That's all I have to say for
myself. Go with me if you would back
to Matthew 28. Matthew 28. I want to preach something to
you that I personally needed to have preached to me. And I
hope it will be a comfort to your heart like it was to mine.
Verse 19, Matthew 28, verse 19, it says, Go ye therefore and
teach all nations, baptizing them. immersing them, immersing
them. Whoever it is that you teach,
absolutely immerse them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. What did he command us to observe? What did he teach us in his commandment
to observe? Well, he said, love the Lord
your God with all your heart. Love God with all your heart.
And he told us to love each other. May that sink into my heart,
and I mean that. May that sink into my heart.
Love each other. Love each other. Absolutely love
each other at all cost. Love each other. With all the
characteristics of true love, be kind one to another. We can respond with one or two
things. Kindness or the opposite of kindness? Be kind one to another. Tenderhearted
one to another. Be patient with each other. Forgive each other. Down here
on this earth, we are not going to do things perfectly. We're
just not going to do it. One day we will. but not down
here on this earth. We are not always going to be
the little angels that everybody thinks we ought to be. Our sin is still going to rise
up from within us. We don't want it to, but it's
going to. Our sin is still going to show itself time and time
again. We are going to offend each other. I'm sorry. Let me apologize in
advance. We are going to offend. We are
going to be offended by each other. We're going to act at times in
a way where we wonder and everybody around us wonders if grace has
ever truly entered this heart. What are we supposed to do in
moments like that? Love each other. Love each other. Love each other. The disciples
came to the Lord one time and said, how many times do I have
to forgive my brother before I can cut him off? They said, is seven times enough? Is that enough times? After he
sins against me seven times, Can I cut him off after that?" The Lord said, 70 times 7 is
not enough. Aren't you so glad our Lord does
not cut us off after 490 sins against Him? I would have been
cut off a long time ago. He said, love the Lord your God
with all your heart. He said, love each other. What
else did He command us to observe? He gave us a table with bread
and wine. And he said to take that table
in the remembrance of his death, to remember the fact that he
died, to remember why he died, to remember what he accomplished
in his death through his broken body and his shed blood. All
of the satisfaction of God that He accomplished for us. He gave
us an ordinance of water baptism to confess union with Him in
that death. In water baptism, we openly confess
before everybody. We're telling everybody, this
is my only hope. This is all I have. This is my
only hope that I am in Him. My only hope is that I am in
Him, completely covered in Him. I mean toe to head covered in
His blood. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood. Nothing but the blood. I identify
with Him. I identify with His gospel. I
identify with His blood. to be my only hope of salvation.
My all is in Him. In baptism, that's what we confess.
I'm in Him. And in the Lord's table, we confess
He is in me. Christ in me is my hope of glory. Christ is in me. Union with Him. Union with everything that He
is and His union with everything that I am. His union with my
death. My union with His life. Verse
20 says, teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you and This is what I want us to look
at tonight. This is what I want us to dwell on. And he said,
lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. That's what I need to hear. That's
what every child of God needs to hear. The end of the world
is coming. The end of our time on the world
is coming. The end of the world is coming,
and this is what I need to hear. I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world. Always, always. Now it's easy
to believe that he is with us when things are going smoothly.
It is so easy to believe that he's with us when everything
is going smoothly. But the reality for us is rarely
do things go smoothly. Very rarely. It's considered by most who know
these kinds of things that Job is the oldest book in the Bible. The book of Job was written first. If that is indeed the case, then
the oldest recorded believer said, the oldest believer on
record said, man that is born of woman is a few days and full
of trouble. full of trouble. The life that
we live on this earth is short. It is short. It is flying by.
It really is flying by. But sometimes it seems so long. It seems so long and the reason
is because it is so full of trouble. No believer is exempt from it.
I would love to believe that there would be a way we could
be exempt from it, but no believer is exempt from it. But here's
the promise of our Lord through His Word. Even though this life
is going to be so full of trouble, even though in this world you
shall have tribulation, He said, be of good cheer. I'm with you always, even until
the end of the world. I'm with you always. I'm with
you always. Now let's prove that. Let's prove
it to our own hearts by seeing it in the word, seeing how our
Lord was with our brethren, those brethren who came before us.
Turn with me, if you would, to Acts chapter seven. Acts chapter 7, this is a message
that a dear brother named Stephen preached. He was captured and
he was brought before a council for preaching Christ. And he
knew that his life was on the line. And they gave him one more opportunity
to say something on his own behalf. And he used that opportunity
to preach Christ to them. And this was the message he preached.
I am with you always, even until the end of the world. That was
his message. He preached to them how Christ
God was with his people. If you look at chapter six, verse
15, it says, and all that sat in the council of which one of
them who sat in the council was a wicked simple man named Saul
of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul. All that sat in
the council, looking steadfastly on Stephen, saw his face as it
had been the face of an angel. God was with him. I just love
that. God's Spirit came down on that
man. God blessed his word. In this moment, God blessed his
word. Chapter 7, verse 2, And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers,
hearken! The God of glory appeared unto
our Father Abraham. He told him about Abraham. They
said, do you have anything to say for yourself? He said, men,
brethren, listen to me. God of our father appeared to
Abraham. He told him how God promised Abraham a son and he
finally gave him a son. And how Isaac, his son, is a
picture of Christ and the promise of his covenant. Now, think about
the reality of Abraham and Isaac. Think of the reality of their
life. Abraham, we've mentioned it a
lot recently, and I'm okay with that. Abraham took Isaac to the
top of Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. Can you imagine
how badly Abraham did not want to do that? Can you imagine how badly Isaac
did not want that to happen to him? Can you envision both of them
saying, this is not how I thought my life would go. This is just
not how I thought things would turn out. But they both believed
God. Three days they traveled, enter
into those three days. Abraham had to be thinking, surely
the Lord is going to step in. The next day came. Surely the
Lord is going to step in and the next day came. Surely the
Lord is going to step in and they walked up the mountain and
he listened to his son say, I see the fire. I see the wood. Where's the lamb? He said, son,
the Lord's going to provide. He will. Where is it? Where's the land? I don't know,
son, but he'll provide. They both believed God, they
trusted God. And just before Abraham had to
do it, God said, Abraham, Abraham, I'm with you. I'm with you. And he was. And they both came
back down from that mountain crying, God was with us. What
happened up there? I'll tell you what happened.
God was with us. He didn't leave us. The end of verse 8 right here
says, Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs, his twelve sons. Verse 9, and the patriarchs moved
with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt. They sold Joseph into Egypt. It goes on to say, but God was
with him. God was with him the whole time.
He was sold into Egypt. He was sold. Think about the
reality of Joseph's life. He was sold into Egypt. But God
was with him. God was with him in that pit. God was with him when he became
a victim of child trafficking. He was sold. Kidnapped and sold. God was with him all the way
to his throne, governor of Egypt. As a type of Christ, he became
the savior of his people. God was with him through it all,
every bit of it. Joseph's family moved to Egypt
and they were in good favor. Verse 18 says, till another king
arose which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtly with our
kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out
their young children to the end they might not live." Can you
imagine that? Enter into the reality of their
lives. These are our brethren. This
is God's people. Their houses were being forced
into, I'm gonna use the word hearts. Their hearts were being
ripped away from them. Cast into the river. Verse 20
says, in which time Moses, he had to be taken away too. He
had to be cast into the river too. But God was with him. And God sent him as a picture
of Christ to be the deliverer of his people. He said, Moses,
go tell My people, and this is what God sent him to say, go
tell My people I'm with them. You go tell them that I'm with
them. Verse 34, Acts 7 verse 34 says,
I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people which
is in Egypt and I have heard their groaning and am come down
to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee
into Egypt. This Moses whom they refused,
saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God
send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which
appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that
He had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the
Red Sea and in the wilderness forty years." Forty years they
wandered in the wilderness. All of that time, God was with
them. They didn't know it at the time.
They should have, just like we should too. But he was with them. The Passover lamb, the cloud
by day, the fire by night, the parting of the sea, the smitten
rock, the manna. They didn't like it. We don't
like this. We're sick and tired of this light bread, but it was
there. All of that is Christ being with
His people, never leaving His people, providing all their need,
all of their eternal need, all of their temporal need, everything
they need. He is made to be all I need,
all I need. Every earthly need represents
the one great spiritual need He provided, salvation from sin. Verse 37, it says, this is that
Moses which said unto the children of Israel, a prophet shall the
Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me,
him shall you hear. Who was that? It's the Lord Jesus
Christ, not just a type, Christ Himself is coming. He came to bear the burden. He came to pay the ransom. He
came to set His people free. The burden was sin. The price
was death. The freedom was accomplished.
Verse 52, Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
showed before of the coming of the just one, Christ Himself,
of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers. For the sake of His people, because
of their transgressions, Isaiah 53 says He was cut off from the
land of the living God. Psalm 22 says He was forsaken. Cut off and forsaken. But do
you know what 2 Corinthians 5 says? Turn with me over there, 2 Corinthians
5. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 19. It says, to know that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Well, which one
is it? Was he cut off and forsaken by
God or was God in him reconciling the world to himself? Which one
is it? It's both. If God said Christ
was cut off and forsaken, then Christ was cut off and forsaken. And if God said he was in Christ
reconciling sinners to himself, then he was in Christ reconciling
sinners to himself. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never leave you." Our Lord
Jesus Christ knew that His Father wouldn't leave Him. He knew He
wouldn't. He said in Psalm 16, Thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell. He knew, My Father will not leave
me. He will not leave me. Even though
I have to endure something as horrible as this, He'll never
leave me. Turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter 11. Hebrews 11. All of these believers
here in this chapter are named. And of every one of them, every
believer here, come the end of their story, it can be said the
Lord was with them. Every one of them. Hebrews 11
verse 13 says, these all died in faith. These were God's people
who were looking to Christ. They spent their lives trusting
Christ and finding all their hope and their comfort in the
fact that He would never leave them. They trusted and looked
to Him, but never leave them. And verse 33 says, Hebrews 11
verse 33, it says, who through faith subdued kingdoms. Do you remember when David defeated
the whole Philistine army with a rock? That's all he had. That's all he had. This is all
I have is a rock. All those men, Goliath, that
giant, God was with him. That's all you can say about
that whole situation. God was with him. Only God can
do that. Verse 33, who through faith subdued
kingdoms, wrought righteousnesses, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions. You remember when they threw
Daniel into the lion's den? Can you imagine the reality of
having to live through the experience of that? They threw him in. having to actually go through
that. The king did not want Daniel to be thrown in. The enemies
of God tricked the king and they forced him to throw Daniel in.
Hold your place right here in Hebrews 11 and turn to Daniel
chapter 6. Just after Ezekiel, Daniel chapter
6. The king wanted so desperately
to spare Daniel. But a law had been made and he
couldn't go back on it. And it grieved the king. It grieved
him. He knew he was throwing Daniel
to his death. Daniel 6 verse 18, Then the king
went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were
instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep went
before him. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't
eat. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went
in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came to the den,
he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, Is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions?' Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and
hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me. For
as much as before him innocency was found in me, And also before
thee, O king, have I done no hurt. Then was the king exceeding
glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out
of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of
the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he
believed in his God. The king said, Daniel, are you
dead? And he said, not at all. My God is with me. I've told
you the story of that dear old man who was completely bent over.
He was in a nursing home. He couldn't stand up. And a couple
of brethren went to go visit him. They walked into his room.
He'd just completely bent over. He was looking out the window,
had his back to him. And they said, Brother Hubert,
are you all alone? And he said, no, brother, the
Lord is with me. That king said, Daniel, are you
dead? He said, no, brother. The Lord is with me. He's with
me. Go back to Hebrews 11. Verse 34, it says, quenched the
violence of fire. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
They said, I see four men in there. The Lord was with them. Verse 34 says, 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. 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."
How many times were Paul, Silas, Peter, all the disciples busted
out of prison by the Lord? By the Lord. They would throw
those guys into prison and God would send an earthquake and
shake all the doors off the hinges. They would lock them up in chains
between two guards and God would send an angel down there and
break all the chains off and pick them up and say, you're
coming with me. God was with them. Here's my
point. Here's where I'm going with all
this. They were thrown into prison. They were thrown into the lion's
den. That's the reality of the life
they live, the trials and the troubles. They lived it. Verse 37 says, they were stoned. The message that Stephen preached.
We were just there in Acts chapter 7. At the end of that message,
they were so furious at him for preaching Christ, they stoned
him. And while he was being stoned,
he looked up steadfastly into heaven and God opened it for
him. And he saw Jesus Christ standing
at his throne waiting to receive him. God was with him. God is with every child of his. Not one child will ever be left
alone. He said, I'm with you always. Look at Hebrews 13 verse five. Hebrews 13 verse 5 says, Let
your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as you have. For He hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. Never. God will take care of
you. If we belong to Him, If He's
caused us to look to Him and see Him to be our only hope and
our only help, then God will take care of us. He will never
leave us. He is with us always. Now here
is my prayer for every single one of us here. May He give us
faith to believe that He is going to be with us. He is not going
to leave us. He is with us always, even until
the end of the world. Whether we believe that or not,
He is with His people. May God give us faith to believe
it. Lord, increase our faith. Would
you increase our faith? As the last word of our text
in Matthew says, Amen. That was the last word in that
verse. So be it. So be it. Alright, let's all
stand together.