Again, a Christian greeting in the name of Jesus. It's good to be here. It's good to see each one of you here. It's good to have God's Spirit here as well. My emotions are a bit rocked this morning again by the news of the passing of loved ones, especially Dan. He's in our area. This brings back a lot of memories and tears. We know that God has a better place in store for his people, but it is still so hard to let go. For a message, turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I have entitled the message, Steadfast in the Faith. There's a verse in 1 Corinthians that says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, And I want to look at, in Hebrews chapter 11, at some of the things that our forefathers went through because of their faith. Begin reading in verse 32, and if you want to, you can stand in reverence to the Word as we read. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32 through verse 40. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gibeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Thank you. You may be seated. You may wonder why my mind went to this on a July 4th weekend. Well, I'm not sure myself, but here we are. There's lots of celebrating this weekend. Maybe not just in the world, maybe we're caught up in it too. We celebrate freedom. America is the home of the free. There's no other country ruling over us that we pay taxes to. No other country telling us what to do. There's freedom of choice. There's freedom of speech. There's freedom of religion. There's freedom of the will. Freedom means that there are no restraints. There's liberty. We have civil rights. were exempt from unpleasant situations, the right of enjoying all the privileges of being a citizen of the United States of America. Freedom. Well, my question is, how free are we in our heart and soul this morning? How free are we? Is there such a thing as being totally free? No obligations. God designed us with a desire to serve something or someone. We are either a slave to sin and self, or we are free from the bondage of sin through the cleansing power of Jesus Christ to serve a living God. A servant of God. And you say we're free. A servant is not free, is he? Well, let me ask you, why should we not serve him? He's the one that created us. He took a little dust and formed us and placed into each one of us a living soul that will never die. And on top of that, we chose to go our own way, to commit sin, to live in sin, and He bought us back by His own Son, Jesus Christ, dying on the cross. So He redeemed us through the blood of Jesus. He created us. He redeemed us. Why should we not be His servant? We are free to serve a living God. We are not our own, by the way. We are His. Created to serve Him. Freedom of religion. You know, we tend to think that that is the normal. That there is freedom of religion. It has always been this way. That's all we know. Well, it was not so for those in the Old Testament or in the early church in the New Testament. Our text we read. They were mocked, they were whipped, they were stoned, they were cut in half, they were crucified. All because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And there are still places in the world today where Christians are suffering severe persecution for their faith. Well, we don't know what the future holds for us in the United States, but we know who holds the future. Sometimes I wonder if we have it too nice. We are too comfortable with our surroundings. We are not asked to choose between life and death because of what we believe. Many of the apostles, the believers in the early church and Anabaptists in later years had to run for their lives. And if they were caught, they had to make a choice. Either they renounce the faith, turned their backs on God and were set free or they stood for the faith and many ended up giving their life for their belief. Do you think that Peter James and the Christians in the early church. Levon preached on this the last couple of times about the early church and how that believers were added to the church daily. Do you think that these believers on July 4th got together and talked about whether Jerusalem or Bethlehem had the best fireworks show? Do you think they talked about their next building project or land purchase and how they would struggle to make payments because of the interest being up? Do you think they talked about the market downturn, high fuel prices, inflation, politics? Well, according to scripture, Their main focus was on, and we heard about it in our devotional this morning was on spreading the gospel. Their main focus was on spreading the gospel to the lost people around them. And another thing they focused on was to encourage each other to faithfulness in the midst of persecution. Read the book of first Peter sometime. They tried to get each other to stand for their faith. They were severely persecuted. They were scattered abroad because of their faith. And their goal was to encourage each other to remain faithful until the end. Where do we stand today? Where do I stand? Is my faith and confidence in God so strong that if need be, I would give up everything I have, including my life, for the sake of Jesus Christ? Would we dare to be a Daniel? Would we dare to keep our window open towards Jerusalem if we knew we'd end up in a lion's den and pray to the God of heaven like we did before we knew we were not supposed to pray to God? Or would we have our window in the back cracked open towards Babylon and some of our loyalty is going to Babylon already? And let me tell you, if that is the case in your heart and you will come under the pressure of deciding whether you are going to stand for your faith or not, you will fail. God wants all of your loyalty, your commitment, your devotion. You cannot be sending some to each place and remain true under the pressure of persecution. Could we say when tested with the three Hebrew boys, I don't need a second chance. The king wanted them to give, wanted to give them another opportunity. When you hear the music, you fall down and worship. And they said, we don't need another chance. We know where we're standing. We know that we serve a living God and that he is able to deliver us, whether by life or by death. We don't need another opportunity. Would that be us today? You know, we cannot really relate to something like that. We can't hardly comprehend what it would be like to suffer or to be tested so severely for what we believe. In the preface of The Martyr's Mirror, the author encourages the reader to follow the footsteps of those who were slain for the testimony of the Lord all the way to the end. And he goes on, "'For surely,' he wrote, and I quote, "'the God whom they confessed and served is also our God. The Savior on whom they placed their hope is our Savior. The laws and commandments which they received as their rule of life are also our laws and commandments. They bowed their knees before God. They obligated themselves by the words of their lips to render obedience to God, and thereupon received holy baptism. We have done the same. They promised to continue steadfastly all the days of their life in the faith and do obedience without departing from it, yea, if necessary, to suffer death for it. We have made a similar promise. Well, what difference is there between us and them? Certainly only this, he writes, they persevered unto the end, unto a cruel death, without departing to the right or to the left, which we have not yet done, unquote. Is our faith in God that strong? My faith, I have to ask myself the question. Well, you know what, should the time come that we would be tested in this way, I know of a surety that God's grace would be sufficient to give us the power needed to stand for the faith. Maybe now it looks like it, you know, that would not be possible. But when we come to that point, should there be such a time, God's grace will be there. I think it is, however, very important that before that time comes, we have made a commitment in our heart to be faithful. Don't wait till the time comes to make that commitment, to make that choice. You know, we can only vaguely imagine the disgrace, the shame, the pain, the unfair treatment that the martyrs received in a time when their faith in God was considered a heresy. You know, for them, Satan came openly as a roaring lion. And sometimes it was possible for men and women to hide for a while from the enemy, from those chasing them. Satan's goal was to destroy their physical bodies, to get rid of these people. Today, he comes as in the night, maybe in the twilight, quietly, in a strange yet pleasing form, maybe as an angel of light, and he lies in wait to destroy the soul. Could it be that Satan has discovered that times of freedom and prosperity are more dangerous spiritually than times of persecution? Today we hardly know anything other than freedom and prosperity. But it seems that what God gives us as a blessing Satan will try to use that very thing to destroy us. Moses, when he led the children of Israel up to the border of Canaan, he called a meeting and he said, here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shall love him with all your heart, soul, and might. And he goes on to say that, get a hold of those words, place them in your heart, bind them in your heart. And after that he says, make sure that the next generation gets a hold of it. Teach, teach, teach in the morning, at noon, in the evening, when you get up. Teach these principles. Make sure that the next generation gets a hold of this thing that the Lord our God is one Lord and that we are to serve him with our entire being. Why was Moses so concerned about the children of Israel getting a hold of that truth? Well, in the very following verses he says, beware when you enter Canaan. the land flowing with milk and honey. When you start reaping the blessings of this new land and you will have plenty to eat above and beyond what you need, lest you forget the Lord, your God. Is that happening today? Certainly prosperity can cause us to trust in uncertain riches. And slowly but surely take us away from God. We forget God. You know, God blesses us in many ways in this country. It's not because we deserve it. It's because he chose to give it to us for some reason. And I believe that we need to be grateful and wise stewards of the things that God is giving us. Using these resources to enhance the kingdom of God and not to try to build our own empire. We live in a fallen world. We live in a fallen world. It's the result of sin. And Satan is determined to destroy the Christian faith. And as long as we are in the flesh, we will face dangers on every side. And if we're not on guard, they will destroy us. Lead us astray. God destroyed the first world except for Noah and his family. The same is true of Sodom and Gomorrah except for Lot and his two daughters. He did it because the people of that time were wicked and immoral. Later, Jesus warned his disciples that the days before his coming would be similar to the days of Noah and Lot. Now, did Jesus refer to their evil and violent deeds when he talked to his disciples about the days of Noah and Lot? Let's turn to Luke chapter 17. I think we know, in part at least, how evil that the world was in the days of Noah and how wicked the city of Sodom and Gomorrah was. But here, for some reason, Jesus does not even talk about those wicked things. Luke 17 verse 26 through 29. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. How many of those activities are wrong in themselves? You know, we need to be involved in most of those in order to exist. However, through eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting and building, or could we say through a soft, comfortable lifestyle, Satan has gained access to introduce wickedness and immorality into our lives. I think that's what happened back in their day, and we have the same enemy today. We have the same enemy today. And I believe it takes an ongoing effort on our part to maintain the faith. So what he's saying is one individual can eat, drink, get married, buy, sell, plant, build, and be a servant in the kingdom of God, and be right with God, while the next individual can do the exact same things and end up in a different destination. Why? It's because of where our heart is. It's because of where our heart is. Are we doing it to the glory of God or are we like the rich man? We're going to retire. We're going to eat, drink and be merry and enjoy life. Let us be on guard. Let Satan get an advantage of us. These activities can be good and right in themselves, yet if they are misused, they become wrong and lead to spiritual decay in our life. So whether we face the threat of suffering, persecution and death for the faith, or the threat of forgetting God because of prosperity and freedom, The call for God's people today is the same. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Be ye steadfast, unmovable, How is that possible we live in a fickle world that is ever-changing going from bad to worse The Bible says that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived How is it possible to be steadfast in such a place as this Well today yet it is possible It is still possible to remain true to our God, to stand for truth, to stand for what we know is right, to stand for God's word. Remember the words of Moses, the Lord, our God is one Lord. Somehow we have to get that settled into our heart and mind. There is only one true God. He is everlasting. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is unchanging and He wants our complete devotion and commitment. In the Bible, God is sometimes described as being a rock. And that fits His character very well. He's not subject to change. He is unmovable. He is stable. Jesus and ended the sermon on the mount by exhorting us to not only hear the word But also to do as he commanded and by our obedience to him we build our spiritual house upon that rock of Jesus Christ and When the storms come the rains come the floods come persecution comes the threat of forgetting God through prosperity, we are able to stand because we've been building our house, our spiritual house, on the rock of Jesus Christ. And we will not be moved by those things or storms. Steadfast. You know, throughout the Bible and church history, this principle of being steadfast, identified the heroes of faith, even in severe circumstances. And if we want to succeed, not sure is that a proper word or not, succeed, in maintaining true faith and also in transmitting that faith to the next generations, we must be steadfast. and stable in our belief and practice. By doing that, it helps produce a lifestyle that glorifies God. And it is also a powerful witness and an example to those following us. Being steadfast means to be fixed in one place. It means to be anchored in belief, adherence, loyalty, persistence, perseverance. It is being dedicated, unswerving and firm. Describes the spiritual character that is needed to be faithful to the end. The opposite of steadfast would mean to fall away, to lose out or to fail. We don't have to go there. There's ample provisions to remain steadfast in the faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's been there. He knows what we're facing. And there's strength and power. There's grace that is sufficient for each hour. Deuteronomy 32 verse 4 he is the rock his work is perfect. All his ways are judgment a god of truth and without iniquity Just and right is he Malachi 3 6 for I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed Think of that. He has our good in mind Because of him we are not consumed. I The Bible says that his son is unchanging, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. And when we become his sons and daughters, somehow we inherit a part of his nature and we're able to imitate these virtues of faithfulness. Of being unchanging. of being a rock. Just a few verses that exhort us to remain steadfast. That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. and Ephesians. Watch ye stand fast in the faith. First Corinthians. Therefore, brethren stand fast. Second Thessalonians two. You therefore beloved seeing, you know, these things before beware, lest you also being led away with the air of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness in second Peter three. In conclusion, when we are tempted to give in or to give up, whether it be in some trial or suffering, or maybe we are on the way to forgetting God because of all the things that we've accumulated and we've placed our trust in those things. In spite of all that, let's remember that God has promised to be with us. There is a way forward. He alone is all we need. We don't need all these things to get through life. Most of us, I think, have the basics and much more. Jesus Christ alone is all we need. Psalm 18 says, the Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. He delivers us. My God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and a horn of my salvation and my high tower. What else do we need? Let us commit ourselves to being faithful, to being steadfast. To do more than just reading and hearing the Word, but like Jesus taught that we are also doers of the Word. Let's demonstrate to the world what His Word does in our hearts. Holy lives produced by such a commitment to be a doer will then become a salt to the earth and a light to the world. Be ye steadfast the Bible says he that endures to what? to the end shall be saved Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless Before the presence of his glory to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty Dominion and power both now and forever Amen Let's kneel and pray. Holy Father, we come to you. We bless you for your grace, your mercy, your love to us. Thank you for providing power through the resurrection of your Son and through the Holy Spirit and through your Word. Oh God, I pray that we could claim that power upon our lives and that it would place in us a desire to be faithful. Help us to stand for truth. We hardly know what it means to suffer for our faith physically, but we know that spiritually there's a battle raging for our soul. Oh God, help us to be faithful. Help us to be able to stand like Daniel and the three Hebrew boys. faithful in spite of those who are against us. We know the enemy is real, but we also know that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We pray God your spirit would lead us through life. Bless each one for coming. Give us victory. Give us power to be a witness for you this coming week. We commit this time to you in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.