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

He's so good and kind. He lives, He lives, as Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along my narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to you in part. Dear as we have, I know He lives, He lives within my heart. Good morning everyone and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. It's great to see y'all here. If you can go ahead and find a seat we'll go ahead and get started. We're going to start this morning off with another great Christmas hymn, song number 429, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Song number 429, sing it out nice and loud all together. Song 429, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Sing it out on the first. Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies. With angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Glory to the newborn King. Song 429 on the second. Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Pain in time, behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin's womb. Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, hail the incarnate deity. Peace with men, with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Glory to the newborn King. Hail the heaven, born Prince of Peace. Hail the Son of righteousness. Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings. While He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Glory to the newborn King. Come, desire of nations come, fix in us thy humble home. Christ the woman's conquering sea, cruise in us the serpent's head. Adam's likeness now effaced, stamped mine image in its place. Second Adam from above, reinstate us in thy love. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Glory to the newborn King. Excellent singing everybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church and everyone that's gathered here. We thank you for your son Jesus Christ, sending him to us to offer free salvation, Lord. Lord God, we ask that you fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit, help him to preach in edifying sermons so we can walk out better Christians. We came in for your honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, next up we have O Come, O Come Emmanuel. It's in your white handouts. If you do not have one, go ahead and raise your hand. We'll bring one on to you. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This is a new one for us so if you know it, sing it out nice and loud. If you don't know it, sing it out nice and loud. Sing it out together. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. On the first. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. And ransom captive Israel. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. That morn's in the air. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Until the Son of God appear. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Rejoice, rejoice. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Shall come to you, O Israel. O Come, O Come great Lord of mine. Move to your tribes on Sinai. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. In ancient times did give the law. O Come, O Come Emmanuel. In cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel. O Come, O Branch of Jesse. Step unto your own and rescue them. From depths of hell your people save. And give them victory o'er the grave. Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel. All right, so it looks like we had different lyrics. I apologize for that. Let's go ahead and take it from the second. O come, thou day spring, come and cheer. Our spirits by thine advent year. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night. And death's dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, desire of nations bind. All peoples in one heart and mind. Bid envy, strife, and glory cease. Fill all the world with heaven's peace. Rejoice, rejoice. Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. Great singing. Amen. If you don't have a bulletin and you'd like one, just lift your hands up nice and high. And that was your sample into special music for this morning. So good thing Brother Richard can sing really well. We really enjoyed that. Thank you for those specials. And if you look on the inside of our bulletin, we have our service times, our soul winning times, and church stats. Also on the right we have some expecting ladies. If you'd please be in prayer for them. We really appreciate it. If you have any additional prayer requests that you would like for us to be in prayer with, you can email that to us or fill out a communication card and put it in our offering. And we'd like to be in prayer with you throughout the week. On the back we have a cleaning volunteer luncheon this afternoon. And I think most people had already responded, but if you hadn't, just please see me immediately following. It's just a luncheon to talk about our cleaning volunteer rotation and everything. And so we'd like for you to join us. Just this Sunday, we're just going to have that fellowship room only for that cleaning luncheon. So if you normally kind of use that area, if you could just use some other area for today. Then we have our Christmas cookie bake-off. It's going to be happening on Christmas Day. And so we'll be having our normal regular service time at 7. I'll be preaching a different message. I won't be preaching Matthew 6. We'll have to wait another week to get there, but I'll be preaching a message. We'll have a candlelight service and then immediately following we're going to have our Christmas cookie bake-off. And so we'll have milk and some soft drinks to go along with those cookies. But we'd love for you to join us for that Christmas Day celebration. There is going to be a couple prizes for a few different categories. So we have a prize for the best tasting, the best decorated and then the most creative. And so we allow everybody to end up voting and whoever gets the most wins. It is possible technically for one cookie to win all three categories. I don't think that we've ever had a year where anybody won two categories even with the same cookie. But it is possible. Of course you can also enter as many kinds or types. So if you want to enter multiple options you can. So we don't discriminate against you bringing cookies. The only other tip I would give is just because there's so many people, often if you have a larger batch or several samples, it really helps as far as getting more people to try your cookie and everything like that. But we've really had some pretty amazing cookies in times past, especially from the creative categories and everything like that. And so definitely you should put some energy into it. All right. So but really looking forward to it. It's a lot of fun. Our church really has a good time with it. Down below is a couple other announcements. We have the January 1st, we have a men's preaching night as well as pizza. And so instead of having a normal preaching time, we're going to let men do popcorn preaching. So any men that want to preach, prepare about a five minute sermon, wear a button up shirt and tie, and we'll allow various men from our church to preach a shorter sermon to us. And then we'll have pizza fellowship immediately following that. January 11th through the 12th, I've been invited to go down to the Houston area for a soul winning and a preaching event. So that's going to be a Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to be down there and we're going to be doing soul winning at 10 a.m. So we'll be meeting at the church there at 9 a.m. We'll go out soul winning for a couple hours, have lunch and then go soul winning again in the afternoon for a while. And then I think we're going to have a fellowship event in the evening and then I'll be preaching both services that Sunday. And so if you would like to join us down there, we'd love to have you. I'll probably have a sign up sheet for those that are planning on attending. And we might be able to help with lodging for people that may want to come down there. So I'm going to wait probably a week and I'll get a sign up sheet. But you can at least put it on your radar if you would like to join us for the soul winning event and everything like that. We have plenty of other soul winning events and opportunities scheduled for next year. And hopefully by the beginning of next year, we'll kind of give you an idea of what next year is going to look like. But we have tons and tons of soul winning opportunities. We are going to be going back to Mexico and it looks like we'll probably do it at the beginning of February that weekend. That weekend that's kind of at the beginning. I'm going to make sure to confirm a few more things and then I'll make a public announcement about that exact trip. We're going to be going back to Reynosa. And so we've been going to Matamoros several years in a row. This year we're going to go back to Reynosa and Reynosa is a very receptive area. It's a larger than Matamoros and it doesn't have la cancer. Yeah, but it has a lot of data and it's a great restaurant as well. And in fact, it's funny because the first time we went to Matamoros, I was I was like thinking, man, I'm disappointed. We won't get to eat at La Folgata. There's nothing is good. But then I found la cancer. Yeah. And I was like, wow, I didn't realize that this is so good. But again, La Folgata is a great who's been to La Folgata. OK, somebody there. I saw that hand. You almost snuck it up. Yeah, it's good, isn't it? All right. Can I get a witness? All right. So La Folgata is a great restaurant. Really enjoyed it. That's pretty much all I have as far as announcements. So we'll go ahead and sing our third song. We're going to sing Psalm one hundred and nineteen. It's in our special Psalm booklets. Psalm one hundred and nineteen. All right. That's Psalm 119. Luckily, we all have the lyrics to this one, so this should be much better. Sing it out all together. On the first. I. Righteous. I. Oh, shoot. Oh, yeah. I am. I just. Take it. I. I see. Me. I. Oh, yeah. I just. Oh, I see. I see. I see. Oh, yeah. I. Great singing everybody. As the offering place you're going around, you please turn your Bibles to Isaiah, chapter number seven, Isaiah, chapter number seven. I. Isaiah seven, the Bible reads, and it came to pass in the days of a has the son of Jotham, the son of Isaiah, king of Judah. That reason, the king of Syria and Pika, the son of Rhema Leah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying Syria is confederate with Ephraim, and his heart was moved and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet a has thou and share at Jashub thy son at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field and say unto him. Take heed and be quiet. Fear not, neither be faint hearted for the two tales of these smoking firebrands for the fierce anger of reason with Syria and the son of Rhema Leah, because Syria, Ephraim and the son of Rhema Leah have taken evil counsel against these saying, Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass, for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is reason. And within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Rhema Leah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou of Horus shall be forsaken of both her kings. The Lord shall bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys and in the holes of the rocks and upon all thorns and upon all bushes. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, and it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land. And it shall come to pass in that day that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines and a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briars and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briars and thorns. And on all hills that shall be digged with the maddock there shall not come thither the fear of briars and thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen and for the treading of lesser cattle. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for the Christmas season and just for this day in our church, and I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, enable him to preach the sermon he played on his heart with boldness. Help us to pay close attention to the message, to apply it, and to glorify you better in our everyday lives. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Before I get into the sermon, I forgot the most important announcement. We had a special insert in our bulletin about the congratulations to the Brooks on the birth of their daughter, Rosa Lee Marie, and she was born on the 12th, 2.52 p.m., weighing six pounds, seven ounces. Congratulations to them. And that goes really well with our sermon because we are talking about birth, and birth is a special miracle. It's a special event. And the Bible brings us up here in verse number 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. And so the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ being born is a special sign. This is a prophetic message that's being delivered here in the book of Isaiah about the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not going to have you turn there, but in Matthew chapter 1, the Bible basically quotes this passage and it says, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. And so in Isaiah chapter number 4, I'm sorry, Isaiah chapter number 7, verse 14, it does not tell us explicitly the meaning of the name, but in the New Testament, it tells us what Immanuel means, and it means God with us. And that's the title of my sermon this morning is God with us. When we celebrate Christmas, we're celebrating the fact that God was with us. God came down from heaven and dwelt among men. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so according to the Bible, we celebrate God being with us. But this theme of God being with us is not limited to the 30 so years that Jesus Christ lived on this earth, but God is always with Christians. God is always with us. And even in the book of Isaiah, even though they didn't have Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh to come and physically dwell among them, he gave them another child as a sign that God was with them, that God is for them. Now, look at verse 1 of chapter 8. Moreover, the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Meirshala Hashbaz. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jerichiah. And I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son, then said the Lord to me, Call his name Meirshala Hashbaz. So the prophet has a child, names them this unique name, Meirshala Hashbaz, and you can look it up, it's something like quickly to the plunder. And really the whole point that's being made is that there's two enemies coming against Jerusalem and going to attack them, but God is going to send someone else to attack them, and that's going to cause Jerusalem to not be destroyed, not to succumb to the pressures, and that's why it's bringing up all these different places for Syria and Damascus and reason and all these different things. And he's saying, hey, by the time this child, you know, before he can really even understand his left hand from his right hand, he can understand who his mom and his dad is, before he's going to understand butter and honey and all these different things, you know, you're already going to be delivered of these enemies that are coming against you. And that's what the name of this child is signifying, and he is a sign that God is still with them. Because in the midst of battle, in the midst of opposition, in the midst of persecution, sometimes it can feel like God is not with you. But God wants to sometimes give us a sign and say, no, no, God is with us. God is with us in the Bible. Now, look at verse 13, sanctify the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread. The world wants you to fear them. Enemies want you to fear them. Persecutors want you to fear them. The godless want you to fear them. The government wants you to fear them. But we are to fear God. We are to allow God to be our dread. We are supposed to make God our fear, and we are supposed to tremble in his presence, not at the presence of man. And so when they have man coming and putting pressure and forces against them, they're not to be afraid of them. They are to be afraid of God. And we are supposed to fear the Lord. What does it look like to fear the Lord? Well, keeping his commandments, going to church, praying, still seeking the Lord. You're afraid of what God will do to you. You're not afraid of what they will do to you. Now, obviously, God can use man to afflict us and things like that, but really our fear should be of God. As Christians, God does not want us to fear anything but him. He only wants us to tremble at his word, to fear at his word and his commandments, and to seek him for the remedy of all of our problems. What does it mean to sanctify? That means to set apart. Set apart to make holy, to sanctify, to set apart. These are all three of the exact same thing. So when the Bible says to be holy, that means to set yourself apart. When it says to sanctify yourselves, that means to set yourself apart. What would it look like to set yourself apart? Well, setting yourself apart from the world and coming to church one day. Coming to church for a service. How about dressing differently and sanctifying yourself and setting yourself apart? When the whole world is going out to drink and to get drunk, you separate yourself, you sanctify yourself, and you say, I'm going to be sober. And so there's a way in which we can be holy, where we can be set apart, where we can sanctify ourselves. And that's what the Bible is saying is, sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread. How do we set God apart? By saying, I don't fear anybody else. I only fear God. I'm going to set him apart and say, you know, I'm terrified of him, but I'm not afraid of you. I don't care what you say or what you do. I only care what the word of God says. And I'm only going to let him be the one that I'm afraid of. And what does it say in verse 14? And he shall be for a sanctuary. This is the good news. When you fear God, it's not that we need to necessarily tremble at just being around him or coming to see him. We should more be afraid of not coming around him, not coming to see him, not trying to improve ourselves, because God is a merciful God. He is a gracious God. And so we should seek unto him to be our sanctuary. Say, I'm afraid of not being in his sanctuary. I'm afraid of not seeking his grace. I'm afraid of not seeking his mercy. The Bible tells us that we should be running unto the Lord as our sanctuary, as a safe place, as our refuge from the day of trouble. But what happens for the people that don't? But for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the house of Israel, and for a jinn and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. So those that don't trust in the Lord, he ends up becoming a trap. It says, And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared and be taken, bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, and I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion. So God gave Mehershalahashbaz as a sign, as a comfort, to say, Just trust in me, just rely on me, and I will protect you and deliver you from these enemies. Whereas those who did not trust in the Lord, but sought to man, sought to Egypt, sought to get delivered in some other way, it ended up being a trap, a snare, and they were taken by those things. But those that trusted in the Lord, allowed him to be their sanctuary, he ended up delivering them. And so we have to constantly realize that God is with us, and He's going to give us signs, and He's going to give us wonders, but those signs and wonders are going to be coming from His Word. When we celebrate Christmas, one of the things that we need to be celebrating and recognizing is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us hope in a sea of darkness. And that's what He was a picture of. In Isaiah chapter 9, look at verse 1, Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan and Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. So He's describing an area that's been forsaken, that hasn't been very godly, it's in great darkness, but then a light comes, and that light gives them hope, and that hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the whole world lies in darkness, the Bible describes, and that only hope, that only light is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is still with us, it's called the King James Bible. The King James Bible is a sign and a wonder, its majesty and its glory excels everything else on this planet, and so we still have a light, we still have a hope, and you know what, it still performs miracles every single day. Every single day we go out there and we preach the gospel to those who are in darkness, and we heal the blind. We give life unto those that are dead in trespasses and sins. We are constantly recovering people out of the prison of darkness. We're taking them from being children of wrath and children of disobedience, and we're making them servants of the most high God. And that is a miracle every single time that we go out there, and we have a bright and shining light to deliver people from this darkness. Why? Because God is with us. When we go out preaching the gospel, it's not me by myself, it is God that is with us. And I have God in my hand, and without God I can do nothing. Without this book, I can't go out there and heal the blind, and heal the lame, and heal the sick. Now of course I'm speaking spiritually. I don't go out and actually do what Pentecostals do and slap people on the forehead, and somehow that makes them not sick. Because frankly speaking, a lot of people in our church need that right now. It's not even just our church, it's everywhere. I've been noticing, it's like an epidemic lately, just everywhere. Churches everywhere, friends everywhere, family everywhere. People are just getting sick way more. And I even looked it up online, and they said, well after COVID, everybody's been hit with this immunity debt. And I'm like, I don't even know what that, I've never heard of this. Not only do we get more debt from our government, we get immunity debt now too. So this immunity debt was just the fact that so many people were locked up, and just kind of caged up, that it caused everybody's immune systems to get a little bit worse. And then as a result of that, now we're kind of suffering the consequences of everybody going back out in the world, more bustle, more hustle, more people just interacting. And you've got to think about it, even in a church like ours, we literally gather people from all parts of the city, all parts of the world. We're bringing people from all kinds of different countries. It's kind of a melting pot. And so just reality is we're probably going to have to experience a little bit more of that. And I'm telling you, if I could walk around and smack you in the face and you would get healed, I would do it, all right? I would make you bark like a dog or do whatever. But you know what, that's not real. You know what we can do is we can go out and preach the gospel to someone that doesn't understand the Bible, and they get saved and now they understand the Bible. And that's that miracle, and that's because God is with us. Now look at verse 6, this is the most probably famous verses that we have in the book of Isaiah, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So we have Meir Sheleh HaShepaz as a current prophecy that's happening in the book of Isaiah, happening at that time. But then there's a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ and that's being prophesied and mentioned here in verse number 6 about the Lord Jesus Christ and how the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be someone who rules. Now this is pretty much, you know, if you understand the context it's talking about the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and it's talking about how when he is essentially upon his throne people are going to call him what? Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. And really you understand the word God as ruler. He's the ruler, he's the one that's in charge of everything. He's the Everlasting Father, like we think of a father of the nations or a founding father. He's the one that's the ruler, the governor. He's the Prince of Peace. Prince is also another word for ruler, governor. And then again it says in verse 7 of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Now the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ though we recognize that he had to be a sacrifice and die first before he could then take on his throne, take on this. But just the birth of Jesus Christ signified hey, he has been given to us and he will rule and reign on this earth. Albeit we are going through the process of still gathering more Gentiles into his flock. That's what the Bible makes abundantly clear. He said he had more sheep to gather and he was going to gather them into the fold. And so right now we're in the times of the Gentiles. I mean that's what basically the, and then we're going to get to a point where it's the end of the times of the Gentiles. All the flock has been brought in and there's going to be a great tribulation. There's going to be an incredible seven year period of end time events. At the end of that then he will literally rule and reign in Jerusalem. And the Bible says at that time all Israel shall be saved. And so we won't have this distinction anymore of Jews and Gentiles there. We won't have this distinction of essentially like physical saved people and spiritually saved people. It'll just all be one. It'll just all be Israel. Israel will all be saved and only the saved can enter in through the gates. Only the saved are there ruling and reigning with Christ and they will reign over the nations of the Gentiles. And we'll see how a good ruler, a good governor, a good leader can actually have peace on the earth despite man's humanity. I mean despite the fact that you have humans still on the earth you could still have peace with the right governor, with the right ruler. And the Bible says he's going to rule with a rod of iron. Jesus does not rule with a rod of gentleness. He rules with a rod of iron. And that's why there's peace. That's why there's safety. That's why it's going to be such a wonderful time. It's going to be wonderful. He's that counselor. He's the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And that's when God will literally physically be with us. After the millennial reign then we'll eventually have God the Father come down and we'll have God the Father with us. But what I want to tell you is that even right now even though we don't have the physical manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ God is still with us. And we need to help people be encouraged in this Christmas season and at this time to realize no matter where you're at in your life no matter what difficulties you're facing God is still with you. God is with us. And we should be reminded of that for this Christmas season. Go over to Romans chapter 8. Go to Romans chapter 8. I'm going to read a couple verses for you but you know Jesus said this that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask and it shall be done for them and my Father which is in heaven for where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them. So Jesus Christ said when two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst of them. What does that mean? God with us. The Lord Jesus Christ is with us when we are gathered, when we are here together and God is for us. The Bible says in Romans chapter 8, look at verse 28 and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. That can be a challenging verse. It's a challenging verse because a lot of times we're going to go through difficulty. We're going to go through problems. We're going to go through issues. And you could think like how in the world is this going to work out for good? You could think like I just don't understand this. This doesn't make sense. It seems like everything's going bad. It seems like everything's failing. But the Bible says that all things work together for good to them that love God. And that's where we have to take that faith and recognize hey, God is still with us even in our adversity, even in our difficulty, even in our moments of loneliness or maybe you have some kind of an issue. Maybe you have the loss of someone. I mean we all struggle with great grief and sorrow and problems and issues and we have low points. But God is still with us. And what God is trying to do is he's trying to comfort us in Romans chapter number eight by helping you realize that God is still going to work in your favor. God is for us. It says in verse 29, 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. I have good news for you. Even if you're not a very good Christian, you will one day be conformed to the image of his son if you're saved. I mean if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you took the free gift, you will be conformed to the image of his son regardless of how well you do in this life. That's good news because some of us, all of us, would fail. Let's just be honest. Some of us sooner than later, but we would all inevitably fail for all of sin that comes short of the glory of God. None of us could keep it going. None of us can last forever. We all have sin in our flesh and that old man which is bringing us into bondage. And so we have to realize that we're never gonna be perfect. No one's perfect before getting saved. No one's perfect during getting saved. No one's perfect after getting saved. And I think what we could do is we could think, well God's not for me right now because I'm not perfect. But wait a minute. You weren't perfect when he wanted you to get saved. You weren't perfect when he wanted you to get baptized. You weren't perfect when you started getting into church. You weren't perfect when you started trying to clean up your life. You weren't perfect when you first started going soul winning. So don't expect you to be perfect right now either. And eventually we'll need God's help again just to conform us into the image of his son because we can never sanctify ourselves perfectly. It's a process and we try our best, but we'll never be perfect. Now he says in verse 30, Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Hey, if God's on your team, then who can be against you? Nothing can stop you from being justified and glorified by the blood of Jesus Christ. God is for us. And even when we screw up, even when we're not perfect, even when we have problems, even when we fall short, God is still for us. So why in the world could anybody be against us? Look at this. This gets even better. 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 justifies it. 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 maketh intercession for us. Important point. None of us deserve salvation. We'll never deserve salvation. There's nothing we were doing that caused us to deserve salvation a little bit more than before. But I just want you to play with me this thought for a second. You didn't really deserve God's grace when you got saved, right? We were at a pretty big low point. We haven't really done anything for him. And then what did he do? He sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to shed his blood to give you the grace to be saved. So he gave the ultimate gift at your ultimate low. Now, after being saved, think about this. Do you think you were even just a little bit better than you were prior to getting saved? I mean, it's probably likely that you did at least something good. That you maybe did at least one good work. So you're probably in some category slightly more worthy or slightly more deserving of God's grace than you were prior to. And if he was willing to give you the ultimate gift when you deserved nothing, how much more, after being saved, would he still then want to make intercession for you? And that's the point it's basically making. Hey, if God literally didn't even spare his own son to save you when you deserved none of it, when you were just a sinner deserving of hell, when you had done no good works, then how much more, now that you are saved, would he not also continue to give you grace and make intercession for you and to be merciful and long-suffering for you? He still cares about you. I think sometimes we think like, okay, well salvation was free and God liked me then. But no, no, God likes you even more. God is still willing to make intercession for you. God is still willing to come alongside your failings and your imperfections and your difficulties and your struggles and your backslidings. He still is gracious with you. Why don't you read Jeremiah with me? Why don't you read Isaiah with me? They are committing rampant idolatry, rampant adultery. They're slaughtering their children. And God's saying, please just turn and I'll forgive it all. And I'm thinking like most of us in here are probably not killing people, worshipping idols, and committing adultery on the regular. And yet sometimes I think we beat ourselves up more than we realize that we need to. And look, I'm not saying we shouldn't get right with the Lord. I'm not saying we shouldn't confess our sins. I'm not saying we shouldn't feel bad about our sins. What I'm saying is that God is still with us. That God still cares for you. That God is still wanting to help you get past those things and don't let other people condemn you. Who is he that condemneth? You know, God still loves his children. Just like you love your children. Just like your children screw up every single day and it doesn't stop you from loving them or caring about them or wanting the best for them. And the same is with God. How he's constantly wanting the best for us and coming alongside of us. And God is with us. That's why the Bible makes it clear that, hey, he's also making intercession for us. Not just for the salvation, but even now, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father still making intercession for us. The Bible says that we should come boldly under the throne of grace in Hebrews 4. What a great God that not only gives us free salvation but also often gives us free intercession. Gives us free grace beyond this to cover. I mean, we do not get what we deserve for our sins in our lives. God is constantly being merciful and gracious and long-suffering. And you know why? Because God is with us. Look what it says here in verse number 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 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. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 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. There is nothing that can stop God from loving you after you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are sealed under the day of redemption. You have the Holy Spirit inside of you. The Bible says I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. God is with us. God's love is upon you. God's love could never be taken from you. We have to recognize that God is with us, that God is for us. No matter what we face, no matter what opposition, no matter what problem, God is with us. Now I want to go through this list here. Notice it said tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. At none of these points will God give up on you. God will still be with you. Go to Genesis 39. I want to look at a lot of these as we kind of study this passage for this morning because God is with us. And this Christmas season, not only does God give salvation to the lost, but he also is with us that are saved. You know, we emphasize soul winning and preaching the gospel, and we'll never stop. That is always going to be our primary emphasis. But we also want to realize that God is not just for the lost. He's also for the saved. And he's for us. And he's with us. And even when we go through difficulty, God wants to comfort us through the difficulties that we have. Look at Genesis 39. Look at verse 20. And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison. Now this has got to be rough. I mean, Joseph has been forsaken by his brethren, betrayed by his brethren, almost killed by his brethren, sold into slavery, moved into a foreign country, and then he started to prosper. And you might think as Joseph, hey, God didn't abandon me. Look, I'm still prospering in Egypt. But then he gets lied about by Potiphar's wife and falsely accused and thrown in prison. And I could just see myself thinking, like, God is not with me. Like, where is God? Like, why is this happening? I mean, I'm trying to do the right thing. I tried to be honest. My brethren were evil, and they got mad at me for recognizing they were doing bad things. They were bad businessmen. They were doing bad moves in the business. And I came and said, hey, this is an evil report of them, and they didn't like that because he was honest. And so he gets falsely accused. He doesn't want to commit adultery, falsely accused, thrown in prison. But what does the Bible say? And Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison, but the Lord was with Joseph. Hey, God was with him. God is with us. Even if we get thrown in prison, God is with us. And I would even say this. You know, the Bible really highlights righteous and godly people. But even somebody that screwed up, even if you got thrown in prison, God's still with you. God's not going to walk away. God is with us. And even in tribulation, being thrown in prison, the Bible talks about people in the book of Revelation being thrown in prison, but God is still with them. He's going to give them a crown of life. So many godly people are thrown in prison throughout the Bible. I mean, you have Jeremiah thrown in prison, Jesus put in prison, John the Baptist put in prison, Peter and John put in prison, Paul put in prison. I mean, it's pretty much just like every great guy is like thrown in prison at some point in his life. But you know, God didn't abandon them in their moment of need, in their difficulty, in their tribulation. God was with them. Did God stop loving Joseph? No. Go over to Psalm 4. I'll just read for you Psalm 46. It says, Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. We are to seek God for refuge. And no matter what tribulation, no matter what difficulty, no matter what evil we face, we have to realize that God is still with us. So we should never give up on God. If God won't give up on us, then don't give up on him. I could see myself and I could see any normal person kind of saying, you know what? I'm done serving God in prison. Like, once he gets there, he's just like, I'm kind of done. You know, or even, frankly speaking, when he got thrown in the pit by his brothers, or he got sold into slavery, or any kind of moment in the Bible where we see men of God struggling, failing, having problems. The goal of the devil is to try and get you to quit and to stop serving God and stop trusting in him. But you know, we need to keep God as our refuge no matter where we are. That's why in Romans 8 it's saying, like, we are a sheep counted for the slaughter. It's like, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. It's like, hey, even in whatever tribulation I have to go through, I need to just stick with God. Whatever that looks like. Even if you have to be Stephen and stoned as a martyr. But you could also just go through distress. And I think for most of us, we're all going to experience this and have experienced this throughout different times, especially for this church. And distress, really, it's just stress. It's just anxiety. It's grief. It's sorrow. It's being upset. It's being frustrated. It's being discouraged. It's just every negative emotion, just distress. That's basically what it's saying. And you know what? You're going to face that in the Christian life. You're going to face times where people want to make you afraid. I mean, that was the whole point of Isaiah 7, 8, 9, is that these kings are trying to distress the children of Israel. They're trying to discourage them. They're trying to give them anxiety. They're trying to give them worry. They're trying to give them sorrow. What does it say in Psalm chapter 4? I'd like to read the whole Psalm, but I'm just going to read the first of the verses. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity and seek after leasing? Selah. But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself the Lord will hear when I call unto him. Now this passage is important for a few reasons. Number one, he's calling on God. He's asking for his grace, his mercy in verse 1. He says, Thou has enlarged me when I was in distress. So he's anxious. He is grieved. He is in sorrow. What does mercy mean? Mercy is something you don't deserve. Sounds like this guy is a sinner like the rest of us. Sometimes we screw up. Sometimes we make a mistake. Sometimes we have problems. And I like how the Bible describes how God will sometimes enlarge our steps. What does that mean? Think about it. If you're walking up a flight of stairs and your foot misses the step, you could trip and fall. But what if when your foot goes to miss the step, the step just magically just grows a little bit. And so you're about to miss the step, and then it's just like, oh. And then you're just like, OK. Then you don't trip. You don't fall. That's what God is constantly doing. We're constantly going up a flight of stairs, and we're missing the stair, literally. And he's just like, hey, let me enlarge that. Let me just grow that real quick. Apparently you need some big steps. And then you just step, and then you don't trip. You don't fall. That's what God is implying here. And again, why? Because we can't hit the steps perfectly. We can't climb the stairs without making a mistake. But praise God that the Christian life is not one where you have to be perfect. You don't have to get a 10.0 on your routine to move on to the next round. You can screw up, and God can still catch you and help you. A just man falls seven times and rises up again. So we don't have to be perfect. We pray and we seek the Lord. Notice in verse 2, the sons of men, they're turning his glory into shame. But what are they like? They love vanity, and they seek out the leasing. Now, this doesn't mean that they rent, OK? Leasing is just another word for lying. It's that simple, or deceit, or being cunning. And so the leasing here is basically, it has nothing to do, it's not related to the other word that we normally think of like leasing a house or something. It sounds like deceit, but I'm just saying it's not related. If that helps you remember what that word means, then go for it. But you just think of the word lying, and it's just kind of another word for lying. So it's just people that seek after lies. They seek after deceit. They don't really care about the things of God, and they make fun of the things of God. It says, but you know what? God's going to set you apart that's godly for himself, and the Lord's going to hear when we call. The Lord likes the fact that we're not perfect so that he can intervene. God likes the fact that you're going to miss the step and he can grow it a little bit just so you'll still land. God likes the fact that we can't do things like you run up to the Red Sea and he gets to part it for you. God likes that. God wants to do those kind of things. He in fact loves it when people have great faith in him and recognize, I can't do it. And they just get out of the boat and they just walk on the water. What God doesn't like is when you start noticing the water, is when you start getting fearful and afraid, and then you start drowning. But you know what? Even when you fail, think about this. When Peter was walking on that water, he had great faith. He was going in a good direction. And then what happened? Distress. He got worried, didn't he? He started getting nervous. The voice during the tribulation, all the storms of life, all the problems. They started worrying him and scaring him and making him nervous and he started paying attention to that and then he started drowning. But then what happened? The Lord saved me and he immediately saved him. Just by and by the Lord just stretched down and saved me. So even when you're on the right path and then fail, as long as you're just like, Lord, save me, he's still going to save you. That should be encouraging to realize that even in your distress, even if your distress is because of your own fault, I mean, it's Peter's fault that he's drowning because if he had just been really faithful and really steadfast, he would have just walked straight up to Jesus and never been hanging out standing on water. But, you know, he's human. We're all human. We make mistakes. We fail. We get afraid. We make mistakes. And yet, even in that stress, even that anxiety, even in that backsliding, God is still ready to save. God is still with us. God still wants what's best for us. And so we should recognize that God is not going to give up on us. So we should not give up on him. We should call upon him. When you're in distress, when you are anxious, when you are nervous, when you are worried, what do you do? Pray unto God to help you. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. That's what we should do. Go over to Psalm 107. Go to Psalm 107. Hey, he didn't stop loving you just because of your distress. He didn't stop loving you because of your tribulation. He can't stop loving you. Nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What a great message. What a great love. And, you know, people will say, like, God has unconditional love. I don't really believe that that's the right way to word it because he doesn't love everybody unconditionally. It's conditional love, but praise God there's only one condition if you believe on Jesus Christ. If you believe on Jesus Christ, then after that it's unconditional love. So there's unconditional love in that context, but God does not just give unconditional love, period. He has one condition that you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that when you believe in him and what he did for you, you're saved, you're sealed, you become a child of God, and now you have eternal life, and you can never lose that. There's nothing that could ever stop you from having that. So when we are saved and we go through difficulty, we go through struggle, we should realize God still loves us. God still wants best for us, and when we're stressed, God says, you know what, I don't want you to stress about these things. There's only one thing you're supposed to be stressed about, and that's me. Let me be your dread, let me be your fear. Don't worry about the tribulation and the difficulty and the worries of this world, though. Psalm 107, verse 6, Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. Notice again, they're in trouble, they call upon the Lord, delivers them. Go to Psalm 118, go to Psalm 118. Read the Old Testament, and it'll be a comfort unto you, because you'll notice that the children of Israel, they screw up all the time. You realize that they're not good, that they're not perfect, that they make mistakes, and not just kind of mistakes, like big mistakes, like huge mistakes, but then God's always constantly delivering them, wanting to rescue them, wanting to give them healing, wanting to help them, and you should recognize that's God in our lives. God is constantly reaching forth His hand, is constantly trying to make intercession, is constantly being long-suffering, is constantly trying to draw us closer unto Him. He's there knocking at the door, wanting to have fellowship with us, and it's often us just not having the faith to recognize that God is with us, that God is for us, that God is on our side, that God wants to deliver us out of all of our distresses. Look at what it says in verse 1, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, because His mercy endureth forever. Let Israel now say, That His mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron now say, That His mercy endureth forever. Let them now that fear the Lord say, That His mercy endureth forever. I called upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me? Notice what he's saying. Hey, don't fear man, fear God. God will deliver you. God will put you in a large place so that you won't fail, that you won't trip, that you won't stumble. God is constantly delivering them. And notice it's His mercy that endures forever. It doesn't say, the children of Israel, their righteousness is forever. Their steadfastness is forever. Their goodness is forever. Notice the Lord's mercy is forever. The Lord's mercy endureth forever. It's what God did. God put me here. God gave me the grace. God was merciful unto me. You know, we don't stand by our righteousness. We stand by His grace. That's what we stand by. And so, you know, people say, oh, church is filled with hypocrites. Well, if you mean sinners, then yeah. Because let's just be honest, none of us do everything this book says. So if you want to say we're all hypocrites, sure. But let me explain something to you. Everybody outside the church is hypocrites too. So it's not like there's this magical group of non-hypocrites. Okay? There's not this magical island of non-sinners. We're all sinners. We're all hypocritical to some degree. We're all imperfect to some degree. None of us have arrived. There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. And so we stand not by our righteousness. We stand by His grace. We stand by His mercy. We stand by His long suffering. We are here by the grace of God. And God is with us. God was with us when we got saved. God was with us when we got baptized. God is with us now. Does that mean we shouldn't seek after righteousness? No. We should set ourselves apart. We should let Him be our dread. We should let Him be our fear. We should seek unto the Lord. We should clean ourselves up the best that we can. But we have to recognize when we fail, when we inevitably come short, when we inevitably trip, that we need to trust in the Lord and allow Him to comfort us in our distress, in our anxiety, in our woe. Go to 2 Timothy 4. I want to go to another place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear what man can do unto me. God does not want us to fear man. He wants us to fear God. And we should tremble at His presence. We should tremble at His commandments. We should tremble at the house of God. But you know what? We should not be afraid of other people. When other people say, oh, God's not for you. God's not going to rescue you. God's not going to give you mercy. Well, you know what? You're not God. I'm not afraid of what you say or what you do. I'm going to seek unto the Lord for His grace and for His mercy. And I'm going to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that say, hey, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter. God can deliver us. And even if He doesn't deliver us, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. I want to be in the house of God no matter what has to happen to me, no matter what we face, no matter what tribulation, no matter what distresses are happening in the world. Let's just go to church. Let's just keep reading the Bible. Let's just keep going soul winning. And we haven't faced any... Read the Bible and you'll realize you don't even know what stress is. I mean, how many of you have been standing at the mouth of a burning fiery furnace about to be tossed in? You haven't resisted unto blood. You haven't had to face a Roman horde of soldiers trying to drag you off to be crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it's real easy for us to sit here and criticize Peter for forsaking the Lord Jesus Christ, but he wasn't... You weren't facing crucifixion and being drug away with the Roman soldiers with him. You haven't had to face the Red Sea with an Egyptian army marching down to destroy you. You haven't had to face many of the evils and the horrible woes that exist out there, the devil putting you into prison for ten days and then slaughtering and martyring tons and tons of people. You haven't necessarily had to face the Goliath. I mean, how many people in here... And I'm not trying to talk down to any of us, but I'm just saying how many of us would genuinely, if there was a ten-foot giant that was going to fight us physically, would just be lining up just like, I got it, with a slingshot? Okay. Now, if I wanted a slingshot, it would be only by the grace of God because I don't even know what to do with that thing. I haven't proved that either. It's like I haven't proved Saul's armor or David's weapon. I'd be in big trouble. It would just be simply by grace. You have to recognize that, hey, some of our stress is pretty much just like put to bed when we recognize the stresses of the Bible. There are some real stresses in the Bible. And I'm not trying to say that to undermine the worry and anxiety that you have because we all do have it. But at the end of the day, when we put it in perspective, sometimes we can recognize it's probably not that big a deal. We need to just not really be worried about that as much. We need to worry about the Lord. 2 Timothy 4, verse 16, At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray, God, that it may not be laid to their 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 evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. The apostle Paul says, hey, at some point in his ministry, something happened where every single person was against him. Every single person didn't want to know Paul or stand with him or believe him. I mean, notice what it says, At my first answer no man stood with me. Sounds like he's having to respond to something. Sounds like there may be some kind of an accusation or there may be some kind of something that happened to him and nobody really sides with him, nobody really believes him. And he's saying, hey, even when I gave my first response, still nobody believed me. Think about Job. Job is basically giving his response to what's going on. Nobody believes him. His wife doesn't believe him. His three friends don't believe him. Nobody believes him. Everybody thinks you're just bad. Nobody stood with Jesus. Nobody stood with Paul. Nobody stood with Job. You could argue probably nobody really stood with Joseph. Joseph's like, hey, I didn't do it. Everybody turns on him. That's what you call stress. That's what you call loneliness. Let me explain something in the Christian life. There will be times when you feel rejected. There will be times when you feel alone. There will be times when you feel like maybe nobody really believes you. Nobody really gets it. And you know, it may not be to this extreme, but for many of us, we do face this, don't we? We face this where maybe a relative, a close relative, they don't believe you. A family member, a child, a grandparent, a friend, a coworker, your boss, your work, the world, whoever. You say, hey, I just love the Lord. I love the Bible, whatever. And they just slander you and lie about you and attack you. And at your first answer, no man stands with you. But you know what? The Lord is still with you. The Lord is still with you. And the Lord can strengthen you. And the Lord can deliver you. And what was the point of delivering the Apostle Paul that the Gentiles could be saved? And there's so many men that have to face such great opposition so that more people will get saved. What was the point of being strengthened? What was the point of him going through all those lies? I'm sure he wanted to give up. It was so that more people could get saved. And you know what? There's going to be people that have to face great opposition and great lies and great stresses. And you know what? The whole point is so that more people will be saved. That's what the Bible says. Why? Because God is with us. Go over to 2 Timothy 3. We're right there. Verse 8. Now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifested on all men, as theirs also was. But thou has fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What persecutions I endured! But out of them all the Lord delivered me. I love that. But out of them all the Lord delivered me. This sounds extreme. Did you read that again? Let's read that again. He says in verse number 11, Persecutions, afflictions, which came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What persecutions I endured! You think the Apostle Paul is being bombastic here? He couldn't be bombastic enough. He couldn't exaggerate enough. He couldn't use enough hyperbole to explain the extremes that he went through. Just being whipped almost to death, being stoned to death, being shipwrecked, being in the deep for a night and day. I mean, how many of you have had to doggy paddle for more than 24 hours straight? Or like hang on to some driftwood or something? I mean, I don't even know how he did that. That's insane. He said so many times he had wished in himself to die. He said he was hoping he would die. He was in so much pain, so much stress, so much worry, so much woe, constantly on the run, constantly trying to be killed by many different people. And then what does the Bible say? But out of them all the Lord delivered me. Why? Because God is with us. Because God is with the Apostle Paul. And what does the Bible say in verse 12? Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This Christmas season you have to realize there might be persecutions, but God is still with us. God gave us a son. God gave us a sign. Yeah, you might go through tribulation. Yeah, you might go through distress. Yeah, you might go through persecution. But you know what? If God be for us who can be against us, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Go to 1 Kings chapter 17. Acts chapter number 5. The Bible says, Now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone, for if this council or of this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found even to fight against God. Even the unsaved can recognize the fact that if God is for you, nothing can be against you. And even Gamaliel recognizes, hey, we don't want to fight against God. Even the unsaved Philistines recognize, hey, this is the ark of God. Let's give it back because this thing is causing us so many problems. The unsaved tremble at the Lord. Rahab the harlot says, You guys have terrified the hearts of all the men of Canaan because we realize that the Lord is with you. And all they had to do was just march around the city and blow the trumpet, and the walls came tumbling down because if God be for you, who can be against you? He said, hey, these giants be meat for us. That's what Joshua and Caleb said, and they went in there and the giants were meat for them. Because if God be for us, who can be against us? It doesn't matter what persecution, it doesn't matter what tribulation, it doesn't matter what stress, it doesn't matter what famine. And look, we might go through famine in our life, we might go through economic downturn, we might go through depressions, or recessions, or losing of jobs, or losing of money, or all kinds of evil, but what does the Bible say? Look at verse Kings, chapter 17, verse 8. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zion, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain me. So there's a famine in the land, the prophet of God has to go to a widow. A widow's going to take care of him. Verse 10, So he rose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks, and he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal and a barrel, and a little oil and a cruse, and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. That's extreme. You know what I like about this woman? She's about to die, doesn't have much to live for. The man of God says, Hey, will you get me some sticks? And she's like, Yeah, just right away. And then he's like, Okay, now make me a meal. And she's just basically explaining her situation. She's saying like, Well, honestly, I only have a meal left. And it was going to be like our last meal. Like it's over. We're going to die. Verse 13, Elijah said to her, Fear not. How much famine and economic downturn have you experienced where you were on your last meal of your life? That's pretty extreme. I don't think anybody here is that poor. If you are, please see me and I'll give you a meal. Okay? Just say you're willing to clean the church and you'll get a free lunch. You know what I mean? I'm thinking like nobody's that destitute. But this woman and what does he say? Don't be afraid. Like when of all the situations wouldn't that be a kind of a scary situation where you're literally at the point of your last meal left and you have no money and there's no economy and there's no rain. I mean, you'll be like, what do you mean? Fear not. How is that going to work? What does he say? Go and do as thou said, but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord sinneth rain upon the earth. He says, hey, I know there's a famine. This is what I'm trying to do. Just put God first. Just put the man of God first and you'll never run out. You'll always have enough. Isn't that great? I mean, isn't that an awesome example of, hey, even in famine, God didn't forsake this widow. God didn't give a runner. And, you know, a widow is in the most dangerous position, especially in this type of a situation, because she can't go out and put the mom jeans on and go work for some corporate company and get paid as a boss babe. She doesn't have the ability to make income, to harvest crops, to go out and feed her family. She relies on others. She's a dependent. You know, when you fill out your taxes, there's these things called dependents. Yeah, it used to be homemakers and children are considered dependents. And you get tax write-offs for your dependents, okay? So here she's a dependent and she's depending on the Lord. And the Lord sustained her. Because nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You could be 100% dependent and God will take care of you. You could be completely helpless and God will take care of you. You could have nothing and God will take care of you. God is not going to fail you. God is someone that is with you, even in your destitution, even when you're a widow. And you know what? She's not even a widow of the children of Israel. She's a widow of Zarephath. She wasn't even raised Christian. She wasn't even raised Baptist. She wasn't even raised doing the right thing. And God still cared about her, didn't He? Because God cares about us. You know, if you go through economic issues, you go through job issues, God's still there. Go to 1 Peter 4. God didn't give up on you, even though there may be famine, even though there may be economic downturn, even if you lose a job, even if you get fired, even if you make a mistake. You know, I've known tons of people that make mistakes, cause problems, but that doesn't mean God's going to give up on you. I've been let go of jobs. There was a job that I thought was going to work out for a long time. I thought I was going to work for them forever. Because they liked the sodomite deception, you know what I mean? I was thinking, like, if I'm going to get fired, it's probably going to be from something like that, right? But I'm like, these people are on board. But then it just didn't work out for other circumstances. And I was like, oh man. But you know, after losing that position or losing that job, I ended up getting a way better job. And I didn't think I was going to get something like that. But I realized, hey, God was still with me. God didn't forsake me. It might have felt in the moment like, oh man, what happened? There's definitely been times where things have been tighter, or things have not seemed to make sense. I've had people take advantage of me. I've been ripped off, I've been lied to so many times. At this point, you'd think I'd figure it out. I think God's looking down, like, do you still trust people? Like, what's wrong with you? But you just keep thinking good about people, and they just take advantage, rip you off, lie about you, whatever. But you know what? God didn't forget you. God is still with you. Even in nakedness. Now, I was thinking about nakedness. Praise God, nobody has that problem right now. But, you know, what does nakedness kind of picture? It's being without. Right? I mean, you're without. You need clothes. You're needing something. You're completely dependent. Here's another aspect of nakedness. It's just, it's embarrassing. There's a shame factor with being naked. And so, even though you may not be physically naked, couldn't there be times where you're without? Or you're needing something? You're even needing things that are, you know, essential, in a sense. Or you could do something that's just frankly embarrassing. But what does the Bible say in 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 8? And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. So when someone's naked, you clothe them to cover their what? Cover their shame, cover their embarrassment. When they're lacking something that they just need, and you give it to them, you're kind of covering their embarrassment. And here what the Bible is saying is that our charity, we can cover other people's embarrassments. We can cover other people's shames. We can cover other people's lack of need, the necessities that they have, and we can help them. And God will not forget us. Even when we may be doing something that we lose out, we're without, we do something embarrassing, God can still come along and cover that, and God can still be with us and to cover our shame. Adam and Eve are naked in the garden, but God clothes them with a garment and covers their shame, just like he's going to cover our shame. We're not going to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment, naked, and have to take an account. He's covered our sins with his robe of righteousness, with that shed blood, with the lamb sacrifice, with that animal sacrifice, and we've been washed in his blood, and he's covered those things. You know, that's the Christian attitude, is one, to not make fun of the naked person, but to clothe the naked person. Is to not take advantage of people when they're in an embarrassing situation or having problems, but rather coming along and providing charity and grace and helping them in those situations. For the sake of time, I'm not going to go through the rest of these. Go to Hebrews 13. But we have in Romans 8 several examples, and we can go throughout the whole Bible and look at these. Tribulation, God is still with us. Distress, he's still with us. Persecution, he's still with us. Famine, he's still with us. Nakedness, he's still with us. Peril, he's still with us. Peril is just danger, something impending that could harm you, destroy you. Sword, that's like literal death. And, you know, there's plenty of times... There's a verse I was thinking of in Peril where the man of God, Elisha, is there, and his servant comes and he's nervous because all these armies gather around. And Elisha says unto him, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. If we had faith, we would recognize, hey, God's with us. The Bible tells us to be strong and courageous and not be afraid or dismayed at the enemies of the Lord because the Lord is with us. It says this, With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. Hey, they might have flesh on their side, but we have God on our side. Hebrews 13, look at verse 5. Isn't that a constant theme we just see over and over in the Bible? Hey, the Lord is my helper. Notice we need a helper. We cannot be successful without the Lord. We will screw up. We will make mistakes. We'll do things that are embarrassing. We'll cause problems. We'll have anxiety. We'll have woe. Why is the Bible telling us to cast our care upon him? It's because we have care. It's because we have worry. Why are we told to call upon him when we're distressed? Because we'll have distresses. Why are we told to rely upon him when we have persecutions and afflictions? Yea, and all that will be godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. These things will happen. But you know what? Nothing just separates us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God is with us this Christmas season. God gave us the Lord Jesus Christ. God gave us that perfect child in Bethlehem. God allowed him to die a horrible, sacrificial death for us. God allowed him to go to hell and to be risen again for our sanctification, justification, and glorification. And you know what? It's not just extended to that period. It's also beyond because he still is making intercession for us in heaven. And we need to make sure that we're not fearing what man's going to do unto us. We can boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I'm seeking refuge in the house of God. I'm going to sanctify the Lord God in my heart. He's never going to leave me. God will never forsake me. God will always be my helper. I should not fear what man can do unto me. Verse 7, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Take those who are taking great steps of faith and follow them as they follow Christ. Follow them as they seek refuge into the Lord. Follow them. Why? Because they are the ones that are to lead you into the arms of the Lord, not into the arms of man. Not to fear man. You know, some of us need some difficult stuff this season. Go to Matthew 28 and we'll finish. Maybe you need a miracle. But you know what? God is with us. God performed miracles all throughout the Bible and he can still perform miracles today. We should not give up on the Lord. If this Christmas season you feel like you need a miracle, do not give up on the Lord. Keep praying for that miracle. Maybe you have a hard case for salvation. Maybe there is somebody in your family you have been praying for for a while to get saved. There is somebody that is very close to you. There is somebody that you want to be saved. Don't give up on them. The Lord is with us. God is with us. God can still get that person saved. Maybe you have family issues. Maybe your family has something weird going on. I know there has been people in my life where I thought this situation may never change. But through prayer, God changed them. And I didn't change them. I couldn't do it. But God can change people's hearts. God is still with us. If you are struggling with depression, and depression can be caused from the litany of every single issue you can think of, maybe you are just discouraged. God is still with you. God can change that depression. I have seen all kinds of people in horrible situations, bad life circumstances, hopeless situations, and just through time and prayer and seeking the Lord, God delivered them out of that. Just like you are in this great darkness and then all of a sudden a child is born. This great light comes in to the life. God is with us. Hey, you are in prison, Joseph, but then the door opens and you are free. You are stuck up against the Red Sea. It just parts. There are times when God does things that we could not recognize. God is with us. Maybe you have a marriage issue. I have seen ups and downs in marriages. I have seen people in my personal life, way before I became a pastor, where the marriage situation seemed doomed. And now it is great again. There is always hope. I have seen sin issues. People that cannot give up certain sins. People that struggle with certain areas. Hey, sanctify the Lord God in your heart. Seek unto the Lord. He can still help you. God is still with you. Even when you do screw up, don't give up. Keep going. Even if you go back a little bit, hey, move forward again. Let the Lord enlarge your steps. Just don't quit. Just don't give up on Him. Realize that there is still hope, that God is still with us, that God is still fighting for us. Don't allow other people to condemn you. Keep fighting for the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have economic problems, maybe your job or your career is not in the place that you want it to be. It is okay. God's sins can change overnight. You could be in famine, and then the next day, you discover all the riches of the enemy outside the camp, and things are being sold for nothing. You never know. Lepers could come give you money, right? Maybe you are distressed by enemies, personal enemies. A family member, a friend, a coworker. Any means without. Don't let them discourage you. God is with us. Ultimately we have to realize that Jesus Christ wants us to be successful for His glory. He wants us to not give up for His glory. If you love Jesus, if you love the light of the Gospel, if you love the Christmas season, then you won't give up so that He can be glorified. Why? We need to go out and preach the Gospel to a lost and dying world that's not going to get it. We need to comfort the feeble, and we need to come alongside and condescend the men of low estate. We need to help those that cannot help themselves, that oppose themselves, as the Bible says. And He'll never forsake us. Look at Matthew 28 verse 18, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. You know what? We like the idea of Jesus ruling and reigning in Jerusalem, but He's already ruling and reigning, folks. Jesus is in charge of the earth right now. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. He is the God of gods, all authority, all power, all glory has already been given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is ruling right now. Praise God, I don't answer to man. I answer to the King of kings, to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has all power and all authority. When I go to an apartment complex, the manager Karen is not in charge. Jesus Christ is in charge. Praise God. You know what? If some king in some country is not in charge, Jesus is in charge. There is not a hidden group of elites in charge. God in heaven is in charge. Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of God the Father, is in charge, and He's given me all authority and power to do the works that He's given me to do. He's empowered me as a Christian to preach the gospel to every creature, and not me only, but all them that are saved. If you're saved, Jesus Christ has empowered you and given you that same power and authority to tread on serpents and to preach the gospel to a lost and dying world. Why? Because God is with us. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always. Listen unto the end of the world, amen. Jesus is always with us. If you find yourself on the mission field, Jesus is with you. You go to South Dallas, Jesus is with you. You get thrown in prison, Jesus is with you. You're in steadfast Baptist church, Jesus is with us. God with us. When we celebrate Christmas, what is the message? God with us. What is the message? Hope. What is the message? If God be for us, who can be against us? Let us not be discouraged by the world, by the depression of this world, by the darkness of this world, by the evil of this world, by the problems of this world, by the tribulations and the afflictions and the perils and all the famines, by the sword. Let us only fear Him and let us just praise the Lord because God is with us. Let's go in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for giving us your son. What a great gift, an unspeakable gift that you've given us, lightness, light in the darkness. And I pray that we would realize that not only has your son given us that opportunity to be saved and receive a free gift, but also that he constantly is making intercession for us and that we need to go out there and preach the gospel to the lost and dying world. When we make mistakes, when we have problems, when we have persecutions, when we have afflictions, so we should realize that God is still with us, that you're still for us, and that nothing can separate us from your love. I pray that we would embrace your love, we would embrace the mercy, longsuffering, grace extended to us, and that we would make sure that while we still have breath in our lungs, that we don't give up on you, but we always seek for your help and for your grace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, for our last song, we're going to do song number 423, Joy to the World. Song 423, Joy to the World, on the first. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the signal rings. Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows come, nor thorns infest the crown. He comes to make His blessings whole, far as the curses round, far as the curses round, far as, far as, the curses round. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nation prove the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and all of His wonders of His love. Excellent singing, everybody. You are all dismissed. Thank you. .