Comte, Jim: Third Family Conference John 13 v 1 to 9

To our God. And it's a wonderful thing to have a song that we can sing, and perhaps there's someone tonight, and you don't have a song that you can sing, because you've never come to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's nothing like the glorious gospel of the grace of God, and I love to proclaim it. But tonight, as we minister the word of God, I trust that the Spirit of God will speak to each heart, and that if you know not the Savior, this evening you will come to him, and if you know the Savior, that your heart will be encouraged as we look at the Word of God. We live in a wonderful age of technology, don't we? Uh, Brother Steve was working on a crossword, at least a jigsaw puzzle, for much of the afternoon, and he told me he was on his computer for a while as well. And I am reminded of, um, the great technology that we have, but, you know, sometimes there are unintentional errors, and there are serious consequences because of those errors. Time- sometimes we're warned not to open certain things because of viruses. Well, consider the case of the Illinois man who was tired of the snow-filled streets of Chicago and decided that he and his wife would go for a vacation to Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him a few days after he had arrived in Florida. When he reached his hotel in Florida, he decided that he would send a quick email to his wife, but unable to find the scrap of paper in which he had written her email address, he thought he would just try to do it by memory. Well, he did his very best, but unfortunately he missed one letter, and instead it was directed to an elderly preacher's wife whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her email, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. At the sound of that, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen. Dearest wife, just got checked in. Everything is prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Sure is hot down here. I shouldn't tell stories like that. But when I got that, I had to pass it on. Let's look at John thirteen, shall we? Now, before John chapter thirteen, and we'll read in at verse one. Last evening, we were just giving a brief introduction of this, what is called the Upper Room Ministry, chapters thirteen through to seventeen. This was only in one evening that the Lord is with his own, and all of the world is shut out. And we find, uh, we looked at some of the, the situation of this room, and we were considering it for a few moments. We were looking at some of the background as the problems that were associated with those disciples, and the difficulties that they were facing. And tonight we want to continue on and then move on a little bit into this chapter. And I trust that what we have to say will be of the Spirit of God, and that what we have to say is from our hearts, and I trust that it will be to your heart as well. I must say that I don't think I have it all put together, and I'm sure you feel that way too. And I don't know it all, and we're still learning, and we will until the Lord takes us home. If we've stopped learning, we're stopping in our growth, aren't we? But look at John chapter thirteen, and let's read at verse one. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world onto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end, or to completion, to the greatest extent. And supper being ended, the devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and layeth as- laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus saith to him, He that is washed or bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every wit, or as the New King James puts it, is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew who should betray him. Therefore he said, ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. And we know the Lord will add his blessing to the verses that we have read together. When we were looking at this portion last evening, we were talking about James and John and the request that their mother had given to the Lord. And we were thinking of that for a moment and the matter of the, the feeling that was present in that upper room, not only with the disciples, but with Judas as well, who got up and left. You see, when we look at these men, they needed a change, and the Lord was certainly conscious that each one of them needed a change. They needed to become men of God. They needed to become holy men of God. Because, you see, the Lord Jesus was going to be leaving them shortly via the cross, and then he would ascend to glory. A- and when we know that the Holy Spirit of God was going to be given, still, they needed to hear these final words of instruction that the Lord had for them. And so they needed a change. They needed to be men, holy men of God. Now, oftentimes, when we think of the matter of holiness, we begin to think of a life like that as a life that is really a drag. It doesn't sound like a particularly exciting option for you or for me. And perhaps at times we have many negative thoughts in our minds as to what a life of holiness might be. It perhaps suggests to you and me that in order to be holy, we have to deny everything that is enjoyable and everything that is pleasurable. Perhaps it gives us the idea that we have to be living the life of a monk, shut up in some sort of a monastery with our nose in the Bible twenty four hours a day, in a complete attitude of prayer at all times. We need to be some sort of a recluse, a really what is known as a Jesus freak, and as the world would say, but even more than that. And you know, as we look at holiness, we might say, yes, there is a negative side to it. But when we look at surgery, there happens to be a negative side to that as well. Because when we have the surgery, it's not very pleasant, particularly when we wake up and we're drugged, and we're groggy, and we're in pain, and we can't get out of bed for a few days, or if we do, it's a great effort. But the results of that surgery has its positive effects upon you and me in a definite way later on. And so when we look at a holy life, we might ask the question, how will a holy life benefit us? What is the positive nature that we might find in holiness? And what is the positive nature that these disciples would find? Well, one of the first things it does, of course, it will keep us morally pure. It will bring to you and me much inward joy. It will bring that peace and love that only the Lord Jesus himself can give. It will make us beautiful on the inside, and we will be more and more conformed to the Lord Jesus, to the image of God's dear Son. That sounds mighty positive to you, I'm sure, as it does to me. There are two aspects of holiness that perhaps we might just consider very briefly. Holiness is that which will affect our hearts and our minds and our devotion to the Lord Jesus. He will be at home in our hearts. And just as he is preparing a home for us in heaven, he will take up that place of true residency as Lord of our lives, and we're going to enjoy that fellowship and communion with him. The Lord Jesus was showing his disciples that a life of holiness is not a life of rules and regulations. And so often, when we think of holiness, we think of rules and regulations. Thou shalt not do this, and thou shalt not do that, and thou shalt, you know, a- a- and you can begin to talk to various Christians, and all of us have a different set of values. And what I think is all right, you may say I don't agree with you, Jim. And what you think is all right, I would say, well, I don't like what you're doing because I don't agree with that. And holiness is not rules and regulations, but it is a question of our heart's response to him. And as our brother was mentioning this morning, in relation to the kingdom of God, there is the aspect of obedience. And I need to be obedient to the word of God and to the truth of God and to the principles of God's word. But it's not a list of do's and don'ts that I conjure up in my mind and try to impart to you as a life of holiness. A ho- life of holiness will never make us a recluse. In fact, it ought to have the complete opposite effect upon us. It'll make us true disciples of the Lord Jesus in this world in which we are living. And others will know that we are his disciples by the love and by the radiancy and by the joy of the Lord that is portrayed in our lives day by day. We will be his witnesses, seeking to share forth the love of Christ and the gospel of the grace of God. We will seek to live our lives to glorify him, and by doing s- so, so doing, we're going to rebuke sin in the lives of others. You know, a godly Christian has a positive effect, and it really rubs the wrong way on the godless world. And perhaps you can look at experiences in your own life and say, you know, it had a negative effect upon the person that I was working with because they didn't like it, and they really gave me a hard time and rode me because of my Christianity. We can all look at experiences like that, can't we? We're going to demonstrate God's love, no matter how sinful those individuals may be. Now, this is not some superhuman existence. This is not attained by years of theological training or by religious disciplines as such. Holiness is what the Lord begins to do for you and for me as he begins to work in your heart and in my heart. It's not our effort, nor is it anything in our power. You remember what Paul could say in Galatians two and twenty? I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Don't you love that? You notice what Paul is saying? I'm crucified with Christ. The old Paul, the self-life, recognizes that he is dead, he is crucified with Christ. He says, I'm living, but it's not me. It's Christ who's living in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, in this body of weakness, with all of its problems, with all of my idiosyncrasies, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You know, Harry Ironside, Dr. Harry Ironside's Bible, a book that I have at home. I noticed in Galatians chapter two and twenty he had a cross beside Galatians two and twenty, And on one side of the cross, he had these words, himself for me. Harry Ironside recognized that the Lord Jesus had died for him. And I wonder tonight if you've recognized that the Savior has died for you. That on that cross he paid the price for your sin, shed his most precious blood so that you could enter into the joy of sins forgiven and the certainty of heaven. If you've never come to Christ, we pray that you will come as a repentant sinner and receive the Savior tonight as your own. But on the other side of the cross, he had these words, me for himself. Harry Ironside was crucified with Christ. Several years ago, I yo- told that little story in, in um, Orillia, Ontario, about twenty five minutes north of Barrie. And after the meeting, an elderly lady came to me, and she said, you know, Jim, Harry Ironside was my uncle Harry. And she said, I can remember as a little girl him showing me his Bible, and he showed me Galatians two and twenty, and he had all of his children and all of his nephews and all of his nieces underneath Galatians two and twenty. And he, she said, I saw my name there, and my uncle Harry prayed for me every day. Boy, that was a little treasure that I really appreciated. And here she was, an elderly woman living for God, now at home with the Lord. But you see, Harry recognized that Christ had died for him. The least he could do is die for Christ. And that's exactly what Paul is mentioning here. You remember what Paul again could say in Galatians three and verses one and two. If ye then be risen with Christ, or since you have been raised with Christ or were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections, that is, set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. For you're dead, you've died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you appear with him in glory. And Paul is looking at something very important. And as he looks at a life of holiness, he says, you know, this is a high life. He says, since you have been raised with Christ, I want you to seek those things which are above. I want you to set your mind on heavenly things. The life of a believer is a high life, because this world is not our home, we're just a passing through. We ought to be living with eternity's values in view, but it's also a hidden life. You notice he says, your life is hid with Christ and God. What a lovely position for the believer to know the absolute security that our lives are hid with Christ and God. He is the one who cares and loves and seeks to guide and direct us. But it's a hopeful life. He says, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. And he's coming, isn't he? And that's a hopeful life that we have. And so the life that we are living today is a life that ought to be filled with the joy of the Lord and the joy of the Spirit in and through us. When we were saved, the life of the Lord Jesus was implanted in you and me. We were immediately indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and as we go over to chapter fourteen, we're going to be looking about at that and how the Holy Spirit of God takes up his residency. But Christ in you is also the great truth, the hope of glory. And because the Lord Jesus is in you and me, we have that potential, that ability to live a Christ-like life as we allow him to live and work in and through us. You know, one of the difficulties that many of us have is, um, trying to be something that we're not. Don't ask me to sit down and write a score of music. I just don't even have that ability. I don't have that talent at all. Now, I can play a little bit of ball. This summer, for the first time, I went to a batting cage. I've always wanted to go to a batting cage, so I went and I tried a ball at sixty five miles an hour. Believe it or not, I hit it four times. I was quite proud of myself. But, um, you know, I- I'll never make a ball team, because although I have some talent, I don't have enough. But that's so uniquely different. It's Christ in you and me. And as we allow him to live, then that life of holiness becomes developing in our lives. He was soon going to leave that. The Holy Spirit would come and take up his residency. And you remember when we started off, we were speaking about the final words of instruction that a father might give his son? And this is again, I think, the words that the Lord Jesus is saying to his own disciples. Listen, fellas, if you follow my course, you'll be successful, but if you don't, you'll be a failure. And if you follow these instructions, you're going to be successful, and if we do, we're going to be successful spiritually in our lives. It's not a hocus pocus, it's no magical formula, it's a day by day living and allowing Christ to live in and through us day by day. Let's go back for a moment, because the Lord Jesus gives to you and me a great example of leadership, spiritual leadership. This is something that's greatly lacking in all of our assemblies, or in many of our assemblies today, and in our lives as individuals, certainly in our homes too, and we need to take note. And when the Lord Jesus begins to speak to these disciples, and we know the thoughts that they have, and we know the mind that Judas was having there in that upper room, and the critical looks that were going back and forth, and the attitude, I mean, you could have cut the air with a knife. The Lord Jesus doesn't speak a harsh word, does he? He doesn't speak a critical word. Instead, he takes a basin and a towel, and he begins to wash their feet. The easiest thing in the world is to cut another brother down and give him a piece of your mind. You just better be careful how much of a piece of your mind you give. You might not have too much left. You know, it's easy to have a sharp tongue and a quick answer and hurt and wound another believer, believer. But what does James say? James chapter one and verse nineteen, he says, so then, my beloved brethren, let every man be what? Swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. You know the problem we have most of the time? We're swift to speak, and we're slow to hear. I can remember an incident that took place when I was probably eighteen or seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, in that area. I had cousins living in Oxford, Massachusetts, and we had driven down as a family for Canadian Thanksgiving, which is the second, uh, Monday in October, beautiful time of the year when the foliage is at its peak. And, um, we had driven down, and on the Lord's Day morning, we were going to a meeting in Worcester. My mum and dad went with my aunt and uncle, and I was given my dad's car, and I had my cousins in the car, two of my cousins in the car. Well, it had been a cool night, and the leaves were falling, and there had been a touch of frost, and so the leaves on the road were a wee bit slippery, and of course I was driving a little bit too fast, trying to, uh, show off a little bit with my cousins in the car. It was a lovely new car that my dad had, and going around this sharp turn, the car started to fishtail, and I just didn't know how to handle things too well, and the next thing I knew, I was into the guardrail on the opposite side of the road, and there was a nice crease in the fender. I'm thankful that there was nothing coming the opposite way. I'm thankful there was a guardrail because there was quite a hill on the other side that we would have gone over. Well, went to the meeting, and I handed my dad the keys, and I said nothing, uh, and I waited till after the family Bible hour. And I said, Dad, I- I said, I have to ha- talk to you about something. I said, come out to the parking lot. And I showed him the fender on the car, and I'll never forget what he did. He said, well, Jamie, he said, I hope you've learned your lesson. Now here are the keys, take the car and drive it home. I had learned a lesson. He didn't have to shout at me, yell at me, tell me how stupid I was for driving so recklessly and being so careless and irresponsible. I knew that. But in love he spoke, and he gave me the keys, and I drove, drove that car home. I'll never, never forget it. That did more to me than a quick tongue and putting me in my place mighty quick. Good lesson for parents to remember. So often we're so quick. Let's just be a little bit more tolerant at times. Good for husbands, good for wives, good for leaders, good for elders. I can remember Ernie Stewart, a brother in Barrie. He used to speak of an a- another man who was one day correcting this brother. And he said to him, you know, he said, I was only trying to wash your feet. And the brother who was being corrected said, well, you didn't have to use scalding water. And sometimes we use that scalding water, don't we? To faithfully minister God's word under hard and difficult situations is truly the mark of a man of God, of a woman of God, and we need to have that mark embedded upon us. So it is with this background that the Lord Jesus first acts, and then he talks. Don't you like that? He didn't say a word. He knew exactly what was happening. He knew the feelings, he knew the attitudes, he knew everything. He begins to do something, and later on he explains. Too often we do the e- uh, the opposite. Paul warns in Galatians five fifteen, but if you bite and devour one another, bele- beware lest you be consumed by one another. But this is the act of love. And then there is the explanation of truth. He wasn't trying to couch anything. He wasn't trying to hide anything. He was going to tell them the truth, but first he was going to do an act of love to those men. We ni- need to be more like the Lord Jesus that way, don't we? Notice, though, that he is the omniscient Christ. He is conscious of everything that was taking place. He was conscious that this was his hour. Jesus knew that his hour was coming, verse one. When we go back to the marriage of Cana of Galilee in Ga- in John chapter two, you remember he could say to his mother, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. There was still a time later on. Mary, mom, please just hold back. In John chapter twelve, we learn these words, and this is just prior to chapter thirteen: The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. So he was conscious that this was his hour. When we look at verse number three, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God. He was certainly conscious of his divine purpose, that this was the divine mandate, that this hour that had been fixed from the very foundation of the world was that which he was now about to fulfill and to carry out, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, that he was come from God, and that he would eventually go back to God. His death was therefore no martyr's death. Rather, it was that sin-atoning death in which he died for the sins of the world, and he died for your sins and mine, and he satisfied the claims of a holy God that was against a lost world. But I like as well that he loved these disciples. He says in verse one, he loved, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them to the uttermost. That love was an unconditional love. In spite of these men, there were no ifs about it. There were no buts about it. And although these men were in the world, they were now at this time acting like the world. We're in the world, we're not to be of the world, but many times we sure act like the world, don't we? They were self-centered. They were proud. They were really quite childish. They were acting selfishly. Of course, we never act that way, so it really doesn't apply to you or me, does it? But he was also conscious of his absolute authority. In John five and twenty seven, we read that the Father had given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. He has absolute authority, authority to execute judgment, authority to lay down his life, as he says in John chapter 10. And he was conscious, as we've mentioned, of his origin. He was conscious of his destiny. He was conscious of the supremacy of his person from the Father to the Father. The Lord Jesus now goes into action. He is full deity, fully God, and fully man. What a unique quality in him. And so he goes into action, and he gives to you and me a fourfold lesson. The first lesson he gives is the lesson of humility. And then he gives to us a lesson of service. Then he gives to us a lesson of purity or sanctification. And lastly, he gives to us a lesson of lordship or supremacy. And I like again what David Gooding says. He says, welcome to the school of God. And we have the master now teaching, and he teaches by action, and then he teaches by word. We were thinking of the spirit of indignation, and the dic- dictionary meaning of the word indignation means anger aroused by injustice or by baseness. And I don't think there was any injustice, but sure, there sure was some baseness among these men. There was anger, all right, but it was a self problem. It was an attitude problem. These men had a chip on their shoulder. We had mentioned of the two disciples, James and John, whose mother had gone to the Lord, and you know, they must have felt pretty proud of themselves that their mother would go and speak on their behalf, a- asking if one could sit on the right hand and the other could sit on the a- the left. And of course, the others were jealous, and they were angry with those disciples. You can almost hear them muttering among themselves, can you imagine the audacity of the mother of James and John? Can you imagine these two fellas? Who do they think they are anyhow? Almost sounds like the language we use at times. When we look at Luke twenty two, it was on the night of his betrayal. Uh, this incident with the mother of James and John had taken place a little bit earlier, but the Lord Jesus gives some of the background of this in verses twenty four to thirty that we looked at the other night, prior to his cr- crucifixion, and it's hard to believe that at this very time there was this attitude among them. You know, we need to be careful of our own attitudes, because sometimes we sit around the Lord's table with the Lord Jesus in our midst, and sometimes as we sit down to remember him, we have feelings too of jealousy toward another brother or sister, or we have something that we have not set right, or there is a rivalry, there is a dissension, there's a conflict. Sometimes we become extremely dogmatic and unyielding and stubborn so that we can't even speak to that person, and we're not going to until they're willing to eat humble pie. That's not the attitude of the Lord. It never was, and it not ought to be your problem, at least our your attitude either. These men had, first of all, a pro- place, a problem of place. They wanted recognition. They had a problem with pride. Self was lifted up. There was ego that was getting in the way, and Solomon could say in Proverbs eleven and two, when pride comes, then comes shame. But with the humble is wisdom. And we think of pride coming, there was shame that was coming, and embarrassment too, and even you see that with Peter in just a moment. But there was the problem of prestige, of precedence, wrong hearts, wrong attitudes. And the Lord knows their hearts. He begins to probe by an act. And I like what J. G. Campbell Morgan says in relation to verses four and five, that there are four active verbs. He rises, he girds, and he washes. And that is, as he says, Morgan says, the unveiling of his grace. What grace is seen in the Lord Jesus? Instead of them washing his feet, he gets up and he begins to wash their feet. That is truly the unveiling of his grace. I wonder if we're like the Lord. We ought to be. But when we look at verses one and three again, he mentions something else, G. Campbell Morgan, that this is the unveiling of his deity. Jesus knew that his hour was come. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. Jesus, knowing that he was come from God and went to God. There we have his glory and his grace revealed to us. So the two great distinctiveness are found in the Lord Jesus, that of his grace and that of his glory and his deity. Now you notice the symbol of servitude, the badge of the slave here, because here we find the Eastern custom of feet washing was something most important. The servant would wash the feet of the guests as they entered into that home. A basin of water would be set at the door, there would be a towel that be neatly folded, and the servant would come and he would wash the feet of the folk who had come into that home. But not one of the disciples was humble enough to assume that position. They weren't willing to wash one another's feet, and certainly they didn't wash the Lord's feet. And those feet were weary, and those feet were tired. And they needed washing because I'm sure they were dusty. Now, normally this was performed before the meal. But you'll notice some- something in verse number two. It says, and supper being ended. And then in verse number four it says, he rises from supper. They had now finished the meal, and the Lord Jesus gets up, and he begins to wash the feet of the disciples after they had already eaten. A most unique s- thing that we find here. There was controversy, there was difficulty, and the Lord Jesus addresses their problem. And perhaps as he is beginning to wash their feet, their minds reflect to a verse that he said, the words that he said, but I am among you as he who serves. And he was there to serve them, and he did. He slowly gets up. He slowly removes his outer garment, the tala. Then he pulls out the inner garment. He moves to the door, picks up the, the towel and the basin, and he girds himself with it. And they would look at the Lord, and they would say, he's dressed like a slave. That's the way the slave dresses. And they would see that, and they could hardly believe what they were seeing. And maybe their mouths were open, and they were sitting there in awe and wonderment. And he pours the water into the basin. He drops to his knees, and he begins to wash their feet. You could have heard a pin drop. Maybe there was a murmuring just among them too. What in the world is he doing? Wouldn't you have loved to been there? Just to have experienced and e- felt the mood of that upper room? The mood as the Lord begins to wash their feet, and he comes to Peter, the first one. He's so outspoken, he's such a blundering man, and maybe he's not always blundering, but certainly is a very honest individual. And you notice what he says in verse number six: Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? A- are you washing my feet? And in the original, there is the emphasis on the you and on the my. Are you washing my feet? You notice Peter's surprise. Interestingly, he calls him Lord. And yet, as he calls him Lord, one who is master, one who is supreme, one who is deity, are you going to wash my feet? Christodome says Peter meant with those hands which thou hast opened eyes, cleansed lepers, and raised the dead. With those lovely hands, are you really going to wash my feet? Peter's surprised, but notice Peter's self-assertiveness. Because immediately he says, in verse number eight, thou shalt never wash my feet. And again, the emphasis is seen in the Greek, I understand. Thou shalt never wash my feet. And I can just see him just tucking his feet underneath, and you're not going to touch them. So we notice his surprise, his self-assertiveness. And in between this, and we'll come back to this in a moment, we have a verse, number seven. You notice what he says in verse seven? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. You don't understand what I'm doing presently, Peter, but when the Holy Spirit would come, you'll fully grasp and understand the significance of what I have done. There is the afterwards, Peter. You'll grasp it and you'll know. You remember when Peter was writing his little letter in First Peter chapter five and verses five to seven? He says, be girded with an apron. Gird yourself with humility and serve one another. Oh, he understood the afterword, didn't he? Can I just apply the afterword to your heart and mind? There are many things that come into your life. Many unanswered questions. Many things to which you've said, why, Lord? There are things that I don't understand that have happened in my life, and I'll never know this side of heaven, I don't ever think. Things that happened that broke my heart and my wife's heart. Experience that we went through that were crushing and hurting and bruising. Things that lasted not a day, but a full year, and the hurts of it lasted afterwards. It wasn't sickness. It wasn't financial problems. It was problems with brethren. Those are the naughtiest and the hardest, and I'll never understand why, this side of heaven. We have suffered loss, perhaps, some of us here. We have suffered things that we can't understand. They're inexplainable. They're unexplainable. His mysterious ways. But the afterward, we'll have to wait until we get home to be with the Lord. But remember Romans 8 and twenty eight, cling to the promise. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. You remember in Genesis chapter nine, after the ark had landed and Noah and his family had come out of the ark and they had built the altar and they had offered that olla, the burnt offering, the first mention of burnt offering in the scripture and the first mention of the altar. There was a cloud, a bow in the cloud. And remember that the cloud always speaks of separation. A cloud received him out of their sight in Acts chapter one and verse eleven. A- a- and, and that cloud was a separation. They would never see the Lord again until they would be at home in heaven. And there's many a cloud that comes into your life and mine that we don't understand, and it's the cloud of separation. But always remember that there's the bow and the cloud. And the bow is the promise that God gives. And every promise in the book is yours, and every promise in the book is mine. I love the old lady. I don't know if I told this maybe the last time I was here, but she had in her mar- margin T and P besides so many verses. Somebody happened to notice it, and she said, and they said, what in the world is that T and P? You have it all the way through your Bible. She says, those are promises. She says, I've tried them and I've proved them. Be good to put that besides some of the verses that we have tried and proved. And remember, not only was there the cloud and the bow, but there was the covenant. There was the promise that God had given. And what a wonderful promise he has, because all the promises in the book are mine. They're yours. Try them. Prove them. I wonder, can I ask you a question? How often do you say, why, Lord, have you blessed me? The Lord's blessed the socks right off of all of us here tonight. I asked Aubrey de Landria how he's feeling. He's a brother who's about eighty four in Ontario. He say, Aubrey, how are you today? Better than I deserve, and not as good as I'm going to be. You know what? We're all of us better than we deserve. Do we ever thank God? Gotta stop right here. Seven, six seconds to go. Let's just bow in a word of prayer. Sounds like my alarm clock. Let's pray. Father, we just want to thank you again for the Word of God. We pray that we will find comfort and blessing and encouragement in it, and that, Father, you will truly minister to the hearts of thy people. You know each one of