ABC: Knowing God - Chapters 16 - God's Goodness And Severity

Scary. And then he talks about goodness and severity. And I, when I'll admit when I first read the title, I was like, interesting. And then we get to the first named section and I go sweet. Let's do this. Yeah, I want to talk about Santa Claus for the first large section of the chapter is called Santa Claus and Giant Despair. What does that reference? What does Giant Despair? I don't know. Ok. Um, double doubting Castle Giant Despair, Bypath Meadows. 

These are all mentioned in this chapter. Yeah. Those are all from the book, Pilgrims Progress. Oh, I, I mean, I don't even, probably never even, I doubt you've read it. 

It's very old English. Yeah, definitely. I haven't read it very old English. I've never heard about it until this book. You hadn't, I don't know. I, maybe I have, but I mean, I know I've heard of it even though I haven't read of it. 

The, but yeah, because I read that I was like, bypass Meadows. I was like, what the heck is that? And then down and Castle Giant Despair. I was like, what? 

Oh, this is all pilgrims progress. Got it. Pilgrims progress. Yeah. Got nothing. Ok. So I don't have anything highlighted until we get into Santa Claus and Giant despair. 

Say the only thing I had highlighted before that was both must be acknowledged together of God is to be truly known, being his goodness and severity. That's all I had. Fair enough. And this was my favorite sentence of this chapter. Ready. Yes. People say they believe in God, but they have no idea who it is that they believe in or what difference believing Him may make. 

Hm, because that is so true about current society, especially you have a lot of people going. Yeah, I believe in God. Yeah, I believe in God, II, I see this even with my own family, you know, and then you really get down to it. It's like you really don't know who you believe in. Do you? And I love who or what? Yeah. And I love how he goes. Um the next sentence he go, he goes, Christians who want to help their floundering fellows into what a famous old track used to call safety, certainty and enjoyment are constantly bewildered as to where to begin. 

The fantastic hodgepodge of fancies about guy that quite takes their breath away. Hm. Hm. Let me ask you this. Uh This is the word I missed before, but I should ask this, what does a muddle mean where it's like the next sentence, modern muddle into such a muddle headed into such a muddle. Yeah. How on earth have people got into such a muddle? What is muddle? Uh, a mess? I don't know. See, muddle, mud, mud. 

The only reason I know this definition when I was a youngster. So, back in my day, back in the old days, cr TV, S C RT TV. S, uh, P psychogenesis. That was the new thing. There's this game. Yeah. Exactly. Way back when there's this game called Shining Force. 

Shining Force one and two. Oh, it is a tactical term based RPG. One of the spells your characters could learn was muddle. What did muddle do make you like, confused or? Exactly. Yeah. So to muddle is bring into disordered or confused state? Hm. So that's the only reason I knew what muddled. That's awesome. And muddle was because it was a spell from the game. And, yeah. Well, as I say, because even reading that and then what his next question goes, what lies at the root of their confusion? 

I was like, ok, it's something that they just have to not be an understanding of or something. So, ok. Hm. See, look at this, Aaron's learning new words. Yeah, it's good to read. All right. Um, the next thing I wrote I highlighted not wrote was this modern people think that all religions as equal and equivalent even back in the day when, because this book was written before I was born. So it's old. It's ancient. I'm beating you. Too, using those adjectives. 

Just fy, I, where, that's, I'm trying to see where. Oh, ok. No, I see that. Yeah, because I even, I also had something just a bit above it is one is that people have gotten into the practice of following private religious hunches rather than learning of God and from his own word. So, I mean, that would go right into, I mean, even we were talking about earlier for these churches that are affirming and all that sort of stuff. 

It's, they just get sucked into some religious. I don't know, I guess, yeah, some religious. I don't know. Could you say cult? I don't know. I don't know about, I don't know. Would that be? Yeah. Um, there's a few that would be, yeah, some of that stuff, I'm sure it gets culty for some people, I'm sure. 

Um, but yeah, I mean, you just get sucked into just religious practices and think, oh, that's all you need to do. But then that's going into a works based faith or goes into Santa Claus based faith or as we talk about shortly here in the book. So, the next thing I have highlighted that actually talks about that. So this, this is what he wrote. What he wrote for the substance of Christianity is faith in the forgiveness of sins through the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, right? But on the basis of the Santa Claus theology, sin creates no problem in atone that becomes needless God's active favor extends no less to those who disregard his commands than to those who keep him. Does that make sense? 

Maybe I be honest if it does or doesn't, I don't know. II, I mean, I'm not even keeping up with all of it now. Um Where is that? For me? It's the next page. Yeah. Maybe I don't quite follow it. Ok. So what he's going by here with this Santa Claus Theology, right? He, you know who Santa Claus is, right? 

The happy jolly fellow man with the white beard and so will die. Your beard white. This Christmas is what I did and my beard is already getting there. It's already white. It's all the gray. So I mean that no, it's changed for me. So I always did play Santa Baby for high school for Christmas concerts. So what I had to parse that again because you said I always played Santa Baby and I was like, wait, what? And then my brain had to go, oh, he meant the song for band or something like that. 

Not the character that he dressed up as. That's, that's why I had to, I had to rear that anyways. So Santa Claus, Santa Claus big happy fellow jolly blah, blah, blah. It says sin creates no problem and the tone it becomes needless in other words, what he says is God and continues on God's active favor extends no less to those who disregard his commands than those who keep them. In other words, what that he's saying in that phrase there is that under Santa Claus theology, as he calls it God's favor, you know, blessings, whatever goes to anybody, goes to anybody where you're following God's commands or not, where you're saved or not, whether you're sinning or not. 

But, but I thought Santa has a naughty list. You might have, there might be European Santa stuff. Who knows? OK, because I was like, you have to be a good boy or a girl. Yeah. But even if they, even if you're on the nihilist, you're not getting smited, you're not getting killed, you're not being uh sent to damnation in hell, right? Yeah, you're just not getting your present for the year. So that is a very, very big uh difference there. 

But, and he continues on and he says this, he says the idea that God's attitude to me, in other words, how God thinks about me is affected by whether or not I do what he says has no place in the thought of the man on the street and any attempt to show the need for fear in God's presence, for trembling at his word gets written off impossibly old fashioned Victorian Puritan sub Christian. In other words, what he's saying is if you approach someone and say, hey, you should have respect for, you know, God's word, you know, and all this sort of stuff and people go, well, that's Victorian, that's old fashioned thinking, you know, and that, and that, that, that idea of what respect for God's word has obviously changed over the years. So, don't, don't get into the idea of, well, it must mean you must wear the suit and the tie and the top hat. You know, it's, how do you show respect in your current culture that you live in to the word of God, you know, in some cultures that might mean taking off your shoes in some cultures, that might mean, you know, bowing in some cultures, that mean might mean standing, you know, for me, you know, specifically, you know, if I'm somewhere and like, like when I run sound booth on Sunday, I wear a hat and shorts and that, ok. But when it's time for praying that I take my hat off a little bit of, yeah, I've always, I've, you know, not everyone does and that's, and that's fine. 

I'm not sitting there going, oh, Aaron's not taking his head off. How could you? It's just for so disrespectful for me. That's a way I can show a little bit of reverence, a little bit of respect. Well, I, yeah, II, I know I've been II, I mean, I've been told that, yeah, taking your hat off is a sign of respect or something. I was like, how is that? It's in respect? It's just the way our culture is. 

Well, I don't think that is it. Well, it's definitely not as much anymore as it used to be. That's definitely gone away a decent amount. The old fashion is stuck in my old ways. Yeah. Well, not even. Ok. And this is, now, this is, go ahead and call me. 

You're younger than this other guy. But, like, when I was, um, at a, at a Bible study thing I was praying with a dude afterwards, Um, I go to take off my cat because I just, I don't know, whatever. And then the guys always like, he's like, you don't got to do that. It's like it, that doesn't matter. I was like, oh, all right, cool. Yeah, I'm keeping it up, you know, so that came from an older man than news. 

So, you know, it's gonna change the culture now. So that's what I said, you know, whatever he means by that, you know. But, um, yeah, Santa Claus Theology. Everyone is happy and gets gifts and this joyful, joyful, joyful. We, what if your gift is cool? It's still a gift. Mhm. I love this though. It is no accent than when belief in the good God of liberal liberalism becomes widespread about the turn of the 20th century. 

The so-called problem of evil, which is not regarded as a pro before suddenly leaped into prominence as the number one concern of Christian apologetics. Do you know what the problem of evil is? Do I know what the problem of evil is what, you know what that reference is. No, no, the problem of evil. Yeah, the problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering in the world with an omnipotent omni benevolent omniscient God. In other words, they're saying the question is, and the, you know, this is more that philosophical thing, right? 

Is we know God is, you know, suppo this is how they say it. Ok? They go well, God is omni omniscient, omnipotent, omni benevolent. God is perfect. God is good. How therefore can there be evil in the world? The the question isn't so much based in Christian history, you know, where we go? Well, mankind introduced evil into the world through our choices uh through the fall of man and sin, right? 

Well, um that would all start with Lucifer. Yes. But ultimately man was the one that foot screwed it up for us. Yeah. Yes. OK. It also screwed it up for, you know, animals and plants because until that point, right, they're all under the curse just as I mean, the the animals are dying to become our skins and all that, the plants were giving up fruit and that food easily. But now God said no, but you guys are gonna have to work for it. So you know him and he kind of screwed up big time. Yeah. What the heck. So the question is, and it, this is a question that's posed in philosophy classes all the time is, it's, it's called the problem of evil. How can evil exist with a good God? I guess that is an interesting thing because it's like, how did, maybe, may I just, if it's in there, I don't remember it and I don't know it, but it's like, how did Lucifer end up being able to have? 

Yeah, I guess a sinful or wanting the power of God for himself sort of thing. But how did he, how did he get that? It does talk about in the Old Testament that, but it's a, not a long exhaustive story. No. Yeah. Yeah. I, yeah, I just, that was interesting because then, I mean, it's easy to unders, I guess. 

Maybe I shouldn't say easy but like I understand how evil came to be in the world here because Adam and Eve were convinced by the devil to do what God had commanded them not to do so with that. I understand how now evil is in the world. That's, I guess seems simple to me. It seems simple but there's a lot of implications there. It's, I mean, yeah, I suppose, I don't know because the hardest part for me is understanding how did Satan end up having that desire or that having that? Yeah. Well, yeah, the pride sort of thing to cause him to be cast out. Like, how did that happen? 

You know, there's a lot of things that we're gonna have to wait on to ask God about and that might be one of them. I know it talks about it. Yes. In the New Testament. But maybe a theologian can explain that better about that. I personally don't know that one other than pride and the thing that it talks about in the New Testament. But, right. And because then, obviously, yeah, I mean, Satan did take many with them. Mhm. But, yeah, it's just like, man, how, so that's, yeah. So, because then we did, we, did God create the angels or were they just there with him? 

God create the angels. Yeah. Ok. I thought so. Well, because he was just the only one to be. Well, the Trinity was there from the beginning. Right. And then, yeah. Ok. Right. Right. Right. Right. And contrary to popular belief and popular culture, when you die, you don't become an angel. No, you don't. That's so you don't get a harp and you don't get a sign of cloud and you don't get little, little wings and no, you don't become a Cheb. Mhm. The number of angels were made at the start. 

They are creative beings. But we're more special than they are. Yeah. That, and thinking of eternity whenever I think about that, that just hurts my brain. I don't like it. No, don't worry about it too much. 

You'll have all of eternity to that. I get off. But, ah, so he continues on. This was inevitable. Talking about um the problem of evil being considered by Christian apologetics. 

For it is not possible to see the goodwill of a heavenly Santa Claus and heartbreaking and destructive things like cruelty or marital infidelity or death on the road or lung cancer. The only way to save the liberal view of God is to disassociate him from these things and to deny that he has any direct relation to them or control over them. In other words, to deny his omnipotence and lordship over his world. Thus, he the man on the street is left with a kind God who means well, but cannot always insulate his Children from trouble and grief when trouble comes. Therefore, there is nothing to do but grin and bear it in this way. By an ironic paradox, faith in a God who is all goodness and no severity tends to con confirm men and a fatalistic and pessimistic attitude to life. Here then is one of the religious bypath meadows of our day, bypath meadows is from again, the wonderfulness that is considered pilgrim's progress, right? 

Bypath Meadows represents our own efforts at attaining righteousness. It is lush with pride and filled with the fruits of self-determination and good intention. It is our attempt to define how we will live and walk before God in this life, especially when we grow discontent with the path God has us on the site. The style represents how easy it is to cross from a from over from resting our confidence in Christ to thinking too highly of ourselves. Um That was a note I had on there about Bypath meals. 

It's not in the book if you're looking for it. Oh, ok. I was like, yeah, so he, he goes and he goes, that's the religious bypass medals of our day leading into land of doubting castle and, and giant despair. Now down Downing Castle, right? I have these notes on it here. 

The ongoing misery of doubting castle reveals the weight of depression that can linger and lie upon true believers. Doubts can be persistent discouragements can increase, misgivings can reemerge and reinforce like our bars holding us down. Even more mature believers are not immune. Christian Christians more seasoned in his pilgrims than hopeful. Yeah, Christian's suffering was more severe. It was hopeful who served his older brother by speaking words of encouragement. 

These are characters from the book, Pilgrims progress. Literally, they're named Christian hopeful stuff like that. Ok. The the the book is, is like the book is not like the Song Martyr in that. It is very imagery driven. Ok. Martyr is very direct. 

This is very imagery driven. Ok. Giant despair is the character in there. Giant and despair and his wife diffidence, divide their planes in the dark at night where there's no light diffidence, lack of trust or unbelief. That's what it means. 

If you're wondering will always send us despair to bludgeon and abuse us diffidence plots and directs despair, carries out her cruel designs. He does her bidding. Diffident tells her husband take them into the castle yard tomorrow and show them the bones and skulls of those you have already dispatched and make them believe, er, a week comes to an end. You also will tear them in pieces as you have done to their fellows before them. Those are just a couple of characters from uh the book Pilgrim's Progress. 

That sounds intense almost. We can do that for next. But I'm just your choice. I mean, it's all imagery, metaphor and similes. So it'll be like taking a P English again. Oh, or did you take a P English or just normal English? 

Probably just did normal. I don't. Mhm. Did you do the test afterwards? What test you do a P English test for college credit? 

Oh, I definitely didn't. I definitely did not do a P English. I always hated English. So did I, that was horrible at it. I definitely did not do a P now. 

I want to learn it. I uh just learn Abu Dhabi. Who? What? Makeup language? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'll make it. Yeah, I'll make up my own language. 

I'm already working on it. Yeah, you already got one. So the next segment here is called God's Goodness. And hm, he finds it right. What, right away at the top there. He says goodness as in, in God as in human beings means something admirable, attractive and praiseworthy. And I have a couple of things highlighted in this part of the chapter. But I wanted to see if you had anything first before I talked because I just talked for a long time here. 

Well, you can keep going. No, I do have, I it's, oh, I only have one thing until God's severity. Ok. Let's hear it. Um, I just have this spot underline verse says, but the mercies of God on the natural level, however abundant are overshadowed by the greater mercies of the spiritual redemption. Ok. Hm. Wow. Now I'm thinking I probably had, I did not read that right? Or I was just totally thinking of something completely different and I wasn't, I'm not. Oh, wow. And what is wrong with you? All right. So let's talk about this here. So God's goodness, a big central part of this, of this part of the chapter. 

He is around some Psalms. Uh He likes the Psalms to do this and that's fine. I, I have no qualms about Psalms. Nice rhyme. Uh Specifically he's talking about so, and he says Psalm 18 as a whole is David's retrospective declaration of how he had himself, prove that God is faithful to his promises and all sufficient as shield and defender. And then he goes, well, you should also Packer goes, you should read through this Psalm asking yourself at each point how far your testimony matches up to that. David. Gosh, I don't know, I didn't even read Psalm 18 after that. So the things that he then goes on to talk about, he goes, uh, generosity, he goes, generosity is so to speak, the focal point of God's moral perfection. It is the quality which determines how all God's other excellence are to be displayed, which was, I was like, hm, interesting. And then he talks about the psalmist point is that, and he's talking about Psalm 1 45. 

At this point, he's talk says the psalmist point is that since God controls all that happens in his world, every meal, every pleasure, every possession, every bit of sun, every night's sleep, every moment of health and safety, everything else that sustains and riches, life is a divine gift. In our word, everything that you, that you have is a divine gift is what he's saying. And again, remember we're talking about God's goodness. So he's trying to make the case that everything is good. God is giving you all these good things. Um There are in this chapter, this part of the chapter alone, there are a lot of Bible references. 

You're talking second chronicles Jeremiah's Psalms. Um We got a lot of Psalms, actually, a lot of Psalms might as well just put the entire book of Psalms in here. We got Acts Exodus. Yeah. So there's, there's a lot in here that he goes back and references, I'm like, ok, second Samuel. And he says this, uh when we're getting to the end of God's goodness right before God's severity. 

He says this, the first example is of God redeeming the helpless from their enemies and leading them out of barrenness to find a home. Uh When he's saying the first example he's talking about in these examples of all these biblical passages he just gave, OK. Um The second is of God delivering from darkness in the shadow of death, those whom he had himself bought into this condition because of their rebellion against him. The third is of God healing the diseases from which he has chastised fools who disregard him. The fourth is of God protecting voyagers by stealing the storm which they thought would sink the ship. 

Each episode ends with the refrain. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. The whole psalm is a majestic panorama of the operations of divine goodness transforming human lives. OK. And of course, was that lead right into God's severity? Oh, yes. And what you have highlighted here, what, what stuck out to you from this part, first line? 

Well, not the first line but where it says uh so well, I'm just gonna read all anyways. Uh what now of God's severity the word Paul uses in Romans 11 22 means literally cut off. It denotes God's uh decisive with draw of his goodness from those who have spurned it. Does it say cut off or cutting off? Cutting off? I'm sorry, cut off, cut off, cut off that like is that a difference between our ad of the? Yes. Yes. Actually now I want to go to was, yeah, rooms or a lay oven. Ok. So you beat me too and I was gonna pull that up, but you got it. 

Hey, I'm reading the ESV version, the version of the KV. I prefer myself um note then the kindness and the severity of God severity toward those who have fallen, fallen. But God's kindness to you provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. Hm. I wonder what it would be in his favorite uh King James version um 11 22 in the King James behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but toward the goodness, if thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shall be cut off man, man. Ok. So let me ask you this so weird to let me ask you this, what is this passage referencing? What is it referencing? Mhm. And here's why I say this, I think giving the whole context gives it a lot more power behind it. So if you go back to 11 11, that's where this whole chunk starts. Ok. Just let me go back into. So I'm gonna read here starting in verse 11 from the ESP. So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall by no means rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the gentiles. So as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the gentiles, how much more will will their full inclusion mean? 

Now I'm speaking to you gentiles ins so much. Then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them for it is their rejection. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean? But life from the dead, if the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off and you although a wild olive shoot were grafted in among others and now sharing the nourishing root of the olive tree do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are remember, it is not you who support the root but the root that supports you, then you will say branches were broken off so that I may be grafted in. This is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud but fear for. 

If God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare. You. Note then the kindness and severity of God's severity toward those who have fallen. But God's kindness to you provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief will be grafted in for God has the power to graph them in again, for if you were cut off from what is by nature, a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? Ok. So there's a lot of imagery going on there. Um That what this is talking about is you have your gentiles and your Jews, OK? And essentially high level overview, you know, there's more to it. So don't be like, oh this is all this, this means, you know, when he says, you know that those who were the branches that were taken off the Jews that were um essentially removed from the the tree, the branch, the root Christ, they're removed. In other words, they're not gonna have salvation because they believe in whatever you wanna believe as a Jew. And he's saying, but you have been grafted in, you know what grafting in for trees does, right? So what you can do with plants, trees, olive branch, olive trees and all this, right? 

Let's say I have two olive trees, OK. This one over here is growing good and this one over here is growing a little bit but you know, not as good. I can take a branch from that, not good one and graft it literally, I could like make cuts and insert that, that branch into the good tree and it can grow then and it can flourish because that root is providing nourishment to it. 

It's providing nutrition to it. It's feeding it. That's wild. You can do that with like trees. So like you can have like apples growing on like a pear and all that on a pear tree. There, there's a whole thing behind it, but you can, it's called grafting where you take a plant and you basically separate from separate from its plant and put it in with another plant and it's grown and supported. And that's the image that's given here. 

It's saying you gentiles you were a wild olive tree and we brought, we took your branches and brought you into a domesticated ol tree in that domes tree. In the imagery here is Christ, that's wild and that's what he says and that's what he says, you know, hey, you, this happened to you imagine if the Jews, the who are part of this natural tree tree, if they want to come to faith, how much more they'll be grafted back in because they'll be grafted back into their own tree type, right? So that's why it says the severity and grace here because the severity of removing those branches which are not fruitful but the goodness of bringing in you in to a plant that can support you. I do have is very pointless. Um, for verse 13 is now I am speaking to you gentiles for the word after that. Is it in as much? 

Oh, it is in as much. Is it all connected? Yeah, that's, I've never seen that before. I was like, is there a typo in the app? I was like, what the heck I have never seen in as much like that. Yeah, it is much. Wow, that's weird. Ok. I was just like, I, maybe I've never, yeah, I've never read that or seen that before in as much the definition to the extent that in so far as that's what it means. Huh? It's in Merriam Webster. Exactly like that. And as much. Wow, that's cool. Oh, another word. Yeah. So the, this whole God's severity right here, that first, yeah. 

Uh, sentence there that references that whole big chunk. That's massive. Yeah. And so, yeah, 11 22 gives you a, a nice idea, but the whole chunk gives you a whole bit more idea of what's going on. And that's why down below where he says if they gentiles should lapse as Israel has lapsed. God would cut them off too. It makes so much more sense when you have all of that there. Mhm. And he goes on and says the principle which Paul's playing here. 

Is that behind every display of divine goodness stands a threat of severity and judgment if that goodness is scorned, if we do not let it draw us to God in gratitude, in response of love, we have only ourselves to blame when God turns against us again, referring back to that chunk of, of text there 11 11 through 24. Is there anything else that you highlighted in here? I have a couple of other things I just had was that Exodus 34 637 where it says, yeah, well, all right. Uh Let me go back just a little bit before. Oh, it reminds us of the fact about God, which he himself declared when he proclaimed his name to Moses, namely that though he is Mr Rosen quotes abounding in love and faithfulness, unquote he God quote. Uh does not leave the guilty unpunished. 

That is the obstinate and impenitent guilty. Yep. Hm. And nobody gets, nobody couldn't sneak past him. Um Is there anything else? And then I had those who declined to respond to God's goodness by repentance and faith and trust and submission to his will cannot wonder or complain if sooner or later the tokens of his goodness are withdrawn, the opportunity of benefiting from the uh from them ends and retribution supervene. Do you know what supervene is? Is it just like kind of? Oh, super beans? Uh Yeah, I guess in my mind I think it kind of takes over sort of thing. 

Yeah, occurs later than a specified or implied event or action typically in such a way as to change the situation. Hm. Yeah. Anything else? Nope. All right. I have one other thing. 

I had that one highlight as well. Uh I have this, Peter explains to his first century readers that the reason why the promised return of Christ to judgment has not happened yet is that God is long suffering to uh to us is long suffering to us. Yeah, that, that's a weird phrasing that is um not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's second Peter 39 kjvjvs word. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, all right. Yep. I was like, there's a lot of people who won't buy that. But yeah, I get what he's saying there and I agree. And then finally he says, what should our response be to this goodness and severity? 

He says, appreciate the goodness of God. All right. Well, as this old song goes, count your blessings one by one. I don't know that song. Yeah. I don't know when he started saying I was like, I, yeah, I can't finish it because I don't know it. Um appreciate the patience of God, appreciate the discipline of God. 

Those are just three points. And the only thing I have highlighted in here is this, if you are a true believer and he still puts thorns in your bed it is only to keep you from falling into the Solomons of complacency and to ensure that you continue in his goodness by letting your sense of need bring you back constantly in self, a basement and faith to seek his faith. Hm. And my question to you, what Solomons? What? Or I can't even say that word. Right. Oh, it's some, some, some nulls nus. Yep. Honestly, I do, I don't know what that is causing or suggestive of drowsiness, sleepy, drowsy. Oh, yeah. Ok. So keep you from falling into the sleepiness of complacency, essentially. Sure. That to continue in his goodness by letting you sense your need to bring you back to, uh, bring you back constantly in self aba, you know what that is? Of course not. Wait, self a basement and faith to disease. 

No, humiliating oneself when one feels lower or less deserving of respect. Wait, wait, what self a basement is humi humiliating oneself when one feels lower or less dever, deserving of respect. Hm. That we don't be proud and haughty. Ok. I did have that on a too though. 

You did and you didn't even know what it meant. Hm. I like to pass that word. You know, I should be surprised but I'm not. No. Well, that ends chapters. No, no, no. Those chapters. Guess what that means. 

We have three more months of this book. Wow. I guess after this ring, can the hat comes back? Yes. Absolutely, man. Yeah, I mean, I may read something Christmassy for December there. Yeah, that's true. Just great. Good Santa Santa. All right. Any final comments on these two chapters, sir? Um Man, I'm just gonna, I had two other things underlined. 

Oh, go for it. Um And it is the section just so for the appreciating the discipline it says but not, but if now he and, and this is in parentheses in, was it white fields or whit fields? I don't know, phrase puts thorns in your bed. It is only to awaken you from the sleep of spiritual death and to make you rise up and seek his mercy. And then I had for, to appreciate the patience of God who's learned to marvel at his patience and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others and try not to and try not to try his patience anymore. Hm. That's a good summarization of that chapter. All right. That man. Yep. Patience. All right. Thank you for joining us on these two chapters.