Those That Finish Strong

We’re in Job Chapter 1. I want to talk about one of my favorite characters tonight in the Bible. And, of course, it’s Job. As you read it, it’s not just him going through his trial. It’s his friends talking. There’s a lot of reference to Jesus Christ: Job 19:25 says, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” He’s talking about Jesus coming back one day. Job was the great sufferer of the Old Testament. Jesus, the great sufferer of all sufferers not only suffered physically but suffered spiritually, died, suffered our hell for us.

Job. What a story! What a story! Let’s look at just some highlights, please. Job 1:1: “There was a man in the land of Uz…” and I always think of Oz when I read that. How many people are who are kinda like me? Okay, Disney people here. The Wizard of Oz—no, that’s not it. Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect…” “Perfect” means mature, upright. That meant that he was straight in his living. He was not a crook, “…and one that feared…” That means deeply respected God. “…and eschewed…” or kept a distance from “…evil. And there were born unto him…”He must have been pro family. I saw a billboard yesterday when I was in Wisconsin, and it said, “Smile, your mother was pro-life.” Oh, I thought that was pretty good right there.

And so, “…there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters, [3] his substance…” So that meant he had some things. The government didn’t just give it to him. I guess they didn’t know how to run the government back then. You had to work for what you got, and you probably appreciated it. “…his substance also was seven thousand sheep.” That meant he had a textile company because sheep wool would be spun for the clothing industry. “…three thousand camels…” You could say he had a limousine service. You could order one humper or two humper limo. “…and five hundred yoke of oxen…” That would basically equate to tractors. He had farm equipment “…and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east…” He was a businessman. He worked hard, and so he had a lot.

Let me just say this. Capitalism is a good thing. America has always rewarded the person that works hard. You can come here to the land of opportunity, have nothing, work hard, climb the ladder, and with God’s blessings, you can have some things. It’s not the government’s place to extra tax you out of that Job you worked hard for. So here it is. Now, if you make a lot of money, we’re gonna tax 80% or 60%. Hey, take it even 10% off everybody and call it even. Don’t tax someone and penalize them for working hard and being blessed. It’s just a different day. Well, this person has nothing. Well, maybe he didn’t work. He has nothing, so let’s take all the money that the rich people have made and give it to the people who decided not to work or may be or lazy or may be were not as innovative. That’s that is not Bible. That’s not Bible. And that’s why we’re in the mess that we’re in.

So, here’s Job. He worked hard. He had some things. Never be ashamed that your Heavenly Father has spoiled you as His child. If you drive a nice car, praise God for that. Never be ashamed. You inherit something and you’re pulling into church with a new car—maybe a 2003 or something like that. That doesn’t leak. Hey, thank God for the old cars. That’s the only thing keeping our parking lot going right now. The oil just kind of keeps it going.

So, here’s Job. He is pro-work. He’s a hard worker. He’s a businessman. He is pro-life. His children are alive. He is committed. He got married He’s got a wife, and he’s a good man. He’s a good example. God looks at him and says he’s straight, he’s honest. he’s mature, he’s got a lot of things going.

And it says in Job 1:4: “And his sons went and feasted in their houses…” Feasts meant that they knew how to celebrate. They knew how to get along. The boys got along. They were not fighting and feuding and distant, and none of this, “We haven’t spoke, we’re never speaking to you again.” They “feasted in their houses, every one his day…” that refers to their birthday. So they were a family that celebrated. And let me encourage you: Every family ought to make a big of their kids birthdays, their mom and dad’s birthday. Whether it’s an anniversary, make big of that. And kids, if you’re living at home, encourage and make big of your parents’ birthdays. Birthdays are not just a time for kids to get presents. It’s a time for kids to get presents to their parents, too. So you say, Where would you be without your parents? you wouldn’t be here.

Job 1:5: “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them…” And of course, he prays for them. Job 1:6: “It may be that my sons have sinned…” He says it may be it just maybe my kids are not perfect. Uh huh. It just may be. “Not my kid. My kid would never do that.” Job thought may be my kids did. Maybe my kids will. Maybe my kids are doing well, but maybe in their heart, they’re not. He says, “Maybe they’ve cursed God in their hearts.” “Thus did Job continually.” What a guy. What a man.

Job 1:6 “Now there was a day…” and quickly, you know, the sons of God and devil shows up. There’s this conference and he’s talking to God. And God brags on Job. It’s one thing for people to brag on you; It’s another thing for God Who knows everything to brag on you. Here’s what God said to Satan. Job 1:8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job…” So, Job did not just serve money. He did not spend his life just making money to buy things. Somehow in there, he also served God. Job 1:8: “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth…” That put him at number one position on planet Earth. “…a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and escheweth evil.” Job 1:9: “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not made a hedge about him?”

You know the story. Look at the last phrase of verse 10, “and thou hast blessed…” There it is again, “…the work of his hands.” God blesses his work. Let me encourage you. You’re a young person here tonight, “Man. I wish I had a nice bicycle.” Work for it. Buy one. “I wish I had these new Kaepernick shoes. They kneel every time you put…” No, no, no. “The new Air Jordans or…” I need the work for it. Don’t always ask your parents. There’s jobs to do. Get a lawn mower. Go through the neighborhood. Pick some weeds. And so it says “he blessed the work of his hands.”

Verse 11: “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” By the way, it’s always been a contest of Satan against God. Satan hates you and me because we remind him of God. God is Father, Son. Holy Ghost—a trinity. We’re body, soul, spirit. We’re made in the image of God. We’re not animals. Were not a porpoise. We’re not a spotted owl. We’re not a monkey. We’re not an ape. We have a living soul that will live forever. No animal has that. How do I know if your dog gonna be up in Heaven? Is your cat going to Heaven? Mine won’t be none of mine. None of mine. Maybe yours. None of mine. If you just got around mine you would know they’re not going to Heaven.

“And so he had blessed him.” So, here’s Satan. He says, “I want to take him down so You get less glory.” That’s what it’s all about. Any time Satan wrecks a Christian’s life it’s so now, “God, that’s your child. What kind of God are you? Look at how they live.” And that’s why God deserves glory from our life. We have got to be sold out to God. We’ve got a God that’s a creator Who loves us, Who is consistent, Who is faithful. He is our peace. He’s our joy. He’s everything to us. We need to give Him that glory. And that’s what Job did.

You know the story. Satan attacks him. So it says in verse 6: “There was a day…” Satan speaks to God. Verse 13: “There was a day…” It all happened in one day, and you know the story. Look down in Job 1:14. And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: 15. And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away…” In other words, you lost everything you had you lost at the stock market. You lost your 401K. You lost your inheritance. You lost your retirement. You lost it all. The last phrase of verse 15: “…and I only am escaped to tell thee.” Now that happens three times. It’s always one servant that escapes to tell Job. Let me encourage you. Don’t be that person. Don’t be the person who is joyful being the one to share the bad news every time. Job hurt. Now you lost your businesses. Now you lost your children. They’ve all been killed in an accident. Now this happens. It was always one left to tell him. Don’t be that person. Sometimes we have to share bad news with someone. Maybe the death of a loved one. But we ought to never be looking for that.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep…” Stop! How did he know it was God that dropped that fire and the tribulation? Satan is going to be able to use the antichrist to drop fire. How come God got blamed for this? You haven’t noticed? In our nation, our nation says there is no God. There is no God. We evolved. Then 9/11 happens. “Let’s have a day of prayer to God for our nation.” How hypocritical Or, they say, “Where was God when this happened? Where was God when this tragedy took place?” So, God gets blamed right here. Let me encourage you during the times of trials. Don’t blame God. Don’t blame God. You may not know why the trial happened. You may not know why you’re going through this, but God has a reason. God has a reason. Trials make us bitter or they make us better.

Verse 16: “…escaped alone to tell thee.” Verse 17, last phrase, …”I only am escaped alone to tell thee.” Verse 19, last phrase, “I only am escaped to tell thee.”

Let’s pray, and then I want to talk about those who finish strong. Father bless now the brief time we have. Thank you for putting this great story in the Bible. Sorry Job went through it, but it sure has helped me. Just knowing about it. I pray You take these truths and help us practically in our lives. In Jesus’ name, we ask. Amen.

We use the term, “Look at all they went through.” Now the key word is “through.” They didn’t go “to.” They went “through.” Look at all Job went through.

Paul uses this term, “Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” There are two types of trials: There are trials that come, and then a lot of time passes and then another trial comes. That’s the kind if I’m having trials, that’s what I want. Give me some space…like every 75 years. You know, Lord, I can handle it every 75 years. But the rapid-fire trials… this happened. Oh, guess what? And then this happens the next day, and then it’s this week, and then this month, and then another, and another. That’s what Job went through—what we would call rapid-fire trials. And he made it. And that’s the worst type. It’s like getting punched in the stomach. Then you turn around and take a deep breath and you get punched in the head. Then you turn around. You punched in the stomach. It’s just it doesn’t stop. Some of you know what I’m talking about. You have been through some rapid-fire trials in times in your life. Others, you’ve gone through those slow trials where, boy, you kind of recouped from it, get some strength and learning from the lesson and then it goes away. And then it’s another trap. They never stop.

I hate to tell you about the time you say, “This is probably the biggest trial in my life,” get ready. Get ready. We say things like this: “It’s never going to end. I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.” So, we have Job here. How do we know really what he was like? Here’s how. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” So as we see Job’s words, we find out who he really was.

I call him the Matthew 7 wise man that built his house upon the rock. He built his life way before the trials came. He had to walk with the Lord. He was close to God. So, when the trials came, his house stood. And what an example for us.

So how did he do this? How did he finish strong? I’m gonna give you several facts about his life tonight. If you’d like to turn to the verses, I’ll give them to you. And some will be a statement or maybe an illustration. But look down, if you will in Job 1:5: “And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about…” Look at the end. “…Thus did Job continually.”

Number 1, He was a continuer before the trial came. Folks, that’s why it’s important as parents that we make our kids finish projects. They start, they’re gonna put a puzzle together—finish it. They’re gonna put a model of car together. Finish it. They got a remodel something. Finish it. Quitters don’t make it through their trials—people that are used to quit. And when things get tough and you take a hard subject in school, finish it. So, he was a continuer before the trial came. The Bible says he prayed for his kids. “Thus did Job continually.” He already continued. Then the trial came. No wonder he just kept continuing. Someone says if at first you don’t succeed, destroy the evidence you ever tried!

Number 2: He knew how to worship. He knew how to worship. Looking down in Job 1:20. Notice what he does when something major takes place in our life. The first thing we do, our first response reveals a lot about us. Do we call the psychiatrist? Do we go online? Or do we go to the Lord? Notice what he did. He finds out his children have all died. He’s lost his businesses, everything he had. It’s gone. Job 1:20: “Then Job arose, and rent his mantle…” That’s how the Jews did. “…shaved his head, and fell upon the ground…” And I know what a lot of Baptists would have done…and cursed God. No, it didn’t say that. “…and worshipped.” What did Job do when he lost it all? He lays prostrate on the ground and says, “Lord, here I am.” He goes to the Lord. That’s what we need to do. When trials take place, worship. Show Him He’s worth something. He’s still in charge now. How did he know how to worship? He was worshiping a long time before this trial ever took place. Someone said, if you don’t go to your prayer closet often, you’ll forget where it is. Why did he go to the Lord? Because he was just used to doing that.

Number 3. How did Job finish strong? I like this a lot. Look down in Job 2:7. He cut out negative comments. He cut out negative comments. Let me encourage you, As you go through something major in your life, you’re gonna feel weak. And if you’ve been through some things, you know what I’m talking about. I mean, you’re weak and the least little comment can tip you one way or the other. I mean, you’re doing good to just stand. And notice what Job does here, in Job 2:10. His wife speaks. And let’s not be too hard on her. She buried 10 kids, too you know. We always say, “Look at that. What kind of wife was she?” A normal one. A normal one. Job 2:9-10: But he said in verse nine, when his wife said to him, “…Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 10. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” What did he do? He cut out negative comments. He corrected negative things that people said to him.

You go through a tough time, and people are gonna have their opinion. You need to stand up and correct what people are saying. Job says, “That’s a foolish statement. Mom, don’t say that. God sometimes let’s bad things happen to us. Do we really think we would only have good things in our life? Are you kidding me? Every family has good and they have bad.” That comes birth and there comes death. There comes health, and then there comes disease. There comes blessings, and then there comes debt. Everyone has this. Why would we be the exception? And so, he kind of straightened out some things she was saying. Sometimes you have to do that with a friend. Sometimes you may have to do that with a child. Sometimes you may have to do that with a buddy, and so that’s what he did. No wonder he finished. He wasn’t going to hang around negative comments that were false.

Next, look down in Job 1:21. In his heart and in his life, he practiced stewardship. So again, he’s buried his children. 1:21: He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave…” What’s he talking about? The Lord gave us these camels, these sheep, these donkeys. He gave us all these things. He gave us these oxen. He gave me my business. He gave us these ten kids, and the Lord has taken away. “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Let me see. I need someone to help me. Just for a second. Levi, can you help me? Just for a second. Come on up here. I appreciate you all dressed up sharp. You look nice. So here it is. We’ve done this before. Here’s God. He says, “Do you have any money on you? Okay, so you have nothing to start with.” Baptists, Baptists. “Okay, so can you just hold that for me? Thanks.” “Can I have that back? That’s life.” Everything that you and I have, God has loaned it to us. It’s His. And then we’re prone to get upset when he wants it back? “Hey, Nicole, you got Andy all these years? I need him up in Heaven now.” “Hey, you’ve had your Job for 20 years. Looks like you’re about to retire? You know, you’re not gonna be able to. They’re going to lay off.” God gives us things and relationships, and sometimes He takes them back.

How do we respond? That’s stewardship: He owns, I possess. He’s the owner; I’m the manager. He gives it for a while, then he takes it away. Good health. I had pretty good health till I was 60. It’s in that book, Look What God Did for Me. There’s a whole chapter—it needs to be ripped out. Good health. Never been in the hospital. Now a fall down the stairs falling. Torn rotator cuff surgery. Blood clots to the lungs. In the hospital. Guess what God did? He said, “Good health? Okay, I’ll take that back.” It’s okay. Anything better than hell is still bonus.

Look at this one here quickly—Job 2:11. How did he finish strong? Maybe only one of these thoughts will be of help to you finishing. And it says, “Now when Job’s three friends heard…” Guess what? He had friends, not a friend. Friends. He had more than one friend. He wasn’t possessive. He had friends. He was not a lone ranger. Ecclesiastes says, “Two are better than one, for if the one fall down, the other will be there. (I’m paraphrasing) to pick him up.” The reason why sometimes people quit is they have separated from being close to anybody. They’re not friendly. They don’t have friends. So, when they get discouraged and fall, no one even knows. No one’s around. No one calls. Why? No one notices because they pulled out so much. And they’ve just been kind of a loner. We all need friends. We need friends to sharpen us. We need friends to encourage us. Friends need us to build them up. We need some friends to build us up. We gotta have time with people who are weaker than us to pull them up and time with those stronger than us to pull us up. We all need friends. Yeah, and I know Job’s friends…we kind of bash them, and they said some things they shouldn’t. But they did come. They did weep, and they were there. They made an appointment. They took time out of their schedules to come. Now Job worked on those friendships. And that’s why they were there.

What else? Quickly. Why did he finish strong? Look at this—Job 2:13: “So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.” He didn’t speak. They didn’t speak. What did Job do? He spent some time thinking. It’s kind of a new thing, kind of a new doctrine. Think before you speak. Job just sat there and, I don’t know what he was thinking. “Lord, I wonder what I did. Is there anything I did to cause this? How are we gonna get through this? Is my wife ever going to get her mind back? When will the sting ever leave? How we gonna avoid being in the homeless shelter?” Seven days he’s thinking before he ever opened his mouth. It’s amazing he spent some time thinking.

Why did Job finish strong? Quickly. Look at this one in Job 13:15. If you’re not going through a trial now, either you’re probably just coming out of something or you’re just going into something. If you’ve never had a major trial in your life, I hate to tell you it’s coming. It’s coming. Because the older you get, the older everybody else gets. And pretty soon you’re saying goodbye to loved ones. I’ve got three pastors that are in Heaven right now. Three that were my pastors. Notice down here in Job 13:15 and it says, “though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” Job said, “I’ll just keep trusting my Lord as a walk along.” I just keep trusting. If I could trust Him to save me, I can trust him through the trial. If I can trust him to keep His word, I can trust Him to get me through this. He just kept trusting. “Well, I don’t see it.” Sometimes you may never see it. He just kept trusting.

Next, look over here for a moment. He knew it would end. And I want to say this to you tonight to someone who may be facing a trial. Maybe health, maybe marriage, maybe with a wayward child. Someone told me—I sent one of those Israel rocks to a pastor friend, and it said, “May you always face and fight the giants of your life.” And he was struggling with one of his children just right on the edge of the world and just didn’t know if he was gonna make it—that pastor said I kept that rock on my desk for several years. Every day I looked at it. Just, “Okay, Lord, we’re just gonna stay after this thing.” The trial ended. Yours will too. Will this ever end, this temptation of addiction? This pain? It will get better.

Notice what Job says who’s been through more than any of us in Job 23:10. “But he knoweth the way that I take: When he hath tried me…” “Tried” is past tense. When he’s tried. When the trial is over. Job said, “It’s going to end. It’s gonna end. It won’t always be this way.” Not only that but in that same verse, he knew he would be better. Look down in Job 23:10: “…I shall come forth as gold.” There’s that Patch the Pirate song right there. “I’ll come forth as gold.” Gold has to be purified and is put in a fire. It’s no fun. It’s hot. I’m sure it’s uncomfortable. And then it pulls out, and then it’s done.

What else? How did Job get through these trials? About two more. Here we go. Job 23:12, he says, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”Okay, let’s find out here. Can I need a teenager to just volunteer? Just need to ask you out loud. Okay, on average how many meals a day would you eat? Breakfast? Lunch, Supper? Three or four? Several teenage guys say three or four. You ask a teenage girl: “I don’t know, maybe a pop tart in the morning and, I don’t know, maybe supper at home.” Okay, so four meals. It takes a lot to keep a teenage guy going. Here’s what Job said. He said, “When I went through this trial, I ate more of [the Bible] than I did food.” There comes a time where mealtime is less than Bible time. And we live in a wonderful day. It can be on a phone app. You can listen to the Word of God. You don’t always have to read. You can listen to it while you’re working. You can listen to it during your commute. 72 hours and the whole Bible is going through your mind. You may not remember at all, but the Bible is like a net. It’s like a sieve. You get enough water to go through it, and the mind is pretty clean. Job said, “That’s how I made it.” He said, “A lot of the Bible,” not just hearing preaching sermons, but a lot of the Bible. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” That’s how Job made it—extra Bible. Here’s what the average Baptist does: They go through a trial. They get disappointed in someone. So, they quit church. “You let me down,” Everybody? Everybody? Everybody in China? Everybody in Indonesia? Everybody let me down? Everybody in Vietnam let you down? Everybody in Cambodia let you down? You don’t even know him. Everybody in Jason Russell’s Papua New Guinea Islands? “They all let me down.” I’m quitting the Bible. Quitting church. Quit my ministries. Quitting praying. You’re not going to finish strong doing that. You need extra Bible. That’s what he says right here, “esteemed his words more than my necessary food.”

Look at this one here. Quickly. We’re on the end. Here we are Chapter 40. To look at this, he realized he didn’t have all the facts. You know, sometimes we can look at a trial and say I know what the Lord is doing, but a lot of times we can say I have no idea what He’s doing. I just don’t see it. What was it someone told me? Has nothing to do with anything. “What kind of what do you call a deer that has no eyes?” “I have no ideer.” Oh, brother. So, sometimes you’re just not gonna see it. Notice what Job says. Job 42:3: “Who is he that hideth counsel Without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.”

Job did not see Satan and God speaking and there being a contest to see if Job was gonna snap or not. He never saw that. All he knew was that his 10 kids died. He lost his business, lost his health. His wife got angry. That’s all he knew about. He didn’t know all the story. Sometimes we may not know till we get up in glory. Why did God allow the COVID? I have no idea. Why did God allow this person to get elected? Hadn’t figured it out yet. Why did this happen? Why? Why these deaths and why this? Why did church members in our church die—four either members or related our church in the last 10 days? Why? Why? Why? I don’t know. But God does. God does. Here’s Job, who said, “I don’t know it all.”

And then look down at this. Job 42:6. We’re almost here. Hang on just for a second. He says, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent In dust and ashes.” Now what does this mean? Job was the greatest Christian in the world. So that means most of us will only come in second. Oh, brother. So, Job was the greatest in the world. God said it. None like him. And guess what he does? In Chapter 42, he repents. That meant he realized he had sinned. He had done something wrong, and he asked God to forgive him. So, what’s that mean during the trials? It wouldn’t hurt us to say, “Lord, during this time, did I cause any of this? Did I either cause some of it or respond incorrectly? Have I said something during the trial I shouldn’t? Have I complained? Have I murmured? What is it I need to make right with You during this time?” He repented.

And then I love this, and we’re done. Look over here, please. Job 42:10. Here’s how it ends. And I love this. “…and the Lord turned the captivity of Job.” That meant it ended “…when he prayed for his friends.” When did it end? When he prayed for his friends. How long is the trial going to go Pastor? As long as I’ve got my eyes on me. And that’s how major trials are. You get hit with a major trial and you cannot help but think, “I am hurting. Why is this happening?” And it’s all about you for a while. And when Job said, “You know what? I need to stop worrying about how I feel. I got three friends, that—they’re all messed up in their advice. I’m gonna pray for them.” And when he got his eyes on other people, his trial didn’t seem near as hard now. It didn’t bring back his 10 kids, but somehow his relatives, who never gave him anything—this is weird—his relatives who never showed up to listen to him or weep for him, who never gave him anything, who never gave him any money—a year later, they said, “Here’s some money.” And he’s back in business. Twice as much as he had before.

What’s that mean? This thing is soul winning is so important. Do you know what it does? It gets your eyes off you. I wish you could have been with me about two months ago. I felt led to just go down the middle of downtown Vallejo. It’s not a real safe place that area in the daytime, much less in the nighttime. I didn’t have a partner that day, and I’m hitting little apartments kind of here, in the alleys, and this and that. Someone opened the door, and there it was. All they had was a mattress on the floor. That was their apartment—a one room apartment, a mattress, a little shelf with their food, Mom in bed with baby, two other kids, and a husband. One room. When I looked there, I said, “I’m doing pretty good. I’m doing real good.” Then when the mama got saved, I said, “This is real good.” And when they showed up at church, I said, “This is real, real good.” That’s why we got to get the buses back. We’ve got to reach the poor. Our trials may take a while to end, but if we get our eyes on other people that need us, it sure helps us make it through.

And then noticed just by way of conclusion. We’re finished. Look over here in Job 42:16. I love the book of Job. I could read it every day of my life every day. Job 42:16. “After this live Job an hundred and forty years..” After what? After the trial. And by the way, the book of Job has 42 chapters. It just lasted one year. All this took place in one year. The trial lasted a whole year, and then it was gone. What’s that mean? There is life after a divorce. There is more life after a funeral. There is life after a broken heart. There is life after shattered dreams. There is life after hospitalization and the bills that come. 140 years. Job said, “I’m done.” God says, “No. 140 more good years.” He got to raise 10 more kids, got to build the business back up, got the respect back. He wasn’t done, because he was a finisher.

And I think maybe some of these things we’ve talked about tonight will help us finish strong, because the Lord is coming back. We don’t know when the trumpet’s blowing. I still think it’s any day now. I could be wrong, but I want to be ready. I just want to cross the finish line. Hope you do, too. If you’re listening online right now, there’s two videos I hope you’ll click on. If you’ve never seen them, they’re about being saved. There’s a cartoon. There’s a video. I hope you’ll watch those.

Father, Bless now this time we have. Thank you for the Bible…