to be going up on it, going out
on it. And if you don't have somebody
put it in there, we're going to make somebody. It's not worth it. I'm sorry,
but we're going to do it. Last time I came, I was really
upset. They came for lunch on Sunday. I was struggling. I was trying
to figure out how to get out. I literally had been like six
hours on it. I had been chasing the box until
the seventh, and blew up. My mom just drives me nuts. I'm
going out there barefoot on snow. So here's the snow. And it's
like, I don't know. It's like, honey, honey, honey,
honey, honey, honey, honey, honey, honey, honey, honey. There's still snow left all over
the ground. Last week I had like a winter
break. It's there by Thursday, Friday, and
Sunday. Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, you
guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started
it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well.
Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started
it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well.
Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well.
Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you
guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started
it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as
well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah,
you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah,
you guys started it as well. Yeah, you guys started it as well. Yeah I said, but
I'll, you know, she's walking. No, ma'am. No way, ma'am. Really? She is. And I said, well,
I don't, you know. Mommy, where was Lily? Oh, my
son got, Lily used to live right next door. And I thought, oh,
boy. I said, oh, she's really going
to need somebody. It was like 11 o'clock in the
morning. I talked to her for about three
minutes. It's just funny how, you know,
we do get that in Christ. I told her, I said, she said,
she says, well, my kids are old. You don't have to bury your kids
and stuff. And I said, yeah, I said, it happens to do that. And then she told me that her
son was like 63 or so. I thought, well, good grief,
he's younger than I am. If he wants to get out, he can
get out. He just lived right next door. Okay, brother and we're gonna
begin looking let's go to Romans 15 and Romans 15 verses 25-33. Now, we know that Paul wanted
to visit the brethren at Rome. He wanted to go there and be
with them, but he providentially was given a gift from the Gentile
brethren, the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Corinth, to
bring to the poor saints that were in Jerusalem. And, you know,
with that in mind, as we go through this section here in chapter
15, notice that Paul recognizes that he's going to be facing
challenges. Persecution, for example, and
he's even nervous, you know, those without the church were
going to persecute him very likely, and he's even concerned about
how he's going to be received by the brethren there at Jerusalem,
because he's the apostle who's been appointed of God to minister
the gospel to the Gentiles, and it's something that that we don't
necessarily have a complete understanding. We don't quite face it the way
he did. We certainly, in meeting with
legalists, we have a sense of that. Judaizers, people that
are zealous for the law, we get a certain taste of it. But he's
going into a whole nation where they have been raised under the
law in such a manner that It's it's just such a part of them.
I guess you could say the same thing for legalists as well and
and and the concision if if you will so Paul recognizes that
he's going to be facing. In Chains, in Rome, and he's
writing to Timothy, he acknowledged saying that all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And anytime you've
opened your mouth to praise the Lord, to give glory to God, you've
probably suffered persecution for it, especially if you're
in a larger mixed crowd. But even if you're with one person
who doesn't believe it in, in your, in their heart, they may
persecute you even if you're not fully aware of it. But oftentimes
we, we, we are made aware of the persecution that we are receiving
because we are believers and glorifying our, our God. And
so because of this, Paul is seeking, he's desirous, he's coveting
the prayers of his brethren. He's asking them, please pray
for me. I have this burden that I'm carrying
because I know I'm going to Jerusalem and I believe there's going to
be trouble for me waiting there. And so Paul, you know, he's,
He recognizes the importance of prayer and the value that
it is when he's writing in Ephesians chapter 6 and he's talking about
the armor of the believer. with which we stand against the
onslaught of the evil one, which we stand against spiritual wickedness
in high places, he says in Ephesians 6.18, praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." And supplication
for saints is praying for the brethren, praying for your brethren,
those whom you know and those whom you fellowship with. He
says, pray for them. And so Paul is asking these brethren
in Rome, as he's writing to them, he says, strive with me. In your prayers to God, strive
with me. Remember me in your prayers before
the Lord, because there's troublesome days ahead. There's troublesome
days ahead. And so that's what I've titled
this message, Troublesome Days Ahead. And first we'll just look
at some of these details behind Paul going to Jerusalem, and
then we'll look at, we'll close with Paul's request for prayer.
So verse 25, but now I go into Jerusalem to minister unto the
saints. And ministering to the saints,
it holds a lot of joy. There's a lot of joy in laying
down your life for the Lord's people, for his flock. And it
does afford a lot of joy for any of the brethren, any saints
who who take it upon them to be a blessing to others, to think
of others, and do for others, and minister to others, especially
for the gospel's sake. And while it's a blessing, though, from reading Paul's letters,
you could tell that it's not necessarily easy. And there's
a lot of challenges that go with ministering to the brethren.
You're taking on certain burdens and challenges. I mean, we're
talking about eternal things. And as a pastor, people begin
to put their confidence in you, and they have a certain trust
for you, and they share things with you. concerning things and
things that trouble them. And then the pastor begins to
carry that burden with them as we're made to remember our brethren
before the Lord. And so there's that and there's
just the things that we see, the things that concern us in
the world concerning the church, right? And the care that we have
for the brethren and the desire that we have that you should
know and delight in and glory in the things of your God. Because then whatever comes to
us, whatever happens in the world, you're grounded and settled in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's right where you need to be. You
don't need to be troubled about the various things that are coming,
you just need to be looking to Christ, because then whatever
it is, you're grounded and settled, and the Lord will keep you in
that hour of temptation, or that hour of tribulation, or that
hour of persecution. He's the one that keeps you,
and comforts you, and ministers So Paul carries that with him. He knows that there's false teachers
and lies and persecutions and so he was concerned for the churches.
He would write Later, after recounting all the persecutions he suffered
in his body, stonings and beatings and threatenings and being chased
out of places, he said, beside those things that are without,
those things that pummel my body, he says, that which cometh upon
me daily, the care of all the churches. And he was worried
about the churches that he had preached the gospel to, and that
the Lord would keep them faithful, and that they wouldn't rise up
and have schisms among themselves, but that they would be kept looking
to the Lord. He said, who's weak and I'm not
weak? Who's offended and I burn not? I get offended, I'm being
slapped in the face unjustly, and I'm bearing that for Christ's
sake, I don't feel anything, you know, he says. And so Paul
endured much for the brethren and as a result of preaching
the gospel faithfully. Like we're blessed by the letters
that Paul wrote because we see so clearly, so much more clearly
our liberty in Christ and what Christ has accomplished for his
people, that we are righteous in him, that he is our righteousness
and our holiness and that he leads us in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. And we rejoice as we see that
and understand that And so in this preaching of the gospel,
he acquired many enemies, people that hated him and despised his
message. And he would, I think it helped
him to better understand what the Lord endured for his people. He felt what Christ himself felt
and endured for us, that we should know the riches of God's grace. He would write to the Corinthians,
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, though he didn't need us, yet he loved us. And for
love's sake, he became poor. He emptied himself of all that
that he had in fellowship with the father there in the bosom
of the father. He left that and came here to
endure the despising and the shame and the hatred of his own
creation that we might be that we should be rich. And so in
the garden, right, you see a picture of that in the garden where he's
bearing the weight of what he's doing for his people, to be the
sacrifice of his people. And that's all coming upon him
there in the garden of Gethsemane. And it says, being in agony,
in an agony, he prayed, right? He prayed more earnestly and
his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the
ground. And when he rose up from prayer,
when he rose up from that, and was come to his disciples, he
found them sleeping for sorrow. And there they are asleep, and
he's bearing the weight of accomplishing our salvation, of delivering
us from the punishment of sins, the just punishment of God for
our sins. He's bearing that, and so the
brethren there are sleeping that we might know the true rest and
peace with our God. He's bearing all that for his
people. And so Paul now, he binds himself
with this need to bring this gift to Jerusalem for the ministering
of those poor saints there. And he says in Romans 15, 26,
for it hath pleased them of Macedonia, and most believe that's Philippi,
and Achaia, which we know is Corinth, to make a certain contribution
for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. And you can read
all about that in 2 Corinthians 8, verses 1 through 11. Paul's
actually writing to the Corinthians about them pulling together that
collection that they wanted to do. And he's saying, bring it
together, because Macedonia's got theirs. And they did. And
so here he is at Corinth now, and he's about to go to Jerusalem
with that. Now in verse 27, it hath pleased
them verily in their debtors they are, for if the Gentiles
have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty
is also to minister unto them in carnal things. and that spiritual
things that he's speaking of the gospel, right? We're blessed
to have the gospel because of how the Lord raised up the Jews
and ministered the gospel. Initially, it was not as clear
as it is to us today, but he brought the gospel to them. And
then the gospel spread out from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria
and then into all the world. And we know Christ came, as Paul
said in Romans 15 verse eight, he speaks of Christ who came
to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. So God was
pleased to use the Jews, to raise up the Jews, and provide for
and maintain that election, that remnant of grace, and do all
things for them that they should be preserved and kept so that
Christ would come And all those promises made, that was missed
by so many, so many in the nation, including all the world, but
he came and fulfilled all those promises made for their salvation
and for ours. Us who are saints, called from
the Gentile nations. And we read, you know, he accomplished
this coming in the flesh, under the law, and worked perfect righteousness
for his people. Hebrews 1.3 is saying, who being
the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when
he had by himself purged our sins. And so, We understand this
salvation was wrought by Christ who came in the flesh and worked
perfect righteousness for his people under the law and had
no sin, no blemish, no fault in him. And he willingly went
to the cross for his people, bearing their sin to put away
our iniquity to make a covering, an atonement for our sins so
that when the Father looks upon us, He doesn't see us in all
our filth and sin and rebellion against Him. He sees the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and He's satisfied. Meaning He's
satisfied with you. He's satisfied with your righteousness.
He's made you His own and He showers His blessings, His spiritual
blessings upon you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died on
the cross and having satisfied divine justice for us, he was
buried and he rose again and was then witnessed by the brethren
that they might be witnesses of his resurrection and what
he accomplished. And then he ascended up to the
father and is now sat down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. And so Paul wanted to come to
the believers there at Rome and preach this. He wanted to just
rejoice in the fellowship that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ
and minister this glorious gospel to them, saying, I shall come
in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. That's
how he wanted to come. And he knew these were precious
brethren who loved that gospel, who loved the Lord Jesus Christ,
who loved Paul, and would fellowship with him and receive him gladly.
They would have loved for Paul to come there right away. and
be with him, but he's got a mission. He's got a gift to bring to Jerusalem. All right, so this brings us
to our second point coming up to the prayer. And so going to
Jerusalem was a dangerous thing for Paul. It was not safe for
Paul to go to Jerusalem. Our Lord, in some of the final
words he spoke, turn over to Matthew 23, Matthew 23, We'll pick up in verse 37, our
Lord is speaking about Jerusalem. And he says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would
not, right? That's the will and the heart
of man. That's a testimony of what all of us are by nature. And he said, behold, your house
is left unto you desolate. So Paul's now venturing onto
a desolate place, a place which always refuses and rejected the
saints that the Lord sends to minister to them, all right? And so that's where he's going. Matthew 23, 31. says that this
is a place where the messengers of God are murdered. They're
murdered, they're slain because they preach the truth. They're
faithful in preaching the truth. He said that these are the children
of them which killed the prophets. Who's that killed the prophets?
Well, here's their children. What do you think they're gonna
do to you? They despise them, they're gonna despise you now.
And so, Paul is faithful to go, and that's because the Lord said
it. Look at Matthew 23. Verse 34, the Lord said he would
send ministers to them, to minister the gospel. He says, wherefore,
behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and
some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them you
shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city
to city, which we know that's exactly what they did to Paul.
They not only scourged him, They followed him everywhere he went
and stirred up trouble for him. And so Paul, being providentially
sent by the Lord, he understands, I've been given this gift to
deliver to the saints there. I'm going to do that, but I know
that trouble awaits me there. And so being mindful of that,
he asks the brethren back in Romans 15 in verse 30, he asked
them to strive together unto the Lord with him. Now I beseech
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love
of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers
to God for me. Paul, it's believed that he was
sitting at Corinth when he wrote this. He was there in Achaia,
which isn't that far from Rome, and now he's going to be going
the opposite direction from there. And so he's at Corinth, and he's
going to mail this letter. He's going to send this letter
by Phoebe, Sister Phoebe, who's going to take this letter back
to Rome and deliver it to the saints there. And as Paul, there's
an account. If you look over in Acts 21,
with me, there's several verses that we'll just kind of go through,
but Acts 21, on the way, he's getting additional witnesses
that there's going to be trouble. The Spirit is telling him there's
going to be trouble, right? He's enduring this, knowing this,
that he's going to have trouble, and yet he's still going. Verse
four, and finding the disciples, we tarry there seven days, who
said to Paul through the Spirit, right? They're not just speaking
according to the flesh, they're speaking by the Spirit, and said
that he should not go up to Jerusalem." Those are the words there, that
he should not go up to Jerusalem. And Luke records that they spoke
that by the Spirit, that he shouldn't go there. And then a little further,
as they go to Caesarea, they're nearing Jerusalem, in verses
10 and 11. I'm not gonna read it, but we're
told that some brethren came and fellowshiped with them, one
of them being Agabus, who was a prophet, and he He saw and
understood things being a prophet. He wasn't necessarily giving
any new revelation concerning the word of God, but he saw what
the spirit was showing him, things that should come. And so he took
Paul's girdle, which I understand to be his belt, and he bound
his hands and his feet and said that whoever owns this belt,
they're gonna be bound in Jerusalem and delivered unto the Gentiles. And so the brethren tried to
persuade Paul, but he said, Why are you breaking my heart? I
know what I'm going to face there. And please, I got to go. I got
to go. Don't do this anymore. I've got
to go there. I'm ready to die. If that's what
the Lord is going to do to me there, I'm ready to lay down
my life there at Jerusalem for my Lord and for his people. And so Paul asks for three things
in his prayer. He asks for safety. He asks them
to pray with him that he would be successful in delivering the
gift, meaning that they would receive it for the brethren,
that they wouldn't be put off that it's coming from the Gentiles,
but that they would accept it and use it for the purpose that
it was sent to them. And then that he would be able
to come to them in Rome with joy. All right, look at verse
31, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. And what he's talking about is
the Jews that were there that refused the testimony of God
concerning his son Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. That
is the salvation that God has provided for his people. And so when they saw him, they
seized on that opportunity, took him, and would have killed him
right there. But the Lord sent the Roman soldiers who delivered
Paul from their intent, which was to kill him. And he ended
up being in prison in Caesarea for about two years under Roman
guard for about two years, was now in prison. So now he's even
further delayed in coming to those in Rome. All right, now
the second thing, oh, but he was delivered though. We know
that he was eventually delivered. The Lord providentially did.
They wanted to kill him. They even took an oath to not
eat until they had killed him. and yet the Lord delivered him
from all those things, all right? And secondly, the end of verse
31, that my service which I have had for Jerusalem may be accepted
of the saints. And he had reason to be concerned,
all right? When we read of those Jews that
believed, yet were zealous for the law, we see that they were,
they had an issue with Paul. They had an issue with Paul.
Just think about how those brethren were when Peter came back from
Cornelius' house and entered Cornelius' house. They were offended
that he did that and he had to defend himself saying, well,
this is the vision that the Lord gave me and this is what he interpreted
the vision to be and then I went and then we saw the Holy Spirit
fall on them and they weren't circumcised and the Holy Spirit
fell upon them testifying that these are the Lord Saints. He
had to defend himself to those other Jews and so Paul's now
going into the hotbed of Jerusalem where he's going to be questioned
and James worded it this way in Acts 21 21 saying all the
Jews which are among oh he told him This is what we've heard
you're doing among the Gentiles, that you're telling all the Jews
that are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they
ought not to circumcise their children according to the law,
neither to walk after their customs. And that's exactly what Paul
was teaching. That's exactly what he's saying in the gospel
and what he's declaring to them. And James is saying, they've
heard this, and they're concerned. And then James gave him some
bad advice, and Paul followed it. He went with those brethren
who took a vow. I don't know if he shaved his
head, too, but they shaved their heads, and he was with them.
And some believe that James, after seeing what happened to
Paul, James wrote his letter, the Epistle of James, after that,
having experienced and learned some things of that bad advice
to Paul. You know, it was hard. It was
possible that they would have refused the gift, but we know
they didn't. James did receive him, and so we believe that gift,
that the intent of it did reach those poor saints there. All
right, and then thirdly, verse 32, that I may come unto you
with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. And what that tells us is that,
you know, going to Jerusalem was very different than going
to Rome, where the brethren were who understood, who were blessed,
those Jews that lived at Rome, including those Gentiles, they
rejoiced in the liberty that they had. And it's probably thinking
of, I'm going to Jerusalem, is probably what inspired chapter
14 and 15 of how we are to be towards those who don't fully
understand the liberty that we have in Christ. Not to doubtful
disputations over the law and things, but there are some that
really do struggle with the law and what relevance it has to
us now. And we know it has no relevance
to us now. Our Savior died to deliver us from the dominion
of the law and the dominion of sin, so that now it's not that
we're living in sin and unrighteousness, but we don't look to the law
for that. Paul was telling them, You know that those 10 commandments
you have painted on your wall in the house? Whitewash it. You
don't need the law. Don't look to the law. You have
the Spirit of Christ. Look to Christ and the Spirit. If it's the Spirit of Christ,
He'll lead you in paths of righteousness so that you won't want to sin
against your neighbor. You'll love your neighbor and
do those things that are good and kind. and nice and helpful
and profitable to your neighbor. You're not going to do those
things that the law speaks against, but you don't need to see it
in the law. You look to Christ. You see it in Christ who fulfilled
all the law, and his spirit is going to lead you in that truth
and kindness and gentleness and love and peace. You don't get
that from the legal law. You get that from the spirit
of Christ dwelling in you and giving you life in the new man.
And so he's looking forward to going to Rome because it's going
to be a peaceful, restful, joyful time. And the Lord did bring
him there eventually. So he's saying, brethren, strive
with me for this. Please pray to the Lord that
I may be delivered unto you safely and enjoy. And so what that tells
us is that if we We understand that God is sovereign and that
he's executing and fulfilling his law perfectly. But we ought not to think that
our prayers are just a meaningless exercise and have no bearing
on anything. If we think that our prayers
are just, eh, it doesn't really matter if I pray about these
concerns I have, that's wrong. Paul is asking them to strive
with me. And we know that when we don't
pray, when our hearts and minds are just set on this world, it's
a pretty cold and lonely place to be, just walking through this
earth, doing your business and doing your stuff and doing your
thing and not at all mindful of the Lord, because prayer does
set our hearts upon our God. who is gracious, who loves us,
who will be worshiped and ought to be worshiped. He's worthy
of all our praise, all our thoughts, all our desires. He's worthy
of that. And he warms our hearts in prayer,
right? He comforts us in prayer. He tells us, actually, Paul wrote
to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5.17, pray without ceasing. Because
when you're praying, what are you doing? You're really not
thinking much of yourself. You're thinking of the Lord, you're
giving him thanks, and you're thinking of your brethren and
their needs. And your heart is set where your
Lord is then, and not where your feet are stepping on the ground.
And our God, he draws us to this, right? In 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 5, 6 and 7, he says, humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he
careth for you. And the Lord is teaching us how
desperately we need him, how desperate we are for his fellowship. And when we seek him in prayer,
right, when you're praying and lifting up the concerns and the
cares that you have, for yourself and for your family and for your
brethren, that we actually, you see the hand of the Lord being
worked out in those things, right? When your mind is in prayer and
you're praying for these things, you see how the Lord is ministering
and taking care of his people, how kind and gracious he is to
his people. When you're just cold and lifeless
and not thinking of him at all or your brethren doing your thing
praying at all, you don't see those things, right? It just
perpetuates that coldness and that indifference to many things
until things get so bad that you hit your knees and then you're
praying, right? And so the Lord's saying, if
you look for it, you'll see my grace, you'll see my hand, you'll
see my work. Seek me and seek my face and
you shall find me. You will see me and you'll know
me and you'll be warm and you'll feel my love and you'll know
what I do for my saints. The psalmist said in Psalm 34,
four through six, he wrote, I sought the Lord and he heard me and
delivered me from all my fears, right? We have fears, we have
worries and concerns. Seek the Lord, bring them to
the Lord. He'll comfort your heart. They looked unto him and
were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his
troubles." All right? And so Paul says, strive together
with me in your prayers. And he means it, that gives us,
that puts in our mind Jacob wrestling with the angel there, who strove
and wrestled with the angel until the Lord blessed him. And Paul's
saying, Lord, I don't want to go to Jerusalem. except you bless
me, except you protect me and go with me and help me in this
because you've called me to it. I've got to go. But Lord, I need
your provision and your help to keep me. All right. And so
prayer isn't just for us. It's it's for our brethren. All right. And, you know, I can't
tell you how many times I've been blessed just you know, speaking
to other brethren, you know, on the phone, and, you know,
when I was sitting where you are and speaking to my pastor,
and there was a number of times where I poured out my heart to
him and was broken over just things that were going on in
my life. And he just listened, and, you
know, there wasn't much to say, but he listened. And then afterwards,
how I would feel, I think he's praying for me. because the Lord
just will come over me with such a sweetness and a warmth and
a grace in my heart that I couldn't even explain. And so I do that
often, not every time right away, but a lot of times when I speak
to you or in communication with you, I find myself going to the
Lord and praying for you and lifting you up to the Lord. And
sometimes it's immediate, sometimes it's a few minutes later or an
hour later, and I go, oh, Lord, thank you for that time with
them and pray for you. And maybe it's even a day later,
but I pray. And I'm sure you've thought, somebody, maybe the
Lord's moved somebody because he's being so gracious to me
and I don't deserve it. And the Lord just draws you to
himself in that. And so we pray for our brethren
and because the Lord lays them on our heart. You know, when
I wake up in the middle of the night, two, three o'clock in
the morning sometimes, not always, a lot of times I get a good sleep.
But once in a while I wake up, some people count sheep, I start
praying for you brethren. I just go through each of you
until I wake up the next day. You know, at some point I fell
asleep. I don't know when, but... You
know, I just, I think of you and that's how it should be. And so when you're frustrated,
because I'm sure you guys get frustrated, you have difficulties
and hardships and all kinds of different things, let it drive
you to the Lord. Let it drive you to the throne
of grace because you are a child of God and you are covered with
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says in Hebrews 4.16,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We may not be delivered from the trouble, but we'll find grace
to sustain us and keep us in that hour of need. And so if
you need that, how much more do your brethren also need that?
And if you're going through trouble, know your brethren are also going
through trouble. And so pray for them for the
troublesome days ahead. We all have troublesome days.
ahead of us, but we have a sure foundation. We have the anchor
of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray to him, seek him
and pray for your brethren as well and that he may comfort
their hearts. All right. So now he says at
the very end, now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. So I pray the Lord bless
that word to your heart. That's closing prayer. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you, Father, for your grace, your compassion,
your mercy, Lord, that you should be willing to hear from your
people that there is no problem too small, certainly nothing
too big, but there's no problem, no fear, no worry too small that
you will not hear in your son, Jesus Christ. And we thank you,
Lord, for this and pray that you would indeed bless your people. Help us, Lord, for surely there
are troublesome days ahead. We don't know what they are or
how they may manifest, but we know that there's always trials
and difficulties in this flesh. And so, Lord, we ask that you
would stir our hearts to pray for one another, to strive together
for one another, that we might know and see the grace in the
hand of our God working mightily in our midst. It's in Christ's
name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Okay, so I went a little long,
so we will come back at about six minutes after the hour. We'll
pick up.