Paul writes these following words. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ. Notice, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. So, if we are demonstrating by suffering with the Lord Jesus Christ, along with Him, for the Gospel's sake, then we are union with Jesus Christ. The world hates Christ. The world hates the message of the Gospel. The world marginalizes the message of the Gospel. The world is that which constantly suppresses the truth of the Scriptures. And it will constantly, even as in the Old Testament, through the New Testament, in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, will strive to put to death those who proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus, and that there is only one way to be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what you find with the Apostle Paul, as he writes that we will suffer along with Christ. What sin did Jesus commit? You know, as the Scriptures teach, he was a lamb without blemish, without spot. He had no sin. What he died for is he died for our sins. He himself had no sin. But did you notice that he kept the commandments of God perfectly? He loved God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength in his human nature. And he loved his neighbor as himself. And he served mankind. Jesus said that I have come not to be served, but to serve and give my life for ransom for many. And we put him to death. We put him to death. He spoke righteous, holy truth, and he was killed. It says something about the state of mankind, doesn't it? In our fallen, sinful natures. that we're despisers of the truth. And Jesus said, if they persecuted Me, they're going to persecute you as well, as He spoke to the apostles, as it goes down also in Pertuti to all of those who proclaim the gospel. Look at Philippians 1.29, and recognize, as the apostle Paul writes again, to this very thing we are called. It has been granted unto us, he says. Notice? For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, it's been granted to you to believe in Him. So notice, first off, that to believe in Christ is a work of the Spirit of God. God has granted that to you. You have not done that of your own steam and of your own power. God has granted that to you. But it's also been granted unto you to suffer for His name's sake. That's part of being a Christian, isn't it? Suffering for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 4. 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 4. For in fact we told you before, when we were with you, that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened, and you know. There's the Apostle Paul instructing the church in Thessalonica that they would suffer tribulation, and exactly what he said happened to them. 2 Timothy 2, right? I'm getting it. 2 Timothy 3, verse 10. But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews 11 and verse 24. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward." Notice the affliction in which he suffered. He chose to suffer affliction when he identified himself with the people of God, that he worshiped the true and living God, Yahweh. And he was persecuted. He was hated. He was despised. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 19. For this is commendable if, because of conscience towards God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? For when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us. Leave us an example that you should follow in his steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Who, when he reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. Chapter 3, verse 14. If you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. Do not be afraid of their threats with any trouble, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. And always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you, a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than doing evil. And I'm going to stop there. I have more, and it goes on. This is fine as the refrain in the New Testament. And this is what James is getting at this morning. And this is something that we need to learn as Christians. Beloved, you are going to suffer. You are going to suffer in this way or in that way, and it's all under the hand of God. It's all directed and governed by our God for His glory and for your good, no matter what suffering it is. And we need to learn. We need to learn the theology of suffering. We need to learn to suffer well for the glory of God. Not murmuring, not crying out. As you see of all those scripture passages that we look to, the people of God suffer. They suffer in this world in which we live. They are marginalized. They are despised. They are ridiculed. They are those that are not included among others. So it is, as we proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And James, notice in our text this morning, he addresses those who are into dispersion, who are under difficult persecution, and even with those who were employers over them, held back wages, would not provide for them the needs that they had. And so James is telling them to be patient. Be patient in your suffering. Isn't it a hard lesson to learn? We're very impatient. We don't like to suffer. Yet James, when he begins, and he says, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And he says, let endurance have its perfect work, that you might be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Let it do its work. What God has designed it to do, let it do it. Don't fight against it. Don't rail against it. Don't complain against it. Don't become impatient. because we sin when we come impatient with God. When things aren't done in our time frame, we have a tendency to get angry with the Lord and to begin questioning His love for us. Beloved, if you find yourself in that predicament, you begin questioning God's love, you've got to continually go back to the cross of Christ. You've got to see the love of God in the cross of Jesus Christ. A good place to start is 1 John chapter 3 and 4. where you see the love of God for us in the death of His Son on our behalf. So don't let it ever question, through the difficulties that we go through, don't ever question God's love for you. That is a recipe of continual despondency, despair, and discouragement, and depression. It leads you down that hill when you begin questioning the Word of God. We are in God's timetable. You understand that? We are not our own. We belong to our faithful Savior, and our life is in His hand. As David said, my times are in your hands. So God has the right, both in creation and recreation in Christ, to use me any way He wills. We need to understand, as we just sang, were you genuine when you sang that hymn? I'll never murmur or repine. But we constantly murmur and repine against God's providence. We've got to learn not to. To be patient. To recognize that we're in the hand of God and providentially He's governing for His glory and the good of His church. So, James says this in our text. My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. He directs us now back to the Old Testament. This is how he's talking to the people here, people that understood as Jewish audience. They would understand the Old Testament. They would understand the prophets. They would understand Moses and Elijah and Elisha and Daniel and Jeremiah and Isaiah. They would know these men, their lives, and what they went through. And so it is. It's a constant to go back and rehearse that again in your mind. When he says, my brethren, take the prophet, he means to take hold of it. Let it grip you as you read it. Don't just read it and pass on by. Look what's going on in their lives. What happened with Joseph? Joseph was a man who loved his father. He loved his brothers, but he loved the Lord. And he desired to serve the Lord. And the Lord gave him some wondrous dreams, And Joseph, being a young man, told the dreams to his brothers. His brother hated him for that. He was favored by his father. But what evil do you see that Joseph did to his brothers? None. They hated him because of the revelation that God had given to him. They hated that union that he had with the Lord, and that the father really loved his son, Joseph. And he suffers. Cast into a pit. Sold into Egypt by the Ishmaelite slave traders. Bought by the Potiphar. Accused of rape. Thrown into prison. God raises them up. Causes them to be the chief steward in the prison. He serves well. He continues to serve well. God gives a dream to the baker and the cupbearer in there. Joseph has the interpretation from the Lord. He then brings it. And then Joseph's forgotten about, as he tells. The baker got his head cut off. The cupbearer, he's the one who was restored to his position. He says, remember me before Pharaoh. Which he doesn't. Until years go by where Pharaoh has dreams. And then the cupbearer remembers, hey, there was a guy in prison. And he was brought. And Joseph says, interpretations belong to the Lord. And he gave the interpretation. Pharaoh raised him up, made him second in command of all of Egypt. And through all the trials of being away from his family, you don't think about that, do we? Taken as a younger boy away from his father's home, from his family, from his loved ones, from all that he knew and was familiar with, took him away. And there he was. And yet the Lord was with him. God never abandoned him. Take Joseph as one, as suffering for the Lord. Take that as an example for us. Think about Jeremiah. Jeremiah is one of the prophets who faithfully and diligently preached the gospel, the good news. And he brought it to the people of God and they despised it. And what did they do? They threw him in a pit. They put him in a dung pit and buried him up to his neck. And so it was that he suffered and was despised and his name was a byword. No converts. Nobody turned and trusted in the Lord as a result of Jeremiah's ministry. And he says, I have woe and I have sorrow and I have difficulty. But he continued to persevere. The Lord put a fire in his belly. He continued to persevere. Take Jeremiah as an example of suffering and patience. Isaiah said that traditionally he was sawn in two. That's what was referred to in Hebrews 11. Sawn in two, despised, living in caves and dens of the earth. The world was not worthy of them, and yet they were patient. When they become impatient is when you sin. Lord, am I alone left? Elijah said. I'm the last one. I'm the only one. Ah, there's a pity party for you right there. And before you laugh, we do the same thing. But we're to take it as example of not to follow in certain things. We're not to be pity party. We're to know that God is orchestrating all things. I mean, to go back in your suffering and to realize that God is sovereign is a great antidote. It's a great comfort for the soul. This is not happening just willy-nilly. This is not some whimsical thing. This didn't happen out of the blue. God is in charge of all these things. So it was that the Lord visited with Elijah and provided for him. And he continued to serve, even as he was striving against Ahab and Jezebel, who hated him, who wanted to kill him. But he persevered in doing the work that the Lord had called him to, even to the end. Elisha did the same thing. Daniel did the same thing. Daniel prayed, and when they say, you can pray to no one except this statue of Nebuchadnezzar, that we're going to erect him and him only. And then the magicians, the wise men, the satraps, they all say, hey, look at Daniel. He's not praying to the idol that we erected. He's not praying to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar. So what happened? They threw him in the lion's den. How about the three children that are thrown into the furnace? Persecution, because they would not worship Nebuchadnezzar and his idols. And so it is with the people of God. Go back, beloved, to the teaching of the Old Testament. That's why I say, again, we have the admonition here to grab a hold of the teaching that goes on in the Old Testament. Grab a hold of the lives of those prophets who serve the Lord well. who continued by faith. That's what the hall of faith there in Hebrew 11 is. By faith, by faith. Faith is laying hold upon the promises of God and moving with godly fear. Think about Noah as he built the ark, and all the world was against him. And here you got Noah and his sons banging and hammering away for 120 years, and all the world ridiculing him. And yet he perseveres to do the will of the Lord. Take that as an example of perseverance. I mean, man, years go by, and he had never even seen rain. The Lord watered the earth from the ground. And here he's talking about rain and a flood that's coming. And there's Noah hammering and building and cutting, however the tools that he had to use. And we can't get our food in 15 seconds, and we're on apoplexy. We're at the restaurant, and what's taking them so long? We've got to learn endurance, patience, and that's all of us. And God brings that endurance through suffering, putting us in adverse situations. He stretches our faith. He causes it to grow. For what purpose? To endure more long-suffering, to endure more affliction. That's what we've been called to. So take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. In the name of the Lord is a reference to God's word, God's will, God's name, God's attributes. It has to do with all things that surround who God is and what He has called us to do. They spoke the word. They did what was faithful. They did what was honorable. They did what was only the method by which God redeems sinful people. and they were despised. So James says, take them as an example. And beloved, if you're not reading Scripture, if you're not faithfully reading through the Old Testament, and I know you come to things that you can't understand, that names that you can't pronounce. I understand that. There's difficulties in that. Remember, when you come to those difficult names and things, remember that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable. Even in the things that you don't think are profitable, there is profit there. God said so. We must believe the truth of God's Word. That even in the genealogies, there is profit there for us to learn. But continue consistently reading from Genesis to Malachi, and then start over again, and just keep reading through the Scriptures, and let the winds of the Spirit through the Word blow through your mind. This is how we are getting the examples right here. The examples are those that are on exhibit. You've been to exhibits before. You've looked at things before. We often have this in our day and age. Young kids usually say, I'm going to model my life after this athlete or this so-and-so. They're on exhibit. They're on display. So it is with the Old Testament. We have them on display as per the Old Testament. And this is what the writer of the Hebrews says, we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, Hebrews 12.1. And what that means is they are not a witness of us, but a witness to us through the Word of how to endure as those who believe the promises of God. So James is saying that they suffer. They are an example of suffering. Suffering, the Greek term means to be under a difficult situation. And what it means to be patient, he says right here, is to remain up under it. Even though it's hard, and even though it's difficult, even though it's strenuous, even though it hurts, to stay up under it, continue to persevere. This is what you find in the life of Job, and this is what he goes to. Probably no other person, except for Jesus Christ, do you find in Scripture, that suffered in this way. Job is usually the go-to guy when you speak of anything about suffering, and long suffering and endurance. Job, you think about the whole of the book of Job, and you find within Job, the first three chapters, you find Job's distress. You find the difficult that he's going through. From about chapter four through about chapter 37 or so, you're gonna find Job, his defense against his friends. whose friends that were railing against him, that he is in this dilemma and under such turmoil from God because he has secret sin in his life. And Job gave a defense to his friends. And then chapter 38 through 42, what you find is Job's deliverance. It's that God is the one who delivers Job. And the text says, we count them blessed. We consider them blessed who endure." We like to read that. We like to read that Joseph was in the prison and he continued faithfully. He doesn't turn his back on the Lord. He doesn't shake his fist at God. He doesn't blaspheme His holy name. He continues to persevere. He wonders. He brings questions. He prays. He does all those things that we do as well. But he does not turn his back on the Lord. He says this, and he says this in Genesis 50. So you know how early on it is for those that are trusting in the Lord. He says to his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. To bring about, as it is this day, to save 75 people alive. So the great famine that took place, and the Lord redeemed His people, 75 in all, as we find that in James in Acts chapter 7. He recounts that 75 people were saved, and they were brought in to Goshen, and the Lord provided for them. And Joseph saw all the events, how intricately they were woven together. He saw all of those things as God's providential dealing with Him to save these people. It wasn't just simply about Joseph. God had a greater purpose in his suffering, in his tribulation, to save his people and to bring them out. And Joseph recognized that. Ought we not to recognize that? Aren't we those who love to go to that go-to verse of Romans 8, 28? And God works all things together for good to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose. That's the comfort, beloved. That's it right there. It's getting that down into your soul. To know, to truly, genuinely believe, with a heartfelt joy in Christ, that God is working all things together for my good, no matter how horrendous it may be. No matter how difficult the problem is. God is at work here. And it just is not only about me. God has got a greater purpose in and through this suffering, in this tribulation, this trial, this persecution. So we count them blessed. It's blessed. And they are called the blessed ones. They persevere. And you find that again in Hebrews 11. By faith, they persevere. By faith, they believe the Word of God. And so James says, you've heard of the perseverance of Job. At perseverance, again, it means he continued to strain at it, to continue to strive to it, to continue to stick with it, even under the difficult circumstances in which he was in. So you have one of persecution from people, and you continue, not by blaspheming their name, not by rendering evil for evil, but good for evil. That's what we're called to. That's a tall order, isn't it? That's a difficulty. I think every one of us in here can admit that. That because of the sin that still so easily clings to us, somebody wrongs us, we want to wrong them back. It's really the perceptive of, you know, you're looking with your perceptionist, looking through the lens of scripture to realize this is not what God has called me to. And even though I have a feeling that I want to strike back at them, the word tells me something different. To do good to those who do evil towards me. How will that happen? And we have the mind of Christ unless we are cultivating and nourished and fed up on the word of truth. as we continue to mine out God's word and let it, as I said, blow through our minds so that we might think God's thoughts after him. The world is not going to teach you to do good to those who persecute you and to say good things about those who say all manner of evil against you for Christ's name's sake. The world's not gonna teach you that. The world is going to teach you, don't get mad, get even. That's vengeance. Vengeance isn't bad. Vengeance isn't wrong, because God brings vengeance on the evildoer. But it's wrong for us to do it. Vengeance is mine. The Lord says, I will repay. Let the Lord do his work. So we've heard, and notice, James is speaking to his audience, and he's already saying, you've heard of Job. You know about Job. You know about what Job went through. You know his distress. And he goes on and he says, you also have seen the end intended by the Lord. So these are new covenant believers looking back at what God has done. Job didn't understand that. Job didn't know what he was going through and why he was going through that. He searched his heart. He knew that there was no sin that he specifically committed that God would bring his chastising hand against him. He said, I have covenanted with my eyes not to look upon a virgin. He wasn't lusting after women. He wasn't bearing false witness against his neighbor. He couldn't figure it out. Why is God's hand so heavy against me? I feel like dying. His skin became like elephantitis. Elephant skin. Crusty and nasty, and he had all kinds of sores on his skin. It's when he talks about a pot shirt that he scraped it. You know why he scraped it? Because flies come with sores like that, and they lay eggs, and maggots hatch, and they are in there. And he's scraping that stuff away. From head to toe, he's covered with boils. And he doesn't know exactly why he's going through what he's going through. And he continues to endure. Seven days, he sits and says nothing. His friends say nothing. They first see him, they have compassion on him. They see him in such a state, and they cried out. This is our friend Job. He's almost unrecognizable. What has he done that the Lord brings this upon him? That was a supposition of their mind. Then their thoughts changed from compassion to accusatory. Oh, it's got to be this, Job. You've got to be secretly in sin. And that's why God's bringing that. You know, the whole book of Job teaches us that just ain't so. So let me say this, beloved, be careful. You are not the thought police, and neither am I. You cannot know the thoughts of another individual. And even if they tell you certain things, you cannot know the thoughts because they may even be lying to you. They and God alone know the thoughts of a man's heart. So be careful about impugning somebody or saying that they're going through what they're going through because this is what they did. You don't know. So be quiet. Be quiet and pray for them and have compassion. That's a lesson we all need to learn, isn't it? But when you're really going through it, you need to learn to suffer and endure. Job lost his family. He lost his kids. He lost his servants. He lost all of his wealth. And there he was, punched in the stomach, knocked to his knees. And a wife that's saying, basically, go commit suicide. Curse God and go kill yourself. And he wouldn't. He says, though he slay me, I will still trust in him. Is that your faith? Though God slays you, is that your faith? Though he brings persecution, is your faith that you will trust in him? Though he brings suffering, though he may take away your wealth, is your faith that you will trust in him? You'll continue to persevere and keep looking unto him, praising him, worshiping him, because Satan says that you'll curse God to his face. And God said, Job won't. True faith will not. True faith looks from a right perspective and continues to persevere, though it's not easy. But that's what faith does. So, beloved, you need to strengthen your faith, don't you? You need to continue to grow. And as you grow, you grow up. A little sapling that's planted into the ground that's exactly like we are when we come to faith in Christ. The seed is planted, it starts to grow. It's very fragile in the beginning. The wind blows, it pushes it this way, it pushes it that way. Bugs attack it. There's all kinds of things that happen. Whether or not there's erosion of the soil, there's a disease in the soil, there's always something that wants to get in and attack it and kill it. And yet it continues to be fed by the rain and by the sunshine and the nourishment of the earth, and it continues to grow, and it becomes a big oak, and it produces acorns that produce other trees as well. And it stands firm, and it weathers all of the things that are thrown against it, because it's supported by the hand of God. That's us as the people of God. We're plants that are planted by our Heavenly Father, and we will and we must grow. So keep on looking unto Jesus. Consider Christ. Peter brings up Christ about an example of suffering and patience. Think about Christ on the cross and what He went through for us. The inexpressible anguish, pains, and tears. Things that we don't know anything about. We can never plumb the depth of that. And we will never experience if you're trusting in Christ. Inexpressible. They can't be expressed. You can't talk about it. You can't even think what this would be like to go through this. And this is what He endured in our place. He didn't forsake the Father. He loved Him until the end. He continued to keep on loving the Father, even through the excruciating pain. That's where He cruces, that's where we get the cross. Excruciating, the pain and the suffering He was going through. In our place, He was being condemned. And He continued. Why? Because He saw His seed. And he was satisfied to drink the dregs to the bitter end for his people. See examples that the scripture gives us over and over. God is very merciful and compassionate to us. He's not dealt with us as our sins deserve. We deserve God's wrath, beloved. We deserve punishment. We deserve penalty. We deserve suffering and trials and tribulation and persecution. We deserve it. We've sinned against God, but He counts us as righteous in Jesus Christ. And because He counts us as righteous in Jesus Christ, He deals with us as with sons. He nourishes, and He feeds us, and He cares for us, and He provides for us, and He is very compassionate with us. He knows that we are flesh. He provides for us through the Word, the nourishment that we might continue to grow, that we might be patient in longsuffering, that we might honor Him. Songs in the night. You remember that little title I came up with in Acts 16? Paul and Silas in the inner prison, singing psalms and hymns to God. What a witness! What a testimony! As the other prisoners were listening to them sing glory to God, even in the midst of this persecution. Beloved, gird up the loins of your mind. Be prepared for the suffering that's going to come, maybe from your family. Maybe from a good friend. Maybe from somebody in the workplace. It's not going to be easy living as Christians as salt and light in this fallen, sin-cursed world. Recognize that. We have been called as soldiers, as farmers, as those who are to continue to keep on persevering, planting the seed and praying that God would cause it to grow. Endurance. Keep on enduring. Keep on praying, keep on doing what God has called you to and reflect upon that fact that God is very compassionate. Even through the suffering, he tells us again and again, his mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness, oh Lord. God is faithful to us. So learn from the examples of scripture. They were written for our learning and for our instruction so that we wouldn't sin in the ways that some did in the old. but that we also emulate and follow the examples of those by virtuous faith continue to trust in the promises of God. Hear the word of the Lord and keep persevering no matter how difficult, how deep, how discouraging the trial may be. Keep persevering with the mindset that the Lord has me exactly where he would have me and he's doing a work. He's doing a work for his glory, for my good, and the good of the whole body of Christ. Amen. Shall we pray?