James - Chapter 1, Part 2

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Got to have a little heart-to-heart with you this morning about masks. Masks or no masks.

[0:12] Controversial issue, and the controversy is not decreasing but probably increasing. I know for a fact because they have told me there are people who ordinarily would be here at Grace on Sundays, but they are not here because not everyone is wearing a mask.

[0:35] And there are people who would ordinarily be here on a Sunday morning, but they are not here because people are wearing masks. And how in the world are you supposed to treat something like that?

[0:52] I have no idea. So all I'm going to do is reiterate something that we've done in the past and the position that we've taken. And it's just a really, really controversial thing because not even the experts know as much about it as we would like.

[1:10] And that's why we keep getting different answers from different experts. So it gets very frustrating and very confusing. But we know one thing. This thing can be deadly. There's no question about that.

[1:22] And when you end up on a ventilator fighting for your life day after day, and I'm told that only 20% of the people go on ventilators come off, the rest die on it.

[1:37] It's something that you really need to take seriously. Let's read this article. It's called Places of Worship. It's on page 2 on the back side. Houses of Worship have been potent COVID-19 spreaders.

[1:55] A May study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which followed 92 attendees of an Arkansas church for a week, found that almost 40% developed COVID-19, that is half the cases in people older than 65.

[2:14] COVID-19 spreads easily in indoor large gatherings, and religious events are no exception, Ford says.

[2:26] People are often sitting less than six feet apart, and if they're singing, the virus can spread even more. The reason for that is they are pretty much convinced that this virus is primarily picked up by being airborne rather than by your touching it, although it can be both ways, and this is the reason they emphasize hand-washing so much, because you can pick up the virus from a doorknob that somebody left on it before, they left the building before you did, and they had the virus, and they're contaminated, and they left it on the doorknob, and you can pick it up from the doorknob.

[3:12] And that's why it's so important to wash your hands and wash them frequently. The article goes on. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that a choir practice in Washington infected 86% of members.

[3:32] For most seniors, virtual services are safest, Ford says. Of course, that's where you're not actually together. You're doing it through the medium of computers or something like that.

[3:44] Outdoor services are also low risk. If congregants are masked and spaced six feet apart, and there's no singing. Because the singing, when you project your voice, there are particles that are exuded from your mouth that you can't even see.

[4:07] But if you've got the kind of sophisticated instruments that can pick it up, you would be surprised what you inject into the atmosphere out there.

[4:19] And it can easily travel four to six feet. Airborne. You can't see it. You can't feel it. But it can find you.

[4:31] And if you are in the path of it, you inhale that, and you're on your way to trouble. And you don't have a clue. And another thing that is really insidious about this, you can be infected with the virus and have no symptoms.

[4:50] Don't feel anything. No headache. No temperature. No nothing. And that can go on for three or four days. So you don't have a clue that you're even a carrier, but you are a carrier, and you can infect someone else even though you don't have any symptoms.

[5:08] And that's really kind of scary because you can have it and not know you have it, and you can pass it on to someone else. And it is further difficult to comprehend that young people can come down with this virus, and for most of them, it's just like a head cold, and they pass it off in a few days.

[5:32] It's just like a head cold coming and going. Three or four days, it's gone. But they are infectious, and they can pass it on, and the person that they pass it on to would amount to a whole lot more than a head cold.

[5:47] So that's why this thing is so difficult to corral, and who knows how long it's going to be before sufficient quantities of this vaccine are available across the nation so that we can really say that we've whipped this thing.

[6:03] We just don't know. We don't know. And now they're talking about the virus that was discovered in England a couple of weeks ago has made its way to the United States, and it's been found.

[6:17] It has been found in California and in Florida. How's that for two extremes? And this virus is more contagious than COVID-19.

[6:30] It is easier to pick it up and easier to transmit it than COVID-19. Fortunately, it is not as deadly, and it is easier to recover from than COVID-19.

[6:42] So this is what we're dealing with, and it still involves a whole lot of unknowns. It says, For most seniors, virtual services are safest. Outdoor services are also low risk if congregants are masked and spaced six feet apart, and there's no singing.

[6:59] If you feel strongly about an indoor service and your area has low COVID-19 numbers, make sure that no more than 30 to 40 people will attend, and that there will be no singing, and stay masked and seated at least six feet away from those outside your household, Cooney says.

[7:21] Now, be advised that this article is provided by a research magazine. It's provided by Consumer Reports, and they don't have anything to gain by what they put out, so I think it's probably pretty good information as well as the other articles that are on there, so avail yourself of them, if you will, please.

[7:43] And I want you to think about this. Ought we to be wearing masks? What do you think? No, I don't want to either.

[7:57] They're a nuisance. But have they become a necessary nuisance? That's the issue. And sometimes you've got to keep this in mind too.

[8:11] If you don't feel that it is necessary to wear a mask for your own protection, do we not perhaps have an obligation to wear a mask for the protection of others?

[8:25] Maybe not ourselves, but others. So that's something to think about, and I want you to think about it. Next week we'll make a decision, and we'll either be masked, or we will not be masked, so think about it.

[8:37] Next week that's going to change, one way or the other. Okay? Thank you all for being here, and Tad, thanks especially for you. Come right on up, and hold forth with whatever the Lord has laid on your heart for today.

[8:50] We're looking forward to it. Marv? Yeah? A little of that. I ushered last week, we had 25 people. But we can hold 40, and they spread out on Sundays.

[9:01] The ushers release the people by row so that they're not together. I don't know what else you could really do, and they do wear masks, because they're masked right, as you walk into church, you can pick up a mask.

[9:11] Yeah. So I don't know how you work it, but I don't know what else you could do, really. Yeah. Well, we've got masks out there, and we encourage people to get them. We've got signs on the door, in the front and the back, that we are not handshaking, we are not hugging, and we are not being in close proximity.

[9:30] All I can say is, I hope I won't have to contend with this when I get old. Because it's going to be a pain. Amen. Most people wear masks at your service.

[9:42] Yeah. Most people. I mean, it's about 95%. Okay. Well, give it some thought. Next week, we're going to make a decision, and if we're going to wear masks, then we'll wear masks, and everybody will wear masks, and we'll have them provided here, so if you don't have one when you come, you can get one when you come in the door.

[9:58] Thank you, guys. Thank you, Marv. Good to be with you. I've made my decision. I came in, and I was called the mask man. But when I'm up front, I have not been wearing one.

[10:10] If you want me to wear one, I'll try and project a little more. But it's a delight to be with you, and these are difficult days, and today is a significant day for our country, I believe, in one state, but also Ohio, and where we live.

[10:30] So let's pray, shall we? Father in heaven, we're thankful that we can know you through your son, Jesus, and he has revealed himself through this holy book, the Bible, and we're thankful, Lord, that you laid it upon James' heart years ago by your spirit to write these words for us, and we pray that you will stimulate us therefrom and help us, Lord, to grow in wisdom.

[10:59] You are the great God. You're the Father of lights. You sent your son, Jesus. We have celebrated and do celebrate his coming and his presence with us even now, and we're thankful that this morning we can submit ourselves to you, your truth, and we would ask for your wisdom as we move into this holy arena of your word.

[11:28] Thank you for it. You have given it. You have preserved it, and we pray, Lord, that you would feed us therefrom. In Jesus' name we pray.

[11:40] Amen. Amen. This is a letter that we're looking at, the book of James in the Bible, and I hope you got your Bible open there to James chapter 1.

[11:54] Whenever we open our Bibles to this book, I think as students, we're going to get lambasted with some things that we need to hear.

[12:04] They're powerful, powerful things as he talks about trials, troubles, troubles, temptations, lust, favoritism.

[12:17] is that enough? We get hit, don't we? Because we experience life here.

[12:28] And he's saying that there's certain things to us by way of commands. Think this. Believe this. Do this. About every other verse, he's got an imperative for us.

[12:44] And today we're looking again at chapter 1, and he's giving to us the admonition of how we can live with triumph in the midst of trials.

[12:58] And the trials that he is talking about are tests that God gives. Life is a test and life is a trust.

[13:09] The trials that we go through, he wants us to go through them victoriously and endure through the trials. And today he's going to bring to our attention another aspect of the trials.

[13:24] He calls it temptation. And we can identify with temptations too. Anybody been tempted already this morning? I know I have.

[13:35] I'm having trouble with this right arm. So I'm going to maybe raise it and keep it moving. But temptations. A man went into his kitchen, and he saw his wife in the kitchen, walking around.

[13:55] And she had something in her hand, a fly swatter. And he says to his wife, What you doing? Swatting flies?

[14:06] She said, Yeah, I'm swatting flies. And she keeps walking around the kitchen. And she's looking for these flies. He says, Honey, have you got any?

[14:21] Yeah. She says, I got three males and two females. He's wondering as she's walking around the kitchen. How did you know that there were three males and two females?

[14:36] And she said, three of them were on the refrigerator and two of them were on the telephone. Talk about temptations.

[14:49] Okay. I watched that football game the other night too. Ohio State won. Pretty good game. It was exciting, wasn't it? And I was tempted to go to the refrigerator.

[15:05] And I did. Oh my. Temptations come. In James 1 and verse 13, he says this.

[15:16] I'm reading from the New King James. Some of you have different Bibles and that's fine. If some of you want to read your translation, if you think that's coming forth a little bit more clearly, that'd be fine.

[15:26] Just interrupt. Okay. There are other comments too. Verse 13, James 1. Let no man say when he is tempted.

[15:37] I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he himself tempt anyone. Verse 14, But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

[15:56] Verse 15, Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown, it brings forth death.

[16:11] Okay. So up to this point, we've been talking about a man or a woman facing trials, facing tests in life and he's saying don't succumb to that.

[16:22] Don't give in to that. And he's made it very clear, I think, that the source of the test or the trial is the Lord himself. So we know that all of the circumstances of life that we go through have gone through the grid of God's approval.

[16:46] They come from the Lord. He brings the tests to reveal what's going on in our hearts to expose the degree of spirituality.

[16:59] to see how mature we are. To see if we have been living responsibly in growing up, not just growing old.

[17:12] How do you explain that when it's full grown, brings forth death? Is that the original sin? Or, I mean, we're all going to die, so that means we all sin to death?

[17:24] How do you read that one? Okay, we're going to get to that. Can you hold that thought? Okay, we're going to get to that. And I'm glad you're thinking because these are things that we've got to sort out and I believe in the context he's going to help us understand all of that.

[17:44] But just in the area of the test and the trial, again, it's like a teacher in a class giving a test or a pop quiz that's to see how the students have learned and how they've come along.

[18:00] In the same way, God gives us tests and trials to see how we're doing in our walk with the Lord and whether we are listening to the Spirit of God from the Word of God and His promptings in our life.

[18:15] So these tests come to help us grow up, to help us in our witness to others and overall to bring glory to God.

[18:30] That's what God wants. Now, I'm not sure if we looked at this last week or last time or not but Galatians 2.20 Paul gives to us a similar idea I think we ought to keep in our minds that gives us a lot of foundation.

[18:48] Somebody has Galatians 2 and verse 20? No? Okay, I didn't give that one. Alright. It says, I have been crucified with Christ.

[19:00] It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

[19:19] So, Paul is saying to us something very similar I think by way of a concept to as James is we have been bought by the Lord.

[19:30] James is talking to brethren brothers ones who are believers in Christ and as we go through life we are tested and we need to know that we are identified with Jesus in His death burial and resurrection and then we can live for Him because it is Christ living His life in and through us not I but Christ living through me and at this point I think it's important for us to make kind of a distinction here there are external tests that God brings did you hear me?

[20:19] It's external tests that God brings to us for our benefit and these happen on the outside and then there are inward temptations that come that do not come from the Lord temptations do not come originate from Him they are the natural product of our sinful nature okay yet these these things that come from within they are real right we experience this and we must face them and just like the external tests or trials that come to us that we can be victorious over as we get wisdom from God so these internal struggles and temptations that we experience we also need the wisdom of God if we're going to be overcomers and triumph and so he says in verse number 13

[21:36] I want to emphasize a word when James does not say if you experience this you're going to yeah this is a universal experience we all experience temptations this is not an academic discussion this is not something that's theoretical this is experiential this is a certainty temptations do come and just like there are external consequences from the external things that we experience so there are eternal consequences consequences from the internal choices that we make as well now again getting at that issue here he is not talking about salvation because salvation is a gift of God's grace that comes to someone who believes and receives Christ so he is not talking about a loss of salvation but he is talking about a loss of potential reward from God if we do not pass the test or the trials and when we pass those tests then he gives a reward so eternal consequences so get this thought in your mind when we face a temptation from within think about am

[23:36] I willing to lose eternal reward because I'm going to follow my way rather than his way the answer to that should always be a resounding no whether it's a test or a trial or a temptation so James is trying to educate us and give to us divine wisdom so that we'll make the right choice and he wants us to ponder these eternal consequences yeah okay the way I'm following you here now is God doesn't tempt anybody that's what it says here he doesn't tempt anybody we're getting tempted from two sources either the devil on the outside the devil is on the outside he tempts us to do evil things and our evil nature is inside us we're born that way that evil nature that's tempting us to do evil things but once we are saved have salvation then the

[24:52] Holy Spirit Christ Spirit is within us and therefore we have another spirit in us besides our sinful natures and so we can go to either one of those when we have a tough decision to make about doing something we either follow God's Holy Spirit and says don't do that that's wrong don't do it or we can listen to our sinful natures and say yeah go ahead and do it it's okay we want to follow the Holy Spirit's nature in us to keep us from sinning from outside sins and our internal nature I believe that's right I believe that's right and he's going to emphasize that idea as we're going to move through this text and I think there probably hopefully there are lots of other scriptures and ideas that are going to come to your minds to help you realize from experiences of other people including Jesus there's a right way to handle temptation and wrong things when they come so we experience temptation temptations do not come from

[26:03] God tests and trials do we got that tests and trials come from God and we might get the idea then that okay these temptations must come from him as well that they are God ordained but he in verse 13 look at it he says James correctly says that temptation don't say when you are tempted that it comes from God well just think about it a minute why not why won't temptation originate from God there's a principle here and there's a pattern I think that we need to get God is untemptable God cannot experience evil evil is foreign to

[27:11] God God is holy that's right and there is no sin in him there he cannot be tempted God is not tempted by evil in the sense that he does not succumb to the evil he does not yield to it God does not participate in sin and there's an important distinction for us to make here someone has Hebrews chapter 4 and verse number 15 and we need to understand what God is saying here to us about temptation because Jesus was here in human flesh totally human like us totally God in one person someone has

[28:12] Hebrews 4 and okay thank you for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but has in all points tempted like we are like as we are yet without sin thank you I think a couple of you had that because I gave it out last week and I gave it out again today not knowing whether or not you kept you guys are astute you were eager beavers that's good all right let's get what he say I remember an illustration that doctor well he officially wasn't a doctor but to me he's a doctor Ivan French professor at Grace Theological Seminary gave and I was going to bring the illustration and I didn't and I don't think he did in class either but the illustration was that Jesus was God and man in one person it's like if you had an iron pole and a wood tomato stick and they are together now that's

[29:28] Jesus he in his humanity could feel the temptation Matthew 4 he was tempted it says he's tempted in all points like as we are yet without any sin he could feel and he could sense that temptation but he could not sin now I could break a tomato steak but I wouldn't be able to break that metal rod you see the illustration James issue is whether God could succumb to the evil he does not know sin by succumbing to it that's what James is getting at Hebrews the issue is he had the opportunity all right to sin but he didn't no way he didn't so our

[30:43] God has no experience with evil in the sense of succumbing to it so God is not in the business tempting us no so when Jesus prayed lead us not into temptation okay what is he saying I believe the gist of that is father keep us away from temptation as far as possible help me with this so the Lord is not tempting us because he himself has not ever experienced or succumbed to temptation and when temptation comes when sin comes we then have the opportunity the likelihood of sharing that with somebody else so sin can go from one person to another person just like when

[32:07] Eve was tempted in the garden of Eden she was deceived and she gave in she succumbed to that and she ate of the fruit then what did she do she offered it to her husband Adam and Adam was not deceived he wanted to stay same with his wife rather than thinking about what God said don't eat of that lest you die Satan said to Eve you will not surely die that was a lie and so when temptation comes to us it's a lie whoa okay Adam ate of that and because Adam ate of that we then have passed on to us a propensity a drawing towards sin that comes from within that we need to resist and say no to that and if we give in to the evil then we may become an instrument in somebody else's life to do the same thing so if we are prone to deception we may lead our wives our children grandchildren fellow church members neighbors into believing a lie if it gets a hold of us it may be passed on to somebody else if we gossip we're likely to just pass that on to somebody else and they're going to do the same thing if we judge someone else we may cause that person to be judgmental we ourselves may be judged if we are undisciplined unrestrained uncontrolled we are a stimulus to somebody else who's watching on to live an undisciplined life but if we refrain from the physical natural temptations then we become a stimulus to something better and a higher standing that

[35:03] God has given so since God is not the source of temptations where do these internal tests these temptations come from James says in verse 14 they come from our own lust and there is a sequence here that James is giving to us and he likens it to an analogy of child birth to explain the process lust that draws us away and entices us Thomas Constable he gave a definition of lust is a is the desire to do have or be something outside of the will of God lust is a temptation to do have or be something outside of the will of

[36:14] God hmm I'm sure that all of us recognize we have been we have been tempted in ways like that yeah yeah Jesus God was tempted tremendously when he was taken up in the mountain and the devil tempted him and he tempted him in three ways like you're pointing out one was his physical needs which was food he was hungry then it had been 40 days he hadn't eaten so he tempted him and also with power he's tempted for something I'll give you power over all these nations so power is another and then pride you know you're a good person you know but pride so those are the three areas

[37:19] I believe that we are tempted in to do by the devil to get us to do those and our own internal sinful natures that try to do make us better than we are you know get more than we have and God wants us to have and Jesus was tempted those same three ways on the mountain as our example and model to follow yeah but he turned to God's word he says the Lord God said in his word I'm going to follow what the father says and that's why we're doing what we are today we need to be in the word and if we stay in the word then we will not follow the devil in what his desire his lies we'll stay awake in his lies because here is the truth right here is the truth amen good all right it's interesting Jesus was in the wilderness when he was tempted Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden perfect when they were tempted who had it worse 40 days he hadn't eaten again he's the

[38:31] God man he did not succumb he's our example I think along that same line you're emphasizing the word of God a word filled Christian is a spirit filled Christian and a spirit filled Christian is a word filled Christian we need God and his wisdom to help us okay so in reality there is a bait that is given and the bait is a danger because the bait looks attractive I want that that sounds good so James message is pretty clear our lust is when we are drawn away by the attractiveness of something that we see that we hear ooh the senses are involved and the attraction is built on a lie it's not the truth so the lie is that something as well that draws us into the sin and because we choose to believe the lie rather than the truth then we collapse and we fall into sin so yeah

[40:14] I think one of the principal things that we're dealing with today maybe to an extent that humanity has never had to deal with it is the lust of the eyes that is realized through pornography yeah that is epidemic and it it appeals through the eye gate we and this is I think I think it's it's peculiar to males and I know that the ladies want to be equal in every way now so some of them struggle with that too but it's predominantly a male thing and and the evidence of that as I've mentioned before is we all know what a peeping tom is but how many peeping james do you know there's something there about the eye gate and masculinity that connects that is not the same with femininity she may be she may be the object of it through pornography but it's a different way of temptation for her for femininity than it is masculinity and it's one of these things that you're talking about it's the lust of the eyes

[41:41] I want that and we see that and it's an avenue through which the temptation comes to us go along with that Marv would you put I mean I agree with you on that would you put temptation on a scale in other words I'm on a diet and somebody lays a big slab of apple pie in front of me there you go that's not in the same degree of what you're talking about that's true you don't want to hurt their feelings by ignoring the pie no I'd eat the pie because I don't want to hurt her feelings but if that naked woman walks by where are you in that point you know you're going to hurt a lot of people if you're married you're going to hurt a lot of people your kids your wife exactly so do we put them on the greed when you say sin and temptations I don't know is it little temptations big temptations yeah yeah I think I think that's true a little bit if if we're looking at the scale of one to ten and the apple pie is a minus one what if communism has taken over our government what is the number one goal of the devil get rid of religion get rid of humanity well humanity getting rid of religion is a road to that goal sure true okay if the destruction of humanity is a ten how can he or or a one thousand

[43:19] I'm not I'm not belittling pornography that's just the devil working his destruction of humanity how do we justify here we go believing anything at all that our government is telling us not to demean the consumer report article everybody knows what giggle is consumer reports doesn't have a team of doctors that does their own research they're subject to giggle they got information from god only knows what sources yeah and they provide information that we have no way to justify or I mean to verify so we just believe what we're told can anyone provide an example of anything regarding

[44:28] COVID that the government has told us that actually proved out to be true it's deadly hearken back to little Dr. Fucci not much of what he has said has actually been true or not contradicted by himself yeah amen what has anyone told us regarding any of this that hasn't been contradicted either by itself or someone else I'm not putting forth my vote for the mask but I take everything that I hear from the government with several grains of salt so how do we proceed knowing that communism has all but taken over the government and the number one goal of at least half of the government is the destruction of the economic engine that is the survival of man on this earth how do we justify following that kind of lead you know thank god we've got a few in government that we recognize by the way

[45:56] John congratulations to Jim that's fantastic I don't know if any of you know Jim he's been today isn't it he gets his or tomorrow no next week next week yeah oh Nunes is getting his today yeah Nunes yeah he's getting the medal of free praise the lord good yeah amen sorry about I digress so how how do how do we proceed knowing knowing that we're being lied to at every turn yeah well I would say I would say I would say we we know we know we've been given bad information from a number of sources there's no there's no doubt about that about about prevention protection and all the rest right but there is one thing that we know for sure that they cannot and have not lied about and that is the worldwide death toll all over the globe yeah that is not to be denied yeah

[47:02] I got that so there's got to be there's got to be there's got to be some truth somewhere because people are dying by the thousands but 20 of them got in a car accident and they were all COVID yeah well no that's you know that's a different issue yeah and hospitals when they when they say that somebody died of COVID the hospital stands to be remunerated more than they would if they died of heart disease amen to that but the thing of it is is that so many people who do die from COVID is because COVID is the thing that took them out and what made them so susceptible to being taken out were the compromised health issues that they had when they got COVID so they may have a serious heart condition they may be seriously overweight they may be they may be diabetic and yet they're surviving but when they get COVID it overwhelms them and takes them out so the cause of death is listed as

[48:13] COVID and actually it was in so far as the final analysis was concerned but they were on the edge before so it's it's a mixed bag and I couldn't agree more you experiences told us that not only should you take everything that you hear from so-called authorities with a grain of salt you better take it with a grain of salt because we've been in some cases we've been lied to and that's because they knew when they told us something that it was not true and in some cases I think many cases we're not being lied to but we are being misled and there's a big difference because when you mislead somebody you are telling someone something that you think is true also but it isn't so you're misleading them but that's unintentional but there's no excuse for just a flat out lie to tell somebody something that you know is not true and there's so much of that going on in Washington right now particularly over the last four years so anyway

[49:24] I've interrupted that enough go ahead did you have a comment yeah I'm sorry what's the connection here between what we're talking about and temptation I completely missed the transition maybe we'll get to that another comment we'll try and answer your question do you care if I take a picture anybody object to me taking a picture only if you make me better looking are you being tempted just get her he's not a magician get our best profile you're going to send that to the FBI no is it because I'm horny just before actually you're collecting evidence aren't you no no it's to help me get to know you men and connect names with faces now if I move my seat over here next week you'll be all confused I'm

[50:25] I'm totally confused okay now what was your comment getting back to temptation when you see a girl beautiful girl walking down the street is there a second role when you're supposed to turn away before you're tempted wow I think so we're going to talk about that a little bit more probably next time but I'll just say about two weeks ago on this phone I got some solicitation I did not ask for and it was bingo right now in my face a naked woman where did that come from so at that point yeah I had the opportunity and let my mind go or and when we see somebody like that and our minds go in the wrong direction okay what can we do okay you were asking the question what does this have to do with you know

[51:46] COVID and all of this not COVID not believe in the government not believe in the government okay we are fed lies yes and some of that is misinformation some of it is just and so we have to learn to be discerning and all of us we are in a learning process there are some things we just can't really know for sure whether this is true or whether it isn't true and yet God has given us we've got to evaluate this stuff don't we and we've got to make decisions we're going to wear a mask or aren't we personally I think I err on the side of they don't know for sure they're telling us this I'm going to wear a mask I want to protect myself I want to protect those I love those who are around me and so when I went to a memorial service a week ago for my stepmom my mother in love my son gave me a text dad you've been around people you don't know we don't know we're planning on having Christmas we can either will you please wear a mask stay six to eight feet away from us at a Christmas gathering or we can put it off till later on in January okay we opted to wear a mask and to try and use some good sense and we sat down at the dinner table the adults our two sons and their wives says grandma and grandpa you can sit with the kids all right we found out our son our oldest son he had been exposed through how

[54:05] I don't know and so he had to isolate could work on the phone work from home but that's their concern our sons our daughters-in-law their concern they don't want to have to miss work they can't afford that it's a pocketbook so it's something that they're thinking about yeah and you know we need to think about it too by way of not only ourselves but other people you know some folks who have had COVID I've got a friend who's in the hospital on a ventilator now for almost two weeks my heart goes out to that family so these are things we have to evaluate we need wisdom from God right?

[55:09] isn't the government God? no no well if the government is telling us we should wear a mask why hasn't the government told us that if you wear a mask one time you should throw it in the trash immediately you carry your mask around the mask is contaminated yeah you put it in your pocket now your pants are contaminated you take it out and put it on your hands are contaminated the mask is already contaminated you wear it once it's contaminated but we keep we keep wearing this they haven't said a word about that not one word except to wash your hands and I'm wondering when I can take a shower and wear a contaminated mask wash your masks or throw them away the government we're putting it up with now God allowed it to set up here it's the government that he had planned for to be ahead of us now dictatorships in other parts of the world that's what God set up for them that's what he has going for them he allowed it to be

[56:13] God is in control of the government and he has put that government the people that the president the vice president all those people God has had control of he is sovereign way back when they talked together when the three of them the Holy Spirit the guy got together they planned this and they knew that we would have the government in the United States that we've got now the system yes the people I know yep the people too the people too God put everything he knows all is sovereign God is sovereign he is in control everything here is by him moving right along moving right along I think I think guys I really think we're going to have some differences of opinion right here you know it's already come so all of us whether I say it Marv says it Roger says it whoever says it we need to take what we hear to God and ask him for help for wisdom for wisdom so let's do that right now again any of you who want to pray we've talked about a number of things that I think are heavy on our hearts that's evidenced in the in the emotion that is in the discussion let's take it to the one who can help us

[57:49] Father in heaven the Father of lights you are light you are good you are holy you sent your holy son here who lived a holy life a life of goodness and righteousness of long suffering of dealing with people face to face he is our model we thank you for Jesus we thank you that he was one who experienced temptation with with women with material things and he always said no to the temptations we thank you for his example we admit this morning there are many things that we get bombarded with from the media and from the fake news and we need your discernment we need your guidance on what to think and then what to do and I pray right now for the people in Georgia who are voting many of them already have voted and I pray God that you would protect us as a nation that you would help us that you would restore us and revitalize us revive us we need a call and we need to heed your call to repentance and change we pray

[59:44] Lord that your spirit would show us the way of grace and truth you we pray and we so thank you that we have the hope in you that's what we have regardless of how things turn out in this world in this evil world we have the hope in you the glory that's going to us Lord thank you for that and therefore we can have peace and calm in and amongst all this going on Lord I thank you so much for that it just makes me feel so good in Jesus name I pray Amen Our Father we recognize that there is so much that we've discussed here that we do not have final answers to and we know that you have ordained government and you have established government that we might live lives of peace and tranquility we recognize that in the scriptures government is set forth to be our protector and our provider and we have responsibility to respect the powers that be and yet we recognize that they are made of the same stuff as we are and they are capable of flawed information and erroneous thinking and unreasonable rules and yet we are bitten by the spirit of god to be submissive to the powers that be even as the apostles were in the early book of acts yes we pray that you will give us an understanding spirit to know what we need to be observant of and responsive to and what we need to resist because it would impinge upon our proclamation of the gospel or our faith in christ we look to you for the wisdom we know we do not have and we beseech you to give us what we need especially to deal with the times in which we're living right now yes we pray in christ's name amen father in heaven it's good for us to be able to be together as brothers in the lord we rejoice in knowing jesus and we want to know him more fully in his way and we want to make him known we pray lord that you will give to us resolute minds that you will help us to be sober and vigilant that we will be vibrant and fervent in spirit serving you with faith that is energized by your love we pray lord that you would give to us the insight and the knowledge the wisdom the discernment that we need we are needy help us oh god as husbands and fathers help us as grandfathers and neighbors help us oh god to love you with all love our heart soul mind and strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves teach us to be more like jesus i pray lord for those who are those who are struggling today some with temptations and doubts and fears some with even questions

[63:46] about whether i want to live or not pray lord that you would grant renewal and revitalization within each of us and those that we know in their heart in their spirit i pray father for those who are afflicted with all kinds of illness especially we've been talking about the covid for those at home who are isolated for those at home who are sick for those in hospitals and those caring for them i pray lord for mark and many other names probably come to our minds who need your touch do what only you can do as the great physician to bring healing to lungs and hearts and the total body protect oh god those loved ones who are as iris said on the facebook give me some scriptures to cling to thank you for that spirit give us lord the scriptures we need that we would truly grow in grace and in the knowledge of jesus now to him who is able to keep us from falling from stumbling from succumbing and to one day present us faultless before that glorious person the lord jesus until he comes lord help us to endure with faith and love and hope for the glory of jesus we pray amen you you you you you you you you you