(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Let's look at verse 14 again. The Bible reads, Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. And I love this phrase here that we find in 2 Corinthians 2, where the Bible tells us that God always causeth us to triumph in Christ. And so the title of my sermon this morning is this, Always triumphant in Christ. Always triumphant in Christ. Now it also says this, that it maketh manifest the savour. Now what does manifest mean? Manifest means to make something obvious. So God is going to make everything obvious. He even makes it obvious that we triumph. What does triumph mean? It means that we're successful. It means that we're victorious. It means that we're prosperous. It means that we have good favor. That's what it means to triumph. Or just winning, right? You're just hashtag winning, right? That's what it means to triumph. And God is going to make these things manifest. And it's also that we are, notice by us, we are the obvious savour of His knowledge. When we think of the word savour, I typically think of how something tastes. But the Bible also uses the word savour in connection with how something smells. And a lot of times it'll talk about a sweet smelling savour that goes unto the Lord, whether that be our prayers or the incense in the Old Testament or these different things. And the Bible says that we are a sweet savour. Look at verse 15. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish, to the one we are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life, and who is sufficient for these things. So the Bible says that those that are saved are a sweet savour, a sweet smell or taste unto the Lord. He's pleased with us. Now when I think of things that I like, things that smell good, right? I think of a grill outside, like grilling burgers or something. You just smell that and you're like, are we invited over? Or just maybe a steak or something on the grill. I mean just grilling in general just smells good, doesn't it? Or some people they like coffee. I'm not down on you this morning, no I'm just kidding. But it's like a sweet savour, right? They walk into the coffee house, it smells really good. They love the taste of it. It's really good. Here's a great smell. How about new car smell? I mean, man, they try to manufacture this thing because you get into a new car and it just smells fantastic. I don't know what it is. I don't know how they do that. But whatever they do, it just smells awesome. That's what it's like for us to God. We're new car smell to God. We're that ribeye on the grill. We're that coffee house, as it were, unto the Lord. And He's always going to cause us to triumph. But notice that great smell to God is a stinking savour to the unsaved. It's a stinking savour unto those that do not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what I like about this is this. No matter what's going on in your life, you're always a sweet savour unto the Lord. And we represent this if you're in Christ. And you know what? We represent His knowledge. Now go if you went to Colossians chapter number 2. Colossians chapter number 2 in the Bible. I want to show you something here. My first point is this, because I have three points this morning that I want to help you understand how we're triumphant in Christ. And the first one is that we're triumphant over our trespasses. Now it's because some people think, well, I'm not a sweet savour unto the Lord. I mean, look at the sin that I've committed or look at these horrible things that I've done. But because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we are still a sweet savour unto the Lord. And I liken this unto your physical children. No matter how much your children screw up, no matter how much you can be displeased with them for their actions, they're still a sweet savour unto you. They're still your child. You still love them. You still want to be around them. And so that's the same way with God and us that we're always a sweet savour unto the Lord. No matter what our trespass, the Bible says that we're always triumphant over our trespasses in Christ. Look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 12. Look at verse 12, buried with them in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with them through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him up from the dead. And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with them, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of our ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. So the Bible says that Jesus Christ has forgiven us of all our trespasses. You say, how do you know you're going to go to heaven, Pastor Shelley? Because Jesus Christ has forgiven all of my trespasses, every single one. And I'm going to be triumphant, and I'm going to go to heaven, not by anything that I've done, but because of his free gift that he blessed me with. Now another thing we can see here is that Jesus Christ himself was triumphant, and I love the way this is worded in verse 15. It says, in having spoiled principalities and powers. Now when I was thinking about this verse, at first glance, it's kind of hard to understand because Jesus Christ, he died on the cross, and he was buried in the tomb. He didn't really take anything from the Romans. I mean, when we think about spoil, spoil is like typically in connection with war. You win the battle, and you take all their goods. You take all their money. You take the prey or the spoils of war, and we see Jesus Christ, he died, and he didn't really have anything there with him from a carnal perspective. And so understanding that verse is kind of a little bit tricky, but here's what it's trying to teach you. Here's what it's trying to say. He spoiled them in this connection. It was always God's desire for the Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross, because when he dies on the cross, he pays for all of our sins. But here's the thing. He needed human vehicles in order to accomplish that mission. He needed someone to kill him. He needed someone to stand before him and declare him as the spotless, perfect, sinless Lamb of God. He needed people to betray him. He needed all these people and these puzzle pieces to fit together to have the cross happen. And what they thought is they thought, we're killing a blasphemer. We're getting rid of this troubleless person. They thought that they were fulfilling their own will, but the Bible teaches they were fulfilling God's will. Go to Psalms chapter 2, go to Psalms chapter number 2, and then Acts chapter 4 in a moment. Psalms chapter number 2, Acts chapter number 4. What we have to understand is that God spoiled Pilate. God spoiled the Jews. God spoiled the Romans. He spoiled all those that crucified them, because they thought they were killing him and going to win the battle. Nope. That was exactly what he wanted to happen. He spoiled those principalities and those powers by utilizing them to fulfill his will. And so even in his death, he was still triumphant. They look at it, oh, we defeated Jesus. The Pope said this blasphemous phrase. He said that the cross, it was the failure of the cross. What a horrible way to articulate that. That's the exact opposite. It was the triumph of the cross. And while the heathen rage, and while they imagine a vain thing, look at verse 1. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. So God the Father is telling us here it was of his will that Jesus Christ would die on the cross, that he was going to be set up as the king over Zion, and he used the heathen to accomplish his will. He had them in derision. They don't even know what they're doing, but they're fulfilling God's will. He ultimately spoiled these principalities and powers, and he was triumphant, and that's what cleanses us from our trespass. Go to Acts chapter 4, Acts chapter number 4, quickly, and we're going to see the Bible reiterate this point. Look at verse 25. The Bible says, Who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, Why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determine before to be done. So notice, even though they think that they're fulfilling their own will, even though they think that they're accomplishing their goals and they're going to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, God already told them that they were going to do that thousands of years ago. Not only that, from eternity past, because the Word of God is settled in heaven forever is what the Bible says, and the beginning was the Word. Hey, before anything ever happened, the Word already told us they were going to kill the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's the triumph of the cross. It blots out all of our trespasses and all of our iniquities, and that's why we're always triumphant in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, you know, they killed him. No, he spoiled them. No, he took advantage of them. No, he took that opportunity to fulfill his will. Why? Because God always causes us to triumph. God always causes us to triumph. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number 5, and let's look at verse number 18 here. So what is our first point? Our first point is this, that God is going to cause us to triumph over our trespasses. I don't care what happens in your life. If you're saved, you're saved forever. The Bible makes it manifest that once we're saved, we're always saved. Look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 18. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. So the Bible says that God will not impute our trespasses unto us. Now what does impute? It means to account something or to credit something. So God is not going to credit any of your trespasses unto you. Let me ask you this question. If none of your trespasses are credited unto you, how could you go to hell? You can't go to hell. You're considered perfect and spotless and without sin because God has taken away your trespasses. He put them upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it says. And it committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we as ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So all trespass and all sin was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we get to be made his righteousness. Here's my question. When is Jesus Christ not going to be righteous? Never. Therefore, I'm always going to triumph. No matter what sin that I commit, it was laid upon him. And no matter what I do, his righteousness is imputed unto me. Therefore it's called the ministry of reconciliation. We're reconciled to God. Even though our trespasses have separated us from God, we can be reconciled through the blood of Jesus Christ. And we're now forgiven of all our trespasses. He's never going to impute them upon us. Just go to Isaiah 53 for a moment. Isaiah 53, you know what I never have to do? I never have to worry if my sin will keep me out of heaven. You know, obviously when we sin, obviously when we trespass against the Lord, it's still going to be displeasing in his sight. And obviously he doesn't want us to sin. The Bible says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, is what the Bible says. So obviously we should never commit sin. But you know what? When I commit sin, the thought never enters in my mind, well now I'm going to hell. Never happens. And it should never come into our mind because we're always going to triumph. Isaiah 53 verse 4, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Notice in verse 6, it says, all we like sheep have gone astray. You know what, there's not a person in this room that doesn't go astray, that hasn't gone astray, will continue to go astray. We're all just sheep being led by the shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he laid all of our iniquity upon him for us. Go to Romans chapter number 7, Romans chapter number 7. How can we always triumph? Because Christ is the one that will save us. Christ took away all of our sins. Now here's the thing, there's still going to be a war with the flesh. There's still going to be that battle every single day of if you're going to follow God's commandments, if you're going to read the Bible, if you're going to go to church, if you're going to serve God. There's always this struggle internally about following God's commandments or following the flesh. You can't have both. You know, it makes me think of like a diet in a sense. When I think about a diet, if I want to lose weight, I can't enjoy lots of good food. And if I enjoy lots of good food, I can't lose weight. I can't have both, okay? And at the end of the day, if I want to serve God, I can't enjoy that in my flesh. And if I enjoy things in my flesh, then I'm not going to be pleasing to God. I can't have both. Some people, they want both, okay? And so you have all these fad diets, right? You have Diet Coke. Look, just drink a Coke. No, I'm just kidding. It's like, is that really diet? I mean, I don't know. You have all these substitutes, you know, Weight Watchers and stuff. They make all these meals. They look good or whatever. And it's like, I want a real burger. You know, the Impossible Burger, you didn't solve it. It's not, you know, you failed. Try again. You know, I'm not interested in these things that are just a cheap substitute. I mean, if I want to satisfy the flesh, I might as well satisfy the flesh, you know? And this is why Christian rap never sat well with me. I was like, I might as well just listen to real rap if I'm going to listen to something. You know, if I want to serve God, I'll sing the hymns, and if I'm going to serve the flesh, I'll listen to real music, right? I don't want to be caught in the middle. I don't want to be lukewarm. God's just like, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth. And here's the thing. Every single day of your life, there's going to be this war. There's going to be this struggle. There's going to be this battle with the flesh. But you know what I never worry about? I never worry about if I'm going to get the victory at the end of the day. Look what the Bible says in Romans, chapter 7, verse 22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bring me into captivity to the law of sin, which is my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I may so serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. I have good news for all of you backslidden Christians, for all of you guys that can't handle the word of God, no matter how backslidden you are, you're still going to triumph. Hey, I don't care how terrible you are at serving God in the Christian life, you're still going to triumph. You're still going to win. All of your trespasses are still going to be forgiven. The most sinful person in this room, the person that needs the most grace, they're still going to win. Hey, the backup kicker is still getting the Super Bowl trophy. I mean, he's like, he did nothing. He's still going to win. You're on the winning team. It doesn't matter if we all fumble. It doesn't matter if we all score a touchdown for the other team. It doesn't matter what you do, because Jesus Christ is on our team, and we're still going to win. Hey, you say, who's going to deliver me from this body of death? Jesus is. And you notice how the Bible describes your flesh. It's a body of death. It's not easy. It's not easy to serve God. You know it's easy getting the victory because it's through Jesus Christ. You know, it's not easy to do the right thing. It's not easy to want to serve God. It's not easy to read your Bible in the morning. It's not easy to drag yourself to church. It's not easy to teach your children and be diligent and vigilant. It's not necessarily always easy to sacrifice all the things of the world, to go out and preach the gospel or to serve God or to be separated or to do these different things. Hey, it's not necessarily easy, but let me tell you this. It's worth it to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, because you're going to get rewarded. But even if you don't, even if you completely fail, no matter what you do, you're always going to triumph over your trespasses. That's the good news of the gospel. Hey, there's a lot of people that we get saved out soul winning, and they're not going to serve God. I'm just telling you. They're not going to serve the Lord. They're not going to ever darken the door of our church. We're not going to watch them walk in. They're not going to get baptized, even probably, lots of them, unfortunately. A lot of them are not going to clean up their lives. A lot of them are not even going to listen to good preaching. A lot of them are not going to hear good sermons. They're going to still believe all kinds of bad things, and you know what? They're going to win, too. Isn't that great? Isn't that great news that even though they only had one brilliant moment in their life, they had that one shining light that they accepted and they got saved, they still get to win. Hey, it's like that guy that was on the losing team the whole season. He gets traded last minute to the Super Bowl champions, and it's just like, well, you know, I'm not going to be so jaded and bitter and think like, you don't deserve it. No, I'm glad they get to go with us. I'm pleased that they get to go with us. That's how great the gospel truly is. Go to Titus 3, Titus 3. We're always going to be triumphant, and the Bible emphasizes the fact that it has nothing to do with our works. Unfortunately, there are so many churches this morning that are going to teach you that you have to work your way to heaven, and the Bible has a complete opposite message. The Bible teaches that it's a free gift, and it has nothing to do with our works. The Bible says in Titus 3, verse 3, for we ourselves also are sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after that, the kindness and love of God, our Savior toward man, appear, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The Bible says when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're given eternal life, not conditional life, not temporary life. It's something that's sustained forever. The Bible says he that believeth on Him hath everlasting life. That's present tense. The moment you believe, and you say, well, how many good works did you do to get that, Pastor Shelley? None. It says not by works of righteousness which we have done. Not only do some people say you have to turn from your sins, the Bible goes so far as to say that even good things you do have no contributing factor to being saved. This is your liberal Christianity that says, well, if you're saved, you know, you're going to have all these fruits. You're going to have all these good things as the evidence of your salvation. Well, here's the thing. The evidence of my salvation is that Jesus Christ died on the cross. That's the evidence of my salvation, that I'm going to get the triumph through Him. There's not any works that's going to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that I'm saved. Yeah, sometimes your works can give evidence that you might be saved, but here's the thing. The evidence of my salvation is my faith in Jesus Christ. That's the real evidence, and I get eternal life. Go to Romans chapter 8. That's the last verse I really want to look at for this point, but what I love about the Bible, what I love about what Jesus has given us is not only do we have eternal life, not only do we have eternal security, but the Bible even promises us that all things are going to actually work together for good for us. Somehow, no matter what we do. I mean, it's like we can't screw up. I mean, you get the ball, and you're running towards your own end zone, and Jesus just picks you up and throws you back into the right end zone or something. He just carries you back the right way. He just lets you keep running around infinitely while He just knocks all the defenders down. They keep trying to come. He just stiff arms them down. I mean, it's just like you can't lose no matter what you do. You go the wrong direction. You try to screw up, and He's there to catch you. The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 28, that we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? We're on the winning side. We're always going to triumph. You say, well, what if you screw up? It doesn't matter. There is no screw up. I'm going to get triumph over all of my trespasses, period. The Bible says for what server is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. It doesn't say even our faithfulness. It says our faith. Hey, there's a difference between faith and faithfulness. A lot of people have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Very few are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Big difference. But here's the thing. It's by our faith, our simple childlike faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we overcome the entire world. All the trespasses, all the sin, all the iniquity. Here's verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again. Who is even at the right hand of God, who also make it intercession for us. The Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ is making intercession for us, even when we screw up. He's still there to make propitiation, to still make intercession. It says in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? So he's going to say, what could possibly separate you from the love of Christ? What could cause you to fail? Well, he's going to give you a list of things that can't. Shall tribulation? No. Or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter, nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Notice, no matter what happens, we still conquer. We still win. We're still triumphant. We're still victorious. No matter what happens, he says, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We're always conquerors. It doesn't matter what. It doesn't matter what you do. The love of Christ will be upon you from the moment you believe in him forever. And beyond that, because the Bible says that whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate, meaning he was always looking at you, even from eternity past. From eternity past, eternity future, he already knew you. He already loved you. And you know what? His love has always been shed upon you because even when you were sinners, Christ loved you. Even when you were a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Hey, his love was on me in John 3.16 before I was saved. And then after I get saved, I got a Romans 8 love that says nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ, the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Quick love. We're always triumphant over our trespasses. I don't care what they say. We get another point here. I'm going to move to my second point from this passage. Not only are we always triumphant in from our trespasses, but we're also always triumphant in tribulation. We're always triumphant in tribulation. Notice in this passage it says shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. Notice what the apostle Paul is saying. He's saying let's take it to an extremity. Let's say I'm killed. I'm still a conqueror. Who's the perfect picture of that? How about the Lord Jesus Christ himself being killed on the cross and he was still the conqueror. He was still the victor. He was still the one on whom God awards the victory. Now go to Philippians chapter number 1, Philippians chapter 1. I love this point because no matter what tribulation, no matter what persecution and no matter what outcome, we're always triumphant in Christ. Always triumphant in Christ. Now look at Philippians chapter 1 verse 12. But I would you should understand brethren that the things which happen unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. Verse 14, and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear. So the apostle Paul says hey even though I was thrown in prison, even though I'm in great tribulation and anguish, there's still a net positive here because other people are becoming more bold through my tribulation, through my persecution. So now it's even more victory. It's even more success. Keep your finger because I want to read the rest of this passage. Go to Exodus chapter 1. Exodus chapter number 1. Some people think well we're going to slow them down. We're going to stop Christians from serving God. We're going to afflict them. We're going to persecute them. We're going to do things against them and attack them. But notice how the Bible describes this scenario. Let's say we get attacked viciously by a bunch of evil people or they hate us or they try to do evil against us. What does the Bible say will happen? Well look at verse number 10. Come on, let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to pass that when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us and so get them up out of the land. So the Bible says in Exodus chapter 1, this is a picture of the Egyptians. They're wanting to deal or handle the children of Israel in a bad way. They want to, they're looking at them and notice hey they're more in number than we are and this is kind of a dangerous situation. So their goal is to limit them. Their goal is to reduce their number. So they say let's deal wisely. They think of a plan. They think they're so smart. They think well we'll afflict them and if we persecute them then a lot of people will die off, a lot of people will stop serving God. We'll basically take them and we'll dwindle down the number and we'll keep them in subjection and we'll try to tie them down. So in the wisdom they think we'll afflict them. Now what does it say in verse number 11? Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramses but the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. So they look at the children and say we want to limit their number. This is what we'll do. We'll afflict them. This is like pouring gas on the fire. You didn't cause it to decrease. You caused it to increase. You say well if we leave them alone what's going to happen? They're going to multiply. Well if we afflict them what's going to happen? They're going to multiply. But you know what? He's going to always cause you to triumph. It doesn't matter. Hey it doesn't matter if they kill you or persecute you or put you in prison. Hey that's what spread the gospel into the whole world. You had a bunch of faithful disciples and because of their persecution they fled Jerusalem and they went into Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth because of persecution, because of affliction and hey whenever Paul started getting comfortable in one place God just started afflicting him and tormenting him and kicking him out so he could go to another place. You say hey I was comfortable there. Well let's get a little uncomfortable because then maybe we might grow. Then more work for the Lord could be done whenever you're afflicted and persecuted and things come against you. Hey that's what's actually going to give us growth. You say hey Pastor Shelley what do you want for this church? Maybe some affliction. Then we'll grow a little bit. I mean that's what the Bible's promising me. Go back to our passage here. I want to look back at our passage for a moment. Look at verse number 32. I'm sorry I had you in Philippians chapter 1. Look at verse number 22. I'm sorry I got it now. Verse 15. Verse 15. Some indeed preach Christ even of envious strife and some also of good will. The one preached Christ of contention not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds but the other of love knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice yea and will rejoice for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The apostle Paul says if you kill me gain. If you let me live gain. How can you stop him? You can't. The gospel is an unstoppable force. Christians are an unstoppable force. Hey the gates of hell shall not prevail against God's house because it's built upon a rock and he always causes us to triumph. Hey I don't care what tribulation what persecution I don't care what you do and you know what they should be afraid of persecuting us. It might cause us to grow a lot more. And then we got to really figure out how to get AC in here okay. This is hot. But it wouldn't be the first service if it wasn't hot all right. Now let's go keep your finger here because I still want to come back to this passage a little bit more but go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 for a second. Let's think about this for a second. There's two outcomes right. If you're being persecuted if there's tribulation in your life you could die from it or you could survive it right. You could be delivered from the persecution or you could be killed in the persecution. Well both are a game according to the Bible. Now let's think about some people that got the victory. The Apostle Paul got the victory at so many different times. In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 16 the Bible says at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to the charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion and the Lord shall deliver me from every work and will preserve me into his heavenly kingdom to be glory forever and ever. Amen. So the Apostle Paul knowing the important job that God had given him the instructions he had given to be a special witness to go out and preach the gospel to the Gentiles he had confidence he had the boldness to go out and to continually preach and face all opposition all difficulty and no matter what he was confident the Lord would deliver him so that the gospel could get out. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they were confident. Hey they said we're not careful to answer the in this matter. Hey we're never going to bow down to the golden image Nebuchadnezzar. Hey I don't care how hot you get that furnace it's not going to hurt me. Hey they could have heated it up 700 times 700,000 times and you know what it still would have never hurt Shadrach Meshach and Abednego because the Lord Jesus Christ delivered them. Just like I don't care how hot hell gets make it hotter. I mean as soon as Joe Biden gets in there I mean it's going to get hot. The Clintons drop in there whoa hot. It's going to be hot. San Francisco I mean if an earthquake happened hell would just get hot. It's going to get super hot and you know what I'm never going to know how hot it gets. It's never going to hurt me. And you know what they can kill my body but they can't kill my soul and they're supposed to fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. You know what that tribulation doesn't scare me. In fact it should actually encourage us to want to serve God more because even if we are persecuted we still get the victory. You know Moses was delivered from Pharaoh. Daniel was delivered from the lion's den. But you know what some people didn't get delivered. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't get delivered did he? You know what he still got the victory. The most glorious death of all the Bible. The Lord Jesus Christ. Here's another great one. How about Stephen? Stephen preaches some great sermon and then he gets stoned to death. He even gets to see the Lord Jesus Christ though in glory. And what a great way to go out. I mean hey I preach you preach the greatest sermon ever and it's just like done. Mic drop. You know Stephen he was about to say Christ could even come before I finish this sermon and it was just like dead. He was taken out and he was but you know what even though he was a martyr he was still victorious. Hey if you persecute me and I'm a martyr so much more I'll get a crown of righteousness. Hey you cut off my head. Hey I'm gonna get a special reward in heaven. Hey and if you don't kill me that gives me more time to serve God. It's a win either way. We just constantly win. There's nothing you can do to stop us. We're always triumphant in tribulation. Always. Go back and look at verse 22. Look at Philippians chapter 1 verse 22. But if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose I would not. For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to part and to be with Christ which is far better. Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. So the apostle Paul says you know what it's such great options it's hard to even pick. Hey I have a desire to go because that sounds great. I have a desire to die as a murder. Hey I also have the desire to stay with you guys. Help you guys out. He says in verse number 25 and having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you. All for your furtherance and joy of faith that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Says hey it's a win win no matter what but I'm confident the Lord's gonna keep me here for you guys. And you know what this is still true today. This verse is still true today and you know what it doesn't just apply to the apostle Paul you know it also applies to you. You are still just like the apostle Paul where it's more beneficial for you to be here in the flesh with us today. Hey I would never have gotten this building the way it is it wasn't for you abiding in the flesh for you being here to help get this thing done. Hey I can't reach the Dallas Fort Worth area with the gospel by myself I need you guys to help me go out and preach the gospel. Hey and it's a net win. You know what it's needful that you guys are here. As much fun as it would be to preach to no one this morning I enjoy having you know almost a full building I mean we've got tons of people here praise the Lord and it's needful that you're here. You know it's needful for what it's needful for Christ. Christ needs you. Christ wants you. Christ wants you to fulfill his great commission. Christ wants you to go out and preach the gospel. You know Jesus Christ is content sitting in heaven and allowing us to go out and preach the gospel. To be his ambassadors. He is in a foreign land he's in a different area he's still leading us he's still guiding us from afar but at the end of the day we are his body. People see Christ through us. We go out and we preach the gospel to people. We go out and minister to people. We are his body through the church and so it's needful that we're here. You're also needful for me. I need you. You guys help me so much. I love this church. I mean I could go to a lot of churches today and preach but you know what there's a difference between being here and being somewhere else. And you know what you're also needful for the other people in this room. You know why people love coming to the St. Vass Baptist Church? For the other people. You go find me another church where there's so many great people. I mean it's hard to find a day. It's such a wonderful atmosphere such a wonderful group and I feel privileged to pastor a group of people who through extreme adversity in this church's past are still pressing towards the mark. Hey, no matter what tribulation God can still give us that victory. God can still give us the triumph. Why? Because he's the one that enables us to be successful. It's not through us. It's not through our might. It's not through our power. And you know what? This church is a testament to your name steadfast. And when I say church I'm not saying a building. I'm saying you guys. You guys are a testament to steadfast. You know it's hard to come into a ship that's sinking and know what's going to happen. It's hard to know what to expect and I was just thinking I hope that these people can hang on because there's a lot of good things going here. There's a lot of great people and man how many great people have just stuck around and said you know what I'm going to be steadfast. I'm going to still dig in. Hey, I don't care if this ship's sinking. We'll plug the holes. Hey, we'll start throwing water over the ship. Hey, we'll get this guy. He's not helping. We'll toss him over too, you know. But you know what? A testament to the name. And you know there's people in this room that have been here since day one. Who's been here since day one? Brother Alberto, Brother Phillip. What a testament to the name of steadfast. Hey, I bet it looks a little different than it did day one, huh? Yeah. You know what? That's through Jesus Christ that gives us and it's needful that you guys are here. This church couldn't be here without that first group of people. Hey, it couldn't be here. Hey, if everybody quit. Hey, if everybody from that first day decided you know what? See ya sucker. I'm going somewhere else. We wouldn't even be here. God used you to build his church. God used you to bring people in here. God is going to use us to do his works. It's needful that we're here in the flesh and no matter what tribulation may come, you know we're still going to get that victory. You know, I actually got to come to the first year anniversary service. It was over off Jacksboro Highway. It wasn't the building that we just were most recently in. It was a little bit further down the road. And it's these weird like tri-layer buildings where it basically had three different kind of stages as it were like mini stages. It was like this narrow box that kind of just went straight and had three little tiny platforms that went down. And let me say this, the building was rough. If I were to say like what's the worst design for a building, I was like this. I remember me and my wife, we showed up on a Friday night. Pastor Steven Anderson was there to preach a sermon. It was super hot. It was packed. We were in the back where every kid was screaming. I think all of them, okay. So it was loud. It was intense. And the building was super ugly, okay. It was super rough. I mean, you had to want to be there, to be there, okay. I'm just being honest. Not much to look at. But you know what made Steadfast Baptist Church great? Not the building. Hey, we have a lot better building than we did back then. But you know what? It doesn't matter. It's not about the building. It's about you guys. You're steadfast. No matter where we are, we're steadfast whether it's this building, whether it's across town. It doesn't matter where we're at. It just matters that we are steadfast. We are the church. Hey, it's not about a building. It's about us serving God and He's going to give us the victory. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. I want to prove this point for a second. Go to Ephesians chapter number 2. It's never going to be about a building for us. You know, some churches, they go through a building campaign for a decade, a decade. This church hasn't even been around for a decade. I don't have time to wait for a decade. Imagine, you just Sunday morning after Sunday morning, building campaign, building campaign. You've got the big thermostat on the wall and it's just like, we've got to raise this much money and we've got to raise. Every single week, just building, just building, just building, just building. Hey, and then you get all that 10 years. You finally get that building. Was it worth it? And then no one's there to be there. The church sucks though because the only people there only cared about money anyways. It's like, how can you enjoy the building? I can't enjoy a building. I don't care about the building if the people are not there to serve God. If the people aren't steadfast, if the people don't want to get to work, if the people aren't willing to go through tribulation, if I have to preach some watered down carnal message about money every morning so as not to lose the flock, hey, that's not worth it. We'll meet outside. Hey, we'll pack my living room if we can or whatever. I don't really care where we go. Hey, we'll pack the police department, you know, front lobby. We'll just start having church there. No, I'm just kidding. But the Bible says that we are the church. Ephesians chapter 2, look at verse number 19. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone and in all the building fitly framed together, growth unto a holy temple in the Lord and whom we also are building together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. The Bible says that we are God's house. We are the church as a group, as a collective. It's not about that building. Go to Acts chapter 16. It's the last place I want to go for that second point. What are we talking about? We're talking about always being triumphant. We're always triumphant over our trespasses. We're always triumphant in tribulation. Jesus Christ said, these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. He says, hey, if you're in that world, you will suffer tribulation. He doesn't say, well, maybe. He says the only way you're going to have peace is in me because in the world you're not going to have peace. They're not going to like you. They're not going to want to be around you. They don't like the light. They're the cockroaches. They despise the light. As soon as you flip the light on, they all scatter. They all get mad and angry and they hate that. The peace is internal understanding that we're always going to triumph. That peace is internal knowing, hey, our trespasses aren't going to keep us from going to heaven. Hey, no matter what tribulation comes our way, we're still going to be triumphant. We're still going to win the battle. Look at Acts chapter 16 verse 20. And brought them, talking about Paul and Silas, to the magistrates saying, these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city and teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates ran off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. Now, this is some extreme persecution. Look at verse number ... I want to go to verse 25 with you here in a second. But we notice the apostle Paul and them, they're teaching the Bible. They're preaching the gospel. They're getting people saved. And you would think, what's the worst thing that can happen being stopped and put in jail? I mean, if you're doing a great work for the Lord, if you're firing in all cylinders, the last thing you want to do is be thrown into the innermost part of the prison. I don't want to go there. Look at verse number 25. The Bible says, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. So notice, even though they've suffered a great setback, even though there's this persecution and tribulation coming upon them, they still sing praises unto God. And then we get one of the most powerful chapters of the Bible where a great earthquake opens up the doors of the prison. A man falls down on his knees and just plainly states, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they get to get a guy saved. Would that guy have gotten saved if they had never thrown in prison? Probably not. So you know what? Even in their tribulation, even in their persecution, they still triumphed. They still got the guy saved. They still got to go out. They still got a whole house baptized. Hey, they got the jailer and his whole family saved and baptized at midnight. They were probably just going to sleep all night. But this night, they get to sing praises in jail, get a guy saved. They get to get all this family baptized. Hey, they get to work 24 hours this day, and it was a night to remember, wasn't it? What a night to remember you get thrown in prison, and you're thinking, how long are we going to be here? It wasn't even a day. It's like they get caught at night, finished out soul-winning, and they were going to get some grub. They get to go to prison. And then they get to sing praises to God. They get a guy saved, and they're out of there. Mission accomplished. Look, Jesus Christ, they meant for evil. God meant it for good. He used that tribulation and that persecution to get another person saved. Now, it says in verse number 26, And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loose. Think about this. It's like when you're in tribulation, but God's on your side, all the doors are still open. All the doors opened up. Hey, before they were all locked, but then whenever you're in God's perfect will, He just opens all the doors to you. He says, hey, you want to go here? You want to go there? I'm just going to open all the doors. You have unlimited access. Hey, He's given us all power and all authority to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He said, hey, I've opened up the door to every prison out there. Go out and save somebody. Hey, every single opportunity to get someone saved is afforded to us if we're in Christ. He's opened every single prison door. But you know what? These people, they're in prison to their sin. They're in captivity to their sin, and it takes a spirit-filled man of God to go out and preach the gospel to them and get them saved, and now we have every single door opened to us through tribulation, through persecution. Back up to verse 21. My third point, my final point this morning, not only does it cause us to be triumphant of our trespasses, not only does it cause us to have triumph over our tribulation, but you know what? We always, always triumph when we teach the Bible, when we teach the Word of God. Look at verse number 21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither observe, being Romans. Why did they get thrown in prison? Because of what they were teaching. Their teaching caused them to be thrown into prison, but you know what? You will never fail by teaching the Word of God. Never. The Word of God always has triumph. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter number 2. Jesus Christ said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things which are of command unto you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. The Bible tells us that we're supposed to go out and teach all nations, every single nation, every single person. We're supposed to go out and teach and to preach Jesus Christ and to get people saved. And you know what? We should never be ashamed of teaching God's Word. It is the truth. And the truth, there's no scrutiny. And the truth is not afraid. You know what's afraid? The darkness. The darkness doesn't comprehend the light. The darkness flees from the light. You know what? Light always has victory over darkness. You can't do anything to light. Light always wins. Hey, if there's a battle over a dark area, light will immediately clean that up. It's not like, well, this light's not working. If you get a flashlight and you start shining a dark place, it's not going to be like, I mean, it could be dull, right? But at the end of the day, it's going to work. Light always triumphs over darkness in every single case. And when we teach the Word of God, it will always be victorious, even if they persecute us. First Timothy chapter two, verse eight, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was risen from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffered trouble as an evildoer, even under bonds. But the Word of God is not bound. You can't lock up the Bible. You can't put a cap on it. And you know what? Even if they throw me in prison, even if they kill me, the Word of God's not attached to me. You have the Word of God. You can go out and teach the Word of God. Hey, the Word of God is not with the apostle Paul. It's with all of us. It's with every saved believer. And you know what? God's going to always cause us to triumph for preaching the Word of God. The apostle Paul was not a failure in his life for preaching the Word of God. He was a success for preaching the Word of God, for teaching the Bible. Go over to Psalms chapter 126. Psalms 126, let's look at a famous verse here. And go to Isaiah 55 too. Isaiah 55, the Bible says that the Word of God is always going to succeed. It's always going to be victorious. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Word of God. Therein too, it's always going to have the victory. It's always going to win. It's going to slay all of its enemies. Jesus Christ kills them literally with the Word of God. The sword proceeds out of his mouth. The sword of the Spirit. Hey, that sword, if you use it, it always wins. You're never going to take the sword, the Word of God, and put it against any defense and it's not going to slice through. It's always sharp. It's always going to slice through. It's always going to get the victory. It's always going to do its job. Psalms 126 verse 6, he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Notice the Bible says doubtless. Doubtless. You know why people are not slaying the enemy? There's only one reason. They're not slinging the sword. Because you're never going to sling the sword and it's not going to work. The reason that it doesn't work is because you don't work. That's why. Because if you pick up the Word of God, it's going to always slay. It's always going to be successful. It's always going to cut. It's always going to slice. It's always going to do its work. The Bible says that God's Word does not return void. Look at Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, look at verse 10. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and the bread to the eater. He's saying, have you ever seen it rain and then the rain just immediately went back up into the cloud? It never happens. It never snows and then it sucks all the way back up. That doesn't work. It doesn't return. It's saying the same with God's Word. Look at verse 11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper, and the thing whereinto I sin it. You're not going to have rain get on the ground and nothing's going to get wet. Some of that moisture is going to get attached into the ground. Now obviously some will evaporate and I understand that, but here's the thing. It's never going to rain, and it's like no water. It just all soaked back up. None of it went into the soil. There was no benefit to it. No, there's always benefit to rain. There's always something that happens. Something was a cause of that, and it's saying whenever God's Word goes out, it never just comes back empty. It always has a benefit. There's always something attached to it. There was some success somewhere. In some way the Word of God was successful. It says for ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands. Hey, at the very minimum the whole earth rejoices at the Word of God. Hey, just even the whole earth just gets excited to hear the Word of God. Go to Hebrews chapter 4 and 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, the Bible says, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. You know, the Bible's not just words. It's also power. The Word of God is power. It's always successful. Whenever we teach the Word of God, we're never going to fail. You never fail preaching the Word of God. You always succeed. The failure is when you don't preach the Word of God. The failure is when people teach lies. The failure is when people teach things that aren't true. That's the failure. You will never fail by teaching the Word of God. There's never a bad time to teach the Word of God. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, for the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Bible says that the Word of God will slice through anything, and it's always going to have great power. It will always result in triumph. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're almost finished this morning, but I want to talk about a few more points. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 11, these things command, and notice this word, and teach. We are to teach the Word of God. Verse 12, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example to believers in word and conversation and charity, and spirit and faith and purity, till I come give attendance to readings, exhortation to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things, give thyself holy to them, that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue unto them, for in doing this thou shalt save thyself, and then not hear thee. Verse 15, he says, hey, when you're meditating on the Word of God, when you're teaching the Word of God, notice it says in verse 15, that thy profiting. It doesn't say you're going to fail. You can't fail. You can't fail by meditating on the Word of God. You can't fail by memorizing scripture. You can't fail by reading the Bible. You can't fail by teaching the Word of God, period. But you know what? He wants it to appear to others. He wants other people to understand his profiting. Hey, if I meditate on the Word of God, I read the Bible, and I find some great truth. I find some life-altering scripture. That'll profit me all day long. That's great. But how is it going to profit you? I have to teach it to you. That's the point of teaching. Don't hog all your great truths. Hey, if you know a lot of great things in the Bible, teach us. Hey, tell us all about it. Why would you want to sit there and say, you know what? I know of a great secret. There's a great restaurant really close by. See you later. It's so good. I mean, it's the best ever. It's free. I've never tasted anything like it. And it's the most satisfying meal you'll ever have. You might not even eat again. It's that bread and that drink that just satisfies you forever. What kind of a selfish person would do that? No, we have to actually open our mouth, and we have to teach the Word of God. But you know what? You're always going to triumph when you teach the Word of God. You're always going to also save lives. Look at what it says in verse 16, save both thyself and them that hear thee. The teaching of God's Word can save people's lives. I've known a lot of people that would just openly admit that by hearing biblical preaching, it saved them. It saved them from sin. It saved them from destroying their own life. It just saved them from having less children. There's a lot of people that would have a lot less children, but then God's preaching saved them and gave them even more children. Some children in this room, you're here as a result of Bible preaching. You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for the Word of God. And when you teach the Word of God, it profits, it benefits people, it saves people's lives. Hey, never hold back on teaching the Word of God. You say, well, someone might get offended. Well, you know what? There is still a net positive by teaching the Word of God. And you know what? If they get offended by something, they would have got offended by something else. So they might as well get offended by the Word of God. And you know what? I hope that I offend people only by the Word of God. But I'm not afraid to offend somebody by the Word of God. And we should not be afraid to teach the Bible. Never be ashamed of preaching God's Word. Never. Never be ashamed of believing God's Word. It saves lives. It's the truth. Imagine me apologizing, hey, I'm so sorry I believe things that are true. I'm so sorry I'm on the winning side. And I, you know, my Creator that gave me everything, life and breath, I'm thankful for everything He's given me. That sounds weird. Hey, I should never hold back on that. I should never be ashamed of Christ's words and of the Bible. You know who should be ashamed? Those that are guilty of what the Bible says. Those are the people that are ashamed. Those are the people that have something to fear and to basically be dissatisfied with. Now, I want to go to one last verse. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. Go to 1 Corinthians 15. We'll read a few verses there, one last passage. The Bible says that it will save our lives. Let's conclude this sermon. What have we learned? We're always triumphant. We're always triumphant over our trespasses. We're always triumphant through tribulation. And we're always triumphant when we're teaching the Word of God. There's nothing better you could do with your life than to teach the Bible. Teach the Bible to your children. Teach the Bible to your wife. Teach the Bible to your neighbors, to your family members, to your co-workers, to those outside of the streets, to the strangers. Hey, the ones here in Jerusalem, the ones in Samaria, the ones in the uttermost part of the earth, hey, when you get an opportunity to get behind this pulpit, teach the Bible to God's people. There will always be profit. No matter what happens, no matter what difficulty we go through, we'll always be triumphant. 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 53. That is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. If I said, hey, everything you do in Christ is going to be successful, what's holding you back? What's the point of the sermon, Pastor Sholey? Here's the point of the sermon. Be in Christ as much as possible because you will always be triumphant. Hey, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, never stop serving God. You will always get the victory. We will always be triumphant. Hey, whenever you serve God, there's going to be a reward to that. Hey, there's nothing for us to do other than to serve God while we're here on this earth. Please never be discouraged. You say, well, there's been some dark times in this church, you know, or there's been dark times in my life, or there's been hard things that I've had to go through, but look where you're at now. Didn't you get the victory? It's fun when you go through something difficult and then you get the victory and you can see how faithful God is. It's hard in the moment, but remember the past triumphs you've had through the Lord Jesus Christ and let that motivate you for our next difficulty because I'll tell you this, difficulty hasn't stopped. Tribulation hasn't stopped. You having struggles, you doing bad things, you trespassing, you going through tribulation, you being persecuted for teaching the Word of God, it's coming, my friend. You know what? If we're going to do a great work for God, someone wants to stop us, but you know what? We're always going to be triumphant in Christ. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your Word. Thank you for this great story and message of hope. Thank you for always giving us the victory, for always being on our side, for always encouraging us, for always motivating us. Thank you for allowing us to use the sword of the Spirit, which always is successful. I pray that you would just take back the fear in our hearts of serving you. Whatever it is in our flesh that we need to die to, whatever fear we may have for tribulation or persecution that may arise, or whatever shame we may have for the Word of God, I pray that you would just purge those from our hearts, that we decide to serve you faithfully because we know that we will always have the triumph in your precious Son's name, Jesus Christ. Amen.