What Happens at Death?

So, what happens to a Christian when he dies? Where is Jimmy Hutto right now? And why do we not mourn as others do? Most of us know the answer to that question. I do not assume that all of us know the answer to that question, but most of us do. You know what? It's good to go over it anyway. It's good to go through it and be encouraged that a better day is coming. I thought we'd start with a little doctrinal walkthrough and then end with a little Christian living. What happens to a man, period, when he dies? You know, men are different from animals. And in Job 32, verse 8, it makes a very plain statement. Job 32, in verse 8, we gain our doctrine by going back to the original statements made about life and death. Because those are the statements that the apostles used to springboard off of and teach us what we know about doctrine. So, we need to go back and understand what the apostles knew. And in Job 32, verse 8, the apostles knew this, but there is a spirit in man. And the inspiration, and I'm reading from the Old King James in this because it translates it so well. This is just a plain old King James. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. You know, we're not like an animal. You can love an animal. In fact, some people are devastated when their animal dies because they become part of the family. But it's really not the same as a person.

You can't relate to an animal and really connect with an animal like you can a person. And you can connect with a lot of animals. Like, if you have a good lap cat that just sits there and purrs on your lap, I mean, you feel love. And that cat feels love. And when you pet that cat and that purr goes through, there's something very therapeutic about that. But there isn't that connection, that, what's the meaning in life? Yeah, I feel that way, too. You really can't do that with a cat! Physically, we're very similar. We have similar organs that do similar functions. We have physical brains. Both animals and people are meatheads. But there's something different in us, and that's what Job is describing. There's a spirit in man. And that word for spirit is ruach in Hebrew. No, I'm not pretending like I can actually pronounce that correctly. But ruach, I want to give a definition of a little bit beyond the Strong's Concordance definition. It simply means literally wind or breath, mind or spirit. Some of the ways that it's used in Hebrew are spirit, animation, divacity or vigor. It's what gives man his vigor. There's something in us that's not physical, that makes us who we are. This is what the apostles of Jesus Christ knew and based their teachings on. This is where we need to start. It's what gives us courage, according to Brown Driver Briggs, as a gift preserved by God. It's something that's preserved by God. This was the original meaning of that word for spirit. It's what we need to know. It's the word spirit as a seat or organ of mental acts. In other words, our mental capacity is not physical, like a cat or a dog or a cow. Do you know cows have personalities? They do. They all have their own personalities. Some of them are really stubborn. Some are docile and follow you around. Some of them are really energetic. Some of them just lolly-gag around. But they don't have the mental capacity that a man has. Human beings are different because there is the spirit in us. Sometimes the word spirit, in rare cases, is used for our will, our very will, our very inner core. That's what it means when it says there's a spirit in man. It's not just our mental capacity, it's our will, our inner motives.

And it's where our moral character is stored. In fact, it says in the dictionary, it's especially for storing our moral character. I notice a lot of you are squinting because of those curtains. We're running behind and getting those curtains up there. Those windows are shining through. We're going to have that done this week. That's the plan. They're already made. Hazel Bauer made them for us. Thank you, Hazel. And they're already made. We just have to put them up. So we didn't put them up today because it's the Sabbath. So I know some of you are squinting out there. I can tell. It's hard. So feel free to look away. It's not going to hurt my feelings. And we'll get that done. So there is something different in us. So what happens to us when we die? Not just Christians, but all men. Well, according to the Old Testament, according to the original Scriptures that the apostles based all of their doctrines on, death is just sleep. It's just sleep. It's not non-existent that the neo-Darwinists teach in our schools today that when you die, you no longer exist. And it's not some phantom existence like some of the Eastern religions teach, which is simply an extension of the lie that Satan told in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve, if you eat of this tree, you will not die. You have an immortal soul. And so there's this immortal soul theory that weaves in its way, in and out of religions, all across the world. And if you want to test whether or not a religion is of God or a false religion, one way, a quick way to test that is do they teach that you will not die. You will just go into a different plane of existence. If they do, they're simply telling the lie that Satan told in the Garden of Eden. No, death is actually sleep. Lights out, Psalm 13, verse 3. Consider and hear me, O Lord. David is pleading, hear me now. Why? What's the big deal? He can hear you after you're dead, right? No. Consider and hear me, O Lord, my God, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. In Ecclesiastes chapter 9, David's son, Solomon, continues on this thought. What is this sleep like? And I just want to pick and choose because I read from Ecclesiastes a couple of weeks ago when I spoke to the teens. So I just want to touch on a few things. There is no thought in the grave where we go. Our mind is turned off. And I want to talk about that after we read these Scriptures. Why that's such a good thing, a really good thing, for the person and for everybody else. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 5, Skip down now to verse 10.

Why is that a good thing? Because it's peace. It's peace. Do you remember when you were three? I don't. But I remember having three-year-olds. I've had four of them. And I've seen lots of other people with their three-year-olds. You know what? Most three-year-olds absolutely hate unless they're riding in a car and they have no choice but to be rocked asleep. And that is taking a nap. Oh, just take a nap. Just give me a spanking. No, take a nap. No, I'd rather miss food than go to sleep. Don't make me take a nap, please. You can have my toy. And we're like that with death.

We are. We're like that. I don't want to take a nap. It's not time for a nap. But when you wake up, you have such a better day. All of that crankiness and that stress is gone. And you wake up, especially when you're three. When you're near fifty, you don't wake up refreshed.

But when you're three, you just wake up brand new. Like, oh, wow! I'm ready to go. And that's what happens with death. We wake up brand new. Gone through a life full of stress and good. There's both good and evil in this life. But you know, a guy like Jimmy Hutto, he ran his race. He was victorious. And now he gets to rest. He gets to sleep. And you know what he's not doing? Which would be more stress for him and stress for everybody else.

He's not sitting up on a cloud somewhere, looking down, plucking a harp, actually in his case, playing a fiddle, and judging everybody else for what they're doing. Now, I taught him not to do that. They better quit it. It causes him stress. It causes other people stress. I used to sell insurance a long time ago, well, decades ago now. And I was in this elderly woman's house, me and my partner. And my partner was a nurse, former nurse.

Now, I've been turned an insurance agent. And we were with this lady, and she confided in us. She lived in a dark house, and everything was black. And I thought, oh, she's in mourning. She just lost her spouse. The furniture was dark. The walls were dark. The picture frames were black. The furniture was black. She wore dark clothes. She kept the windows fairly shut. I mean, we could see. It's not like we tripped over things, but it was very dim in the house. It's a very gloomy picture.

We walked in, and we're like, wow. You know, poor lady. She's really gloomy. And she told us that her husband had died years ago, a long time ago. I don't remember how long ago. But I remember sitting there thinking, wow, you know, that's a long time. You need to move on. And she wouldn't move on, because before her husband died, he said, you promised me you'd never marry again, that he would be watching. Oh, are you kidding me? And she lived in torture of that. Torture of the fact that her spouse was watching her.

I told my kids, I know it was a difficult thing for them to hear. I said, if I die, you allow mom to be remarried. She's a beautiful woman. She deserves love. If I'm gone, I'm out. I have run my race. I'm victorious. She still has a race to run. That's how we should feel about – I mean, not right now. They're not looking at my wife that way. She's my wife. Right? But when I'm gone, it's a different story.

God had it all figured out perfectly. When we're gone, we sleep. And when we sleep, nothing. Peace. Oh, and we don't like that. I know. I don't like – I don't want to die. I don't have some morbid wish. I want to raise my children to follow God. That's what I want to do. That's going to take a long time.

My youngest is eight. But what if I did die? I would be at peace. That's what. No thought in the grave where you're going. So what happens then? What happened to Jimmy? Where is he? He still exists. Where is he? Well, he's in heaven. He just preached him in heaven! Oh, no! No, no, no, no. Ecclesiastes 12. Okay, I'm playing with you a little bit. I know. I'm sorry. Ecclesiastes 12. And verse 6. Just read this a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait – that's his new living translation, by the way. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well, for then the dust will return to the earth. Our body is just part of the ground.

God has it perfectly designed that we just turned back into the earth. And the Spirit will return to God who gave it. I look at death as a baby sleeping in the arms of his father. Now, that's just figurative. That's not literal. But have you ever held your baby when your baby was tired and cranky? Have you ever done that or held a baby and that baby falls asleep in your arms? So peaceful. You know, when that baby's cranky, they can really grate your nerves.

Right? They're anxious. They make you anxious. It's time for you to take a nap. But when they take a nap, how precious is that child? Resting in your arms. It's a beautiful thing. Oh, it's sad for us. When somebody dies, it's terrible. I mean, we feel choked up and horrible. We don't get to see them again for the rest of our awake time. Until we have to take a nap. We don't get to play with them anymore. But they get to take a nap. And when they wake up, brand new body, totally rejuvenated, can't wait to hear that fiddle.

Where does he go? To God. Now, I want you to notice something here. Doctrinally speaking, it doesn't say that evil men die and go to hell, and good men die and their spirit goes to God. There is no delineation whatsoever. When a man dies, good or evil, his body turns to dust, his spirit goes to God. And then he waits to be woken up, resurrected.

Now, I've given a sermon already on the resurrection, so I'm not going to go through that again, because we don't have time for that. Just a little bit. Because today, I want to talk about the first resurrection. The resurrection in Christ. Our resurrection. Hebrews 11 and verse 35. What happens when a man dies in the face? When a woman dies in the face? Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter, going through all the different examples of faith that are listed in that chapter. And then in verse 35, it says, women receive their dead, raised to life again.

Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. There are examples of actual resurrections in the Bible. That they might obtain a better resurrection. There's more than one, and the first one is better. What are some of the things that make that resurrection better? Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 4. And then I saw thrones, and them that sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Now, judgment isn't condemnation. Most of the time, in context of the Bible, judgment is making decisions to defend those who are weak.

So yes, sometimes there's punishment involved in judgment. Clearly, there's punishment involved in judgment. But punishment is not the entire concept of judgment. Judgment is a lot bigger than just a small aspect of punishment. Judgment is actually defending the weak. Making sure that righteousness happens. Making sure that people get along and treat each other well.

I saw judgment was committed to them. And then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image. You know, some Christians are going to be killed. They're not going to have received deliverance. They're going to die for their faith.

Then their spirit goes to God. And then this happens to them. And had not received his mark on the foreheads of their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. As the bride of Christ, we assist him in making things better. You go through a lifetime of trials and you think, oh, please deliver me from this trial. And sometimes God doesn't deliver you from that trial because of this. So that you are ready to help Jesus Christ make things better in the future. You're being molded and shaped. And you know, we pray when someone gets sick and they go into hospice that God will intervene.

But God's preparing that person for something far greater than a few more days in this lifetime. Sometimes God says, you know what? It's okay. Time for a nap.

Verse 5, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So there's another resurrection. But the one that John is describing here, at the end of verse 5, this is the first resurrection. Where the saints will be given judgments. Where they will be the bride of Christ. And they will go around and they will help people who are squabbling or fighting. You owe me money! You called me this so-and-so! And we will step in between and we will say, this is the way. Walk ye in it. Yeah, but he owes me money. He does owe you money. Why don't you give him a few days to pay it off? Oh, yeah, I could do that. Okay.

Verse 6, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Blessed? Extremely blessed. You know? Spiritual body. No pain whatsoever. The ability to fly. I think that's awesome. Want to go somewhere? You're there. Oh, I've got an appointment at a cafe. Coffee time? Bam! And you're there. And holy. Set apart as special to God. You know, how many people walk through life doing the most outrageous things, wearing the most outrageous clothes, piercing themselves with the most outrageous piercings in the oddest locations of their body so that they will appear?

Somebody. I'm special. This is my identity. Who am I? Am I not special? People cry out just to be special. Well, guess who's special? People in the first resurrection. God looks down on them and goes, these are my kids! I love them. They're special. Not only are they blessed, have everything you could want, they're holy. They're special to God. Imagine that. You don't have to have pink hair. You just have to follow God. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. A lot of people get choked up at death, and I'm one of them. I'm teaching this, and I understand this, and I still get choked up. If I go to a funeral of my own family member, I'm not doing that funeral. Promise you I won't. Some people can. I cannot. But I'm not, you know, despairing. Like, oh, life is terrible. Why do we even live? No, it's just, hey, I missed them.

I won't be with them for a while. I missed them. But they are victorious. I still have a job to do, clearly, because I'm still drawing breath. 1 Thessalonians 4. Let's read verses 13 through 18. So, just in review, when we die, the spirit that God put in us, the thing that makes us actually who we are, what we are, is not this body that we're in, but rather something that's not physical, that just rests in this body.

Goes to God when we die and we're completely asleep. And if we die in Jesus Christ, we were repented, baptized, and received God's Holy Spirit. There is a first, better resurrection where we will be blessed and holy, where we will be the Bride of Christ. And in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 13, we are encouraged. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. Now, here we can see that the apostles are pointing back to the original doctrine taught in the Law and the Prophets, in what we call the Old Testament Scriptures. They refer to death as sleep, just like it did in Psalms and in Ecclesiastes.

Paul says, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. I actually feel pity for people who believe in evolution. I do. They literally have no hope. And I feel some pity for those people who believe in the immortal soul, heaven, and hell doctrine. Because I remember a lady I worked with, and I've told you this before, but it's relevant. I told her I didn't keep Christmas, and she was like, oh, she gave an expletive.

And she said, everybody ought to keep Christmas, Rod. And she was all, you know, into her faith, and I appreciated it. I appreciated the fact she was into her faith. So that opened up sort of a dialogue at work, and she would bring up religious things every once in a while, trying to convert me, trying to save me, which again, I appreciated. She wasn't against me at all. Her doctrines were wrong. She didn't carefully understand and read the entire Bible and get what the apostles were actually trying to say. But she had a concern, and I really liked her a lot.

And one day she told me that her husband was not a believer. He believed in evolution. She was so worried about that, and I pity people like that. She was worried because her husband was going to die. They weren't spring chickens. And some day he was going to die, and he was going to go to hell. He was going to be tormented forever. And they don't understand 1 Thessalonians. They don't understand Ecclesiastes 12 or 9 or Job 32. I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.

I tried to tell that lady, he's going to be fine. She would have none of it. Verse 14, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. We have a brand new crop of teens coming up. We're going to start refilling that teen group. It's going to become a large group again. And we have to teach these things all over again. Did Jesus Christ really die? And was he resurrected? Can you be confident in that? How do you know God even exists?

Did he create everything? We taught the older teens that. We're going to go back and teach the younger teens now. At least you'll have a chance to know. It's your decision to make, because you will have all the information you need.

Verse 15, For this we say, if by the word of the Lord, that you who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. We don't get to go first. Unless we're in the grave. Jimmy Hutto and all of those who have gone before actually get to go before those who are alive. A lot of people ask, you know, things are looking really bad out there. Do you think the end times are coming? But yeah, yes, absolutely they are. When are they coming? Look at the history of God bringing ancient Israel down. He would punish them, and people would go, it's the end! It's the end! He would send a prophet to tell them, repent! They wouldn't repent. He would punish them again. It's the end! It's the end! They wouldn't repent. And he would bring them down in steps. And that's what he prophesied that he would do in Deuteronomy. Before he ever let them go into the land, he told them that he would punish them in steps. And that is exactly what happened. They were immoral. They were cheating each other. They were sexually immoral. They had false gods. And God punished them over and over again. Generations passed by, and God punished them. And a lot of people look at how bad things are and say, well, it can't last much longer. I remember that in the 1980s. The height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union, and the Communist bloc was building up arms against the West. And you know what? It just took one bomb. One bomb to go off, and it wasn't going to last much longer.

God punishes in steps, and he fulfills every prophecy that he has prophesied. I don't know when the end is going to come. I know it's coming. I know things are really bad. But look at it from this perspective. I'm a child of the born in the 1960s, so I knew the late 60s. Not too much, but still too little. Early 70s, late 70s. That was a weird decade. Very immoral in America. Very America shaking its fist at God. Don't tell me what to do. But then there was kind of a revival in the 1980s in America. Ronald Reagan became the president. Conservatism swept the country. Everybody started dressing preppy. You look at the sitcoms of the 1970s, and there's lots of tight clothing, not enough clothing, all kinds of things. Then you go to the sitcoms of the 1980s. Button-down colors, sweaters, plaid, all the things you would associate with. Conservatism. We actually had a conservative revival in the United States. Now look what's happened. Wow! It's like a different world, literally. It's not even the country that we grew up in, but it's the country our kids are growing up in. And some people stop and say, well, we don't have any work to do. We don't have to preach the gospel anymore. We have to preach it more now than we did in the 1980s, and we really preached it hard then. Because what if our generation is not the generation that sees Jesus Christ's return? We don't know! What if it's not even my children's generation? What if it's their generation? Imagine the perspective of their generation. They didn't grow up when there was a conservative revival in the United States. It's going to be just immoral all the time. They're going to have to stand up in Sodom and Gomorrah if time goes on that long. They're going to have to be born in and grow up in Sodom and Gomorrah. It's sort of a combination between Sodom and Gomorrah and the pre-Flood era, where it was violence all the time. Imagine gross immorality and violence all at the same time. Yeah, there's a work to do. As long as Jesus Christ has not returned, we preach the gospel. For if we believe that Jesus died, verse 14 of Thessalonians 4, verse Thessalonians 4, verse 14, And rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead, and Christ will rise first. Then those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Oh, we'll be with them. We'll be right behind them. And we'll meet them up there. But they actually get to go first. I think that's pretty neat. They don't miss out on anything. They run their race. They finish their race. They take a nap. And when the time comes, we all go together and meet Jesus Christ. And they get to go first. And we come in right behind them.

Then those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. It will be a better day. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. A better day is coming. How bad is that trial that you're going through? We can't tell how much time is left. But God has given us a big job to do. And we have to help people put on a new man. Become a new person. Colossians 3, verse 9 Colossians 3, verse 9 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercy. This is our calling. Kindness, humility, meekness, and long suffering.

To back that up, Psalm 37, verse 11 Psalm 37, verse 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Abundant peace. When we get old, our bodies revolt against us. It becomes hard to get out of bed. You have to stretch just to move. The eyes dim, the teeth stop working so well, your shoulders don't work, your legs don't work, you're afraid of falling because you'll break something.

A little child just goes run as fearless. Indestructible, so they think. They run everywhere. They fall down. They cry when they get their knees. They get back up. When they start again, running. You get to a certain age, you just want to hold the wall or hold the chairs. Move along carefully and slowly. But then, you take a nap and you wake up, and there's a way better body, and a way better day, and it's not just peace.

It's abundant peace. It spreads like a virus, and it takes over everything. It's just peace. Walking around, the animals don't even eat each other anymore. There's no stress. Abundant peace. When someone dies in Christ, they're victorious. Peace is in their future. How much peace? Habakkuk 2, verse 14. Now, Habakkuk was right in the middle of the most immoral time of ancient Israel. Just immoral, and he was just pleading with God.

And the one little statement, poked in the middle of that plea, gives hope to the future. How much peace? Habakkuk 2, verse 14. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. If you ever stood on the beach, go to the feast in Galveston and read this scripture and consider it. And you know what you should do?

Just to get the power of this scripture is walk into the waves. Unfortunately in Galveston, there's not too many waves. You can hardly even boogie board. Get into a river that's flowing. Try to stand under a small waterfall. Have you ever done that?

I have done that. A small, little waterfall. Boom! Knock you right down. Water is enormously powerful. Right? I've been boogie boarding. I don't surf, but I do boogie board. In the Atlantic, not the Pacific, where the waves are big. In the Atlantic, where the waves are small. And I got caught in a riptide, one of those under toes that pulls you backwards. Now it wasn't a hard one.

I mean, it just took me down and drug me along the sand for a little bit and let me go. Fortunately. Or unfortunately, however you look at that. Water is powerful. I was a ragdoll. I had no say in the matter whatsoever. None. I couldn't swim. You know, they'd say, well, swim to the side or swim with it. Just hold your breath and go with it, buddy.

Because that's all you can do. When water gets going, it's going. How much peace will there be on the earth? As much as the water covers the sea. Water is enormous. So I encourage you to remember that at the Feast of Tabernacles, if you're near water. We live in an evil world, one that Habakkuk describes. But it's the saints who will help make things right. And you know what? When they have lived their life and they have done their duty, they deserve a nap. Because there's a big job coming. And they have deserved that nap. Isaiah 11 and verse 4. Remember we talked about judging and how judging is so much more than punishment? Well, here's an example of that.

Isaiah 11 and verse 4. But with the righteous he shall judge the poor. Does that mean punish the poor? No. It means stand up for the poor. It means he will be somebody who's there for the downtrodden and the poor. And decide with equity for the meek of the earth. He shall strike the earth with a rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

All the wicked will be slayed, but equity will be given to the poor. Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 12. Zephaniah 3 and verse 12. Who will be there? Who will have that abundant peace that Habakkuk talks about? Who will be the defender of the meek of the poor? That Isaiah talks about.

Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 12. I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people. That's who. A meek and humble people. And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.

Do we trust God? Do we trust him? Are we humble or are we proud? When we consider the death of a brother, you know, it's time to stop and reflect. We all depend on breath to live. And when we breathe our last, we won't be on this earth anymore. So you have to ask yourself, since we know that for everybody, death is coming, what really matters now?

Will it matter a thousand years from now? If so-and-so still owes you a hundred bucks? If so-and-so still can't get your name right after twenty years? Will it matter that they spoke a bad word about you to your friends? It won't. Will it matter that they thought you can't eat out on the Sabbath, or they thought that you could eat out on the Sabbath? It won't. It won't matter. What matters is the person. You know, God's going to clear all of that up, all of those doubtful things that we dispute over.

He's going to clear it all up. One of the main reasons I wanted to move here, to this hall, was to relieve that stress. Some people eat out on the Sabbath, some people don't. And those of you who don't, by the way, are doing a very good job of this, of not complaining about those who do.

So what I wanted to do was make sure that we had a place where we could all be together after services. And if you wanted to bring your food, bring your food. If you want to heat it up, heat it up. We've got a kitchen right there. Just clean up. Make sure it's spotless when we leave. And make sure you don't get in the way of the people who are running the kitchen. Ask first, but it's there for us. One of the main reasons, but you know what? Will it matter? It won't. What you do with your life while you're on this side of the ground does matter. So let's read the final scripture, Romans 12, verses 9-21. This kind of sums it up. Romans 12, starting in verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. Don't be phony. Actually, love. Abhorr evil. Now, Paul's going to end with this, too. So keep that thought in your mind. Abhorr evil. Anything that's against God, abhor it. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Any of those things. Just abhor them in your life. Clean to what is good. And then he goes on to say, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. You know, taking care of each other's physical needs, that kind of thing. Praying for one another when they lose their job. You know, we've got some people who've lost their job, both here and in Austin. We need to be praying for them. Brotherly love. In honor, giving preference to one another. Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit. Serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope. Oh, we do have a lot of hope, brethren. And that helps us do the next thing. Patient in tribulation. Continuing steadfastly in prayer. You know, when we go through trials and tribulations, a lot of times we stop praying, which is the opposite thing that we should do. When you go through a trial, pray more. Continuing steadfastly in prayer. Verse 13. Distributing to the needs of the saints.

You know, and that's not just the food bank. The food bank is that, the clothing exchange is that, but, you know, there's also that not letting the left hand know what your right hand is doing. Just quietly giving to people to fill their needs. And they don't even know you did it. Your reward is great when you don't seek human praise for your taking care of each other. You don't give it so that somebody will blow the trumpet and go, look at so-and-so! So generous and so good. Oh, I want to be like that person who floats on a carpet and does this. No! Oh, distribute to the needs of the saints. Given to hospitality, bless those who persecute you. Oh, the freeway is the best place to test that. It's not the best place. It's most, what, immediate place to test that? Wow! You talk about persecution, they jump right in front of you in ridiculous speeds with not enough room for their car to fit, and you have to slam on the brakes and keep your mouth shut.

You know you're doing a bad job when your kids in the back seat are saying the things that you normally say? You know you've trained them well.

Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. You know what? It's okay to be a little emotional. Not so stoic all the time. That's hard for the American male to do. But we need to learn to do that better. Actually, live life to its full. Be the same mind towards one another. Do not set your mind on high things. Don't be better than other people! Don't play that game! Positioning has no place in your life. Well, how do I rank? Where do I measure? I'm a better this than them. It doesn't matter. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. So many things that can trip us up. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. And if possible, as much as depends on you, what do we do? When a brother dies and we consider what really matters? If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. As it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay. And God repays by fixing everything. Everybody pays what they're supposed to pay, and everybody has the opportunity to repent. And when we have vengeance, nobody better repent because we're going to get them. God's vengeance is so different than ours. Verse 20. Verse 19. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in doing so, you will heat coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil. Where did we start in this passage? Of whoring evil. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. When we fall asleep, we have no knowledge, no device, no work. So make the time that you have now on this earth count. Become a meek and humble person. Imagine that. We're meek and humble Texans. That's a tall order. But this group can do that. As it says in Philippians 2, verse 12, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Strive to make every day count. Give the forgiveness you've been denying. Replace stubborn pride with a meek and teachable heart. And do not be overcome by the evil of this world, but overcome evil with good.