Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/callanish/sermons/44300/the-patient-god/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] We can resume our public worship of God by singing to his praise from Psalm 106. Psalm 106, from the beginning down to verse 7, verse 6 stanzas. [0:22] Give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is he, whose tender mercy doth endure unto eternity. God's mighty works who can express or show forth all his praise. [0:36] Blessed are they that judgment keep and justly do always. Remember me, Lord, with that love which thou to thine dost bear. With thy salvation, O my God, to visit me draw near, that I thy chosen's good may see, and in their joy rejoice. [0:56] And may with thine inheritance triumph with cheerful voice, we with our fathers sin time. And of iniquity too long we have the workers been, we have done wickedly. [1:10] The wonders great which thou, O Lord, didst work in Egypt land, our fathers though they saw, yet them they did not understand. And so on, let us sing these verses. [1:24] Psalm 106, from the beginning, give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is he. If praise and thanks unto the Lord, for bountiful is he. [1:52] His tender mercy not then do unto the herity. [2:08] God's mighty worth to count and rest, our joy for all his praise. [2:29] Blessed are we, the judgment ye, unjustly do always. [2:46] Remember me, Lord, with that love, with that love, with that love, with that love I do not bear. [3:07] With thy salvation, O my God, to this day of year, that I thy chosen purity, and in their glory rejoice, and in their glory rejoice, and in their glory rejoice, and in their glory rejoice, we with our Father set up, and see l Lamb. [4:13] The singly doing well on earth doesn't realize. [4:39] A wonder-fake which the whole Lord is worth in Egypt, and I've had a wonder-fake which the whole Lord is worth in Egypt, and it is a marvel to us how truly blind we are by nature. [5:34] These words that we have been singing tell us of a people who saw the miracles and the wonders that you alone were responsible for, and yet they lacked understanding. [5:51] They marveled, and yet their marveling did not do anything other than introduce into their thinking some other thoughts that they quickly discarded or put to one side. [6:11] And so it is in the experience of men and women of our generation. Even though for a moment they might believe that God is working in this world, and that your handiwork is brought forcibly before their very eyes, and yet very soon such thoughts are forgotten. [6:44] We are by nature blind, our hearts are stony hard, and nothing but your own grace can separate us from those who continue us. [7:02] and those who have had their blindness cured, and instead of the heart of flesh, the heart of stone, the heart of flesh. [7:17] help us to appreciate what needs to take place. Help us to understand even now, as we are met in your presence, that we need to be born again by the Spirit of God. [7:35] Is that not what we need to pray for? Remind us of it, we pray. encourage us to pray for it earnestly. Encourage us to cry out to the very God of heaven, so that we would not be satisfied with what we are, if we are anything short of born again into the family of God. [8:01] Bless us together under the sound of your word. Pour out your Spirit upon us, so that even this building, which cannot contain the Spirit of God, would know the presence of God, and a sense of that presence, disseminating throughout the community, into the neighbouring villages and towns, so that we would know that God indeed is a God who has spared his Adam, and that your intent is that men and women estranged from God, would be returned to the fold. [8:42] We give thanks for the Gospel. We give thanks for the power that it possesses, that without it there would not be a single, solitary, believing child of God, such as the status into which sin has brought us, that we are so far removed from being the sons of God, that we cannot envisage what it means without your own intervention. [9:15] We give thanks for those who have experienced that in their lives. And we pray that you would encourage them to see greater things still, as they go on with the Lord, as they see their growth. [9:32] That is not something that you people are aware of, but they believe it true, that they are in Christ, growing in grace and in the knowledge of him who saved them, and that they are indeed experiencing the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, that they are not what they would want to be, but they are not what they once were. [9:58] And they are fully persuaded that what they are yet to be lies in a certain future. Help us so to believe. So remember this community we pray. [10:12] Remember every home and household we give thanks, that you are able to visit them mercyfully, and that your word is able to impress itself upon hearts, that you yourself are able to make malleable and pliable and receptive to that truth. [10:33] We pray for the children of the community, we pray for their parents, for their grandparents, for any and all who pray for them, and encourage them in their prayers. We remember before you all that is done in your name amongst young and old alike. [10:50] We pray that you would add to the number of the believing Church of Christ. We pray for the extension of your kingdom, beginning here in this place and going beyond the boundaries of our island into the nation and touching all the nations of the earth. [11:11] we pray for the missionary activity of the Church to be blessed, and that all who earnestly seek to proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified would have souls for their hire. [11:27] Let us be earnest in our pursuit of godliness, without which no man will seek God. We pray, Lord, that you would encourage us in that pursuit of holiness. [11:41] Remember the nation that we belong to, our King and his family, those who serve him in government. We remember them all to you and pray for the spirit of penitence to permeate the very atmosphere in which they breathe, that they would know the sense of lostness that should affect all who are Christless, and that they would pursue an homage of that Christ in order to feel settled in their souls. [12:13] For there is no possibility that any one of us can be anything other than disturbed if we are without Christ, we are without hope in the world. [12:24] We pray for your blessing upon the nations of the earth, especially remembering the parts of the world that have known sore calamities, in recent days, whether it was by fire, or flood, or famine. [12:38] We think of those embroiled in war and we pray for the casualties and those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. The bloodshed is endless and we pray, Lord, that you would bring peace where so far it has been impossible to see that brought to fruition. [12:58] Graduate people, a spirit of prayer, that we might bear one another's burdens, remembering all in need amongst us, those who are ill, that they may be healed, those who are bound up in their homes or in hospitals, being cared for by others, as we remember them to you. [13:19] So continue to watch over us, even those that we would leave in your care this evening, whose hearts are truly heavy when the voice of death is heard, as it frequently is, it leaves no one untouched, even those who are resistant to his voice. [13:39] Here is we pray. God, mercy for sin. In Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing to God's praise from Psalm 89. [13:53] At the beginning of the psalm, Psalm 89, God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my mouth I shall thy faithfulness make to be known to generations call. [14:11] For mercy shall be built, said I, forever to endure thy faithfulness, even in the heavens, thou wilt establish sure. I with my chosen one have made a covenant graciously unto my servant, to my loved, to David sworn have I, that I thy seed establish shall forever to remain, and will to generations all thy throne build and maintain. [14:39] The praises of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens shall express, and in the congregation of saints thy faithfulness, for who in heaven with the Lord may once himself compare, who is like God among the sons of those that mighty are. [14:58] Psalm 89, from the beginning, six stanzas, God's mercies I will ever sing. Thank you. God's mercies I will ever sing, and with my heart, my child, thy head for less it could be known to generations of all. [15:43] For mercy shall be lifted on, forever to endure. [15:59] Thy hill, O yes, here in the heavens, thy will ever listen and will surely lit on, thou will cycle. [16:15] I will never sing, I will my Jouken One Harry, Hi His Sonациac, and I will honey it in the heavens, and I will dishonest lately. [16:31] And who I serve, and who my love, to give his own high, That I thy seed is starless child, forever remain. [17:08] And with her generations on thy throne will admit in. [17:26] The praises of thy wonders, Lord, the heavens, your best, And in the congregation of saints thy hill is. [17:59] For who in heaven is the Lord, may once in the self-procate, Who is thy morn among the sons, O Lord, shall I be given? [18:37] Let us hear God's word as we have it in the Old Testament scriptures, reading from the book of the prophet Malachi. The book of the prophet Malachi, I'm going to read from chapter 2, taking up the reading of verse 10, and reading a few verses of the chapter 3. [19:05] Malachi chapter 2, verse 10. Have we not all one father? Hath not God created us? [19:18] Why do we deal treacherously, every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem. [19:36] For Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange God. The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Judah, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts. [19:59] And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with goodwill at your hand. [20:18] Yet ye say, Wherefore, because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant? [20:36] And did not he make one? Yet had he rest of the Spirit, and wherefore one, that he might seek a good godly seed. [20:50] Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away. [21:04] For one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. [21:15] Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them. [21:31] Or where is the God of judgment? Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. [21:52] Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like full of soap. [22:07] And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. [22:22] Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. [22:33] And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and not turn aside the stranger from his right. [22:56] And fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore his sons of Jacob are not consumed. [23:10] And so on down, may the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. To his name be the praise. We're going to continue singing from Psalm 89. [23:23] Psalm 89 at verse 29. His seed I by my power will make forever to endure. [23:37] And as the days of heaven his throne shall stable be unsure. But if his children shall forsake my laws and go astray, and in my judgments shall not walk but wander from my way, if they my laws break, and do not keep my commandments, I'll visit them their faults with rods, their sins with chastisements. [24:02] Yet I'll not take my love from him, nor faults my promise make. My covenant I'll not break, nor change what with my mouth I speak. [24:12] Once by my holiness I swear, to David I not lie, his seed and throne shall ask the sun before me last foray. [24:24] It, like the moon, shall ever be established steadfastly, and like to that which in the heaven doth witness faithfully. [24:35] And so on. These verses, Psalm 89, verse 29, down to verse 37. His seed I by my power will make forever to endure. [24:48] And under his throne has a proudiene of his faith, and under his throne His throne shall still be near and dear. [25:26] But if His children shall forsake my laws and go away, and in my judgment shall not walk but wander from my ear, if ye my laws begin, do not keep my commandments. [26:17] I'll listen in their homes without lessons without a delay. [26:35] Yet I'll not give my love from Him, nor pause my promise me. [26:54] My covenant, I'll not give my sins, but when my heart has been big, once by my holiness I swear to give in all my life. [27:31] His healing, whom shall not listen, be holy, I'll avoid. [27:48] And like the moon shall ever be, His star is set for me. [28:07] And like the Lord which is in the heaven, the witness will be. [28:25] Can we for a short while turn to the passage that we were reading together, the book of the Old Testament prophet Malachi. [28:43] And we can take up the reading at verse 17, reading into the third chapter. Malachi chapter 2, verse 17. [28:57] Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, yet ye say, wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them. [29:13] Or where is the God of judgment? Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. [29:33] Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. [29:49] And he shall sit as a refiner, and purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. [30:07] And so on. Have you ever met a person whose opinion of themselves does not meet your own opinion of them? [30:30] Perhaps they have a very high opinion of themselves. They have a lofty opinion of themselves. And that does not compare favorably to yours. [30:44] Well, if you have, then you will understand something of the situation that the prophet is dealing with here. In verse 17, the picture that is presented to us is a grim picture of spiritual blindness. [31:09] The people that are being addressed think they're something, and they're not. They think that they have something, and they don't. [31:23] And what I'm going to do with you, I suppose the most important verse is the verse we have there in chapter 3, in the beginning of the chapter. [31:37] Because it's a prophetic statement, and we'll come to that, no doubt. It's a prophetic statement about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think at the heart of that message is the message of the Gospel. [31:54] But the way I want us to think about this, this passage this evening, is first of all, to see a picture given to us of an impatient God. [32:10] An impatient God. Then secondly, we have an impatient people. And then we have a picture of a God who tells them to be patient. [32:30] And then we have a picture of a God who shows his patience. So, two pictures, if you like, of impatience, and two pictures which tell us something of what it means to be patient. [32:52] First of all, we are confronted by an impatient God. And why am I saying that? Well, this God says of himself, you have wearied the Lord with your words. [33:10] You have wearied the Lord with your words. And I suppose some of the commentators attract attention to that statement as being so out of kilter with reality. [33:31] Because the character of God is a character that portrays patience. nobody is as patient as God. [33:44] And all we have to do is consider this world in which we live. How utterly depraved it is and how far removed from how it should be it is. [33:58] And yet God's patience is in exercise towards it in that he has chosen not to dismiss out of sight the world and all its occupants. [34:13] So to suggest that God is impatient is to say something very, very vertical. but he himself is saying here you have wearied me. [34:28] You have virtually exhausted my patience because of what you are saying and because of what you are thinking. and what the people are doing that he is addressing is they are suggesting and more than suggesting that he is impotent or worse than that that he is indifferent to the world in which he lives and the wicked that occupy this world. [35:06] And the questions are insulting and he is tired growing tired of the suggestion that that lies at the heart of what they are saying to him. [35:20] And no one knows better than God the kind of people who are actually making these insinuations. [35:33] Someone has described them this is a spiritual people remember this is the people who bear God's name this is the people he is addressing personally who believe it or not are the people recharged with the worship of God they are the priesthood they are the people who are responsible for the spiritual lives of those who are God's people people and the reality is that despite their complaints directed against God they themselves are outwardly religious people who have practical atheism ruling or dominating their thinking that's where their spiritual blindness comes from it's because they are atheistic that they have arrived at the conclusions that they've come to and God's patience is on the brink of being exhausted their attitude is if there is a fault then it must be [36:53] God's I think we touched on some of this in the thinking of the preacher in Ecclesiastes God was at fault not them but then we have an impatient people and their impatience is different to God's impatience because they want God to perform the acts that God is meant to perform in their thinking they expect them to behave as God behaved in the past they have some knowledge of that they have been well versed in scripture they have been well versed in the documents that carry the history of God's people and they can refer to them and they know God is God and all that comes with being God and where they themselves are going through the motions in their religion they do not think it proper that [38:05] God should be in their eyes going through the motions that's their opinion remember one of the commentators John Benton writes the people worship God in an empty charade the priests the spiritual leaders were bored time servers who could not be bothered and what we now see is stubborn God accusing self righteousness it's sometimes convenient to blame God if God is supposed to be active and that activity is not the activity you would like him to do or the activity that you would like him to demonstrate always leaving you with excuses always leaving him with no excuse and they accused him freely and liberally of not being the [39:20] God that they were supposed to know they are impatient with God imagine that imagine being impatient with God and yet the fact is they were very much out of step with that God and they imagined that they could come to God and make such an accusation you have wearied the Lord with your words yet you say wherein have we wearied him when you say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighted in them where is the God of judgment that's the kind of God that they want to see the God of judgment who is he going to judge well he's going to judge those who are not like them of course and who are they well they're the self righteous they are the believers in God they are the followers of [40:28] God they are the people who outwardly with their lips profess a relationship with God but the reality is that they are nothing of the sort but the third thing that we have here is probably more important God is telling them to be patient I think that's what these words are all about how or in what way is God telling his people to be patient well he's saying behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall certainly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts there's two ways in reading that either you read these words as if God is speaking to the believing people who bear his name people who are actually in fellowship with him people who are actually in a living life giving relationship with him or God is saying to them [41:51] I am going to give you what you say you want I am going to answer your petitions and show you that I am all these things that you say that I am not it seems that the promise of God is very clearly set out before us I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me what they claim to want God will give them or to give them God says what you're wanting and what you're expecting is not what you're going to get and you're going to discover that what you're wanting is different to what [42:58] I'm going to give you I will send out loud I was thinking these words out loud I will send my messenger see how many different ways you can say that with the emphasis falling on different syllables when you're reading it from the page it's difficult for you to see that there could be a nuanced understanding in what he is saying but I believe that the way God is speaking to these people and the people that he is speaking to more importantly in response to the impatience of God and the impatience of the people that God is showing to them that if they are patient they will see God work and they will see the work of God and they will see it in a way that they did not anticipate and they did not appreciate and they did not think that it was necessary for God to do what he was going to do it's as if he is saying to them just you wait and see now if you remember what is being promised here it is this he is promising them that there is somebody going to come who will bear the name [44:50] Elijah and his role will be as the forerunner of the messenger of the covenant I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in behold he shall come says the Lord of hosts now we have the warrant of scripture for understanding these words to apply to the passion of John the Baptist for these words have been interpreted as being fulfilled in the passion of John the Baptist and if they have been interpreted as being fulfilled in the experience of John the Baptist or as the passion of John the Baptist then the forerunner which he was was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ who was the messenger of the covenant he was the fulfilment of the covenant promises of God behold he shall come says the [46:05] Lord of hosts now if you remember that these words were declared by the prophet 400 years plus before the birth of Christ 400 years plus before the birth of John the Baptist these prophetic declarations probably demanded of them that they be patient so that the Lord would fulfil his promise to them but as you read on in this chapter he says the God who promises this is a God who does not change and because he does not change and because they are the children of the covenant he is faithful to his covenant and his promises are yea and amen in the child that is promised even [47:05] Jesus Christ the son of his person the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in how much is contained in this there is a patience expected of God's people with regard to God's promises we do him an injustice if we expect what he has promised to be fulfilled in our time or in our way of thinking how it should be but God doesn't work to please us and nor was he willing to work in bringing to fruition his promises for this world except in his own time the preacher and teacher John Blanchard has written the following Jesus was more than a messenger he was the message his birth his sinless life his substitutionary death and resurrection from the dead are the only way through which sinners can get right with [48:16] God and freed from sin's curse it's a suitable quotation because it summarises the gospel but this is what the God of heaven is saying to an impatient people this is what is going to happen it is going to happen when I say it will happen it will happen in the fullness of time it will bring the fullness of God's promise for the salvation of sinners to light you accuse me of of impropriety in not judging the wicked you accuse me of of the way that I favour wickedness and not deal with it as it should be but my ways are not your ways and when we read these words even by thinking that [49:19] God's delays constitute anything more than he wishes these delays to secure we do him an injustice and our error in thinking like that is a costly error and that is what he is saying this is what he is saying to these people who don't understand what God is doing and why he is doing it and what he is doing by what he is doing or not doing it's a very bold thing to challenge God and to suggest that God is in some way doing something that is not going to work out or that is not to be right because the final thing that we have here is this when the promise will be fulfilled when you patiently wait for the promise to come to fruition what you will find is not what you expect who may abide the day of his coming who shall stand when he appeareth for he is like a refiner fired and like foolish soap and he shall sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver and so on now there is a division of opinion [51:07] I suppose on how we are to interpret these words because some people maintain that rather than interpret these words as being fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the incarnation when he is first born when he comes as the son of Mary when he comes to die on the cross rather than to think of these words being entirely fulfilled in that coming that the part that we're reading here in chapter 3 and verse 3 has really to do with his second coming it has to do with his role as the judge of the quick and the dead it has to do with his role as the one that God has given all judgment into his hands on the day of his scrutiny of all the children of men well I don't think while it's not inconsistent with a possible reading [52:16] I don't think it's necessary because the picture that we have given is of the patience of God the patience of God first of all in delivering his promises in his own time the patience needed on the part of those who are waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled but also to understand that when it comes to fulfilling what he is accused of not fulfilling he will do it in his time and in his own way where is the God of judgment they say you can't separate that statement from what comes at the beginning of chapter 3 because the God of judgment is in the first instance going to send his son into the world and he will send his son into the world in the fullness of time and we know historically that at 400 years plus as we've said and what he will do when he comes he initiates a process by which he will be appointed to sit on the throne of judgment without being able to execute the fullness of redemption that is entrusted into his hand that role will not be his but just as surely as he fulfills all righteousness and does all that God expects of him as the son of man the rest will follow and he will judge and he will deal with men and women righteously and the picture that we're given again involves patience he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver he is like a refiner fire and fuller soap two different images the fuller soap it's not like the soap that you and I would use today but it involves cleansing it involves purifying it involves making clean what was unclean and that's the role that Christ has in the first instance and if you can imagine we want to clean something we just throw it in the washing machine and within a matter of minutes it's washed the process was a little more drawn out in the days of the prophet it wasn't something you could achieve without exercise without working through the clothing that was to be cleaned but that's not the point the point that is there is in the image that is presented the person who is doing this is doing it with industry is doing it with care is doing it deliberately so that what is dirty and impure is clean and purified and similarly the other image has to do with the purification of silver and gold that's a better known image I would imagine but it's a necessary one if you remember the apostle [55:55] Paul tells us that what Jesus Christ intends for his church is to make them pure to make them clean Christ loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that that should be holy and without blemish keep that thought and Jesus Christ looks at his people that he has come into the world to save and he undertakes a work for them that is the cleansing from sin by way of the sacrifice that is a sacrifice for sin but also by way of the Holy Spirit where he cleanses and sanctifies sin as a people for himself a work that is ongoing and the picture that we have is of a silversmith and it's a common enough analogy that tells us of a process where the silver was put into the furnace and the silversmith would add to the silver charcoal or something of that sort and as the silver was heated all the impurities would rise to the top and the scum would be washed cleansed away and this process would go on it wasn't a quick fix it wasn't something that happened without labour and without patience and he would sit with his head bowed over this process until he was satisfied and when he was satisfied what he saw was his own image in the molten silver and some people say this is the way [58:12] Christ works works in the lives of his church in the lives of the people that he has taken to himself in order to be saved he will not be satisfied until he sees his face in their face there you have again patience of God you ask the people of God who are here tonight are you precious to God and if you are are you not thankful that he is patient with you so that the end result that he has in view is worthwhile look at what he says about these people purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness then shall the offering of [59:17] Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old as in former years probably looking back this was one of their complaints against God but the prophet says the God of heaven says through the prophet you are impatient with God and God is impatient with you but he will demonstrate his patience in sending in his own time the saviour of sinners into the world and in the world he will demonstrate his patience in creating in them the Christ of glory who has promised that they will be like him in the glory that is his that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness and I pray that God would bless these thoughts to us let us pray have a blessed [60:24] God help us to look at your word with eyes that see in the world what you are wanting us to see forgive us for bringing anything into the world that is not there or that should not be there help us to understand that there is a people here in this world who make late claims for themselves that are inconsistent with what your word says about them that they make sad conclusions known about their thoughts of God but that God is a God who has demonstrated an infinite capacity for long suffering with regard to those who are in this world and we give thanks that many of your people are able to speak of that in their own experience bless us together we pray for giving sin in [61:32] Jesus name Amen I'm going to sing in conclusion from Psalm 73 Psalm 73 verse 25 whom have I in the heavens high but thee O Lord alone and in the earth whom I desire beside thee there is none my flesh and heart doth fill me never for of my heart God is the strength and portion forever for lo they that are far from thee forever perish shall then that I heard from thee go thou hast destroyed all but surely it is good for me that I draw near to God in God I trust that all thy works I may declare abroad these verses whom have I in the heavens high but thee O Lord alone whom have I in the heavens high the dear [62:46] Lord alone and in the earth whom I desire new is me in love I hate me never heart From my heart all is the great and portion forever. [63:39] For no, they lie not far from me forever, or very God. [63:58] Then I am hurting from me, though the heart is broken on. [64:15] But surely it is good for me, God, though it isife makes it bullied to earth. [64:31] In God's grace, in the Lord's grace, my peace to hear from God. [64:48] May we make grace, mercy and peace with God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all ever and always. Amen.