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All right, well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. Take your songbooks and turn to song 125. Song 125. We'll sing the solid rock if you would stand. We'll sing song 125. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he that is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. When he shall come with trumpet sound, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, full list to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just again want to thank you, God, just for our church. Thank you, God, for your word. Thank you, God, for salvation. I pray, Lord, now that you would just meet with us tonight, be with our pastor, fill him with your power and spirit. And we ask all of you to be seated and turn just one page over to song 127. Song 127 in your song books will sing Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Song 127. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise, just to know the sith of the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust his cleansing blood, just in simple faith to plunge me, need the healing cleansing flood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust thee, precious Jesus, Savior, friend, and I know that thou art with me, will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I proved him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more. Amen. It's bothering me. Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening and just some announcements here. We have all our service times should be normal this week or the Sunday. So, uh, shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary there. Um, and then, um, so many times, so many times should be normal this Sunday. Uh, but then also the regional times just be, uh, on our Mountain Baptist Church, uh, group there. As far as any type of regional times and places to meet up there. Um, and then, uh, we have upcoming events. We have the men's prayer meeting, uh, in the month here and the women's prayer meeting and the beginning of March. Isn't there a soul winning, where's the soul winning marathon this weekend? Yes. So announcement, you probably already, everybody probably already knows about it, but I'm, I, so, uh, pastor versions, is he leading that up? Is it a stronghold thing? Okay. So I knew there was something going around about like, uh, that going on there. So, uh, be in prayer for that though. Obviously I know some are going down there for that, but be in prayer for, um, uh, that event. Um, and then, um, I know in, uh, I'm actually, we're planning on going down to, uh, pastor versions. Uh, he has like a retreat at the beginning of May. Um, and I'm going to be, I'm planning on going down with my whole family and everything. Obviously there's going to be preaching throughout the week and all that. Um, but, uh, I know a lot of times he'll invite people to come down. So, um, maybe wait for an announcement from him as far as what's available because it's like a campground and, and cabins and all that stuff down there too. But I'm not sure what all is available. Um, but that might be a fun thing to do as well, uh, when it comes down to being down in Georgia. Um, but, uh, anyway, being prayer for that and, uh, and stronghold down there in general. Um, I know pastor versions, they were just, uh, expanding their, uh, auditorium space and all that stuff. So, uh, they're, they're growing. Um, but being prayer for pastor versions and stronghold down there as well, but just being prayer obviously for the soul winning, uh, marathon, um, on the back of our bulletin there. I just killed stink bug by the way. And there's another one flying around. It's like a plague. I know it's not one of the 10 plagues of Egypt, but good night. Who here has to kill stink bugs constantly in their house? Okay. At least it's not just me, but I just feel like I'm getting infested with stink bugs. So anyway, um, first Thessalonians chapter five is a memory chapter for the week or for the month. And then our chapter, our verse memory for the week is first Corinthians nine 17. Uh, and then on the pregnancy list, they're being prayer for Miss Tiara and Miss Amanda. Uh, and so just be in prayer for their families as well. Um, but, uh, exciting stuff there. Um, I think that's about all I got for announcements that I can think of as far as stuff coming up. Um, who's reading tonight? Uh, David. Um, so, but David's going to be reading James chapter five after we sing one more song. Okay. All right. Take your song books and turn to song number 85 song number 85 in your song bus. We'll sing Jesus, Jesus, Jesus song number 85 Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sing along the name, tell it softly, slowly, set all hearts aflame. Jesus name of cleansing, washing all our stains. Jesus name of healing, balm for all our pains. Jesus name of boldness, making cowards brave, name that in the battle certainly must save. Jesus name of victory, stretching far away, right across earth's war fields to the plains of day. Jesus be our joy known in this veil of tears, till we reach the homeland and eternal years. All right, take your Bibles and turn to James chapter number five. James chapter number five in your Bibles and we'll have brother David come and read that for us. James five. If you found your place, amen. And the Bible reads, go to now you rich men, reap and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, corrupted, and your garments are mothy. Your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them. So be a witness against you and so eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the higher the laborers who have helped, who have reaped down your fields, which is a view kept back by fraud, crieth. And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of cereal. You have lived in pleasure on the earth and have been rotten. You have nourished your heart in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just and he does not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, under the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman radeth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath longed patience for it until he received the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea and your nay nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing songs. If is any among you, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if you have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults, run to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to life passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rain not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and want to convert him, let him know that he was converted with the sinner from the arrow of his ray, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Let us pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to come back to church, Lord, and I pray that you have passed, and I pray that you fill him with the Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. So you're there in James chapter 5, and we are concluding our study of the book of James. And hopefully after, you know, today or after this sermon, you could look at the book of James and see just how magnificent of a book it is, as far as how it applies, and, you know, as far as a Christian's life goes. Because sometimes when you look at the book of James, you kind of, a lot of Christians will shy away from it just because of James chapter 2 and things like that. But honestly, it's a book that we should be applying to our lives on a constant basis. But in James chapter 5 here, it says, go to now, you rich men. Now, it's kind of that same terminology, but it's now talking to another group of people, right? So if you think about in chapter 4, it says, go to now, in verse 13, go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain, whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow. So he's talking to a group of Christians in chapter 4. I believe chapter 5 here, he's talking about people. He doesn't say, go to now, my brethren, ye rich men, okay? He's talking about a group of people that I believe are not saved. And they're rich men that are not saved. And this is actually something that was brought up from the very beginning in the book of James. It was stated again later on, and then here we see kind of this finale dealing with the rich men. Now, look at verse, let's keep reading here, and then we'll get into that, but in verse 1 there it says, go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rest of them shall be a witness against you. And ye shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth. And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Savioth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter, ye have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. So when you're dealing with the rich man here, notice that it keeps talking about his riches, right? The riches are corrupted, and time would fail to go to the passages dealing with the rich man, but you think about the rich man in the story of Luke chapter 16, obviously he was not a believer, but Jesus clarifies, you know, this whole idea of the rich and the poor, and the fact that the rich, or the poor, the gospel's preached unto the poor, right? But we're not talking, we're talking about the poor, because a lot of times the poor will be poor in spirit, and we're willing to receive the gospel. It's not that a rich man can't be saved, but by and large, rich men are not going to get saved, because it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And the reason is because how hard is it for those that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven? So they're trusting in the riches, they're heaping up treasures, you can kind of see this idea of like this, it talks about in Psalms about how the rich man's, their riches are like their high tower, right? It's kind of like they're building it up to keep them safe, but in the end, when they die, they can't take anything with them. But here, we're not just talking about a rich person, right? We're talking about a rich person that is basically keeping back by fraud, the laborer's higher, right? So it's someone that's defrauding his labors, okay? So you're not just dealing with a rich person that has money. You think about Boaz, and you think about people that were rich, but they were just, right? They would give rightly to their servants, and their servants blessed them, and there was a good relationship, right? I was just going through the book of Ruth, and you think about when he comes out to his reapers, and they both are exchanging like the Lord be with you, the Lord bless you, you know? And they're like, there's a good relationship there. And obviously, Boaz, I believe, was wealthy, but he obviously treated his workers rightly. Whereas here, they're keeping their wages back by fraud. They're living in pleasure. In verse six there, it says, you have condemned and killed the just. So you're dealing with rich men that are heaping up these treasures, and they're being unjust, they're defrauding, and they're not only doing that, but they're killing the just, right? And so you're dealing with some really wicked rich people here that are being discussed. Now, go back to chapter one. Remember, chapter one basically is setting you up for the rest of the book, and it hits on all these different points that other chapters will get a little more in-depth on, okay? But in chapter one here in verse nine, it says, let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low. So the brother of low degree is to rejoice not only that he's exalted, but that the rich is brought low, right? It's not saying that the rich should rejoice that they're brought low, right? Because in chapter five, it says that they should be weeping, and it says weep and howl for your miseries, not rejoice, okay? But those that are gonna be exalted, you can rejoice in both aspects there, that you are being exalted, but that the rich are being brought low, the rich that what? Killed and condemned the just, the rich that were extortioners and were keeping back by fraud, the reapers higher, and all that. But keep reading there, it says, but the rich that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away, for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withered the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. So in chapter one, it's actually talking about the person himself, right? It's talking about the rich man fading away, right? And Psalms hits on this as well. If you remember the psalm where David was basically, the psalmist, I can't remember if it's David, it's actually the psalmist on this one, but basically, he's talking about how foolish he was to think, to be envious of sinners and of the rich, because he talks about the fact that in a moment, they're set in slippery places, right? And they're going to perish, and that's the idea that James is getting across here in chapter one, is that the rich, I mean, they're going to perish away, they're going to fade away in their ways, and there's not going to be anything left of them, right? Chapter five is hitting on the riches themselves, right? The riches, remember what Jesus says, lay not up treasures here on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break forth through and steal, but obviously lay up treasures in heaven, and you see the fact that he's talking about your gold and silver is cankered, and your rust of them shall be a witness against you, and so you see that same type of language that's being used there on obviously these that are laying up riches for themselves. Now, obviously, you can have people that are saved that are rich, right? And it talks about the fact that you think about the man that had all these riches, and he says unto himself, soul, thou hast all these goods, and he basically pulls down his bars, builds greater, and in the story, Jesus states, thou fool, this night thy soul is required to be, and he talks about the fact that so is the man that is not rich toward God, and that idea of being rich in this world as a believer, like physically rich but not rich toward God, is definitely a rebuke. But this case here we're dealing with, obviously, we're dealing with rich people that are going to fade away in their ways. They're going to perish, okay? And in chapter one, it's saying rejoice, these rich men that are defrauding, these rich men that are killing the just, these rich men are going to fade away in their ways. All their treasures are going to be moth-eaten, rusted, and they're going to fade away as well. And go to chapter two, though. Chapter two really shows you, and again, you got to take context, because when you're talking about the rich men here, you say, well, there's rich men in the Bible, like if you think about 1 Timothy chapter six, it talks about, he's talking to the rich, those that are rich in this earth that they don't trust and uncertain riches, right? So he's talking to brethren saying, unto brethren that are rich, and it's not even saying in chapter two, that the guy that comes in with goodly apparel with a gold ring is unsaved, but the point that's being made there is that in the world, by and large, the rich are not saved. The rich are those that persecute Christians, okay? And notice what it says here in James chapter two and verse six. But you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? So when you think about chapter two here, do you think in chapter five, we're talking about saved rich people? When you look at chapter one, and you're talking about the rich man fading away in his ways and rejoice when the rich man is brought low, you're obviously looking at a dichotomy of the poor saved person and the rich unsaved person, right? So in context, these people are not saved, but it's really just showing you their end. Their end is destruction. Their end is the fade away. Their riches are gonna be all corrupted. And that's the end game for the rich man. But when you're dealing with this, this chapter in chapter five has a lot of end times type of applications to it, okay? We're talking about the coming of the Lord. We're talking about persecution, an affliction of Job. Elijah's brought up, and all these different things. There's obviously kind of that, in this, you kind of think, well, why is this, how does this apply to us, right? If you're talking about these rich men that are going to get, basically, this is what they do in the world, the idea here is that this is leading up to statements that are gonna be made about the coming of the Lord, okay? And it's gonna be talking about us being patient, okay? So you have to understand that this is being set up so that you know, okay, this is their end game, okay? Here's why you can be patient when you look at Hollywood, and you look at all these rich people, and all this debauchery and wickedness that's going on in the rich circles of this world. And you look at that, and obviously it's disgusting. They're blaspheming our Savior. I mean, all the wicked filth that's going on with the high up rich people in this world, and it can be frustrating, right? It can be very frustrating. You're just like, what in the world? They just get away with murder. I mean, the Clintons do, obviously, but everybody else that's up there gets away with murder. I'm not gonna kill myself, by the way. But they get away with all this stuff, and it's easy to get frustrated with that. It's easy to basically be like, what was me in this world? This passage is a promise. It's basically like, they're getting theirs. And it's like the Lord pointing at all these wicked, rich people that are celebrities, that are famous and well-known. He's pointing at them, go to now, and just start weeping and wailing now. Think about it. I mean, He's basically like, just go ahead and start. I mean, He's saying go to now, yet later on He's gonna say that, that basically the husband has long patience for the fruit of the earth. So there's gotta be time passing by, but He's basically just, you might as well just start weeping now. And if you think about it too, a lot of these wicked people, the way of transgressors is hard, okay? And the more wicked a lot of people are, their lifespan ends up getting cut short. Is it any marvel that a lot of these celebrities end up dying of drug overdoses and all the different things that happen to them? Diseases, right? They always die of liver cancer, right? Which is code for AIDS, by the way. Is it liver cancer or kidney or something? There's some kind of cancer that every fag dies from. And it's like always that one body part that they're getting it from. And that's code for they died of AIDS, okay? That's code that they're dying of their diseases from their filth, okay? So I think, what was it? Prince died of that. David Bowie died of that. Like all these people that are into that type of stuff. You're like, oh Prince, are you sure? One, he was a Jehovah Witness, okay? So he's definitely in hell. Whether he's a fag or not, but did you watch his stuff? Hopefully not, but I mean, anyway. A song like Purple Rain. I'm just kidding, I don't know. But when it comes to this, it really is this, you say, well, how is this like something to be uplifting? Well, at the very beginning of James chapter one, it says rejoice. Rejoice in that you're exalted, right? The man of low degree is exalted and that the rich is made low. You're like, I can't believe the Bible's telling me to rejoice that the rich is made low. Yeah, that's what it is saying though, okay? So that's why this is pertinent for a believer to look at. You're serving the Lord, you're doing what you should be doing. You feel like you're getting pushed down into the dirt on a constant basis and you're trying to live for the Lord and you're constantly being persecuted and they're being exalted, right? They're being exalted in this world. If you're the most filthy person in this world, you're put on a pedestal as if you're some hero and everybody should look to you and admire you, okay? You believe the Bible? You're a straight white male or just a straight person, you know, right? It doesn't matter your race, but the idea here is that if you're a straight person that has a family that's trying to serve the Lord, I mean, you're the filth of the world. You know, as Paul was talking about with the apostles, they're the off scouring of the world just because of being moral. But the idea here is that we should rejoice because you know what God's saying to them? Just start weeping now. You might as well just start weeping and howling now because your time is coming. Now, you could look at passages dealing with end times on this idea of like wicked servants. Basically, it talks about you have condemned and killed the just. Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 hits on this that in the end times, you're gonna have faithful servants that are serving the Lord, but then you're gonna have wicked servants, okay? And these are the dichotomy of like the sons of God and you have like the children of the devil coming after them and those evil servants. Let's just look at Matthew 24 real quick. Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 24 and verse 48. Remember, Jesus endured the cross despising the shame for the joy that was set before him. You know, you gotta have this joy that you're looking for, right, that you're gonna be exalted. But not just that you're gonna be exalted, but that the wicked are gonna be put in their place, right? It's twofold. It's two different things that you're looking forward to is that right there. And we'll be exalted, we'll be vindicated, right? But also, the wicked people are gonna be put where they belong, okay? And Matthew 24 and verse 48 here, it says, but if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Chapter 25 deals with the unprofitable servant and it talks about the fact that it says and cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So there's gonna be opposition, especially in the very end, there's gonna be opposition, but when we're in, let's say we were to go into that great tribulation, right? Let's say we're in that, not right now obviously, but let's say in our lifetime, we were to go into that great tribulation. What you have to go into it with is the idea that we have this joy set before us that we're going to be exalted. There is a resurrection and Jesus is coming back and the day he comes back, we're gonna be exalted and fire's coming down on the wicked. That's what's gonna happen. And it's just this light at the end of the tunnel to get you through that time, okay? Because that time of persecution and affliction is a short period of time, okay? In the grand scheme of things, but even in your lifetime, that's a short period of time, okay? If you think about your lifespan, that's a short period of time that would be tribulation, but even with the great tribulation, how much even shorter of a time you're dealing with there to just endure that and get through that, okay? Now go to Romans chapter nine because there's a phrase, there's a phrase that says that the, it says in James 5 four, Behold, to hire the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. I don't know about you, but I remember reading through the Bible for the first time. I'm like, is that the Lord of the Sabbath? You know, like you see Sabaoth, you automatically just think of the Sabbath, right? You know, because the Bible does say that the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath, right? So I mean, it's not like that would be a false statement, okay? But Sabaoth is not the Sabbath, okay? And you say, well, what is it? Well, I'm gonna just use the Bible to define itself, okay? So when you look at this, there's actually another place in the New Testament where it uses this term Sabaoth. Notice what it says in Romans chapter nine in verse, look at verse 27 just so you kind of see the same kind of subject matter, if you will, dealing when it's talking about the Lord of Sabaoth. It says, Isaiah also cried concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved, for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodomah and been made like unto Gomorrah. So in both verses, you're dealing with a remnant, right? But the one saying the remnants shall be saved because we know that there's few that be saved, right? But then it's talking about, except there had been that remnant, that seed, right? Basically, Israel would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah, okay? So the reason why I believe America, for example, isn't completely annihilated right now because of the wickedness is because there is a remnant of believers. There is that righteous remnant that's there and that's keeping, that's staying God's hand of judgment. But the Lord of Sabaoth, the way that you can understand what this is talking about is that in verse 29, this is a quotation from Isaiah. So go to Isaiah chapter one, verse nine, Isaiah chapter one and verse nine. So the good thing about, if you see a word that you don't know, if it's quoting a verse in the Bible, go back to where that verse is stated and sometimes it'll give you the definition right there, okay? And here it does. So in Romans 9, 29, it says, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed. Notice what it says in verse nine of Isaiah one, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. So when it's talking about the Lord of Sabaoth, we're talking about the Lord of hosts, okay? That's all it is. So in those two verses, you're dealing with the Lord of hosts. And just wanted to show you that and how you can define that. So when you're looking at that, you're like, okay, is he the Lord of the Sabbath? Why are we talking about the Sabbath here? We're not, okay? We're talking about the Lord of hosts. But you can also see that in that other place where the Lord of Sabaoth is mentioned, it's talking about the Lord doing a short work and the idea of him coming to destroy on the whole earth, he's going to basically pour out his wrath. And that's gonna be a short work that he does. And now go to James chapter five and verse seven here, because you see these rich men being rebuked. But then it says in verse seven here, be patient therefore, brethren. Okay, so he's showing you this group of people, right? That are wicked, they're killing the just, they're defrauding those that are laboring in the field. And God's telling them, you might just go to now and weep and how, right? And but then it says, be patient therefore, brethren, because that's the whole point. That's why he's bringing this up is be patient, be patient. Their time's coming and you're gonna be exalted, but you need to be patient, okay? So be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband man waited for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he received the early and latter rain. Be also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. So notice how that's all building up to the coming of the Lord and the fact that we need to be patient. And why has it been 2,000 years? Close to it, it's not quite yet. Close to 2,000 years since he rose from the dead that the coming of the Lord hasn't happened. The reason is stated in here, that the husband man waited for the precious fruit of the earth. What are we talking about? We're talking about souls being saved. If you were to link this to John chapter four, talking about the fruit of the idea of eternal life, reaping everlasting life, and that's what the Lord is waiting for. Go to 2 Peter chapter three, 2 Peter chapter three. 2 Peter chapter three and verse three, it says, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts. Sound familiar? Living in pleasure and wanton and living as in the day of slaughter, right? Saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. You know what's interesting about this? Well, keep reading there, verse six, it says, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. You know that even the people that don't believe the Bible, they all claim there was worldwide floods in the past. It's like they don't deny that there was like a worldwide flood in the past, but they just believe it wasn't God, right? They don't believe it's, well, it can't be the Bible. You know, that was just basically, they, the Bible just picked up because it happened at some point and they're telling a story about it, just like the Sodom and Gomorrah thing. I remember reading that article where they actually found sulfur balls in the water that was preserved, meaning that it kept it to where they can literally light them on fire. They lit these sulfur balls on fire and they were just this molten like sulfur fire that was there. And they're like, this is clearly the place that was Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. And their conclusion was is that Genesis, there was some cataclysmic event that happened and the people that wrote Genesis just adapted that cataclysmic event to this story. It wasn't the story that, you know, that's true. It's the fact that this happened, but it can't be the Bible. I mean, it can't be true. So when it comes to evidence of a flood, evidence of Sodom and Gomorrah, you find chariot wheels at the bottom of the Red Sea, it doesn't matter. They're not gonna believe it because faith cometh by hearing and by the word of God. And if they don't believe the word of God, they're not going to believe it, okay? But at the same time, you know, people will look at and know there's a flood, but they're ignorant that it's by the word of God, that it was God that did it. They're willingly ignorant of that. And keep reading there in verse seven it says, but the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved on the fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So that's what we're waiting for, right? We're waiting for, it was flooded by water and he promised that he would never flood the earth again with water, but he's going to baptize it with fire when he comes the second time. And notice what it says here in verse eight, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. So obviously there's this long, with this waiting and long suffering that's going on for a long period of time. I don't believe that's there by accident that we see thousands of years there, right? And that it's been close to 2,000 years. That means to God, it's not even been two days yet. We're not even a plurality of days yet. So you want to talk about last days, we haven't even made it to days yet. Now, look at verse nine there. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slack in his notices, but his long suffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So this is him waiting for that precious fruit of the earth. That's why it's been so long, okay? It all has to do with salvation because God is not willing that any should perish. So have all men to be sick, who have all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth. He wants as many people to get saved as possible. And I believe that God's coming is going to be in a time that's his perfect timing where the gospel is being preached obviously to the whole world, and that's being brought up over and over again when you're dealing with the coming of the Lord is that the gospel is going to be preached throughout the whole world. And that basically when he comes, everybody, I personally believe that at that time when Jesus comes, it's going to be in this perfect state to where everybody that's innocent is innocent when it comes to children. And everybody that can get saved has had an opportunity to hear, I believe personally has the opportunity to have heard a clear presentation of the gospel. Whether they accepted to hear that clear presentation of the gospel is another story, okay? But the idea of them having the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the gospel, it's going to be this, I believe this perfect storm of like without excuse. I mean, when Jesus comes, everybody had the opportunity. They either rejected it, they took it, right? And so when it comes to this, I love this passage because it really does explain why is it taking so long, right? When people say, you know, where is the promise of it's coming? You know, or that evil servant saying the Lord delay at this coming. So you got to understand that God knew that it was going to take this long, right? God knew that it was going to be thousands of years before he came back. And that's why this language is in here so that you know, okay, you know, there's a reason why he's tearing. There's a reason. And obviously there's going to be mockers saying he delay at this coming. Where is the promise of it coming? I mean, it's been almost 2000 years. Give me a break. And that's the attitude that the rich are going to have in this world. And that's the attitude that unsafe people are going to have in this world. Now go to James chapter five there in verse nine. Now, and by the way, you know, when it says that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, that's different than the day of the Lord being at hand, right? And I'm going to show you a verse where it talks. I mean, it is nearer today than it was yesterday, isn't it? It is drawing nearer, isn't it? That statement is going to be true until it comes. So that's the idea that you need to get, you know, in your mind is the fact that we're only getting closer, right? We're only getting closer to the coming of the Lord. We're only getting closer to that time. So every day that we take, every week, every year, we're only getting closer to that time. And how much more, you know, you think about like not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of summits, and so much more as you see the day approaching, right? So that means that if the day of the Lord is drawing nigh, you know, and obviously it's constantly getting closer, right? If it's a set day, right? We don't know what it is, right? But if there's a set day in history somewhere in the future, we're obviously getting closer to it. I believe what it's basically stating is that that day isn't just a movable date, right? I think the Father knows, and I personally believe that Jesus knows now when that day is gonna be. But, you know, let's say He doesn't, you know, the Father knows when it is, and that day is a day that's set, and we're moving towards it, okay? And it's a reminder to us that we're only getting closer to it. It may be in our lifetime, it may not be in our lifetime, but we should have that mindset that we're moving closer to it, okay? Now, in James 5, verse nine here, says, grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye, grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Okay, so it's kind of this warning, not grudging one against another, because the judge is standing there, right? It's kind of like, you think about that verse where in Revelation chapter three, right, where Jesus says, I stand at the door and I knock, right? And if you open the door, I'll come in and sup with him, right? I mean, think about that too, that if you're grudging against your brother, that the Lord is right there at your door, you know, ready to judge, right? And so it's kind of like, the Lord is right there to judge you if you're grudging against another, okay? Go to 1 Peter chapter four, 1 Peter chapter four, because the same kind of language is used here of grudging and all that. Basically, we shouldn't be bitter and holding grudges against each other. You know, there's gonna be judgment for that, okay? And it says in verse seven here, but the end of all things is at hand. Now, this is like saying the time is at hand. It doesn't say that the day of the Lord is at hand, the end of all things is at hand, meaning that that could happen to us at any moment, right? I mean, the idea of like the falling away happening and that man of sin being revealed, you know, that could happen, whatever, right? Like nothing precedes that. And so the end of all things are at hand, the time is at hand, as it says in Revelation chapter one. It says, be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer, and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. So what's the opposite of grudging? Using hospitality one to another, right? I mean, the idea is a lot of times in the Bible or just in general when you're thinking about not doing something like harmful to somebody, do the opposite, right? If you wanna not be, if you don't wanna hate somebody, right, or despise somebody, then you have to just like be on the offense to love that person, right? Instead of just saying, I'm not gonna hate him, not gonna hate him, not gonna hate him, right? You have to be like, I'm gonna choose to love this person. I'm gonna do something for that person. I'm gonna show them some kind of charity or love towards this person, right? You have to be on the offense with it. And if you're not gonna grudge somebody, being hospitable to that person, and that means that that's the offense of being like bitter and holding a grudge against somebody, okay? So when you're thinking about trying to not do certain sins, do the offense of that, the opposite of it, and going the positive direction of that to try not to do it, okay? Go to Romans chapter 13, Romans chapter 13, and dealing with the fact that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, that we're waiting patiently for the coming of the Lord. And at the end of all things is at hand, right? I mean, end time stuff can be at hand. We know that there's certain things that have to precede the coming of the Lord, right? So that can't be at hand, but it does draw near as the days go on. And here's a way to kind of understand that, right? It says in Romans chapter 13, verse 11, it says, and that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. So our salvation is nearer than when we believed. I believe personally, we're talking about the redemption of the body, right? I mean, you think about Romans chapter eight is talking about that, right? The redemption of the body. So the resurrection is nearer than when we believe because obviously we're getting closer to that day every single day. When it says that the night is far spent, the day is at hand, think about it where the children of the day were supposed to be walking in the light and in the day. And the whole point here is the fact that when it comes to walking in darkness, like walking in the light is right there. All you have to do is choose to put it on, right? It's right at your fingertips. All you have to do is put it on, okay? And now how much more should we be constantly putting on Christ, putting on the new man and walk in the day where children of light, children of the day, and we're not to be in the night, right? We're supposed to be watching and be sober and being in the day, right? So to speak. And so when it comes to this, I see obviously not grudging and we don't want to be judged and the opposite of that is being hospitable. The day of the Lord draweth nigh because we're getting closer every single day. Now go to James chapter five and verse 10. James chapter five and verse 10. So he's stating be patient, be patient, be patient, right? For the coming of the Lord. And then he's gonna give an example. He's gonna, he's basically showing us, hey, we can look back on these men. We can look back on those that went before us that endured and had patience as an example, right? It says in verse 10 here, it says, take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Now what's interesting about this, people that believe in the pre-Trib rapture, I mean, look at Job. Job's given as an example here of what? Suffering affliction before what? The coming of the Lord, okay? The whole idea is being patient for what? You know, unto the coming of the Lord, right? It says, be ye also patient, stab at your heart, or I'm sorry, be patient in verse seven there, be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. And then it says, be ye also patient, stab at your heart for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Yeah, the whole idea, the whole premise here is being patient unto the coming of the Lord, like waiting for the coming of the Lord. And then it says, okay, let me give an example of someone being patient. Job, who suffered affliction, right? And not only Job, but Job's just the one example that's being brought up. He's talking about all the prophets, right? He's just basically like, take the prophets, for an example, but specifically, how about the patience of Job, right? The patience of Job, and we can use that as an example. And you know what's interesting about that? Is that the further you go into every example that's given for end times prophecy, the more it bolsters what we believe about the fact that we're going to be here for the tribulation, but we're gonna be raptured before God pours out his wrath. And Job is a great example of that, because let me ask you a question. Who was persecuting Job? Satan, right? Because you know, people always want to be like, oh, you know, you believe that God is gonna pour out his wrath on his own people? Well, let me ask you a question. Was God pouring out his wrath on Job? No, I mean, it was clearly the hand of Satan that was doing it. God allowed it, right? And he allowed Job to be tried, right? Remember, basically Satan came up to the Lord and said, I'm going to and fro through the earth. And God is stating, have you considered my servant Job? How he's a just and an upright man. And the devil's like, that's because you gave him all these riches, you know, all this stuff. So what happens? God allows Satan to take away his riches and take away his children and then take away his health. Obviously, God put a stop to it. He's like, don't kill him though. That's also another promise that I'm gonna be getting to here when it comes to the tribulation and having patience and serving the Lord is that in that persecution, even with Job, he stopped Satan from killing him. He said, you can't take his life though. Is that a perfect example of exactly what Matthew 24 teaches, what Mark 13 teaches, what Luke 21 teaches, what the whole Bible teaches on end times prophecy is exactly what happened with Job. Because Job went through that trial of Satan taking all that stuff away from him and then people actually even testing his faith and saying, you're in the wrong, you're messed up, right? Think about the world today. And they're just like, yeah. I mean, you can imagine the people saying like, you guys are the wrong ones. You guys are the ones that don't want peace. You guys are the ones that are the problem. We need to kill you. And in the end, Job was vindicated, wasn't he? His friends were rebuked. Elihew is like, who's this guy, right? Because I believe Elihew was unsaved because he says, who is this that darkened the council of words without knowledge, right? But then he rebukes his three friends. He's like, you guys need to, Job's gonna pray for you, right? It's that whole like backwards like, I'll pray for you. And when it's that passive aggressive, like I'll pray for you because you're like in sin and you're messed up, right? But really it turns back on them. They're like, no, my servant Job's gonna pray for you basically so that you don't get punished. But in the end, he gets to end up getting what? He gets, he gets twice as much as everything that he had. And obviously you can kind of picture that as the resurrection. He's brought up out of the dust of the earth, right? The whole point is like naked was I came out of my mother's womb, naked shall return thither, right? He's in the dust of the earth, right? And he even talked about the resurrection in Job chapter 19. So Job is a great example here of suffering persecution and how that would be linked to the great tribulation, okay? Go to Luke chapter 21, Luke chapter 21. And I want you to notice this term patience that's being brought up, patience. Because when we're talking about being patient unto the coming of the Lord, chapter five is even dealing with rich men killing the just, right? So you can even see like that tribulation being there in chapter five of the fact that they're killing the just there. And it says, and he doth not resist you, right? The idea there is that you're just, they're not like fighting you. It's not like they're armed and going after you or something like that. You're basically killing innocent people. Now in Luke chapter 21 in verse 18 it says, but there shall not an hair of your head perish, in your patience possess ye your souls. Now this is in context with end times events, right? Go to Matthew 24. Think about that with what Matthew 24 says, dealing with that same, it's in that same timeline, right? We're dealing with before the abomination desolation, but it's saying in your patience, you shall possess your soul or possess ye your souls. Now when it's talking about this, it's not talking about your soul spiritually as far as like salvation of like going to heaven or hell. Okay, a lot of times the Bible is talking about a soul being saved from death, right? A soul being saved physically from dying, okay? And in verse 12, which by the way, is in James chapter five as well, okay? But we haven't got there yet. Matthew 24 in verse 12, it says this, it says, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel, the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Remember where I was talking about how we're waiting for the end to come, we're waiting for the coming of the Lord. He's waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, but the gospel of the kingdom's gonna be preached in all the world. And I believe that is kinda coming to that end and the reasoning of why he's waiting and all that. But it says that he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Later on it says, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, okay? So in context of the whole passage, we're talking about being saved physically in the flesh. And in your patience possess ye your souls in that whole portion, go to Revelation chapter 13. Revelation 13 is dealing with the great tribulation. You're dealing with the Antichrist being put into power and he's making war with the saints. And notice what it states here, okay? Revelation chapter 13, verse 10. Revelation 13, verse 10, it says, he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with a sword must be killed with a sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Go to Revelation 14 and verse 12. Revelation 14 and verse 12, Revelation 14 and verse 12. It says, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Notice that when you're dealing with the patience of the saints, you're dealing with those that are obviously believers, but you're dealing with those that are not only believers, but they're keeping the commandments of God. Because what I'm gonna show you is that if you want this promise, okay, by Job that's saved from death, from Satan's wrath, okay, you need to be keeping his commandments. You need to be living for the Lord and I believe this promise will apply to you. Go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10. So that's why I keep saying be patient, be patient, be patient because enduring unto the end is being long-suffering and patient unto the end. Basically you're enduring it. And even in the term of long-suffering has that idea of enduring long, like enduring long with somebody, right? And notice what it says in Revelation 3 and verse 10. It says, because thou hast kept the word of my, what, patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which I'll come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Now I've preached on this before when I went through the book of Revelation and all that, but this hour of temptation I believe is like the hour when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, it says in the hour that you hear the flute, the psaltery and the sack butt, you know, like all that, if you don't bow down and worship this image you're going to be cast the same hour into a burning fiery furnace. And I believe he's keeping us from that. If you keep the word of his patience, you have faith in Jesus and you keep his commandments and you're patient and you're enduring, this obviously is not about whether you're going to go to heaven or hell, okay? This is about whether you're going to be standing there lifting up your head and looking up for your redemption draw at nigh. So that is something to think about when it comes to being patient, enduring. Why do we want to be the friends of God? You know, why do we want to be like Abraham, that you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you? Because I believe it's his friends that he's giving this promise to. See, children of God are just those that believe, right? Everybody that believes is a child of God, whether you do anything for him or not. You have eternal life, you're going to heaven. But when it comes to having a promise of God keeping you safe and from people harming you, I mean, think about the passage where it says, you know, deliver us from unreasonable and wicked men. What would be the point of even praying that prayer if that's just going to happen? Now, ye and all that will love godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But didn't Job suffer persecution? Didn't he suffer affliction? But did he die physically though? Now, listen, you could be like in Hebrews where it says they did not accept deliverance, right? Because they wanted a better resurrection. And you could say, you know what, I don't want deliverance. I want a better resurrection. And you know what? I could see the pros and cons of both sides, right? I can look at both those and be like, yeah, I could see why you'd want to die a martyr's death and, you know, have a better resurrection, if you will, when it comes to that. Or I could see also the idea of, you know what? What a day that would be to stand there physically to see the Lord coming in the clouds and to know that the Lord kept me through all that, kept me safe through all that, and to see that promise fulfilled right there. And so I'm not here to say which one I would choose right now, okay, when it comes to that. But at the same time, I believe that promise is there. Go to James 5, verse 12, James 5, verse 12. The Bible goes on to say here in verse 12, But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yay be yay, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. This is why if I ever were to go into court to do jury duty or if I had to testify in court, I don't know if the juries even have to swear by the Bible or anything like that, I'm going to literally take them to James 5 or Matthew 5 and say, You're wanting to put my hand on the Bible and do something opposite of what God told me to do, right? Because it says in Matthew 5, verse 33, And ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, which thou perform unto the Lord thine oaths, but I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool. And it goes on that basically, you're better off not to swear at all, because if you don't keep your oath, there's condemnation that's coming, right? Because that's the whole point of why we're not swearing, so you don't fall into condemnation, because anything more than yea and nay cometh of evil, and there's condemnation there. Because if you don't keep it, and Jephthah is a great example of it, Jephthah with an oath put himself in a rock between a hard place where it was impossible for him not to sin. If he doesn't keep his oath, he sins. If he keeps his oath, he murders his daughter. And so you have those two cases where that's why it's such a strong, like above all things, don't do this. Because when you think about it, God talks about the fact that there's no temptation taking you, but such is his common demand. And it talks about the fact that he'll give you a way to escape, right? He's not going to allow you to be tempted above that you're able. So you think about like Job, he knew what Job can handle, and he wasn't going to allow Job to be tempted above that he's able. Even in that idea with Satan and what he's able to do. And obviously, Job obviously, he counted him worthy to be tempted of a lot. I mean, he lost all his children, all his wealth, right? He lost everything besides his wife that told him to curse God and die, you know? And so obviously, Job was high up there on God's, you know, he had a lot of confidence in Job. But if you think about it, if you make an oath, you can make an oath to where there's no escape. And so you think about like, why is this above all, right? Because we're talking about enduring temptations, aren't we? What does James 1 start off with? He didn't endure temptation, blesses the man that endured temptations, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life that fadeth not away. So when you're dealing with this, you don't want to, if you swear and make oaths like Jephthah did, then you could end up pinning yourself to where there is no escape. And then there's just condemnation, okay? And so obviously, we make an oath to get married. We make vows to get married. And that's, you know, by law, we're getting married and we're making that a covenant, okay? And so that, it's not, I don't believe the Bible stating that any type of vow is wrong. But the idea is that you make a vow, you keep it. And when it comes to, in general, we should just be in the idea that I'm not gonna say like, I promise I'm gonna do that. I'm swearing that I'm gonna be there, right? You don't know. Just as I said in the chapter before, you don't know whether there's gonna be tomorrow, right? You don't know if you're gonna even live tomorrow. So how can you say and make that kind of oath of affirmation, if you will, that you're going to do something? Or maybe you're gonna be sick. Or maybe some tragedy's gonna happen. You never know what's gonna happen. And so, it's basically saying let your yay be it. I said, you know, are you gonna come to that? Yes. Better yet, Lord willing, right? But I don't think there's anything wrong with saying yes, I'm going to come to that. Because at that point, you're not making an oath. You're not swearing to it, okay? Because obviously, if you say yes, that's what you're, the whole premise behind that is you're like, that's my intention. If at all possible, I'm planning on going, right? But if you swear to it, there's a whole nother thing there. Now go to James 5, and we get into prayer here. But it says in James 5, 13, is any among you afflicted, let him pray. Is any Mary, let him sing psalms. Now, you know what's interesting about this? Where it says, is any Mary, let him sing psalms? Is that there's a conception out there that if you're depressed, then you need to listen to like uplifting music, okay? And the Bible actually teaches something a little different. I mean, actually it says if you're Mary, sing psalms, right? But, and it also even talks about those that, and I'm gonna misquote that verse, but it talks about like taking a code away from somebody in winter, is that he that singeth psalms to him that is of a heavy heart, I think it's something like that, right? I don't know if it's psalms, but it's basically, you're basically singing like a song to them. To those of a heavy heart is like vinegar to the teeth and like taking a garment away in winter, okay? And so the Bible's kind of like the same type of thing, only singing in a different manner, like if you're Mary, sing psalms, right? But it's not saying if you're depressed, sing psalms, okay? Now, if you're depressed, then you need to encourage yourself in the Lord, right? There's other things to do that with, and I'm not saying music is like singing psalms is always gonna be this bad feeling to you, but I guess it depends on the song, but it's just like jovial, over-the-top song, it's like there's times where you're just mourning, there's a time where you're just weeping, and you just need to do that, okay? And there's a time to sing psalms. And so, anyway, I got off on a side note there. But in verse 14 it says, Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man abaleth much. Now, when it comes to this, we've actually done this before, and so this is a biblical thing in the New Testament, to take oil and anoint someone that's sick, and pray over them. Now, the thing is with that is that this isn't just like this blank check that this always works, or this is always going to work, because if you think about Paul, Paul had an infirmity that he besought the Lord thrice for about. And Jesus says, My grace is sufficient. So, you can see how, obviously, those that are, you know, Pentecostal will basically use a passage like this, and be like, it's gonna happen. If it doesn't happen, you didn't have faith. I've had people say that, like, if that person doesn't get healed, they didn't have faith, or you didn't have faith, it's not because God didn't want to do it. Yeah, that's interesting, because when David prayed for his child to not die, after the child dies, you know, they were like bewildered why he got up and wasn't fasting anymore. He says, well, when he was alive, you know, who knows that the Lord will be gracious, right? David, a man after God's own heart, understood that he didn't know whether God would be gracious or not, whether he'd be merciful and that, and obviously God ended up not allowing that child to live. And the same thing in the New Testament, is that Paul besought the Lord thrice, but it didn't happen. But it doesn't mean that we shouldn't still try, right? That we shouldn't still put that on the Lord, right? Because maybe the Lord will do it, right? The idea is that you have faith that he's able to do it. It's kind of like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? He said, we know that our God is able to deliver us. But then it goes, but if not, well, we're not gonna bow down, right? But he's not saying, but if he's not able, right? No, the idea that they're stating there, what they're stating is that, but if he doesn't deliver us. It's not that he's not able, it's just that they don't know for sure whether he's going to do it. That puts another level on that faith, doesn't it? When you think about that whole aspect of them being thrown into the fiery furnace, they obviously had faith that he was able to do it, but they didn't know whether he was going to do it or not. Okay, so when they're being tossed in there, Paul, they knew, they're going to their death. And that was another, I mean, we know the story, right? If you knew the end of the story, you'd be like, eh, come on, toss me in there, guys. I guarantee they were a little nervous, right? I'm sure they were a little scared as far as that flame and all that. But at the same time, they had faith that he was able to do it, and he did do it, okay? And that's the idea here is that the faith, the prayer of faith shall save the sick is that, you can't expect, you know, it's at the very beginning, ask nothing wavering, right? Not doubting, because if you wavered, let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord, okay? A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. So when you're dealing with this, you obviously, we need to all have faith that it's able to happen, okay? No matter what the illness is, or how terminal it is, or how, you know, just, it just, by all measures of just logic, just like this can't, this is just not gonna get better. This is not gonna work, right? Listen, God raised the dead. God healed the lepers. God healed those that had the palsy. They were literally paraplegics. He healed those that had all kinds of infirmities, and the woman that had the issue of blood for 12 years, He healed that instantly, and God is able to do it. And we need to have faith that He's able to do it. Whether He chooses to do it or not, we have to deal with that, just like Paul. And, but, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be praying in faith, knowing that He's able to do it, and praying that He's merciful and gracious that He will do it, okay? It says that, confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another. Now, I don't believe this is talking about our sins, you know, as far as like confessing our, like this, at a confessional booth. Please don't come to me and say, Pastor, let me come confess all my sins to you. I don't wanna know, just to be honest, right? I mean, unless you're some reprobate, don't, you don't have to unload on me, okay? If you're a reprobate, just go out the door, you don't even have to tell me, just go and don't ever come back, right? But if, honestly, I don't need to know all the sins that you're going through. Now, obviously, if you have, if you wanna talk about issues or things like that, and maybe there's a sin or something like that, I'm not saying you can't bring it up, but listen, I don't need to hear all your sins, right? I mean, a lot of you probably already think that I'm preaching against you half the time anyway. If you tell me all your sins, you're gonna be constantly thinking I'm talking about you anyway, so, you're probably better off just not letting me know. But listen, we all have sins that we deal with, but I do think that we should confess our faults one to another in the fact that we should be honest about our strengths and weaknesses. I mean, think about, I think about our faults in a lot of cases are our weaknesses. And could our weaknesses be sin? Sure, right, but at the same time, there's a lot of times where we just have weaknesses that we could use prayer for, and we're praying one for another, right? And I mean, one example of this that maybe wouldn't be sin is like, hey, brother, I'm having a hard time getting through the Bible in one year, like reading through the Bible. My reading, I'm just lacking it. That's a fault that I have. Maybe it's memorization. Maybe it's soul winning, right? Maybe it's church attendance, stuff like that. Maybe it's like, well, I come, you know, I come like every week, but, you know, I have a fault as far as coming to every service, right? I'm just giving examples of things that aren't necessarily simple, right? Because I don't believe that someone's in sin if they come every single week, but maybe they don't come to every service, okay? I don't believe someone's necessarily in sin if they don't read through the Bible in one year, but there should be like certain standards you're trying to get to, and maybe you have faults in certain areas, and confessing those type of things, I think, are good to where you're like, hey, I need help with this. Please pray for me. I think we shouldn't be confessing other people's faults to other people, though. Does that make sense? You're like, brother Matt has this fault, right? You know, and I just started listing off all these things that he has faults with, right? You're like, please pray for him, okay? That's not what we're talking about, okay? Confess our own faults through each other so that we can have some prayer, you know, and the effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much because, you know, I believe there's a lot of people in this church that are righteous people that are trying to live righteous lives that are going out soul wanting, that are reading their Bible, that are trying to do the best that they can, that, you know what, if I have a prayer request, if I have something I want to pray for, I want you guys to know about it. And not just, you know, because I do believe that that prayer of the members of my church, it's effectual, right? At least someone will be, right? Someone in the church will be right with God at some point, right? No, I'm joking, right? But the idea here is that we're missing our faults one to another. You know, some people take that too far, all that. I'm running out of time, but it says here, go to James 5, verse 17, and I'm going to kind of blast through this one point right here where we're talking about Elijah, but it says in verse 17, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Now what you have to understand is that, what he's stating here is that he prayed that it wouldn't rain for three and a half years, and it didn't. So think about that, like think about how God answered that prayer. And listen, lest you think that Elijah is some like God man, it says Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. He's basically saying he was just like us, right? He was a sinner, he had the same passions we had, and when you look at these Old Testament prophets, or even just apostles and all that, they weren't levitating above everybody else, okay? Jesus was the only one that was God. You know, the man Christ Jesus, God in the flesh, obviously he didn't sin, right? He was tempted in all points like we are, yeah, without sin. But listen, Peter messed up, Paul messed up, all these prophets messed up in their lives, they were men of like passions, but yet they could pray and stop it from raining, okay? And then he prayed, and not only that, but he prayed again and then it started raining. Now this is a great proof, I believe that Elijah is one of the two witnesses that are gonna be in the end times, and Moses and Elijah I believe are the two witnesses, and one big thing here is that it says for a space of three years and six months, when it talks about the witnesses in Revelation chapter 11, it talks about how it's gonna be for 1,260 days, which is what? Three and a half years, okay? Three years and six months, that's what that is, or 42 months that they're going to have their ministry, and it says this about what these two witnesses are gonna do, it says these have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. Think about that. Think about that. One, it shows you that we're talking about people from the Old Testament, we're talking about prophets of old, right, in the days of their prophecy, and it also says that they have power to shut heaven and have power over waters to turn them to blood and smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. I wonder who we're talking about there, right? And then you have Moses and Elijah literally appearing at the Mount of Transfiguration. I don't think, there's no doubt in my mind that those are the two witnesses, okay? When you throw Enoch at me, like, there's nothing, I mean, besides the fact that he was translated, that's all he got, and nothing else fits, okay? Moses and Elijah, I think, is super crystal clear, these are the two witnesses. Now, let's look at these last two verses in James, chapter five, and we'll be done. Verse 19 here, it says, Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. Now, this is not talking about eternal salvation. I mean, this is talking about saving a soul from death, okay? And you're like, well, that's talking about hell. Listen, death isn't always talking about hell. We're talking about a physical death here. Now, 1 John deals with the same subject, and what we're dealing with is that there are sins unto death, okay? Meaning that there are sins that you can commit that are unto death. And just if you were to go by the law, there are capital punishment sins, right? There are sins that you can commit that has the death penalty to it, okay? And in 1 John, chapter five, verse 16, it says, if any man see his brother, sin a sin. So who are we talking about here in this passage as well? A brother. And it says, and by the way, in James, chapter five, it says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, right, you're talking about a brother that's erring from the truth, okay? And same here, it says, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask. Now, what's another word for asking? Pray, right? He shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. So what are we talking about? A brother praying for another brother that's sinning but they haven't sinned unto death yet, right? There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death. So not every sin is unto death, meaning that it doesn't deserve death penalty, but the idea here is that if someone commits cold-blooded murder and they're a brother in Christ, we're not to be praying that God saves them from punishment. Okay, that's what I believe the Bible's stating there. But if your brother's like on that course and you stop them before they get to that point of sinning unto death, right, then you saved a brother from dying physically and you shall hide a multitude of sins, right? I mean, you've kind of stopped this from escalating further than it would go. Does that make sense? So that's the idea there is that you're trying to save a brother from that. And by the way, this is what Ezekiel's talking about when it's talking about the soul that's in it that shall die. And when it says this in Ezekiel 18, for example, it says, have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, said the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways and live? Ezekiel 18, 32 says, for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, said the Lord God. Wherefore, turn yourselves and live ye. Ezekiel 33, 11, it says, say unto them, as I live, said the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live, turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? If this is talking about eternal salvation, then it's work salvation. I mean, literally the Bible says God saw their works that they turned from their evil way, okay? But this isn't talking about eternal salvation. It's talking about sitting in sin unto death, right? Capital punishment type sin. But I've also heard people say this about that passage in Ezekiel, and they'll say, well, see, you shouldn't have pleasure when people die. And they'll just negate the whole Bible when it talks about how we're gonna rejoice at the death of the wicked, and we're going to wash our feet in the blood of the wicked, and we're gonna rejoice to see that day, right? And they'll just negate that. Problem is is that they take that out of context. You're talking about believers there. You're talking about brothers in Christ. You're talking about people that can turn from their evil way, okay? Think about reprobates. Can they turn from their evil way? The Bible says they cannot stop from sin. They cannot cease from sin, the Bible says. So if someone is unable to cease from sin, can they turn from their evil way? Then that's not who we're talking about there, okay? So obviously God rejoices when a brother is turned from their evil way, and they get back on track, and they don't die. He'd rather see that happen, okay? So anyway, let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of James, and Lord, just so much stuff we can get into, but Lord, we just thank you for this book, and pray that you be with us throughout the rest of this week. Pray that you give us safe travels, and Lord, we love you, and pray also in Jesus Christ's name, amen. One more day, we'll come sing one more song, and we'll be dismissed. All right, take your word of psalm books, and turn to song number three. Song number three, we'll sing Jesus Paid It All. If you would stand, we'll sing song number three. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in me thine all in all. Jesus Paid It All, All to me, Jesus Paid It All, All to him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain,