Count It All Joy

Very nice. Thank you very much.

So, I was on the airplane Monday morning, flying back. I knew exactly the sermon I was going to give until I landed, and then everything got changed. I just threw out both the sermons I was going to give and wanted to give something else. I think God does that sometimes to help us. But this sermon, I have a prop. Everybody know what this is? Yes. All right. Everybody's used this. Yes, it's got fish oil in it. You're true. That is true. But as we, there are certain things that are reminders. I want this to be a reminder for us as we prepare for the spring holy days, Passover. And sometimes we can look at ourselves and examining and kind of get a little down. Because we may look at ourselves this year compared to last year and say, well, I really didn't see a lot of growth. And this is not the time of the year to get down. This is the time of the year to be inspired. And just as I like to think that little piece of flat, unleavened bread serves me as a reminder I try to eat it every single day. I even have made a habit of putting that piece of bread in my mouth first thing in the morning. As a reminder of the days I'm in and the sin I'm trying to put out and coming out of spiritual or Egypt as it is that we deal with. See, we have a lot of trials in our lives, don't we? Sure do. And sometimes we can look at those trials and say, I'm a failure. No, you're not. You're in this room today. You're a call of God. We're a work in progress. Every one of us is a work in progress. If you do not feel like you're a work in progress, raise your hand, because I want to meet the perfect person. Do you know what WD stands for? Anyone? No? Yes? Why did I know you'd know that? It's new, Chris. This is our Mr. Jeopardy over there. Comes up with everything. That's right! Water displacement! What does 40 mean? Ah, close.

Yes. 40th attempt. They failed WD-40 water displacement. They failed 39 times to make this. Back in 1953, Norm Larson came up with it for a company. Now there's thousands and thousands of you do not believe me. Get on the internet, type it in, and you'll see. I think one had over 2,000 different uses WD-40. A far cry from a failure.

I want you to think on that.

I would like you to turn to James 1 and verse 2. As I said, I am a very big fan of James, and we will be going through James the rest of this year. But also, after I give back, we are going to try to work and finish on our Sabbath sermons that I wanted to finish. We have one. We have three to go. I want to do that so that we have a clear, concise understanding of exactly where God and us as a group stand with the Sabbath. James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ, wrote this book. Arguably, as people argue well, it was early in his life. It was later. I tend to think, being as the only book written by him, that it came later in life as he was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. And that is where he was actually martyred. But when he writes something, there are certain people you really listen to. It's like my father. I didn't listen to him when I was younger. It would have saved me a lot of grief. I listen to him now. Many of you, same way. But there are certain people that, what they say, carries a lot of weight because they've been through a lot. James was one of those people. And his epistle is actually called the Epistle of Straw. I'm Martin Luther. It's simplistic is what it's been called. I like it because it's written by a simple man, the simple people, explaining a complex God, a complex way of life. But in verse 1, oh excuse me, in verse 2, chapter 1, I want to just look at one Scripture here right now. It says, and you all know it, says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Count it all joy. One of the most difficult Scriptures to get our minds around. Above all the other verses in the first chapter of James, this is arguably the most intriguing. It's interesting. He says, count. Count it all joy. And that Greek word that's used there is hagomahi. Haggomahi is where we get the word for count or countess and a means of high authority to esteem highly, to be chief, or to be an account. So you understand how important it is. This word, count. Count it all joy. Picking up feedback? No. Oh, I'll try not to stumble over that. I don't have to go over there and point my finger at Don today, so I don't have to go too far. Oh, okay. Can I lay it there?

But one guy described this word, count, as a difference of esteeming when you count something, something very highly compared to the other. I gotta have it. My wife's correcting me. I'm so used to that. L'Otheo, Mike. But it actually is the difference between counting pennies and counting diamonds. Counting pennies and counting diamonds. Would there be a difference to you? I think if you had 20 diamonds down there and you had 20 pennies, I think you'd be more careful that you didn't misplace one of the diamonds. I say, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Are we to get excited over the actual trial or the possibility of a trial? If that's true, rather than this congregation, it should be a very joyous congregation. That Greek word, trials, is actually paulikulos, paulikulos, the Greek word. And it means many colored, varied, or diverse. And its original meaning means multi-colored. All shapes and all sizes. Not the same trial. Not the same problem. Count it all joy when you have multi-various colored trials. All shapes, all sizes. Trials happen to everyone, don't they? Humberto, and this congregation is going through a trial. Big one. Orlando's had his back problems. Maurice, working, back, family, jobs, Don, job, families. Marie, pressures. Janie, Tom, Josh, Carl, Bruce, Juan, is there anyone here? Hasn't faced trials in the last weeks or months? Count it all joy, have we? When you fall into various trials. Was James delusional? Had he lost his mind? Are we supposed to pray for trials? James didn't say that, did he?

But he did say, when you have a trial to persevere. To persevere. And I say, why me? Try not to get down. Not just because we have, as I said, the richest, most powerful, wonderful father in the universe. But for most of us, most of our trials will pass, one way or the other. Theologian A.T. Robertson said about this verse, James refers to external trials into which men fall. Trials that are not only unwelcome, but also unstopped and unexpected. Sometimes we make our own trials, don't we? Sometimes we self-sabotage ourselves. That's not what James is talking about. The only problem with most exterior trials is to turn to internal trials.

It's interesting that in the original Greek, the Greeks were good at laying things out for us, helping us to understand. And they would actually have word pictures, as I've described before. That's what I like. And so they described this verse, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. They put this verse out here, and they had three pictures. A woods, a very wooded area. Dark, pitch black, and then a bear. A bear. And what it does, it paints that picture so you understand that what James is talking about here is a time when you get caught out in the woods. In a very thick woods, you don't know where you're going. Then it turns black, totally dark. And just as you're finding your way through those dark woods, bam! You run right smack into a bear. That is the kind of trial that James is talking about. Even James' half-brother said, in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, 5 and verse 10 said, Blessed are those who are persecuted. You remember it? Then he said in verse 11, Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you. And that usually includes most of us about the Sabbath, about the Holy Days, about the way we live, and the way we worship and who we worship, and what day we worship? Right?

And then James' half-brother said, Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Jesus Christ said, Rejoice! Christ said it and His disciples did it. Are we ready to do it as we enter this time of the year? Like you turn to the book of Acts, chapter 5. Set the background here, just after Pentecost. And it says that Peter and the rest of the apostles were doing what they were told to do. They were preaching. They were actually healing, counseling, doing all this. And then all of a sudden trouble came.

And they were arrested and thrown into jail. And they were told, Don't do that. Don't talk about Jesus. Don't talk about the Christ. Say, throw Him all into jail. Common jail. What happens after that? Angel comes in the middle of the night and opens it up. Sets Him free and then told Him, Go do it again! And they did. So here all the Sadducees who were in charge at that time pulled everybody in. So they have this big meeting and say, What are we going to do with these guys? And then the jailer comes in and goes, They're not here! And then they're all worried. What are we going to do? And then someone else runs in and goes, They're back. They're doing it. They're back again. They're back preaching again. So what did they do? Go get them. So they went and got them. And what happens? We see in Acts 5, verse 40, after they had gotten hold of them, after we see what was said to Amelia. And it said, verse 40, And they agreed with Him, and when they had called for the apostles, and what's the word? Beaten them. They beat them. They commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and they let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council. What's the word? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. Rejoicing. That they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name, and daily in the temple and in every house. They did not cease teaching and preaching to Jesus as the Christ. They rejoiced. They took it out and beat. They were beaten with sticks and rods. And it said they rejoiced. How about us? Then beat by a rod? Then beaten like that? We've had our other trials where we were able to rejoice. Having joy and rejoicing for being counted worthy is a powerful mindset. A very powerful spiritual mindset. Interesting story happened just a few years ago in China. This man lived in the far country. And he was a Christian, per se. And he believed that they needed to get more Bibles out. Into all of China. And so they had to actually smuggle, sneak these Bibles in. And then they had to trust him, because you would be thrown in jail or worse. For trying to bring Bibles into China. And so he would sneak off and do this at night. He had his job and he worked at his farm. But then they would sneak these Bibles in. And then he would take time and spread them to different villages. And he would have to go at night. All knowing that if he got caught, he was going to be beaten, imprisoned, or even put to death. And his wife, he said, No, I don't want you to get involved. Because it's mine. I need to be responsible for it. And I don't want any harm to come to you. Because he has loved his wife so much. It's amazing as he went off one trip spreading these Bibles that the authorities had found out about him. And they came to his farm and wanted to know where he was. And she didn't know. He never told her. She wouldn't be responsible. And she was passionate about the work he was doing. Amazing thing was he got back home and he came into the house. And she was beaten severely. Black and blue face. Arms beaten. And he started crying. And he said, I didn't want this to happen to you. It should have happened to me. And the amazing words that she said was, Now I get to be a part of your work. Now I get to be a part of God's work. Do we feel that way? Are we willing to take the beating? Are we willing to take the trials and tests that come upon us? I hope so.

You know, it's that spiritual mindset. When we're able to do it and endure the trials and temptations, problems that we come into, it makes us better people. It'll make me a better man. It'll make me spiritually strong. And that's what this is all about. Isn't that one of the reasons we keep the Holy Days? To help us to become stronger, not weaker people. Trials, aren't they all relative? To what seems to be a trial to one wouldn't be to another? I asked my wife some of this when I put this sermon together. Now, what was a trial when you were four years old? What did you consider a trial? She said, sitting quietly through church. Because that is a trial when you're that young, isn't it? Now, you're sitting there and your mind's going everywhere, and there's boring speakers up there, and you're like, what's he talking about?

When she was eight, she said it was a trial when she was not allowed to spend the night with a friend or a grandparent. That was a trial, wasn't it? And when she was 13, she was put under the rule of an older sibling, and she said that was a trial. You might remember that. See, I remembered what a trial was when I was 18. I was in Tennessee, and it was in January, and it snowed about seven inches, which is a lot of snow in Tennessee. And that was the biggest trial. As I think back on it now, at that time, I'd probably had in my short life. It was a trial because we lived 50 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee. And that weekend was the weekend I finally had a date with Angie Grett. It was, I thought, the best-looking girl in Nashville Church. And I couldn't go.

That was a trial. I remember when I thought it was a trial, when I was 25 years old, I got passed over for a job. Then I thought I deserved it. I thought I was better qualified. Or how about a trial when you have to go through a divorce? Now, maybe you're single, you get dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend, or you have a sick child. That can be a trial. God says He will not test us beyond what we can stand. Right? He says that. There's just a problem with that. He knows what we can stand, and we don't. Right? We don't know. In this life, we need to be tempered, rather than we need to be hardened in a lot of ways, physically. I don't imagine anyone could compete professionally in athletics without condition. Right? You can't run. I don't know. You might play checkers or chess, but you're not going to compete athletically. You're not going to be the best you can be. You're not going to be able to compete at a high level without conditioning, running, physically. You look at our soldiers. We've had men here that have been in the military. It's interesting because they are tempered, not only physically when they go through basic training, but emotionally. They are tempered. They're sent to go out on these long hikes, 20-25 miles, make sure you can go. Then you've got to go live in a tent. They don't put soldiers up in the Marriott and give them little drinks with umbrellas on it, do they? Why? Because you have to be tempered. You have to be tough. Because you're going to fight. You're a professional fighter. And what about us spiritually? Jesus Christ said when He's brought before Pilate, because of My Kingdom, My people would fight. There's a time coming when God's people, Jesus Christ's army, will fight. It's not today. That's why we're having to be physically tempered, emotionally tempered, and also mentally. I have a brother-in-law that was actually an air traffic controller. I love to pick his brain about these things. And he was telling me that they have simulators, of course, thankfully. They have simulators just like Pilates have simulators, because they don't put you in a plane and go, here, here's 600 people. Go take them over here, thankfully. Air traffic controller, they have a room, and they have stuff going on. As you're learning how to bring all these planes in at this certain time, and know the direction, and know the calls, and they put you in this room with simulators with three of these going on, with music going in the background, people talking, and they throw all this stuff at you to temper you, to take you to the highest mental state you can get into, where you can learn to focus on what's ahead of you. What about us? Isn't that why we study the book mentally? It helps us to focus. And it teaches us to look down at the Bible so we can look down, so we can look up. See, because when you look down here, it teaches you, you need to start looking up, don't we?

Spiritually, brethren, do we look up? Are we looking up enough? Do we have that relationship with God? One of the things that brought this to my mind was someone that I talked to not long ago on the phone. And he was talking about dealing with his examination of himself, sins, and problems, and looking at his spiritual life. And he said, it's just no use. I just get frustrated. I said, why are you trying to do it yourself? You're never going to get sinned totally out of your life without Jesus Christ. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you're never going to become pure. You're never going to be purged. You're never going to be cleansed of the sins.

Cleaning your house is an exercise. It's a reminder of putting sin out of our lives. But as I've said here before, please, please spend more time cleaning the inside of the bowl than the outside. Spend more time working on you than all that 11 spores that are going through your house. Not that you need to leave that undone. But sometimes we focus on, oh well, it's got to be me. No, it can't be you. It can't be you. It has to be through Jesus Christ. It has to be through God the Father. That's what's important. That's why having a relationship with God, like I told you the first day I got here, is the most important thing I can ever teach you. It starts there. Nothing else is worth anything unless you have a relationship with God. And know that you can do all things through Him and by Him. Perseverance through trials are the proof, brethren of living faith. You want to write some down? I ask that you should write that down. Perseverance through trials are the proof of living faith. And doesn't it all come down to faith when you bow down on your knees before God? And you ask for that forgiveness? That is a strong show of faith. You can't see Him, but He's there. Faith! We're not saved by our works. We are saved by His faith. Our faith. And brethren, I'm so thankful He has faith in us, that He has called us at this time. That's faith by God! But we need to have faith in God and His plan.

Is our strength down here or up there? Are we looking too much at things in our life or do we just turn it over to Him? That's what it requires. Is He really His Father? Is He really your spiritual Father? Do you have that great father-daughter-son relationship? I had a great father. Did anybody hear it? Because not everybody had a great father. Faith had a great father. Yes, you have a great father. Great fathers. It's wonderful to have a great father, isn't it? And you know, my father would do anything for me. And my father, my physical father, can't touch the love that my spiritual father has for me. That your spiritual father has for you, but it requires faith to believe. You know, growing up, I kind of wondered, sometimes my father, I'd get into trouble and wonder, boy, how am I going to get out of this? Is He going to get me out of this? And I knew He could, but would He? Because it wasn't always the best for me to get me out of those things. That's where it requires even greater faith on God. Now, it's interesting, as you will have on Passover night, you're going to go through John 14, 15, 16, and 17, last night, last hours on earth. And it's interesting as you go through those chapters, notice how many times Jesus Christ says, Father, Father, Father, Father, Father, Father, Father, Father. A term of endearment used over 40 times just in those chapters. Do you think He had a good relationship with His Dad? Think He was going to have to go through a trial that He didn't want to go? You betcha. But He had faith and He had love. What would His Father do for Him? Anything. Anything. What will Your Father do for you? Anything. Everything. So what Father doesn't watch His young children work and struggle with physical things as they're growing up? I remember I see my Dad mowing the yard. I was about seven or eight years old. I was seeing Him mowing the yard, pushing this mower. And I was just intrigued. God, man, that's great. Man, that looks like so much fun. You know, I want to do it. And then He'd say, no, no, no, you're too young. You're too small. I should have listened to it. Because by the time I got to be about 10 or 11, guess what? He let me go out and I was so excited, man, I was going to mow this yard and here I was going to be a man. And I grabbed a hold and I started pushing through that grass. And the fun ran out after a couple minutes. And I just turned it off and that wasn't the end of the story. My dad sat out there and watched me. Started back up, let's go, the whole yard. You wanted to do it. And he watched me struggle. Because the next week he made it even harder to let the grass grow even taller. And then I was just like this. But he stayed and he watched. And he watched me struggle. And then found out that there was this thing called rake after the grass was so tall. And I saw him do it and it looked fun. It wasn't fun. But I had to do it. And he made me. And he made me work. One of the greatest gifts my physical father ever gave me. Was work. And he loved me. That's why he did it. Because he knew it was for my good. How about yours? Teach your daughters to mop the floor. And you know they didn't do it right, but you had them do it. Teach them again. Or set the table. Prepare dinner.

Cooking. Well, that's something that takes practice, doesn't it?

And you all have to go through a trial if somebody's learning to cook something new. At your house, usually.

See, my father was always there when things got tough. When I would go through a trial. If it was too tough or too dangerous for me to handle, guess what? He stepped in. That's what your spiritual father does. That's what God the Father does. See, there's a plan being worked out down here. And we're in it. We're in it. And He wants to see us succeed. Yeah, it's interesting that you look at your sins, because I so think of this, of putting out the sins as we have all been examining ourselves. And we're standing there wondering, well, I worked on that last year and things still around. Still having trouble with this one. But you know what's interesting? When God promised then the nation of Israel to take them into the promised land. And He told them, something in Deuteronomy, He told them that He would take them in and they would defeat all the nations until they possessed all the land. But it's interesting how He put it in. And a friend told me this a couple of weeks ago, and that's what really helped me to see. And He told them He was going to let them defeat other nations, defeat other peoples one at a time. And as one Scripture says, little by little, you will take out those countries. Because He said if He didn't, one of the reasons that if He went in, and because God could have just taken all the nations and just had an earthquake, swallowed them all up, maybe gone. Joshua goes in with all the people, it would be just great. But He didn't do that, did He? Because He said if I take and destroy all the people, then the animals will reproduce so much faster that you will be fighting them. Another trial. So He said you will take the land little by little by little. Patience is going to take time. Brethren, we, to conquer sin. Boy, wouldn't it be nice if we just wiped it all out. And never have to worry any of the sins again. But it doesn't work that way, does it? You're not going to build character if there is no way possible for you to sin. But you're building Godly character. You're looking at the book. That's what's exciting. So when you look at your sins, and you look at this battle, as you're striving to be like Christ, remember little by little, and look up, and count on Him to help you little by little. Nobody ever said, conversion is a one-day thing. Conversion is a lifelong process. Everybody I've ever known, 50, 60, 70 years in church, it's a lifelong process. You're still overcoming yourself. That's what's important.

I want you to turn, if you're back to James. James 1.

James 1. Except this time, I'd like you to go to verse 12. It says, He said, He will receive the crown of life. He will receive eternal life. He will receive the reward of living with God in perfection forever. The crown of life. Which the Lord has promised to those who what? Love Him. Agape Him.

Do we love Him?

To those who love Him? Do you? Enough. Enough. How much is enough? Enough. How much is enough? He tells us how much He's enough, didn't He? Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your might, all your being, all your strength. That's enough. And I know I've said that, and I'll probably keep saying it, because that's what I have to look at every day. Okay. Can we trust God with all of our heart, our soul? You know, Passover is about renewing your vows, right? Renewing your vows. This is like you remember when you get married at your anniversary, right? Janaye, San, you remember when you got married today, I hope? Yes. Most of us do, don't we? Because you want to remember, because it was an important time in your life. It was when you made a major decision, and you said, I'm going to live the rest of my life like this. And I love that person. Well, how about Passover night? It's a memorial one time a year. You renew your vows. In front of God, saying, you will marry. Yes, son. That the church will marry Jesus Christ.

I don't know about you, but when we celebrate our anniversary, it's pretty nice. It's a good feeling. And even though it's a fairly solemn night, because it's a memorial, there should be something good in there, too. It needs to be that wonderful feeling that I'm here. And God knows I'm here. And He's called me. Renew my vows. And that bread, it helps to reaffirm the future, doesn't it? As we take that unleavened bread through the whole feast, and we try to eat it. And then it's a reminder of getting sin out of our lives, isn't it? That's what it reminds me of. I try to remember. Take that flat little bread. And it's so wonderful, because that's the training. Because we're going to live with no sin. We're going to live perfection in the Kingdom of God when we are changed, the Spirit of Being. There will be no more putting sin out of our lives. We will be like God, sinless, perfect. Perfectly now in His image, spiritually.

I want you to think about that during the spring holy days. All it is is training. I've heard people in the past say, oh, I just get tired. I've done it all, you know, so many years. It's just the same old same old. Really? Would you tell your wife that? Oh, Mary, it's all right. We don't have to do anything this year. It's the same old same old. How do you think it would make her feel? How do you think it makes God feel? Did you think He thought, well, did I pick the perfect bride for my son? Hmm. Now, you're going to go through some trials, we all do, that we're not very comfortable with. You ever want a plan B? I mean, you're in a plan. That's not what you want. And you ever prayed to God, no, God, take this away. I don't want to have to go through this. Have you ever cried for plan B? I have many times. And some guys I felt guilty about till I read the Scriptures, I realized Jesus Christ in last night said, is there another way? Is there a plan B, God?

Father said no. He said, okay. And that is liberating. When that is true faith. When you say, okay, God, I'll take this. You're in charge. I know you're the best. I know you're the smartest. You're the greatest.

We need a Christlike mind. If you'll turn a couple pages over to 1 Peter.

1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. Verse 19. I want to talk here about our family mindset. See, if you have the same mindset of the rest of the family all over the world. Verse 19. Peter says, For this is commendable, if because of conscience towards God, one endures grief, suffering, wrongdoing. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. And then I love this next verse. For to this you were called. For to this you were called. Can we do it? Are you willing to take it when you don't deserve it? Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth. Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. That we, having died, baptized, we buried the old man. Died to our sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned, what's returned? Repent 180 degrees to the shepherd and the overseer of your souls. Do we have the mindset, the family mindset? Can we take it? Isaiah 48, verse 10, you don't have to turn there because it talks about the nation of Israel and Judah and the trials they had to go through, and you understand that through history. But God said, Behold, I have refined you. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. And many of us in here can say, we've been through that too. And I thank God that I am counted worthy. Because you see, sometimes, brethren, a little faith in God is a lot of faith in God.

Do you have the faith? I know you probably know the story in Joshua 2, and you've probably heard it many times, but I like to refer to it today as the story of Rahab and the umbrella. You can say, I didn't know she had an umbrella back then. She did. Rahab and the umbrella, if you remember the story, God actually, through His sermons, told her, Bring in your father, your mother, your brother, and all your household goods to your own home. Remember, because Jericho was going to fall and everyone was going to be slaughtered. But He gave an umbrella to her, a spiritual umbrella to her and her family. Brethren, we have that same umbrella by God. Except sometimes, even if you realize you have an umbrella, you take it out in the rain, you're still going to get wet sometimes, aren't you? We're still going to get low down. But it doesn't mean you don't have an umbrella. And that's how we all work. I want you to think of something. I have another reminder. Juan, do you mind helping me out here? Get someone here. Don, do you mind coming over here?

Yes, I am a props person. I am a reminder person because it's that important. I want you to remember. I'd like to ask you not to open it yet. Could be a diamond in there, maybe. Since I talked about diamonds. Could be a penny in there. No.

But brethren, we...

Maybe we need to realize that we do need to be toughened up. And the God knows. God realizes that we sometimes, through the trials, need to have a little tougher, thicker skin. Is it because of now, or is it because of what we might have to go through? Or is it because of what we will be able to teach others later?

We cannot be the best we can be without trials. Trials make us stronger. Let me ask you something. A sailboat on column C goes where? Nowhere, does it? A sailboat on column C goes nowhere. It takes wind, doesn't it? It takes friction. It takes turbulence to build power. Do we want the power? We're going to have to go through some friction. If we want to be a sailboat that God can use, we're going to have to go through a little turbulence. Do you want to be stronger? Do you want to be the best you can be? Minister Charles Swindoll said one time, our Lord is searching for people who will make a difference. Are we here to make a difference? He said if you are, He's looking for those who will stand alone, stand tall, stand firm, and stand strong. That's what we've been called. Trials and tests reveal the genuineness and the strength of our faith. What are those things in your hand? You know what's in there? Anybody have a guess? Yes. Yes. Nothing. I guarantee I licked every one of those things. There is something else. Next time I'll use something to daub because that stuff stays on your taste buds for a couple of days. It's in there! You can open it or you can run your hands all around it and feel it. I'd like you to turn to Matthew 17. I'm going to let God tell you what it is. I'm going to let Jesus, because he's a reminder. Matthew 17 and verse 20. So Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief, for assuredly I say unto you, if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you will say to that mountain, Move here and there, and it will move. And nothing will be impossible for you. Rather than there is a mustard seed in that little container. If you have faith the size of that little mustard seed, that you can barely see, you can barely feel. But if you do it, you rub your hands over it, or you can open it up, you can see. He said, if you have faith that small, you can move mountains. I haven't been able to move any mountains. I've got some work to do. How about you? It's in there. That was interesting a few years ago. I actually used those same things at a feast sermon. Down in Caribbean somewhere, I gave another kind of sermon about faith. I think it was going back home. It was the last great day I spoke something. And I handed this out to people. And about six months, a year later, I received one in the mail back. And on it was a Scripture. It had faith. It had Matthew 17, verse 20. And a family had sent that back because a woman that I had given it to had died. And they said they thought I needed to see that she thought so much of that because she remembered her faith that she was dealing with health issues and getting older. She had that right next to her bed the last few weeks, days of her life. Said that was so important to her that she had faith in God. Still back in my home in Tennessee, it's up on my mantle. We need that kind of faith. We need that kind of faith. And it's so important. Our Father wants us to be like His Son, His firstborn. Are we? Do we want to be like His firstborn? Be like our big brother? When Christ was brought before that last day, when He was brought before Pilate, He said, are you a king? And He said, for this purpose, I was born. Why were you born, brother?

Says kings and priests in the coming Kingdom. In the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ told Him to be a king, that's why I was born. But first, He was going to have to suffer. And count it all joy. I turn to Hebrews now, as I begin to wrap this up.

Hebrews reminds us, of where we need to be. Hebrews 12.

Verse 7.

It says, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there not, whom a father does not chasten? Had a few people chasten in here, haven't we? Still haven't it done. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are legitimate and not really sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of the Spirit and live? For they, indeed, for a few days, chastened us as it seemed best to them. But He, for our prophet, that we may be partakers of His holiness. He's talking about holiness. Holy. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. That's what we are being trained. Daniel, trials, Abraham, trials, Elijah, trials, Paul, trials, three days of loss of sea, stoned, many times beaten with rot. One time they thought they killed Him and they took Him out and said, He got up the next day and had to walk to the next city to preach the gospel. Man.

And we see in Hebrews 11 that faith chapter. See all those people, what they went through? And it even said that Moses, he went there, he persevered. He had to persevere because he had these people, driving him crazy. And we, especially if you drive out on the interstate, in this town, you drive you crazy. You've got to persevere. But the other trials, it's about persevering. In Acts 16, it gives a story of Paul and Silas getting into trouble. And it tells of them being cast into this nasty, stinking, filthy, feces-filled, rat-infested prison because that's what they were. They made them so bad you didn't want to go there. And it's so interesting because they got them, they cast them, they beat them. And it says in verses 24 and 25, chapter 16, they beat them quite a few stripes. With many stripes, he beat them. And then they not only took them into prison, they cast them in a nasty place, but then they went and shackled their feet so they couldn't move. And what did Paul and Silas do? It blows my mind. It says they prayed and they sang songs to God. They prayed and they sang songs to God! And I look at myself and I've had a trial or two and I just want to go over and cry. Makes me think Paul would come over and say, you big sissy, get over it. Man up!

Wow, what an example. Talk to people who have gone through trials. They have the power to encourage. Maybe that's one of the reasons you're going through them now. You'll have the power to encourage. They have the power and the vision and the faith to see the end of the tunnel. I don't know if you've ever been there. In Tennessee, we didn't have many tunnels. They tunnel through a little. You can just see a little bit.

You can see the other end from one side. I remember the first time I went to Chesapeake Bay. They have a tunnel. If you've ever been to Chesapeake Bay Tunnel, they went under the ocean, under the water. And you drive through there. And I go through this tunnel and it's like a mile long. It may be longer than that.

I don't know, but I just kept... I'm like, man, am I ever going to get out of here? Okay, what if somebody has a wreck up there? What if somebody drops something and water starts coming through? I'm sitting there going, why? I've never been through it before. Never experienced it. Now I look at it and hey, this is nice. The first time you go through things, it helps change your mind.

Farmers, they've seen tough times. If you're a first year farmer, you may want to go talk to somebody that's been farming for 20 or 30 years. Say you're going to have droughts. What about mothers? You're not as scared as your second child, are you? You're a better mother probably a second time around. Are you not worried? You're not jumping up while he's not breathing. Right? If you've ever been a salesman, you'll find out what a drought is. This doesn't happen to farmers, it happens to salesmen. Everyone has them, where you couldn't sell anything to anybody. And a builder. Now a builder builds your house.

What do you want? Do you want that guy building his very first house? Your house or the 50th? I'll take the 50th. I think he's learned quite a bit. Members of God's family, we should be veterans of trials. Because no one gets into the kingdom of God, rather than without trials. No one is going to get into the kingdom of God without trials.

I love it how Theologian Warren Wiersby puts it. He says, our values determine our evaluation. Okay? Our values determine our evaluation. If we value comfort more than characters, trials will upset us. If we value material and physical things more than the spiritual things, trials will upset us. You've been there. I've been there. We see people who have come to church very first few times. You know, they come into services. They're all excited. They get excited.

Then they get baptized. And they're just like, rah, rah. They're just like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just like the biggest cheerleader you've ever seen. And then trials come upon them and they're out the door. I didn't count on this. Good brethren, God doesn't want cheerleaders. He wants players. He wants players. You ever seen cheerleaders after a cheer? Right? I went to my nephew's at, like, freshman football a few years ago.

And we would go and see them play. And it's so interesting because, you know, the game, you can't really tell that much from up in the stands because it's definitely not Joe Montana playing. But it's so interesting because I would watch this and then as soon as they had time out, the cheerleaders would come over and they would cheer. And they were just like, you know, and they would put this big cheer out. They'd be like, oh, yeah, and just put on.

And then they would come to the sidelines afterward. Did they, were they watching the game? No. They were what? Looking at their hair. Oh, how did I look? How's my hair? Oh, did you? Oh, you did great. Did they know that the guy was running for a touchdown?

No! They weren't really in the game. Nothing gets cheerleaders, in case any of you were ever cheerleaders. Just an analogy. Matthew 24 in verse 13, Christ says, He who endures to the end shall be saved. He who endures to the end shall be saved. It's a marathon, not a sprint. There's no hundred meter run in this Christian life. It's a marathon. So, like Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life. Fight! I'll wrap up this sermon with the last verse.

I do want to thank everybody today. Came in and we only started five minutes late. For you to say, what? That's good for this congregation. We're getting there.

James 1. It's where we started. James 1. 1. My brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Lacking nothing.

Interesting, the patience there, the Greek word, actually means endurance. And it actually references standing under pressure. Standing under pressure. For you engineers, and you want to try to prop up a barn, or try to prop something up, you got to have something ready to stand under pressure. And that's what James is telling us. Back in Tennessee, I don't know, I haven't seen him here. We have what you call Bradford pear trees. Do you have Bradford pears here? No. No. Nobody knows. But you can get a Bradford pear in everybody, and we had a bunch put in our yard. We first built our house, because there were many trees around. We're like, oh, we want these trees, and you can buy a Bradford pear, and it grows two or three feet a year. So in four or five years, Bradford pear gets big! We didn't want to do that. We didn't want an oak tree, because an oak tree only grows a couple inches a year. But what happens in a storm? Bradford pears, they branches, they break off, they split in two.

God is not planting Bradford pears in this church. He's planting oaks. It's going to take some time. He wants us to be able to stand under pressure.

Trials will come and go, but it's the school of life where we learn the most of what we really know.

What do you know? As you prepare to take the holy days, you prepare to take Passover and keep the days of Unleavened Bread, what's important to you? If Christ came into your life, would you take Him in and say, look at my house, you won't find a bed of leavening anywhere here? You think that's the way He came to see? What's in here? What's in here? And then how you revere the Father, and how you keep that Passover. And no matter what you do, it is only through Him that we are cleansed. Yes, we should do the work, but look up, look to Him. You really want to be cleansed. You really want to put sin out of your life, because He's going to tell you, little by little, little by little, perseverance, we have to keep at it. The trials are going to work on us. W.D. 40, it's a visual perseverance. Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Count it all joy that you've been counted worthy. Yes, worthy. Observe His Holy Days, and that He calls you out of this world. But just remember during this time, it's more Him than us. It is more Him than us. Keep the faith. Keep your little packet, because that's a reminder of how much faith takes to move a mountain, and how much faith God wants to give you. How much faith to be in His Kingdom, to trust Him with everything. Count it all joy.

W.D. 40, it's a visual perseverance.

Thank you, brethren. Before our last song, anybody who would like to come up and accompany me, since Mr. If at all, if not, okay, that's fine too. Okay.