Before we begin the message, we'll go to God in prayer again. Remember, again, those churches without pastors. I'm constantly reminding you of this. Because there is a need. There's a great need. I pray that God would supply that need to comfort and encourage His people. Call out His elect.

I thought about it this morning. I know that there are multitudes and myriads of pastors that we don't know. There are many. God has never left himself without a witness. Though we don't know them, we pray for them. I suggest you pray for those that you don't even know. Pray for those that God sent.

I pray that God's message would go forth in spite of the false message that's going forth, in spite of the false doctrines that are being spewed, in spite of false religion who claims the glory of salvation belongs to man. I know God's The gospel will go forth in power. God is sworn by Himself to gather His people. Think of that covenant in Ezekiel 36. He said, I will take them and then gather them. Now what He had to do with us, He had to take us first. And then in love, He gathered us. And that's what he'll do. He'll arrest them. And then he will, in love, gather them. And this is through the preaching of the gospel, so pray that God would send men to declare his word.

Again, I come to this time and realize I have no strength to do this. things I'm preaching to you, I want you to understand that I struggle with them more than just this few minutes I get with you. The things you wrestle with, I do wrestle. Things that you struggle with, I do struggle. And so this word is for me as much as it is for you. And I know it was a comfort to me, and I need to constantly refer back to it. I pray that God would comfort our souls together, that the gospel would come in and we would see this truth. And I'll tell you this, if you see this today, then you've got the whole message. You that believe, listen, God is for you. I don't care how you think or what you feel or what happens to you. It don't matter. It don't matter what happens to you. If you believe on Christ, I'm going to show you that God's for you.

Well, actually, I'm not going to show you anything. I'm just going to be the voice and I pray that the Spirit, we sang that song, we cannot do this without the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God has the work This is the work of the Spirit, to apply the things of Christ to you, to make them powerful, to make them effectual. That's His work. What am I? I can't make you see these things. I can't make myself see these things. We pray that the Spirit will make us to see these things. Open it. Open our eyes. Let us see how things really are. opposed to how they appear.

Let's go to him in prayer. Gracious Father, I know you have heard our petitions. Oh, we have so many. I am thankful, Father, that you are of infinite mercy, infinite wisdom, and infinite strength. that our petitions are daunting to ourselves, but to you they are as nothing. If we were to take all of our complaints, all of our struggles, all of our difficulties of all thy people and put them together, they are as light as air to thee, There is nothing. Father, I know Thy wisdom is above our wisdom. Your understanding is far above ours. We cannot fully know or understand the difficulties or the struggles or the cause or the reason for these things, but Lord, give us the grace to look in faith to Your promise regardless of what we see, regardless of what men think, or even how we feel. Let every believer this day fall upon your word. Find peace. Christ is all.

for those who do not understand or know you. It is only in your power to give them light and life. I ask that you will, in mercy, save sinners. and in the same mercy comfort the saved. Be with your churches wherever they are, with your men wherever you set them. These things we have asked for ourselves. We plead also for them, for your people wherever they worship. And those without pastors, Father, please be merciful, be gracious to them, Send them pastors after your own heart. May the gospel go forth as light in the darkness. Shine bright. By the power of your spirit in Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Psalm 124

Psalm 124

Let's title this message, God's Favor and God's Preservation. God's Favor. Now this title of this psalm is given to many of these psalms. It's called a Song of Degrees. Now I'll remind you of this, that three times in the year the nation of Israel was commanded of God to leave their homes, the males were commanded to leave their towns and their villages and go three times in the year to Jerusalem to worship. Now consider this, they'd have left their cities totally undefended. They were to do this during wartime and peacetime, surrounded by their enemies who hated them and despised them and yet they were to travel all the way to Jerusalem every one of these feasts. Now, and as they went to these feasts, they would gather together and they would sing these psalms of degrees. The psalm of degrees means steps upward. And so as they went up to Jerusalem, they would sing these psalms. And these psalms had a purpose. They were to encourage and strengthen them along the way. They were surrounded by dangers, they were in constant need of God's help, and strength to make it.

You that believe, is this not familiar? As we are marching to Zion, as we are moving closer toward our heavenly home, these Psalms are intended of the Holy Spirit as we march on to give us comfort. We are surrounded by our enemies, we are constantly surrounded by danger, Constantly demanded to trust God in the face of many obstacles, many difficulties. So as we journey on, these Psalms are intended to comfort us in our troubles. They're intended to settle us in our fears.

How often are we confronted with troubles and sorrows that seem to contradict the promises of God? Every day we are confronted with these things. Our God promised many things to us. All things work together for good to them that love God. To them are the called according to His purpose. Do you feel that so? Do you often think in the teeth of your trouble that that's That's true. We're confronted with this. Our faith is confronted. God says, I know my thoughts towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil. And yet, where's the peace? We don't feel peace. We're in constant trouble, like a ship in the middle of the ocean in a storm, tossed. And yet God says, I know my thoughts, that they're thoughts of peace.

We went over that last week in Ezekiel 36 where God swore, He said, I raise my hand. And He said, I swear this. This is what He swore. I am for you. I am for you. Now God said that. I am for you. And yet in our providence, how does it feel often that God is against us instead of for us? How often are we cast down in our very souls and grieved regarding the providence that we face? How often are God's people poor and afflicted either in body or in spirit? And how great are our afflictions it appears that God is set to destroy us rather than help us.

In these times of sorrow, this is the intent. Listen to the intent. Your faith must be tried. Peter told us that, didn't he? He says that your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, it must be tried by fire. Even though it's tried by fire, that your faith might be proven to be of God and not yourself. Wouldn't that be a horrible thing that your faith is only an illusion? Many people's faith will be an illusion. They will wake up in hell and wonder what happened. Why? Their faith was just an illusion. Isn't it incumbent to us to know that our faith is genuine? It's real? This is why God does it. To prove your faith is of God and not yourself. He proves our faith.

I tell you this, even those who have the strongest of faith find themselves doubting. Don't think that you're the only one. You're not. So in such troubling times, this psalm was written for you. It's as though God saw your trouble and would write this psalm for you. That's what it's for. As you march on to Zion, listen to this psalm. Now we're getting into it. Look at this. Now I want you to see how abruptly the psalmist begins this psalm. It's not even a complete sentence. It's not even a complete sentence. He just abruptly just shouts it out there. Listen. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side. Now may Israel say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side.

You know those words, it had been, are in italics, They're not in the original. So listen to how it sounds without those words to help it out. Those words kind of help the sentence out. But notice what it says. If not the Lord who is on our side. If not the Lord who is on our side. Now he abruptly shouts this out to those weary travelers. They had prayed and looked to God and yet they were still weary. Have you done that? Prayed to God, Lord help my weariness. And it seemed that you're even more weary now. They sought power, but now their faith and strength were at their lowest. And the psalmist there, he shouts this out. Now I want you to understand that there was a question concerning God's favor. That's why he shouts this out. They had questioned whether God was for them. And the psalmist here shouts this out in the silence. He knows their question. The Spirit of God understands their question and he shouts it out in the silence.

If God's love and favor is for us, then why are we in such a perilous state? And so then the psalmist reminds them of what? if God had not been for you? If what you're saying is true, if you think God's not for you, listen, if God had really not been for you, what would have happened to you? Where would you be if God was really not for you? If God had not been for you, where would you be? What would be your condition now if God had not been for you? What do you suppose would happen? Now, I'm going to keep going back and forth from this little nation. I'm going to use this nation, Israel, as God intends it, a type and a picture of spiritual Israel. So I'm going to show you what happened He's saying this in a national sense, but yet this is truly for the spiritual Israel of God.

Now, consider that little nation. What would have happened to that nation if God had not been for it? You suppose that they'd have any strength to deliver themselves from Pharaoh? And that's what he said. He said, look, if God had not been on our side, when men rose up against us, they'd have swallowed us up. We never would have left Egypt had God not been for us. You suppose that we would have ever made it through the wilderness if God had not provided food and water for us? You suppose we could have conquered the nations of Canaan had God not been for us?

So what he's doing is these ifs are not questioning God's being for them. He's not questioning God's favor. These are rhetorical questions. These are intended to show you that God is for you.

Now, I want to prove this. I want to prove this. That God, if you are a believer in Christ, I want you to see this. That God is for you in every way. He is for you.

Now this little nation of Israel, how did they know God was for them? They knew it because God made a covenant to be for them. God made a covenant with Abraham, their father. He said this to Abraham in Genesis 15. He said, Fear not. Why? I am thy shield and exceeding great reward. And what words can you say? I'm for you. Though everyone's against you, I'm your shield. And I'm your reward.

Later on in Genesis chapter 22, He promised Abraham, He said, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. We know this is talking about Jesus. We know this is talking about Christ. Our Lord decreed that Christ would come from that little nation, specifically from the seed of Abraham, specifically from the seed of Isaac and of Jacob, specifically of the seed of Jesse and of David, of Judah. Was there any possibility that any of the nations against them would prosper? That's what he's reminding Israel. He said, look, was it possible for these guys to destroy you? If God is for you, how in the world could they ever destroy you? They could not destroy the nation of Israel because Christ was coming from that nation. God was for them.

Now why? He chose them. Isn't that right? He chose them. God manifested his presence in only one place in all the world, in that little tent, in that little nation. Nowhere else was God present. Can you imagine that? Every other place was devoid of God's presence except that place. God gave them The gospel. He gave them the message of redemption. How it is God could be just and justify the ungodly. He gave them the gospel of Christ, even before Christ came. So it was not possible for them to be destroyed. He said, look, if God had not been for us, we'd have been destroyed. There's no doubt about it. But since God was for us, here we are, safe.

Now translate that to spiritual Israel. You that believe. How do you know God is for you? Because God made a covenant for you. Because God has chosen you. You that believe. Listen to me. God is for you. How do you know? Because God chose you. God chose you. What God says of national Israel is true of us. Listen to what He said in Deuteronomy 7. He said, Thou art a holy people. Does that sound questionable? You that believe, is that questionable? You might be holy. No, He said you are a holy people. You are a holy people unto the Lord. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people. And he tells him why. He said, I didn't choose you because you were great. I didn't choose you because you were good or you're better than everyone else. Listen to what he said. I have chosen you because the Lord loved you. Because he would keep an oath which he swore to your fathers hath the Lord God brought you with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of the bondman from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

You want to know the source of all your comfort regarding God being for you is rooted in the election of grace. That's where the comfort is rooted. It's rooted in the eternal love of God for you. that God did not choose you nor love you because of you. He loved you and chose you out of mere grace.

Go to Ephesians chapter 1 and read this. God is for you. I want you to read this in the light of our text. But since God is for you. Ephesians chapter 1. Now Paul blesses God the Father. He praises God the Father. He said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now why such praise? For all spiritual blessings. He has given to us all spiritual blessings. Now where did He give these blessings? They were in heavenly places. In other words, they weren't conditional on anything earthly. They weren't conditional on anything that happened in time. They were in heavenly places. And they were rooted in one person, Jesus Christ. That's where the blessings are. They're all in Him. Now how should He take these heavenly, spiritual blessings and give them to us? Why should He give it to you? Can you find a reason that God would give it to you? You won't find one in you. Now if you do, it's because you're all messed up. You don't understand you. If you understood you, you would know there would be no reason God would do this for you.

Listen, according, now He's going to tell us how. Man, I love this. I love how God does this. He tells you what He's done, and He's going to tell you how He did it. You don't leave this to guess. You don't have to guess how God's going to do this. According, this is it, as He hath chosen us, where? In Him. That's where all the blessings are, aren't they? In Him. Well, guess what? God chose us in Him. Now, notice when. When did God set His favor on you? Before the foundation of the world. Before there was any opposition. When God was by Himself and there was no opposition, God chose us and put us in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Now, why would He do that? Now he's going to tell you why he does. He's not going to tell you how he did it, now he's going to tell you why he did it. Look, that we should be holy and without blame before him. Doesn't this prove God's for you? That his purpose is that you who could not be holy should be made holy. Notice his motive in love. Love is his motive. In love. What'd he do? Having predestinated us. Not predestined a thing, he predestined people. Not events, people. He has determined all things, but listen, us. predestinated us unto the adoption of children.

Notice the means. Now how is all this going to happen? How is that we're going to be made holy? How is it that we're going to receive all these blessings? By Jesus Christ. It is not a cooperative effort. It is by Jesus Christ alone. Now listen, if you want to know if God was against you, listen, salvation would be cooperative. If God was against you, He would make salvation cooperative. You take a person that's just yay high, and you say, you put something 10-12 feet above him, you say, okay, you reach it, you can have it. No, can't use anything. It's got to reach, it's got to stretch. Stretch as hard as you can. It'd be mean, wouldn't it? That'd be cruel. You could never reach it. He can never get it! That's us! We could never attain salvation if it was cooperative. God doesn't make it cooperative. This proves He's for me, is that He made salvation conditional only on the work of His Son.

Is God for you? In a sense, God's for you? Now look at verse 7 in Ephesians 1. Now why did He do it? Look, according to the good pleasure of His will. Now is salvation based on your will or His? What a ridiculous notion that salvation is based on your will. That you can somehow bring God down and make Him do something based on your will. No, it's according to the good pleasure of His will. Listen, "...to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."

Now look at this second thing. He said, "...in whom we have redemption." through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according... Listen, Christ is to be the salvation of His people. Now that He's come and the Scripture says we have something. You that believe, you have something. What do we have? We have redemption. Based on what? Redemption is payment for sin. You have payment for sin based on what? His blood. Not a cooperative thing, is it? It's His blood that's redeemed us. And notice this. He didn't say anything about you going to have redemption someday. He said you have it. You have redemption through His blood, according, no merit, not works, but according to the riches of His grace.

When you're in trouble, do you often question God's love for you? Why? Why do you question God's love for you? If you believe on Christ, why do you question God's love for you? Because of the providence you're in. Because of the situation you're in. You're basing God's love on the condition you find yourself in.

God's love is never going to be seen based on our condition. Listen to what John says about the love of God. 1 John chapter 4, he says, in this is manifested the love of God. Stop looking at the situation. Stop looking at the circumstance to determine if God loves you. What a horrible thing. You would never see it. You would never know it. I know I preached to you before, Ecclesiastes 9, you cannot tell the love of God based on what you see. Ecclesiastes 9, 1. You can't determine whether God loves or hates you based on providence.

Otherwise, We think God loves the people in Hollywood. Man, they all just shower with all these blessings, and all this money, and all this fame, and all this wealth, and acknowledgement of the world, and the politicians. We think, man, and then you see God's people, how poor, and how miserable, how at times they're distressed, and then you think God hates them, if you base it on providence.

Notice what John says, herein is the way that God's love is manifest, because God sent his only begotten son, Now you want to know if God loves you, then you have to look at His Son. You have to see that God sent Him to be the propitiation for your sin. You have to see that Jesus Christ came into the world, was made flesh for you. He didn't come for Himself, did He? He didn't need righteousness, you needed righteousness. He didn't need redemption, you needed redemption. He didn't need to be justified. You needed to be justified. He came in love for His own. All that the Father gave Him, He came for them.

And what did He do? He was made sin for them. You want to know if God loves you? He took all of your filth, all of your sin, and He made it His own.

and suffered the wrath of God in my stead, endured the affliction that I deserved, and he did it because of love. And the apostle says, in whom we have redemption. It's yours. It's God for you. God chose you. And Christ redeemed you. That's the manifestation that God is for you.

And listen to the result that Paul gives in Hebrews 10 concerning this man. He said, but this man. He's different than every other man. Hebrews 10 and 12 he says, but this man, those priests they did everything God said they should do, they offered those sacrifices and yet none of them took away sin. But this man, this man's different. This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, listen to this, he sat down. Sat down on the right hand of God Expecting his enemies to be made his footstool Therefore for by the one offering his one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified

Our Lord Jesus made it very clear all that the father giveth me shall come to me Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. I came not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And in case you're wondering what that is, this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all He hath given me, I will lose nothing.

Is God for you? If you are in Christ, God is for you. At this point, there may be still some doubt. You may say, well, preacher, yes, God's good to Israel. God's for His elect. There is no doubt God is for His elect. There is no doubt that Christ redeemed His elect. What about me? What about me? How can I know God is for me? See, it's one thing to have this doctrinally, isn't it? You can assent to these things, you can check these things off. That's not going to be any comfort unless you know this, am I one of His elect? Am I the one for whom Christ died? How can one know this?

There is truly only one evidence, then, of God's favor, one proof by which we may know God is for us. Listen to this. It is faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the evidence. Faith is the evidence. Why? Because this is the gift of God to all the elect. All of the elect by nature are no different than anyone else. There is no difference. You may have different parents. You may be born in a different circumstance. You may grow up and have parents that love you and are even believing parents. Or you may have parents that aren't believing and you may have a bad situation. It doesn't matter. We're all born in the same condition. We're dead. Dead in sins. Doesn't matter where you come from. We're dead in sins. We are all unworthy of God's favor. We were by nature haters of God.

What made the difference? What makes a difference? This is the work of the Spirit of God. This is the work of the Spirit of God. Look back in Ephesians chapter 1. Listen to this. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to good pleasure which He had purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on the earth, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of the glory who first trusted in Christ, that's God, God's the first one who trusted in Christ, listen, in whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth. the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed with the Spirit of promise."

Herein is the manifestation of the election of God and the redemption of Christ. It is the sealing of the Spirit. It is the calling of the Spirit of God to the dead soul to live. It's an awakening. It's an awakening to understanding to who you really are. Do you know who you really are? I mean, can you measure the vileness of your own nature? You believe, you can't. You know this. This is the enlightenment. He said, by nature, I know who I am. I know what I deserve. I deserve only the wrath of God. I never deserve the favor of God. And the Spirit of God comes in power and demonstration. That Spirit, He gives life. And Paul says in the 2nd chapter, he shows this experience, And you hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.



No different. I know this, you see a lot of vile people, base people in this nation, very base, evil. I see me. When I see them, I see me. There is no sin that they have done that I am not capable of doing if God did not keep His hand on me. That's who I am. But I'm so thankful that God not only showed me my guilt, He also showed me my Savior.

This is the benefit of every elect soul, is that God, when He calls them, He will quicken them to both life and faith. He will show them Christ. He will manifest their righteousness to be only in Christ. You that believe, is He not all your righteousness? Is He not all your holiness? Is He not all your redemption? And if you understand anything about the Scripture, is it not because of Him? If you understand what I'm saying today, spiritually understand what I'm saying, acknowledge this and believe this with all your soul.

Listen, it is because of the Spirit of God. There is no you in this. There is no strength in you. It was all the work of the Spirit of God. And God swears this to happen to all of His elect. None of them shall miss it. I just quoted that in John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth me. Now what are they going to do? They shall come to me. How many? All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. How will you treat them when they come to you? I will in no wise cast them out.

You found that to be true? You came to Christ with nothing. Did He cast you out? No, He said He wouldn't. Why? I am for you. And I'm not going to lose one of those that the Father gave me. Not one of you shall be lost. He told those Jews in John chapter 10, He said, My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and listen to what I do. I give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. How sure is your salvation? And yet, because our providence is evil, we think somehow God doesn't love us? Because our circumstances are bad? Somehow we think God has left us? No.

Consider where you would be if God was not for you. All who believe on Christ therefore give glory to God for all their salvation. Now, go back to your text. Go back to your text. Look at this again. Now let Israel say. Notice he didn't say anybody else. He just said Israel. Let Israel say, I know what you're saying in your heart, you're saying God's not for you. Oh, let Israel say, listen to this, if God had not been for me, listen, what would happen? All of my enemies would have swallowed me up. He said, when men had rose up against us, they had swallowed us up how fast? Quick. Quick.

Now I'm not going to give you the illusion, believer, that you don't have enemies. You do. You that believe, you have enemies that are way stronger than you. Matter of fact, if you're being honest, there is nothing weaker than you. Everything is stronger than you. Consider your little kids, little children. I know this when my kids were small and it still happens when they're grown. How many times did you want to just not go to worship because of your kids? You see, the little kids even have more strength than you, keeping you. We're weak. We are feeble creatures, prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love. We have real enemies. Satan is a real enemy. He is real.

Friends, this is not mythology. This is not an illusion. This is not a fairy tale. Satan is a very real enemy. And if God had not been for us, his accusations would surely stick. I tell you, Satan doesn't have to lie about me. He doesn't have to accuse me. He doesn't have to lie about me to accuse me. But consider this, God is so much for you that he has cast Satan out of heaven where he cannot make any accusations against you. Paul writes this in Romans 8, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Listen to this, It is God that justifies. Now, in order to accuse me, Satan would have to accuse God of being unjust. And he can't. He will never be able to make any accusations against us.

Now, is God for you? How quickly would Satan have swallowed you up had God not been for you? had Christ not redeemed you. The world is a real enemy. Friends, you preach this gospel that I'm preaching and the world will hate you, it will despise you. It will not love this. I can't tell you how many times I've been called a cult. And I just read the scripture to them. I didn't have to even expound it. I read the scripture and I'm called a cult. Why? hate the election of grace. Men despise salvation of grace. When you preach it, they'll hate you. And they'll do everything to destroy you. You know what David said in Psalm 118 verse 6, he said, The Lord is on my side. It doesn't matter if the world is against you. It only matters this, the Lord is on my side. Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear? Therefore, what can man do unto me? What could they do?

If they took your life, what would that do? If they took all that you had, if they took all your wealth and your family is gone, and you had nothing, you're standing in a pile of ashes covered with sores like Job. Did that separate you from God? No. If God be for us, listen, who can be against us? Who can be against us? And I'll tell you this, If God had not been for us, surely our sins would have swept us away.

Joanne, I'm going to use you because you're the oldest here. Why are you still here? Why have your sins not swept you away? It should have, but it can't because God's for you. I still believe on Christ. I still trust Christ. Why? Why do I still trust Christ when everything in the world is telling me not to? Why? Because God is for me. If you continue in faith until the end, Why? Because God is for you.

Look at this text in closing. The psalmist blessed the Lord. And I tell you, if God's for you, that's what you should do. That word, bless the Lord, it means to kneel. Remember, I've told you that the root word always means to kneel. Isn't that just applicable? Isn't that just reasonable? If God's for you, isn't that just call you to fall down on your face? And say what? Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Who hath not given us to the prey, given us as prey to their teeth. Our souls is escaped as a bird out of a snare of the fowlers. Now why? The snare's broken. What'd Christ do? He broke the snare, didn't he? How can you catch a bird if your snare's broken? You can't. The reason you've escaped the justice of God, the wrath of God, Satan, the world, the flesh, why have you escaped? Because the snare's broken. Christ broke it. and we are escaped.

Listen, our help. You need help? You that believe, do you need help? Here's your help. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the authority of His name. The authority of His name. There's my help, the Lord, Himself, who made heaven and earth. This is testifying of His power, of His grace, of His love. Is the Lord for you? Consider if the Lord had not been for you, where would you be? But here's the proof, God chose you. Not based on anything you've done, or will do, God loved you. God put you in Christ. Is God not for you? When He do that, He did that in eternity. Is God not eternally then for you? Then by Jesus Christ, He came and redeemed you. He sent His Son. Is He not for you? He sent His Spirit. And now you believe. And though the world and everything's against you, you somehow still believe. Why? Because God's for you. And if God be for you, who or what could be against you?

Paul said, I'm persuaded then, I'm confident, neither life nor death, nor angels, nor principalities or powers or things present or things to come, nor height, nor depth, And in case I miss something, nor any other thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. And I love the honesty, not able. Not like they're not going to try. They just won't be able. And the only reason to explain why is this, God is for us.

May God help us to be comforted on our journey as we face many trials. Now listen, if you don't believe in Christ, none of this is yours. That's just so. If God the Spirit has not quickened you, you have none of these promises. They're not yours. But if you believe, They're all yours. Should you not then praise God with your life, with everything that you have, seeing He's for you?

God, please help us to praise your name. Help us to praise His name. I need help constantly. I don't know about you. I'm a miserable wreck. And I'm in constant need of His help. It's a good thing then for me that God is for me. I couldn't tell you what I'd be if He wasn't. I'd be lost and undone. I'm thankful He is. Is God for you?

Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Holy and righteous Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy and power and love. I know this, I would not have any hope if you were not for me. We would have no hope had you not chosen us. Had Christ not redeemed us, had the Spirit not called us, we would have no hope. Because the Spirit has called us, we know Christ has redeemed us, and we know your love in choosing us. Help us in the midst of our trials not to look at the trial, but look to Christ. Not to trust in what we feel or what we think, but to trust in your word. You said, I am for you. Give us grace to hold on to Christ, to find all our hope and joy and peace in Him. Forgive us and keep us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.