It is good to be together, and I say the house of the Lord, but I better not say that, because it's really not the house of the Lord. I'm the house of the Lord, and you're the house of the Lord, and so it's good to be able to be in the presence of a lot of houses of the Lord. I'm glad the Lord, God lives in me, and the Spirit of God lives in me, aren't you? Or I'd be in a mess. The Lord is good, amen? The Lord is good. I wonder this morning if there's anybody here this morning. I seem to be having a problem at home. If there's anybody here this morning that needs things to be repeated. One. Okay, good. Then I know I'm not alone. I tend to tell my wife at times, the reason I can't hear you is because you're in another room. when you talk to me sometimes, and it's hard to hear through walls. But I find myself sometimes in the chair in the same room and have to ask her, what was that you said? Now, I'm sure it's her fault. I'm sure I don't, there's not an issue here, but the older I get, it seems like I need things repeated more than probably I should. Whatever the issue is, I'm sure it'll be corrected. perfect set of ears, I'm afraid sometimes my mind is in another direction somewhere, and I'm really not hearing, but I don't want to admit it. So husbands, never admit it. Just say, I'm sure I have a problem, because if the wife ever finds out that you're not listening because your mind is somewhere else, you're in trouble. In Psalm 136, it's a great passage, a great chapter for me. I'm not going to preach from Psalm 136 this morning, but I did have it as the text below the title of the sermon in the outline, if you noticed this morning. But in Psalm 136, when you read the Psalm, it repeats itself over and over and over. for his loving kindness is everlasting. His goodness and mercy are everlasting. It's not because we can't hear or the Lord doesn't think that we're listening. It's because it's a song. And I'm not sure if someone's put it to song through a hymn or some other type of music, but it's a song. read that chapter, all 26 verses, you'll see that in there. But I looked at that Psalm and I thought, well, if I took out the first half of each verse and just looked at the second half of each verse, it's really special because it tells of all the things that God has done. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Now, I'm not a fan of songs that repeat themselves. You hear some of those songs on the radio? That's just me, and some people like that, but I don't. A couple times is good for me, I get it, you know? But if you read the psalm, it just continually repeats itself, and certainly, not because God just wanted to be redundant, but the loving kindness of the Lord is everlasting, it's good. You can never hear enough of that. But when you realize that the loving kindness of the Lord is good because of who he is and what he's done, blesses us, doesn't it? I don't know, it puts a song in our heart. I have a song in my heart this week. I assume, toward the end of this year, I'm gonna be 49 years old. I know, I look older than that. I know, I must admit, I do look a little older than that. You know, almost 49 years ago in December, December 3rd, 1975, Jesus came into my heart. And it's never been the same. It's never been the same. It seems like he gets better every day and he doesn't get better every day. He's always good. It just, I realized that, you know, I realized Psalm 136, the loving kindness of the Lord toward me and you and everyone else is everlasting. It's not only good, but it lasts forever. It'll never run out. And it never changes because the Lord never changes. And so even though there's a song in my heart though, there's a, a challenge in this world because I have to live in it. And so do you. And we can have a song in our heart, but living in this world sometimes alters that at least sometimes in our life. And so this may be why the writer of Psalm 136 reminds us often that the loving kindness of the Lord is everlasting because it never gets old as I age. And people who love at times, their love and kindness can be put on hold. And some of you may have that with some of your friendships right now where you're very close until something happens that alters that and it changes. People can suspend love. They can love you for a while and then cut you off or put it on hold. They at times can, can make love conditional. If you live like this or do this, I will love you. But God is never like that. He never says, if you will do this, I will love you. He just says, I love you. And he proved it by sending his son. I think we need a constant reminder of God's love and presence. I know I do. I need that to be repeated. And it's not because I can't hear, although, I'm afraid I can't at times, but I just need to hear that God loves me and he's with me. That's why I hear people, and if you pray this way, I certainly am not saying this this morning to condemn you or to anything other than that. I hear people say in their prayers, particularly as people end their prayers, I hear pastors say this, God be with us. He's always with me. He's always with you, whether you pray that prayer or not. He always, but He's committed to you and I. But I think I need a constant reminder of God's love and presence, especially as I feel abandoned. And I don't know about you guys, but as I get older, it's easier to feel that way. At least for me it is. But so I need to hear that God loves me. I need to hear that He's with me. And I constantly need to know that. And if I'm not reading that, I don't get it anywhere else unless someone testifies, right? That is why it's important when people talk to you to give a testimony for the Lord. Let them know that the Lord is good. Let them know that. They may, I shouldn't say may, they need to hear that. Whether they're a believer or not, especially if they're a believer, the Lord is good and he loves you. How many times do we share that with each other? We need to hear that. Because sometimes we feel abandoned. Sometimes we feel a sense of a vast desert between us and God. We may believe that God at times forsakes us. We pray and it's like we don't get through. Or we feel that we're not being heard. We think that God has turned his back on us or maybe at times neglected us. And we wonder if God will be there when I need him most. Now, I know it's easy to say, especially when you're teaching or preaching to someone else or sharing with someone else that you love, it's easy to say these things from the scripture, but we have to live in this world, don't we? And at times it gets lonely. Now, I may be speaking to just me, but sometimes it gets lonely. And I need to hear from God. I need to hear from God. And so this morning we're gonna hear from God. God's promise to Joshua. I want you to turn to the book of Joshua, chapter one. I'm gonna use three passages this morning and we'll move along here, but I typically don't do that, but I think it's necessary to do that to get get a good flavor of what God is trying to say to his children. God's promise to Joshua in chapter 1 of the book of Joshua is a time in Joshua's life where he faced a monumental task of leading God's children after the death of Moses. And I'll get there in just a moment. And I had it marked. And we were talking about that, weren't we, brother? Yeah, he's laughing. He's laughing at me. I had it marked and moved my marker. Joshua chapter one, Joshua is now leading the children of Israel after the death of Moses. And I know that a lot of times when we look in the Old Testament, it's very, very easy. to not relate. I think I said this the last time that I preached. It's very easy not to relate to these people, but these are people. And they went through situations just like we do. It's easy, especially to read a story like this and not realize that Joshua was a young man being brought up under the tutelage of Moses. And Moses was a great man of God. And we respect people like that today, especially great preachers, great teachers, people that have served the Lord for decades. We respect people like that. But what about when they're gone? And this is Joshua's situation here. And if we can sort of understand that, I think we can put ourselves in Joshua's shoes a little bit. And it's not just an Old Testament story, but this is the situation here. In chapter one, verse five, Joshua is reminded by God, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Well, if you just take that statement on its own, that's very encouraging. The only challenge is that he has to live the rest of his life. That's the rub. Living in this world, knowing that God is always with me. He knows my enemies. And he's promised to give me victory over those enemies. That's Joshua's promise here. But he's gonna live the rest of his life. And he says, no one will be able to stand up against you or before you. All the days of your life, just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. I'll not get to a certain point, Joshua, in your life and dump you. And sometimes you feel like that, I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one that feels like that, that God is distant sometimes. But he's not, because he's made a promise, not only to Joshua, but me too, as we'll see in just a moment. God said, I will not forsake you, Joshua. I'm not gonna abandon you. I'm not gonna desert you. Not gonna give up on you. I'm not gonna turn my back on you. I'm not get you to a certain spot in life and then just leave you. I won't do that. That's my promise. This is not the first time that Joshua's heard this. Turn back a few pages, would you, to just a few pages to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 31, young Joshua's heard this before. You know, it's amazing how you can hear something that's meant for someone else and it doesn't relate until it's spoken to you. You've been there, we all have. Something that maybe you think doesn't apply at the moment, but it does to someone else and then later on in life, you're at a stage in your life where it's spoken to you and you're like, aha. So this is probably maybe where Joshua is coming from at this point, but he's listening. And so Deuteronomy 31, so Moses went and he spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them, I'm 120 years old today. I am no longer able to come and go. And the Lord has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan. It is the Lord your God who will cross ahead of you. Don't you love that? He will destroy these nations before you and you shall dispossess them. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them just as he did to Shion and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when he destroyed them. And the Lord will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous, this is Moses speaking. Do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. It seemed like he repeated himself, didn't it? Sometimes we need that. He's gonna do it often, often. Joshua's not, it's not the first time he's probably heard this even, but for right now, we're gonna say this is the first time he's heard it, and he's gonna hear it often in the book of Joshua. Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel in verse seven, be strong Joshua and courageous for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you. He will be with you and he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear. Or be dismayed, I counted three times at least. In those few short verses. And he'd need to be reminded probably many other times, needed to be repeated to Joshua, be strong, Joshua. Verse six, back in Joshua chapter one, be strong and courageous. Now this is not Moses speaking, this is Joshua speaking, or at least the Lord speaking to Joshua, reminding him to be strong and courageous. For you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers, to give them. You will make the journey. At times you may feel like you're not going to because you may feel alone. You may feel like I'm not with you. You may feel as though I've left you. You may feel as though I've deserted you or that I am not hearing you. But while you make this journey, Joshua, I want you to keep one thing in mind. And I think this is tucked in here because I think we need to hear this. While we're journeying for the Lord and plowing through this world and fighting through this world, look what he says to Joshua that is so personal. And God never changes in his message to Joshua and to others, as we'll see later with Ezra. and later on in 2 Corinthians chapter four. But he says, only be strong, now get this, in verse seven, only be strong and very courageous, be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. Joshua, you're gonna have victory and success, not because you remember all the things that I've told you, but you're gonna have victory and success as you do what God says do, as you obey God's law in this case. You're gonna have victory and success. Look at verse eight. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. I can do that. I can do that. You can too. I don't need to read a book to do what the Lord says in his word, do I? I can do that. Amen? I can do that. I can obey God. And I don't have to do it because Moses said it. I can do it because God said do it. And this is what's gonna make them prosperous. We're gonna find out later that they stumble too many times. And could it be they do that because they feel abandoned by God because maybe He doesn't seem active in their lives at the moment? Could be. While you make this journey, Joshua, I want you to keep one thing in mind. I'm going to be with you. I'll never leave you, but live right. Live right. That's why he tells Joshua. Live right. God did not promise Joshua that things would be easy. You never see that. He's not gonna say, Joshua, it's gonna be easy. As a matter of fact, most of it's going to be difficult. But he did remind Joshua in verse nine, have I not commanded you? Don't you like that? That's a question. That's a question. God asks Joshua a question. Now that's really hitting home. Now I ask myself a question, why would God ask Joshua this? He just told him that he would be with him and he wanted him to live right as he lived through this journey that he's on for the Lord to defeat the, not defeat these nations, they're already defeated. God has already done that. By the way, he's already defeated our enemies too. I don't know why we fight them all the time. They're defeated. He just wants Joshua to live right. And that's what he wants for us too, by the way. So he says, but have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Why would he ask that question? Because he knows that Joshua, there are gonna be times in Joshua's life where he's gonna doubt that. And he's gonna have feelings of loneliness, where he feels like God has deserted him. God is not active as he was before. There's gaps, God, where are you? Most of us at this point in life as believers get this, right? We get that. How we deal with it is the issue. I know at least it is for me and I can hear those things and I know they're true. I could say this morning, do you believe God is faithful? And in unison, every believer here this morning would say, yes, amen, yes, absolutely. But we walk out those doors and we get down the street in life and it seems like God isn't. What gives? I just need to remind myself that he's promised. He's promised me that even though I may feel lonely or alone, he's never left me. He's made that promise and he's always gonna keep it. If you ever feel confined in life, if you ever feel boxed in in life, you're not alone. Second person we're gonna look at this morning is Ezra. A small book tucked away, tucked away in the middle of the Old Testament, provides some really interesting insights when you feel trapped and alone. We're gonna get to a New Testament passage shortly here, but let's take a look at this one right in the middle here. at this point in Ezra chapter nine, we're gonna look at, had spent 70 years in captivity. And Ezra is in the midst of seeing God do some amazing things in the midst of his people. But 70 years can be a long time, especially when you're living those 70 plus years. Can I get an amen from the 70 plus year olds? I know who you are. Whether you say amen or not, I know who you are. And the only reason I can, because pretty soon I'm gonna be one of you, and you know, 70-year-olds see through the eyes and see others. It's a long time, isn't it? How often have you looked at your life and said, wow, that's gone fast. But I still feel like I'm 70. Because you do. And when you're living in your body, 70 years can seem like a long time. And I'm sure it did to God's people too. But here they are living in the land here. And Ezra chapter 9, the people of God are in captivity. And it seems like they lived for decades and decades and decades in captivity. Seemed like they were always obeying God and then falling away from God and God sends someone to judge them, not just in the book of Judges, but it just seems like it just never ended. Therein we can learn a lesson, can't we? It's not worth it. I've told people many times, it really is a lot easier to live right and live for God than it is to live the other way. There's too many pains. Just too many pains the other way. If you really want to feel lonely, walk away from God. You'll find out how lonely it really is. But here, Ezra is in the midst of his people in captivity, and while the work of God is being hindered, in chapter 9, verse 1, the princes approach Ezra. Ezra's writing this very personal book. When we look at it, he writes that they approach me. He's writing this book almost as if it's in real time, saying the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. And what did God tell Moses and what did Moses share with Joshua? When you go back and read that, you'll find out that There were seven groups and the names changed to protect the innocent a little bit here as you read in different passages, but all these individuals that are mentioned in the first verse or some call them the seven sworn enemies of Israel. And I noticed even in here, it looks like there's an eighth one added because the Egyptians are added here and they don't appear in the earlier ones, but you can understand why, right? when you understand the history of Jews in Egypt. But he says that the people of Israel and the priests, the religious leaders, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands. And God, you commanded us to do that. And they've not done that. And so we can all admit we have a tough time relating to what's going on here. Maybe we don't know the story. But I think when you read even a part of the book of Ezra, we can understand that when we look around at the evil forces in our nation today, and at times, even the people of God not living right. And that's what these princes, when they approach Ezra, it's basically what they're telling him. We look around in our nation, they said to Ezra, the people are just not living right. And what's the one thing in Joshua 1.8 that God said to Joshua, as you go on this journey, live right, live right, do right. That's what I want from you, Joshua. And evidently, Ezra had done this, but the people and a lot of the spiritual leaders were not doing this. And so he reacts to this in verse three. But before we get there, verse two, he tells us a little bit of the details of what's going on here. They've taken, verse two, of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race is intermingled with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness." If you read that verse today in society, you'd be called everything from a racist to a bigot to a whatever. But people can think whatever they wanna think. I'm here to tell you, God, from day one, has wanted his people to be separate from the world. People can think what they want, but you can't read the scriptures and not get this. I'm not talking about color, I'm not talking about race, I'm just talking about God has always wanted his people, his people to be separate from the world. And that's a challenge for us, is it not? We all relate to that. What a great challenge that is to trudge through this world and at times wonder if you're doing it alone. And God is here to remind you, not only in Psalm 136, but many other places, I have not left you. I promised I would be with you and I will always be with you. And this is where Ezra finds himself. And so when he reacts in verses three and four, this is his reaction to feeling this loneliness. When I heard about the matter, I tore my garment and my robe and I pulled some of the hair from my head. You say, well, they did things like that back then. I don't think so. Have you ever been so frustrated and so torn and so hurt that you just... That's him. He realizes that God's people have not done what Moses told them to do, what God told Joshua to do. And what he had told his people to do, he realizes they're not doing that. And it's been a long time, and a lot of things have happened. They've intermarried, they've had families, they've had children that are not from the race, God's race. And again, I don't mean that in race as in race, but you get what I mean. It wasn't God's people. These were enemies of God. And so here we are, we find Ezra just responding or reacting to that. And in verse four, then everyone who trembled at the words of God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me and I sat appalled until the evening offering. I don't even wanna try to describe that, you get the picture. He's broken. He's broken and feeling alone. But now he responds to all of this and I love this. And I'm here to tell you, I think that the only way he can respond to this, he's already reacted. I mean, that's some reactionism where you rip your clothes off, tear your hair out. It doesn't say he pulled his beard out. He may not have had one, but if he had one, he probably would have done that too. There are other instances in scripture where people have done that. And so that's the way he reacts. Now he responds, he says, but at the evening offering, I rose from my humiliation. I highlighted that in my Bible. Because when God's people don't live right, we ought to be humiliated. I'm here to tell you. It ought to bother us. When God's people do not live right, when I don't live right, it ought to bother me. And so he rises from his humiliation. Even in verse five, he says, with my garment and my robe torn, which was not really good to go out like this, be seen like this. But he says, it didn't matter. It didn't matter. My heart was broken. And so, He says, I fell on my knees and I stretched out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said, oh my God, can you see that? It's just not anything that God told him to do. I mean, if you don't raise your hands to me, you're not really one of my children. He's just responding to God. He said, oh God. Oh my God, he said in verse six, I am ashamed and embarrassed. Is that a child's prayer? This guy's feeling so lonely and so isolated, when he hears this news, he may feel like he's the only one walking with God. You ever feel that way? See, why isn't all the other Christians living the way they're supposed to live? Remember, God said, I will be with you. Live right. He said, I turned to God and I said, I'm so ashamed and embarrassed to even talk to you. That's a verse that all of us should highlight. Because we've all been there. To where now he feels like God's the only one he can talk to about this, and he does. He said, I'm embarrassed for our iniquities have risen above our heads. I mean spiritually they have sunk under the surface of the water. And he says, they've risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. And God, knowing that you see all of this breaks my heart. Since the days of our fathers to this day, in verse seven, we have been in great guilt. And on account of our iniquities, we, our kings and our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to the captivity, to the plunder, and to the open shame, as it is to this day. You wanna know why? Because they didn't live Joshua 1.8. They're not living right. It's a sure sign, sure sign, Mark my words, as one great man said one day, mark my words. My dad used to say this. Maybe your dad did too, right? When he wanted to get a point card, mark my word. We can look around in our society, especially in the churches, and we can tell if people are living right. You can. I look at my own life. You can look at your own life, and you can tell if you're living right based on what's going on in your life. Ezra knew that. How long it took him to realize that, I don't know, but he realizes that now, and that's the problem. And that can be a very lonely feeling at times. But now, I love this. It's one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. But now for a brief moment, grace has been shown from the Lord our God. to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg, this is what I like here, to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. I can't get enough of that. I need to hear that. You know why? Because God is still with me. and he's still with you, irregardless of what's going on in the world around you, irregardless of what's going on in this country, irregardless of what's going on in your community, irregardless of what's going on in your family, God is still with you. He's not gonna leave you. He realized here, Ezra did, that sin was far too great for him to handle, but for a brief moment, Grace has been shown from the Lord. In verse eight, a nail, if you will, to hang our hope on. Yesterday I was hanging up things in the garage, putting up whatever I needed to do to hang things, to get them off the floor. I don't like things in my garage floor. Anybody like that? Any of the men in here? Yes. I like things on my floor. People come to my garage and say, wow, your garage is amazing. I say, I don't want anything on my floor. If I could hang my cars up on the wall, I would do it, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. But I was doing that yesterday and I'm reminded of this. I'm reminded of this. As I'm pounding in nails or whatever I'm putting in to hang stuff up, I'm reminded. God has given me a peg in his holy temple a peg, a nail to hang my hope on him. I'm gonna do that. That's what Ezra's doing. Here's just a reminder, just a reminder that it's not just Moses, not just Joshua, not just Ezra, but his statement in verse nine, what a reminder of who they truly are as his children and his commitment. Look at this, for we are slaves, Do I hear an amen? Yet our bondage, in our bondage, our God has not forsaken us, but has extended, here's Psalm 136, have that creep in there, has extended his loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia to give us reviving, to raise us up the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. In our bondage, God has not forsaken us. And no matter how lonely it feels or how boxed in you may feel, God is there. He promised he would be. And if that's all I have to hang my hope on, that nail, I'm gonna hang it there. Third one, I want you to go to 2 Corinthians. We're gonna take a look at a New Testament character. A person that, Most of us idolize in the church. I mean, how could you not think so much of the great Apostle Paul, right? And I know it's very easy at times to say things when you're a public speaker that you regret later, so I'm not gonna say anything, and not that it's on my mind either, but it's easy to say things, and they come off as disrespectful to an individual, but the Apostle Paul was a human being. I have a short series on the depression of the Apostle Paul. And a lot of people, when you think about him, you don't think that he felt like that or was ever in a situation in life where he felt God had deserted him. But actually, when you read several of his books in the New Testament, you get that. And this is one of them. And I'm not going to break all of this down because it would take too much time, but in 2 Corinthians chapter four, find your way there, in verses seven through 14, there's a passage that echoes many of the feelings that these Old Testament saints had, like Moses. You know, if you go back and you look at the life of Moses, by the way, if you remember, Jethro, his father-in-law, had to tell him, pull back, boy. You can't do this alone. He got to the point where he couldn't even raise his own hands to heaven. Then you have Moses leading these people, and how frustrating it was, and then Joshua, and then Ezra, and there's just like Old Testament characters galore that we could look at that felt this way. Elijah. I mean, you could go on and on. I mean, if I thought for a second, you could name a lot of them. But in the Old Testament, here's one that gives us a feeling of a lot of the Old Testament sayings that were just all too common. Paul shares in 2 Corinthians chapter four, the first six verses of his ministry and its purpose. And he says, we have this ministry that we've received, right? Sort of sounds like Moses and Joshua and all these Ezra and all these leaders that were given a commission into the promised land to lead God's children to honor God and do right. And he says, we have this ministry in verse one, we've received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame. Sounds like Ezra, doesn't it? Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God. I mean, if you go back and read the book of Ezra, that's Ezra's problem. with the people, they had done that. Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. By the way, if you've ever shared the gospel with somebody and you pound your head on the wall and say, why aren't they not getting this? There's a reason. And there it is. Well we do not preach in verse 5 ourselves but Christ Jesus is Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus sake. For God in verse 6 who said light shall shine out of darkness is the only one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. If we just left it there, it wouldn't be great, wouldn't it? I mean, what a great testimony to our ministry as God's children. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. Now, the next few verses is one long sentence. if you will. I'm not an English major. It was my worst subject in school. A lot of people say they can tell that even at my age in life, and probably can. But I know a lot of times in Scripture, having chapters divided and verses divided, it at times does not give us the thought process these writers, through the Spirit of God, as these words were penned, doesn't give us an accurate feeling of what they're trying to get across. From verse seven down through the next few verses, sort of a one sentence thought pattern here, Paul has. He says, but we have this treasure, in verse seven again, in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted in every way. but not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. You walk around in this fleshly clay vessel. It's a wonderful thing to know the Lord. And if you and I didn't, that's all we'd be is just a clay vessel. There'd be no purpose in our life. I mean, there would be no, as Paul said, manifesting the power of God through our lives. There wouldn't be any of that. But we are. But. Verse seven, but. He says, this is critical because the principle to understand before verse eight is very important, because when you get to verse eight, nine, 10, you read this and you go, Paul, you experienced these things, didn't you? I mean, you got to a point where you were afflicted in every way, and even though you say you don't feel like you were crushed, you felt the pressure coming from all sides, didn't you? And Paul would say, yes, I did. But I'm here to tell you, I never felt boxed in. Paul, tell me the truth now. Did you ever despair? Were you ever perplexed? Were you ever at a loss as to a way out? Yes. But I never got to the point in my life without a reserve. I could always remember these words when I'd lost my way and felt like God wasn't there. Jesus saying, I am the way, Paul. I'm the truth. When everybody around you makes you feel like it's not, I am. And I'm the life. Paul, tell us, were you ever persecuted? Were you ever at the point where you were put to flight? Say, let me tell you one time when I was let down in a basket because I feared for my life. Wanna hear that one? And by the way, if you wanna hear that one, I got some more. But I'm gonna tell you something, children. I never felt helpless. Chased and pursued by enemies, but I never felt like they had the authority over me. Paul, did you ever feel like you were just being beaten down? Did you ever feel like your pursuers were overtaking you and just cutting you to pieces? How many times? But I always felt like they could never kill my soul. What a passage. When you read this, There were times in Paul's life when he felt alone. I mean, he felt at the point in his life where it was all too common for him to have these feelings of being alone. We go through some painstaking times in life. But if you jump down to verse 16, he's going to say this and we'll close with this. He's going to say this is extremely encouraging because we do not lose heart. We're constantly, you know, if you jump back up to verse 11, he says, you know, we're constantly being delivered over to death. And once you get out of one situation in life with the world, guess what? There'll be another one down the road. So if you ever hear coaches, I know I got a football buddy back there, right? Especially college football, yeah. He asked me back here, he said, did you watch college football yesterday? I said, yeah, I even faked an injury to watch more college football. There were a couple upsets yesterday, major upsets, right? And so they talked to these coaches after the game, said, hey, how do you feel about this great victory? And almost every one of them, in one way or another, will say, this is great for a while. We're going to celebrate it today. But tomorrow morning, we're going to get right back into it. And that's how it is in this life. And Paul knows that. He knows that. He knows that we're delivered over to death daily. So he says in verse 11, we're always gonna go through these tough times. There will be multiple times in life that we feel alone. He says in verse 12, so death works in us, but life in you. And he just goes on to testify of the goodness of the Lord. But this is really encouraging. The other day, a couple weeks ago, I noticed on my driveway a dead monarch butterfly. Now, I've never had that. I've lived in this home for 29 plus years. I've never had once a dead monarch butterfly on my driveway. And you say, well, what's so significant about that? Nothing. I've just never had a dead monarch butterfly. It was beautiful. Still intact. Then a couple weeks ago, it was hot. So the sun had not scorched it. And I looked at it. I just left it there. And I looked at it. That is a beautiful butterfly. That's a beautiful insect or whatever they call a butterfly. And then I realized the pain, I thought about that. And not because of this sermon, but I thought about that and I thought, the painstaking process that that butterfly goes through to get to that point. To die. Wow. This is why Paul could say in Hebrews 13, five, for he himself, referring to God, has said, I will never desert you, never, nor will I forsake you. Now that would be wonderful if that was the only verse in the scriptures that we could dig out. It'd still be true, but it's not the only one. There are too many to count where God has made this promise. Almost think that Paul, the writer of Hebrews, is sort of summing it all up there. Now this is in light of the fact that sometimes we feel this way, don't we? but God has not forgotten us. Let's pray. Father, we're grateful. We're grateful. We're grateful that you have not forgotten us and we're grateful that you remind us over and over again. I need that. I'm gonna suspect that all of your children need to hear those words because we trudge through this world and when we do what you challenged Joshua to do in his journey in life, live right, and we do everything that we can to live right, we feel like we get beaten up, sliced up, chopped up, boxed in, but you never leave us without a way out, never. And when you look at Paul's testimony, it's all for your glory, all of it is. Now I think, Father, that I can live with that. As long as you're glorified, I'm willing to go through whatever you want me to do and I'm gonna live right to the best of my ability in your power. And I'm hearing the echo of the saints this morning that are making that commitment, recommitting themselves to do that. No fanfare. Nobody will probably pat us on the back. But you know, in the end, we're gonna hear something that we look forward to hearing that we forget so often. Well done. good and faithful servant. May you be glorified today in this place, in these lives, in Jesus' name, amen.