First six verses is what I'm
going to deal with the Lord willing this evening. Go to now, you
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 shall
eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped up treasure together
for the last days. Behold, The higher 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 Sabbath. You have
lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanted. You have nourished
your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed
the just, and he doeth not resist you." You remember last week, we talked
and ended up there in verse 17, where it says, Therefore to him
that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not to him, it is sin.
And James has been talking of the things that he's been dealing
with. For us to know to do these things, and not do them, it's
sin. It's right and good. And I want
to do the things that the Scripture says. As Bill prayed this evening,
leave us not to ourselves. We really honestly don't know
how to go in and come out without Him. And the Lord Jesus, He promised
to keep the sinful, promised to give wisdom to them that lacked
it, promised to uphold those, never leave us, never forsake
us. And as He said this, James gives an awful warning here.
After he says, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not
to him that is sin, he gives an awful warning here. to some
who did not do good with what God gave them. And he talks about
rich people here. And he says, Go to now. Now, I looked this up the other
day. It means you know that you've got to face God. Go to now in
the presence of God. Go to now to the judgment. Go
to now and consider the end of yourself. Go to now. You rich
man, weep and howl for your miseries as shall come upon you." Now,
he isn't addressing all rich men here. He's not addressing
everybody who's wealthy. But he's addressing those who
didn't use their wealth for the good of others, for the gospel,
for the gospel of Christ, to help others, to spread the gospel.
And being wealthy isn't what's condemned here. It's what we
do. It's what's done with the wealth
that James condemns. They don't care, you know, and
this is one thing that's obvious in the Scriptures, is that it's
not wrong to have wealth, it's wrong for wealth to have you.
That's the difference in it. And you know, we find many people
in the Scriptures that were wealthy. And Joseph of Theramathaea, he
was a wealthy man. And he was wealthy, and he came
and begged the body of the Lord Jesus Christ off the cross. And
he took a hundred pounds of spikener and ointments, and the living
clothes, and wrapped the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
gave him his own tomb, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
that he was buried with the rich." Now, here's a wealthy man. He
used his wealth for the glory of God to bury the very body
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Mary. Mary, when she had that
great big box of ointment, you know, and this box of ointment
that she had, remember they said, this is very expensive. He said,
it could have been sold for 300 pence, and it could have been
given to the poor. But listen, she took that broth
and she broke it over the Lord Jesus Christ to prepare him.
But when she broke that, everybody in that room partook of the fragrance.
Everybody in that room enjoyed the fragrance. Everybody in that
room enjoyed the wealth of her gift. And that's what we're talking
about. As we use the things that God
gives us, everybody in the church, the body of Christ, is benefited
by it. Job was a wealthy man. said he
was the most wealthiest man of all the East. Abraham was a wealthy
man. He is so wealthy that him and
Lot had to split because they both had so much that they couldn't
dwell together. And I know that there's wealthy men, wealthy
men who love the gospel, who love Christ, who love the church,
and support it, support all of those things. But James here
is addressing professors of religion, those who assemble with the saints.
Those who come in among the saints of God, they profess, they have
a profession of religion. And James is saying that your
profession is nothing but vain if you don't use your wealth
for the glory of God. And that's what he says here.
Oh, go to now, you rich man. You're laying up treasures for
yourselves. And there are people who bolster
their wealth, and yet they don't use it for the glory of God.
They don't use it for the good of us. They don't use it for
the gospel. They don't use it to support the gospel in other
places. And he says, weep and howl. Ain't
that what it says? Weep and howl and lament. And
oh, listen to this, for the miseries that's going to come upon you.
Last thing in the world is somebody this wealthy thinks that they're
going to have miseries come upon them. But he's talking about
eternal miseries. He's talking about the miseries
of judgment, the miseries not only of losing your money, but
losing your soul. That's what he's talking about
here. He's talking about eternal miseries. And eternal miseries
await all unbelievers and await all hypocrites. And I know this,
I know this, and our Lord Jesus taught it. It is not possible. that a man can know and love
Christ and love material wealth at the same time, and not use
that wealth and use it for the glory of God and for those that
are in need. He cannot know God and know Christ and not use what
God has given him. He can't do it. He cannot do
it. And let me show you what our
Lord said over here in Luke chapter 19. Here's an illustration. Here's an illustration. Luke
12, 19. You know, our Lord says you can't
love God and mammon. And if you're not going to be
faithful with the unrighteous mammon, our Lord said, with the
unrighteous mammon, who will give you the true riches? Who
will trust you with the true riches? And here's people who
have lots of riches, and they don't use them. And he's talking
to wealthy people. He's talking to rich people. And here in verse
19, here's a fellow that got real wealthy, and he thought,
boy, I've got it made. Here, I'm ready for retirement.
I've got everything that I need. He said, I'll say to my soul,
O soul, you have much good laid up for many years. Take thine
ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. Let's
go enjoy ourselves. Let's just live it up. But God
said unto him, Foo, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee. I'm going to call your soul into account tonight. And
that's what he says, Howl and lament, weep and howl, for your
miseries shall come upon you. Then who shall those things be
which thou hast provided? Who they go blow to then? So
is he that latheth up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God. And that's what James is dealing
with here. People who make up treasures for themselves. So
we go back over here. That's why John says, you know,
if a man sees a brother in need and shut up his vows of compassion
unto him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? How dwells the
love of God in him? And then look what he said here
in verse two of James. Your riches are corrupted and
your garments are moth-eaten. Oh, my. Your riches are corrupted. your material riches, your clothes,
your garments, your homes, your land, everything is corruptible. All will one day rot, lay in
ruins. And you know, Paul told the Corinthians,
he says this, use the world. Use the world, but not as abusing
the world. He says what he means by that
is, do not Do not use the world overmuch to get things to yourself.
Don't abuse the world and abuse yourself by being in the world
and being concerned with the things of the world. And beloved,
all of us have houses. How many times have you worked
on your houses as long as you have? How many roofs have you
put on? How many times have you cleaned
it? How many cars have you went through? How many suits of clothes
have you went through? How many times have you been
to the doctor? How many shoes have you bought? And you know what that tells
us? Everything we've got is corruptible. And here's a fella here that
says, you know, my money is going to last me. I've got enough to
last me. And I've got the best clothes
money can buy. He says, they're morphine and your riches are
corrupted. And everything we have is corruptible.
Oh, most of us have more clothes than we can ever wear. More shoes
than we can put on. And let's decide how much we
have. And then look what he says. This
is amazing to me. We know gold and silver don't
canker. He says, your gold and silver
is going to canker. And the rest of them, But he
says your gold and silver is rusty. Why, you've got to put
it in the bank vaults. Why, you've got to heat it in
the mattress. Why, you've got to dug out in the backyard and put
it in cans, whatever it is. He says your silver and gold
and the rust of them is going to be a witness against you.
While people are in need, you've got to store it up. Your silver
and gold is going to canker. It's going to rust. And you don't use it for people
that are in need and for the gospel to help others. Instead
of using it for the support of the poor and preaching the gospel,
you hoard it and you treasure it. That's what he's talking
about. Your gold is your refuge. And oh, listen to this. You hoard
it. You cherish it. You know, I was
reading through Ecclesiastes. You read through Ecclesiastes.
There's a couple of themes that the preacher deals with all the
time. Two of them is that everything that your heart desires, sooner
or later, your heart will lose that desire after that, and it
will be something else. And secondly, one of the most
evil things under the sun is that no matter what you have
and how much you get, somebody else is going to come and take
it and waste it after you're gone. Somebody else. And you don't
know what they're going to do with it when you're gone. Whatever you leave, you know
you may be leaving it to a fool. And him, the person you leave
it to, they may die in the stake getting it. And that's where he goes on and
on and on about that. What an evil under the sun he
is. He says, you know, a man's got to fool for a son. And he's
got all this stuff, and what am I going to do with that? I've
got a better servant than I have a son, but what am I going to
do? And that's, you never know what's going to happen. So what's
the use? That's what he's saying. It's
an evil that's under the sun. And then look what he says, and
the rust, the decay, the rust of your wealth will be a witness
against you. Oh my! The way that because you
hoarded it and you cherished it and you never put it out for
the profit of others, He says, the rest of your wealth will
come and be a witness against you. Where was he going to be
a witness? In the presence of God himself. And what's what
he says? And it shall eat your flesh as
it were fire. That with you it isn't going
to speak well for you at the judgment. He used it for the
glory of God or it's going to torment you all the way through
eternity like that rich man in hell. You know, he said, Abraham,
please just let Lazarus come and dip his finger in some water
to cool my parched tongue. He said, son, you in your lifetime
had good things. Good things. Now you're tormented. Lazarus didn't have nothing.
And now he's comforted. So his wealth was a torment to
him while he suffered. And that's what James is saying.
He's warning these men. And these are people who professed.
He's not saying, he doesn't call them brethren here. He doesn't
call any of these brethren. And he says, it's going to be
a testimony against you in the day of judgment. And it will
prove to be a torment to you. And watch what he says there
in verse 3. You have heaped treasure together for the last days. Now
they thought they were heaping it together for their last days. I want to be comfortable. I want
to have all I need. But really, what James is saying,
you want to just really treasure enough? You just treasure enough
wrath against the day of judgment. And because of selfishness, because
of covetousness, and he said here, because you gather together
these riches and these valuables and this gold and this silver
for a rich and a prosperous old age, instead of comfort, You'll
find out you really accumulated it for the wrath of God. That's a solemn thing to think
about. I want you to see a verse of
Scripture in Isaiah. And I thought of this the other
day, and I had to look it up. Isaiah 2.20. This is what's going
to happen. Isaiah 2.20. Look what it says here. In that day, a man shall cast
his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each
one for himself, to the moles and to the bats. You know what? I heard Henry
Mayhem wrote an article about this a long, long time ago. The
day is coming when money will be no worth no more than tissue
paper. And when you face God, that's
the one that will be worth to you or anybody else. And that's
why our Lord said in Matthew 6.19, let's look at that together
just a minute. 6.19. This is what our Master
said. Matthew 6.19. This is what the Lord Jesus says
now. Lay not up treasures for yourself upon the earth, where
moth and rust doeth corrupt. And if that don't get them, a
thief will break through and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doeth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. And here's the key
to it. For where your treasure is, that's where your heart will
be. If your heart's in Christ, and
your treasure's in Christ, your treasure's in the gospel, your
treasure's in your eternal relationship, your treasure's in the fellowship
of the saint, your treasure's in what you have in Christ, then
you'll hold very loosely the things on this earth. And let me tell you, beloved,
back over in our text. God has made us stewards of His
grace. Peter says He's made us manifold
stewards of the grace of God. He made us stewards of the gifts
that He gives us, whether they're spiritual gifts, preaching, praying,
singing, whatever. He's made us stewards of His
grace, the gifts of His grace, whether they're spiritual gifts
or whether they're material gifts. And let us be good stewards of
what God's given us, whether it's much or whether it's little.
Let's be good stewards of it. And then look what he says there
in verse 4. And I'm sure some of you have
worked for people like this. Behold, the hire of the laborers
who have reaped down your fields, which of you is kept back by
fraud, they cry. Well, who hears them cries? You,
David, did. This rich man didn't hear it.
This rich man didn't care. He didn't care about their poverty.
He didn't care about their labor. He didn't care about their suffering.
And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears
of the Lord of Sabbath, God's ears. It's like those children
of Israel. When they was down there and
those hard taskmasters making them beat out those bricks and
made them do twice as much with twice as less, with half as much,
their cries went up to God. Them taxmasters didn't care.
And he said, here you have people you hired them. And that rusting,
decaying possessions that you've accumulated, that decaying gold,
and that old, them clothes, they're small fleeting now, and all that
corruption that you've got, you've got all of that accumulated by
paying those who labored for you and defrauding them of what
was theirs. And how many people in this world
are going to face God for beating people out of their just wages?
How many people are going to face that? How many men are going
to face that? How many women are going to face that? How many
people are going to face, when they should have been paying
somebody $10 an hour, they paid them $6 just because they could,
and they pocketed the $4. That's not right. It's not wrong.
A man's worthy of whatever. And I'll tell you, that was one
of the things that bothers me. I'll tell you, when I was a boy,
just because I was a boy, they paid me $4 a day. Paid a man
$7 a day. But I done had to do the same
work. Why didn't they give me the seven? It wasn't much, three dollars,
but three dollars is three dollars. But that's what he's talking
about here. You became rich by not taking all that money
you accumulated and sharing it with them, sharing it with them.
And I tell you what, and that's, and you all know this more than
I do, and I've heard about this, the company stores and, and on
mines and different places, you know, the places when you went
down to work, they had a little shack, you put them in, they'd
charge you rent for that, and then they only had the store,
the only store in town, you had to go buy from them. And when
it all said and done, when you got up to come to your payday,
you end up owing them money. You all ever hear about that? Those men are in hell, them robber
barons right now are in hell with that silver and gold screaming
out, how wicked you were, how wicked you were. Huh? Snotty those young'uns running
around and they wouldn't even give the people enough money
to take their young'uns to the doctor. You owe me money, they'd
tell them after they worked hard. And oh, look what he says here
now in the cries of them. which have reaped cries that
women have cried out for vengeance and justice. They didn't reach
your ears, but they reached the ears of the Lord. And over in
Jeremiah, it says this, and over in Leviticus 2, it says, Do not
defraud your neighbor, and do not house to house and use your
neighbors without just wages, without giving them their hire. And that's what he says. That's
what God says about it. And then look what he goes on
to say here now. You have lived in pleasure. Oh, you've lived
in pleasure. You've enjoyed living a high
life. On earth you enjoyed soft, luxurious
living. That old rich man, he'd walk,
go outside, he'd get in his chariot, he'd go by Lazarus' land there
begging food. Just walk, go right on by him.
Go right on by him. And you've been while others
toiled for you, and all you gave them was their bare necessities.
He says this, you've lived in self-indulgence, self-gratification,
while those who labored for you lived in want. And this is what
he says, and you have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You know what he's saying there?
He said that all you're doing to make yourself live in pleasure
and enjoy your life and live in this life of luxury, all you're
doing is just fattening yourself for the day of slaughter. Instead
of, you know, like we'll put a calf up or put a hog up or
put a turkey up at Thanksgiving, getting ready to kill it, fattening,
fattening, fattening, knowing that one of these days we're
going to cut his head off, slit his throat, and we're going to
eat him. He said that's what you're doing. You're taking your
wealth. You're taking your riches. You're taking all this stuff
that you have accumulated, and you're just fattening yourself
like a beast for the slaughter. Because you live like a beast.
You consider yourself and everything about you, you never consider
God and others. He said, you're just getting
fattened up for the slaughter, for the wrath of God. And I know,
beloved, when men add to the misery and add to the bitterness
of others, when they have it in their power to relieve them,
Oh, it's awful to think about. And those who are oppressed,
now listen, look over here in Romans 9, 12 with me just a moment.
Those who are oppressed, they can't change the wrong that's
been done to them, but God can, and God will. Men that's been oppressed, they
can't change the wrong that's been done to them, but God can.
Look in Romans 12, 19. He says, Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves. Don't take on yourself to avenge
yourself, but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. God will pay. God will pay. Now, beloved, let
me tell you. He says there, you've condemned
and killed the just, and He don't resist you. How can He resist
you? You've got all the power. You've got all the money. You've
got all the wealth. What can He do? What can He do? And we may never be rich. We
may never be wealthy. But we ought to take this warning
ourselves because of what we do have. It may be much or it
may be little, but whatever it is, God put it in our hands.
David says this, Whatsoever we've given to you, we've only given
that which belongs to you, which you've already given to us. Whatever,
what little or what much that we have, it really truly belongs
to our Father. Don't it? It really does. And
let us use it to His glory, whatever it may be. Now let me give you
nine Bible words about giving. Look with me, about giving. I
want you to look at this with me. It won't take me but a few
minutes to go through them. First of all, let's look in 2 Corinthians
8. About giving. I think this would
be a good time to talk about this. Nine words. Nine scriptural words about giving.
I don't think there's anybody here in this congregation that
would consider themselves wealthy. We've got what God's given us.
We're very grateful for it and thankful for it. Look here. Nine Bible words. One is grace. One is love. One
is willing. One is proportioned. One is everyone.
One is bountiful. One is cheerfully. One is unto
the Lord. And one is forget not. Let's
look at this first one. Here in 2 Corinthians 8 and verse
7. Now, I'm in the wrong chapter
myself. I'm in 1 Corinthians. I'm sorry.
Let me get over there. He says there, he's talking about
taking up a bounty to send to the saints in Jerusalem. He says,
therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith, you abound in faith,
you abound in utterance, you have ability to speak, you abound
in knowledge, you know some things about God and the Scriptures,
and you're very diligent. And in your love, see what's
this, see that you abound in this grace also. We give grace. Wherever there's grace, there's
giving. And you abound. If you've got faith, you've got
love, you've got knowledge, you've got diligence, see that you abound
in this grace also, this grace of giving. And that's what caused
us to give, the grace of God. Look there in verse 8, it says,
And I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness
of others. I'm not commanding you to do
this, but others have been forward in giving. Others have been forward
in showing and giving to help the dear saints up there. And
he says, I don't use this by any commandment, but I'm writing
this to prove the sincerity of your love. Are you sincere in
your love? Or if you've got grace, if you
have sincerity in your love, he said, if you do, give. Prove the sincerity of your love.
Let's see how much you love. And then down in verse 12, he
went on to say, now there, verse 11, Now therefore perform the
doing of it, as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance
also out of that which ye have. Now watch this. If there first
be a willing mind, it is accepted according to a man's hath, not
according to the hath not. First there has to be a willing
mind. Are you willing? Are you willing to give? Are
you willing to do it? That's the thing. Grace? Love? Willing? Willing. He don't twist nobody's
arms. That's what He's saying here.
And then look over in 2 Corinthians 16. I could go on and say a lot
of things about these, but I won't. 1 Corinthians 16. I think they just speak for themselves.
But he's talking here about giving. There were some poor people up
in Jerusalem, and they were having a hard time. And they went around
taking up an offering for them. And he says, now, if you're bound
in faith, diligence, knowledge, love, he says, see that you're
bound in this grace, this grace of giving. A right to prove the
sincerity of your love. And there first has to be a willing
mind. If you're not willing, just don't do it. And then look
what he says here in verse 2. Give as God has given to you. Upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered
him. Now, you knew what he said, as
God has prospered him. You give according to what God
gives you. No more, no less. If God's prospered
you, you give as how God's prospered you. That's what he's saying
here. And not only that, but now God's prospered you. That's why we don't even take
up offerings here, and I just hate to even talk about money
and things like that, but sometimes we have to, and this is one of
the times, you know, we deal with these folks who's wealthy
and won't do. And you know, here's the thing about it. If God's
given to us and prospered us, why wouldn't we use what God's
prospered us with? And then he goes on to say here,
and upon the first day of the week, now watch this, let everyone,
everyone, not just a handful, Not just two or three. Not just
the ones who has a lot. But let every one of you do it. Every one. You know how many
every one is? That's me. You, you, you. That's every one
of us. Every one of us. Let's go back over now to 2 Corinthians
chapter 9 just a minute. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. And then we're to give bountifully,
liberally. 2 Corinthians 9.5. He boasted about these folks
and their generosity. He said, I therefore thought
it necessary to exhort the brethren that they should go beforehand
and make up beforehand your bounty, your liberality. That's what
it means. Your blessing. Make up beforehand
your bounty, wherefore, if you have noticed before, that the
same might be ready as a manner of bounty, liberality, not as
covetous. Put aside. We want you to give
out of your bounty. Give liberally. You set it aside
so when we come there, we won't act like we're covetous over
anything yet. You already have it ready. You give liberally,
bountifully. That's what he's saying here.
And then, not only that, but cheerfully, And voluntarily. And look what he says in verse
6, But this I say, He which sores sparingly shall also reap sparingly,
and he which sores bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
And let every man according as he is purposed in his heart.
There you go. Purposed in his heart. So let
him give. And this I love this right here.
Not grudgingly. Not grudgingly. Not grudgingly. Don't give because
you just absolutely it's necessary for you to do it. What's this? For God loveth that you're forgiven. God loves that you're forgiven.
He's not going to just don't give it grudgingly? Well, like
everybody else doing it, I guess I'll have to do my part too. Oh, that would be a horrible
attitude to have, wouldn't it? Huh? That would be a horrible
attitude. And then, you know, you see people
do this, you know. They'll get up, something will
be going on, and they'll say, well, I'll give so much money,
somebody else will pledge the same amount. Then somebody's out trying, that's
just horrible, ain't it? And so we give cheerfully, give
voluntarily. As every man, purpose is in his
heart. God loves a cheerful giver. And then give as unto the Lord.
Whatsoever you eat, whatsoever you drink, whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God. And our Lord Jesus says, when
you give your alms, don't sound the trumpet before you. Don't
do it that everybody may see it. But you do it in secret that
God may reward you. And he goes on down there and
talks about that. Give as unto the Lord. When we give, we're giving it
to the cause of Christ. You're not giving it to the preacher.
You're not giving it to the church. You're giving it as unto the
Lord. This is God's money. This belongs to the Lord. And
we're going to use it to the glory of God. I get calls all
the time. I got a call from somebody in Arkansas the other day. I
don't have a clue how he got my number. But he called and
wanted me to wire him money. to come from Arkansas all the
way back to Crossville. And I said, how did you get my
number? He said, my brother gave it to me. Why couldn't his brother
have done that? What I'm saying is, is that I
get these calls and I say, now listen, let me tell you something.
I said, we're a small congregation and I can't go around giving
the Lord's money away to anybody. I said, we just don't give money
away. to people we don't know, and
folks we don't know what their situation is. You know, you folks
work hard to bring your money in here. I understand that. And I get calls, and we just
don't help folks until we actually know what's going on. We run
them down, we run down their story, we run down their lives,
we run down if it's true. And I think that's the right
thing to do, because we're giving as unto the Lord. And I've talked
about us being good stewards of the grace of God. And it costs
money to keep a building open. It costs money to take care of
the missionaries and those things. But we're doing this under the
Lord. God's my witness, and I hope He is yours, that when we open
our hands, we're actually saying this is God's money. It's not
mine. It's not mine. It don't belong
to me. Don't belong to me. When we look
at these mountains out here, you know, when I looked at the
Grand Canyon, all I seen was evidence of the flood. I said,
look what a picture my father made here. And they know the
geologists and all the scientists are going to tell you this caused
this and this caused that, but I look at it and I see God's
hand, and I see the flood, and I see the results of the flood,
and when it was all done, God made this beautiful canyon while He was destroying the wicked
men off the face of the earth. He left all this beauty. And
so what we do, we give unto the Lord. And let me show you this
quickly, and I'm done. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Oh, to be a good steward of the
grace of God, to be good stewards of the things of God, to be good
stewards of Christ and His Hebrews 13, 16. And forget not,
forget not. But to do good and to communicate,
forget not. Now this communicate here means
giving. It don't mean sitting down talking
back and forth. But to do good and to communicate,
forget not. Don't forget to communicate. Don't forget to give what God's
blessed you with. For with such sacrifices, God
is well pleased. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't
forget. And I don't want to be one of
those fellows, and you know, you don't have to have a lot
of money to be stingy. You don't have to have a lot
of money to be selfish. You don't have to have a lot
of money to gratify yourself and your flesh to be covetous.
And I know this, that if you won't be faithful with what God's
given you now, He certainly ain't going to give you any more. Is
that not right? And I don't want to—it'd be awful. It'd be awful to perish over something that's material,
wouldn't it? It'd be absolutely horrible to
perish over something that you cling to in this world. Our Father, our gracious God,
in the blessed