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[0:00] What a difference than what's being waved and danced in other churches around.! What a difference. So if you got your Bible, let's get out the old King James Bible, find Hebrews chapter 11.

[0:14] Tonight we'll continue with our study through this chapter on Old Testament examples and what their faith was and what it did.

[0:26] And we're learning what New Testament faith should look like and what it should produce and what it should achieve. And so we're going to continue forward with our next kind of series of examples here.

[0:42] Last week we took a final look at Abraham and we saw that his trial where he was in verse 17 when he was tried, he offered up Isaac.

[0:52] Look, we learned that God will test your faith too, just like he tried Abraham's. And that's what the point of this chapter is, to use these examples, to point to them and say, but that's for you today in the New Testament.

[1:06] And you're going to get tried too. And if you don't, then what's the point of having any kind of faith at all? What's it good for? What's it going to do for you? It needs to be tested. It needs to be put to use.

[1:16] And the best way is to, especially to get it to grow, is to test it, to try it out. And so that's what happened in Abraham's life. We also learned that there's a spiritual operation here going on that requires faith.

[1:29] It doesn't require brains. It doesn't require ability. It requires faith. God operates in a spiritual realm. And for you to come to him, you have to believe that he is in all of its faith.

[1:39] And faith is what God requires. Faith is what's enough. And Abraham came through. And when he was tried, he offered his son. And he passed that test, if we'll call it that. And so faith was all he needed.

[1:51] And the last thing we learned was that God gives every man a measure of faith. And because he will not tempt a man above that which he is able, that tells me that whatever God puts you into right now, today, whatever he puts on your plate, you have enough faith to pass it, to see it through, to endure it.

[2:12] Because he won't put more on your plate than you can handle. If he did, he'd be a cruel God. And you would never be able to stand. And so he gives you the faith to do it. So if he's testing you, you have what it takes.

[2:24] You just need to continue to trust him. And so let's move on to chapter 11. And we'll start in verse number 20. And just read three verses here. Hebrews 11, verse 20.

[2:34] The Bible says, By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

[2:49] By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. Now it mentions blessing a few times.

[3:00] And you're familiar with this deal with God making a covenant with Abraham. And then even last week as we studied in Genesis, that that promise to Abraham goes on to the seed Isaac.

[3:11] Not to Esau, but to Isaac. And from Isaac to Jacob, not to Ishmael. Or did I say that backwards? Yeah, I did. Not to Ishmael first, then to Esau second. But to Jacob.

[3:22] And then from there, Joseph's two boys get the blessing on them. But it goes forward into those 12 tribes and Israel going into a nation. And we mention those blessings.

[3:32] We understand that stuff, I believe, I'm sure. Did you notice that two times it says, in verse 21, when he was a dying? In verse 22, by faith Joseph, when he died.

[3:45] In verse 20, you can see it's in there as well because this took place back when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim. And he could not see. And he's about to die. And so he blesses his boys.

[3:56] And so all three of these examples have that in common. And would you look back a couple of verses before this. Look back at verse number 13.

[4:11] Number 13, it says, these all died in faith. Now you think, well, we're talking about Abraham and Sarah. But we're talking about more than that because he brought up two other people in verse 9.

[4:24] Take a look at verse 9. So I don't have any trouble including Isaac and Jacob and any one of them that was blessed and received the promises and never saw that fulfilled or realized in their life.

[4:53] They all died in faith. You got multiple generations being referenced here and mentioned and they all died in faith. I want to consider these men tonight when at the end of their lives nothing changed concerning their faith.

[5:08] Nothing changed concerning their belief that God spoke something. God covenanted something. God is faithful and God will follow through with what he said. Even if I didn't get to experience it, my children will.

[5:22] And if not them, their children will because God is faithful who promised. And these all died in faith. They declared that the word of God was just as true and just as certain even when they were facing probably the most challenging moment of their lives.

[5:39] Their death. And so I want to preach to you tonight about dying faith now. It's something we need to learn about. It's in the Bible. It's not something we talk about much of.

[5:49] It's something we kind of think, well, faith is so we can do something for God so that we can say to that tree, depart or to that mountain, be cast. You know, those kind of things. We think that faith is for now. But don't forget, these examples are right here in this chapter on faith for a good reason.

[6:05] And we need to be prepared to die. And so these Old Testament examples teach us something about dying faith. And so let's study a few things here tonight. Let's pray together. Then we'll get into this three thoughts here about dying faith.

[6:20] Father, please bless the message and the time in our Bibles. And please help this to be relevant and understood. Help each one of us to have a sober mind and to consider these things and to be prepared.

[6:31] And, Lord, would you just give us full assurance and confidence that we can trust you all the way to the end and beyond. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right.

[6:41] Three brief things about dying faith. And the first is that dying faith is a perpetual faith, meaning it's faith that works all the way to the end.

[6:52] All the way to the end of your life. Consider this. The Bible tells us that we're to be established in the faith. It says that we are to, it says, by faith ye stand.

[7:04] You know the verse that we walk by faith and not by sight. The Apostle Paul said, for to me to live, or that's not the one I want. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

[7:16] And the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. So there's being established and standing by faith. And there's walking by faith and living by faith.

[7:29] And in addition to those, maybe in completion of all of those, is dying in faith. Dying in faith. The same faith that can build you up.

[7:40] The same faith that enables you to obey God. The same faith in this life that you can live above what you can see. That'll counter the fears and the reservations of doing right.

[7:51] The same faith that deems the word of God is true. That deems the word of God is sufficient for me. That same faith can carry you through this life.

[8:01] And it can carry you out of this life too. Into the presence of God. And it's what we need to live. And it's all that we need to die. And these all died in faith.

[8:13] Now I said earlier, we don't like to talk about death. We don't think about it too often. But when we're discussing how faith operates in the Christian life. And that's this chapter. And all of these things are relevant and pointed.

[8:25] When we're discussing how faith operates in the Christian life. We need to realize that God gave us faith not just to live, but to die by. And it may not sound that important to you right now.

[8:36] It may not sound at all important to you. Because you did a lot of stuff today. And you were busy. And you put it all together. And you got yourself to church tonight. And you've got things to do after church. And you've got things to do tomorrow.

[8:46] And there's things going on all week long. And all your life long. You're not thinking about death. You're not worried about death. You've got too much to do today, right? It may not sound important to you what dying faith is.

[9:00] But I guarantee you. I can pledge on my life and everybody's in here. That when that day comes. When you're faced with death.

[9:10] When it's in the room with you. You're going to know what this is. And you're going to want to cling to it with everything you have. I promise you. You're going to need it. You'll understand how crossing over.

[9:23] We sang about it just a moment ago. About crossing over. How that can be a calm. How that can be a controlled experience. When it's covered in faith. Or it can be plagued with fear.

[9:37] It can be plagued with uncertainty. With doubt. With anxiety. With just pumping full of drugs. So that they can just remain sober. And stable. And comfortable. While they die.

[9:49] Dying faith. It's the last. And the final remnant. Of a life of faith. It perpetuates. All the way. Until it's no longer needed. To where our faith.

[10:01] Becomes sight. And so dying faith is perpetual like that. It's good to the last drop. It lasts all the way to death. There's something better about it. I want to say dying faith is a personal faith.

[10:12] Meaning it's individual. Would you consider these men we just read about. In verse 20. Isaac. Each one of these men we read. They all died. In his own faith.

[10:25] When Abraham was gone. Isaac blessed Jacob. And he saw concerning things to come. He didn't have Abraham there to talk him through it. And help him out. It was his own faith.

[10:35] That he carried to his death. When Isaac was gone. Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph. And he himself did it on his own. Jacob was gone.

[10:48] Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones. Each one of these men died in faith. It was a personal faith. Although their fathers may have been examples to him. Each one of them had to believe God on their own.

[11:00] It was a personal thing. Now I'll give you an example of this. Flip back to Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50. This is the end of Joseph's life.

[11:12] I just want to give you just one example of what this looks like. What we're talking about. Genesis 50. And Joseph has something to say to his brethren before he passes.

[11:33] In verse 24. And Joseph said unto his brethren. I die. And God will surely visit you. And bring you out of this land.

[11:45] Unto the land which he swore. To Abraham. To Isaac. And to Jacob. And then there's the charge in verse 25. That we read in Hebrews. That he said by faith.

[11:56] This is all faith. Coming out of Joseph. Where did he get that? God will surely visit you. Where did he get that? Did God show that to him in his dream?

[12:08] Did he get that in the dungeon? In the prison? Did he get that in Potiphar's house? Did he get that in the pit? Where did he get that? That God will visit them.

[12:20] Look back a few chapters. At chapter 48. He learned that from somebody else. Somebody else who died in faith.

[12:31] Chapter 48. And. Israel. A.K.A. Jacob. Is in the presence of Joseph.

[12:43] And his two sons. And this is where he's blessing them. Just like we read in Hebrews. And all the way to the end of this chapter. Verse number 21. Israel said unto Joseph. Behold.

[12:54] I die. But God shall be with you. And bring you again. Unto the land of your fathers. That's where he got it. That's exactly where he got it.

[13:06] He got it from his father. But Joseph died. And it wasn't his father's faith now. It was his faith. He believed it. If he would have died. If he said you know. Dad was old.

[13:18] Dad didn't know what he was talking about. Dad believed that all of his life. But dad was a. He was a deceiver. He was a supplanter. Not me. I've been through some stuff. And the Lord God brought me up.

[13:28] But I didn't have any promise about getting out of here. But no. Joseph took that. That was real to him. Look also at chapter 49. Genesis 49.

[13:40] Because Joseph said. When I. When I die. When you guys leave. You take my bones with you. They don't belong in Egypt. Where do you get that?

[13:52] Genesis 49. In verse. 29. This is when. Jacob is coming to his death. He said. He charged them. Said unto them. I am to be gathered. Unto my people.

[14:04] Bury me. With my fathers. In the cave. That is in the field of. Ephron. The Hittite. And he decided. I'm not going to be buried. Down here in Egypt. I need to be buried up there.

[14:14] In the land of promise. And that's exactly what he did. And that's exactly the way Joseph talked when he died. And he made it personal to himself. Just like it was personal to his dad. And there's something we need to learn about this faith.

[14:27] This dying faith. That it's personal faith. Is it's got to be personal to you. It's got to be real to you. You can't borrow from the faith of others. And I mean.

[14:37] Others can encourage you. Others can lead you. Others can be examples. And instrumental in your life. But the reality is. Your Christian life. Has got to be personal. Like God.

[14:49] And you. Have got to come together. In a relationship. I can't borrow from my father's. Faith. And surrender. And from his. Examples.

[15:00] In his life. Somewhere along the line. It's got to be mine. And Christian. Somewhere along the line. It's got to be yours. It's got to be personal. The reality is. You got to learn to walk by faith.

[15:11] On your own. And choose to believe. The word of God. And choose to live. According to the scripture. Faith dwells on the inside. So I can't get it from my dad.

[15:23] I can't get any from you either. It's got to be in here. And it must be engaged from the inside. It's personal. You all remember. Jared Pilkington.

[15:34] He preaches here. Been preaching here for a couple years now in a row. And we talk on the phone every now and then. And one time we were on a conversation. It came up a few times actually. Over time this topic comes up as we talk.

[15:48] And it's about the. When people ask us about the will of God for their life. They want to know. They want counsel. About knowing for sure if this is God's will. And one thing we agreed on in our conversation.

[16:00] And I'll just kind of tell you the way he says it. He says I don't want anybody calling me at two in the morning. When their ministry is falling apart. Because I'm the one that told him.

[16:11] Yeah brother that sounds like a good idea. I think you should take that church. Or yeah brother I think you should go to that mission field. Or yeah you should go start a work over there. He doesn't want that man to be borrowing from his faith.

[16:24] And his experience and his counsel. And then when it doesn't work out. Or when he's hitting hard times. Go back to him and say now what should I do? And we are in full agreement on this.

[16:35] That I believe you've got to hear the voice of God. Talk to your heart. And direct your heart. If he wants you to be in this or that or the next thing. And as he does. And you obey.

[16:46] He gives. He opens your eyes. Just like we saw with Abraham and Sarah. Going on faith. Not knowing whether they went. He directs the way. He promises. He guides. He speaks. He'll do the same to you if needed.

[16:57] But you want that instruction to come from God. You can't borrow it from somebody else. And it's got to be personal. So faith always exists within a personal relationship with God.

[17:09] That's a good one liner you could write down. That faith always exists within a personal relationship with God. If you don't have that. There's no faith in anything. And if you can.

[17:22] You can see that even in this chapter. You can see that even in the death of these men. So there's one more thing I want to add to this. And it is that dying faith is powerful faith.

[17:34] That is. That faith. That kind of faith leaves a lasting impression. Abraham. Then Isaac. Then Jacob. Then Joseph. And his sons.

[17:46] One by one. All died in faith. Having not received the promises. Yet still they died in faith. Watching their father die in faith. Left a mark on each generation that followed.

[17:58] Because it's powerful. It's one thing to boast. About a belief in your lifetime. It's one thing to boast and say. That yeah. I don't believe there's a God.

[18:08] Or I believe it's this way. Or I believe it's that way. And then when you get down to your deathbed. You find out you start squirming. Or you start sweating. Because I think a good litmus test.

[18:20] To one's belief is. Is this something that I can hold on to when I'm dying? When I can't see what's next. Is this something I can hold on to? Because death will reveal how real something is.

[18:33] And dying faith brethren. And that's powerful. It's so powerful. I'm going to show you a few examples of it in a minute. When the moment of truth comes.

[18:44] An atheist or some agnostic. They can't hide behind their illogical reasoning. Or their imaginary theories anymore. When death is in the room. And they can feel it.

[18:55] Their times run out. But that's not the case with a dying saint. Is it? A dying saint. That has walked with Jesus Christ. And has the presence of God inside of them.

[19:06] And the faith inside of them. To carry them through this next step. Is trying. And is clueless as they truly are. Never been down this road before. We all know in our minds from the word of God.

[19:19] What lies beyond. But none of us can truly picture and see it. You just. It's so. It's veiled. It's purposely veiled. If we knew.

[19:30] We'd probably be trying to get there quicker. Or finding a way. An excuse to get out of here. But that's not what God gives us. And in a sense. He allows that fear of it to remain.

[19:42] He allows that uncertainty to stay inside of us. In our flesh. But a dying saint though. Has something special in them. A dying saint has a song in their heart.

[19:53] And a love for the holy scriptures. They love to hear the sound of the word of God read to them. I don't know if you've been around anybody passing. And watched them go like that.

[20:03] That have been with the Lord. And walked with the Lord. And they know they're saved. It's a different situation. It's far different than watching a lost person die.

[20:15] Dying faith is powerful. I've got a book here. I've mentioned this to you before. Called Dying Testimonies. Of the Saved and of the Unsaved. And I just want to read you just a few small clips of a few people in here.

[20:29] They're kind of random. I didn't really read it through looking for the best ones. I just went through some shorties and picked out. And I want to just compare this and throw it out there to show you that dying faith.

[20:41] I'm standing by that it is so powerful. John Huss was a martyr. This is going back into the early 1400s when he was burned at the stake.

[20:51] He was a Bohemian reformer. And he was in Germany. And when he arrived to the place of his execution, he prayed out loud. And he said, kind of borrowing the words of Christ.

[21:02] He said, Into thy hands, O Lord, do I commit my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O most good and faithful God. Lord Jesus Christ, assist and help me.

[21:13] That with a firm and present mind, by thy most powerful graces, I may undergo this most cruel death to which I am condemned for preaching the truth of thy most holy gospel.

[21:27] The man in charge of it is called the Duke of Bavaria. He asked him to recant. And Huss said, no. I never preached any doctrine in an evil tendency. And what I taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood.

[21:41] And when the fire began under him, and it licked and charred his body, they could hear the martyr sing a hymn so loud above the sound of the crackling of the flames.

[21:54] That man had some faith in his death. Here's another one. I'll just give you a tiny portion of this one.

[22:05] This is going back pretty far, too. This is a man that's the Duke of Hamilton had two sons. They were young, maybe young middle-aged men or so, and early.

[22:16] No, actually, it says they were youths. But the one, the eldest, was the heir. And two ministers, he was dying. The two ministers came to see him, and they prayed for him. And after he finished praying, he reached behind his pillow and took out his Bible.

[22:31] And he opened it to a passage and read, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.

[22:45] And not to me only, but unto all them that love, also that love is appearing. And he turned to the two ministers, and he said, This, sirs, is all my comfort. He didn't need them.

[22:57] He had the book. Another preacher was martyred, and he was burned at the stake for a few of his beliefs, things that he taught, one of which was that he denied transubstantiation.

[23:17] I deny transubstantiation, but nobody's tying me to a stake and burning me for it. But they did this man. And it's important to know these things and to realize the spiritual heritage that we come from.

[23:32] This man was faced with death. He was tied to the stake. And a friend came by, bewailing his lot. And as the martyr replied to his friend, Death is bitter, and life is sweet.

[23:44] But alas, consider that death to come is more bitter, and life to come is more sweet. Another conversation he had that moment, he said, one asked how he was doing.

[23:58] He said, I am well, thank God, and death to me for Christ's sake is welcome. They asked him if he would recant. He said, if you love my soul, away with it.

[24:10] Something else. Something else. He's ready. Ready to go. I just saw, this is not even close to this stuff, but I saw a brief video of a street preacher, and somebody was threatening him, saying, if you preach like that around here, you better be ready to get a bullet.

[24:31] And his response was, are you threatening me with heaven? I'll take it. I'll preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and take a bullet. That's the same spirit.

[24:44] This one kind of choked me up when I read this earlier today. It may not be as moving now, but it was a little bit ago. This is a woman that was, her first name was Beulah, and she was a wonderful Christian woman, and they say she had her little red Bible with her always, and was a blessing to all the young girls, and on and on and on, and on a terrific example, a biblical Christian.

[25:10] And when she's facing death, it says that upon the arrival of the doctor, she told him that a greater physician than he had been there and encouraged her so much.

[25:24] As he was not a Christian, she said to him, you don't understand it. And then through the night, it says that she manifested such patient endurance with now and then a word for Jesus, in whom we all knew she trusted.

[25:38] As her strength failed, she said again, I am so glad I have the Lord. I am so glad I have the Lord. We're talking about dying faith, brethren.

[25:49] It's real. It's powerful. And it may not feel like it's a big deal to you in this moment today where you sit, but I'm telling you, you're going to need it.

[26:01] You're going to want it. Here's just a quick one here. The last words of this man. He was dying. He was laying on his deathbed.

[26:11] And just before being transferred to heaven, he aroused himself, pointed upward and said, it is all right. And then sank back and died.

[26:23] It's all right. So different from a lost person passing on. Here's the last words of another one. He said this right as his point of death. He said, I have finished my ministry and life together.

[26:35] I have kept the faith and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. That's the word of God.

[26:47] Just holding on to it in faith all the way to the last minute. One more. The last words of this brother. He was a clergyman in Tennessee in 1793.

[26:58] And he died in 1844. And his last words were, My master calls. I am going home. It is well.

[27:10] It is well. That's what dying faith looks like. That's exactly what it looks like by children of God who've walked with him. Now I want to give you one more sample of this.

[27:22] And I'll spare you the turning in the Bible because I trust you're pretty familiar with it. But the Lord Jesus Christ, I think, displayed the greatest dying faith that ever a man displayed and that ever man saw with his eyes.

[27:38] He drank that cup in faith. When earlier in that night he wanted to get out of it, he submitted to it and he took it. And he died with our sins upon him.

[27:50] And the Bible says that God made him to be sin for us, for me. And there he is. He's made to be sin.

[28:02] And what I believe what happened that night, just when considering this today and running some scripture on this, I believe what happened that night is that the Father departed from him while he was on the cross.

[28:17] If you recall, as we've studied in John's gospel, he spoke several times over and over that he said, Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? He said it in John chapter 17 as he prayed for the Father to glorify himself.

[28:32] And then he said, I in thee and thou in me. And it was consistently that way through his entire ministry. And walk on this earth, the Father was in him, present with him.

[28:42] But then on that cross, out of nowhere, he calls out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He's a question.

[28:54] He's asking, why did you forsake me? I think he left him. He departed him. The Bible says earlier in that night that all of his disciples forsook him and fled.

[29:07] They left him alone when the soldiers showed up. And there Jesus Christ is as a man now, dying with our sins upon him, being made to be sin.

[29:19] And the Father is gone. And he calls out in question, why did you do that? And it's the first time that he was separated from the Father on the cross.

[29:32] And now he's forsaken. And he's condemned. And he hangs there, lifted up, with an angry mob mocking him, crying out for his crucifixion and death.

[29:46] With the devils corrupting the atmosphere all around him in a frenzy. And the Lord Jesus Christ, dying as a vile condemned sinner with our sins upon him.

[30:03] The holy son of God. The lamb is without blemish and without spot. Harmless. Undefiled.

[30:13] Separate from sinners. Yet in that moment, became sin. And now he's absorbed into his soul the condemnation for the sins of the whole world.

[30:30] Willingly submitting. How? By faith. What else do you have to offer? That's it.

[30:42] That's all there was. By faith. He died in faith. Believing that the scripture said, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.

[30:54] The scripture spoke of a resurrection. The scripture said, He shall see his seed and prolong his days. The scripture said, This was the work of redemption.

[31:07] The scripture said that I will have dominion. That I will be raised up. That I will be ascended up on high. He died in faith. Holding to the truths of the word of God when the father forsook him.

[31:21] He took all the suffering. The sin. The wrath. And he died in faith. Because dying faith, brethren, is powerful stuff.

[31:34] It's all you need. To summarize and to close this tonight, dying faith, God equips the believer with faith. Not only to walk with him, and to serve him, and to prepare an ark, and to pass the trial of offering a son, and all the things he could ask in this life, to serve and to obey, but also to die.

[31:56] That faith is perpetual. It lasts a lifetime all the way to the very last moment. That faith is personal. Each believer needs to develop this fruit of the spirit, and have it handy and available when needed.

[32:10] And I'm telling you, you're gonna need it. Brother and sister, you're gonna need it. And this life, the last I checked, it's still but a vapor. And you think you've got some days left.

[32:21] Even if you do, you'll watch. They'll be gone. They'll be gone so fast. And there you are. What are you gonna hold on to? You're gonna need that faith.

[32:34] And that faith is powerful. Oh, it's powerful. You're gonna have a legacy to leave for others. Your life and your death can influence others. You can walk by faith today, and you can die in faith tomorrow.

[32:48] And you can be an example to others. You can impact your family. You can impact your lost family in your dying moments. Dying with full assurance that you know where you're going.

[32:59] That you're persuaded as these that we read about were. That he is able to keep that which I committed unto him. You can die with that calm, and with that faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, and to show them you have confidence in the word of God, that that book is true, and that you'll die by it, because you know whom you have believed.

[33:21] It's powerful stuff. I think it's more powerful, more needed than you realize tonight. And I hope that it was conveyed in this thought here from these men, because you probably read through Hebrews 11, and you read about, man, we read about Abel, we read about that sacrament, we read about Enoch, we read about Noah, we read about Abraham and Sarah, and saw some powerful things, and then you get to Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, it's kind of like, well, just quick little, nothing to say about their whole life, only, no, it's because there's something important to extract about death.

[33:55] God gives dying faith too, and you may not need it tonight. God hope that you don't, but you will need it, so take it tonight, plug it away tonight, hold on to it, get a glimpse of how important it is, and how true this book is.

[34:10] If it's good enough to save your soul, it's good enough to take you over, so you'll be fine. So that's the thought tonight from Hebrews, the example of those Old Testament, what New Testament faith looks like from their lives, and so I hope that's a helpful thing to you, because you're going to be there one day, unless God comes quicker, come quickly, even so come, but if not, you're going to need it.

[34:34] So let's understand that, and hold on to it. Lord, we love you, we thank you for all your gifts, they're perfect, they're more than we deserve. Thank you for these examples in the scripture, and these examples in this other book of brethren, that have gone on before us, and for the testimony that they are to us, and how we can draw encouragement from that.

[34:55] But Lord, I pray that it would be so personal tonight, that every mind and soul, under the sound of my voice tonight, would take this serious, and that you would minister these thoughts into us, as individuals, that we'd take that faith to the grave, that we'd be prepared to face whatever comes, and to take it in faith, fully trusting you, all the way to the end.

[35:20] Lord, you're too good to us, it just feels that way, when we think about this, you take us all the way through, and Lord, we thank you for that, thank you for your mercy, thank you for salvation, and once again, thank you for the Son of God, for what he took for us, on the cross of Calvary.

[35:35]  I pray it's real, I pray we appreciate it tonight, and as we go, please bless our time together, and our fellowship, we pray in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.