Brother Mark. Morning, everybody. Morning. Scripture reading for this morning is taken from Psalms 119, verses 25 through 32. And I have some scriptures to go along with it. The Holy Spirit has put on my heart, and I say that if one scripture in God's word speaks to your heart, then I say amen. Praise God. Psalm 119, verses 25 through 32.

This is the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, meaning it's Dalet. It's meaning the door, the pathway, or the entrance. And it signifies humility, dependence on God, and a transition point in a believer's life. The section highlights the psalmist's plea for spiritual revival, direction, strength, viewing God's word as the path for life. Amen.

Psalm 119, I'm going to read through them and then I'll take each verse one at a time. My soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou hurtest me. Teach me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts. So shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness. Strengthen thou me according unto thy word. Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth. Thy judgments have I laid before me. I have stuck unto thy testimonies.

Oh Lord, put me not to shame. I will run the way of thy commandments. Then shalt enlarge my heart. Then thou shalt enlarge my heart. Verse 25, to let my soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word. Charles Spurgeon said this about verse 25.

Whatever was the cause of his complaint, it was no surface evil, but an affair of his inmost spirit. His soul cleaveth to the dust, and it was not a casual and accidental falling into the dust, but a continuous and powerful tendency or cleaving to the earth. When the psalmist refers to the dust, he is referring to a place of dearth, of mourning, of humiliation, like we read in the previous chapter, his condition of a contrite heart. I always thought a contrite heart just meant being embarrassed or ashamed, but it is much more. It's more like crushed. severely humbled due to my disobedience and sin. So what does the psalmist do?

He cries out to the Lord. Quicken thou me according to thy word. The word of God gives life. All throughout the Psalms it seems to be the theme that God is great and even just the single word of God gives life. When God speaks life is created. Like in Genesis when God said let there be life in so many words after God said let there be light he spoke and commanded things into existence. So we see God's word gives life right in the beginning of the creation of everything. And then throughout the word of God we read that God gives life through his word and sustains all life through his word.

In Hebrews 1 3 we read who by who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand on the majesty on high. In John, we read the words of Christ himself. In John 6, 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.

The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So not only is God's word life, but Jesus' word is life as well. Proverbs chapter four, verses 20 through 22. My son attendeth to my words, incline thy ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart, for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Verse 25, Dillet, the door, my soul cleaveth unto the dust, quicken thou me according to thy word. The door, the pathway, the entrance, the way is what Dillet means. The word of God gives life and the word of God is all about Christ and him crucified. John 14 6 Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh under the father but by me Jesus Christ is to let he is the door he is the pathway he is the entrance he is the way the only mediator the only name above all names first Timothy 2 5 for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Jesus Christ and Acts 4 12 neither is there salvation in any other For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Back to our scripture and to let in verse 26. I have declared my ways and now hers me. Teach me that I statue. First 27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts. So shall I talk of thy wondrous works? First 26. I have declared my ways and now hers me like the psalmist. We declare our ways when we confess our sin to God for forgiveness. That's right.

First John chapter one verses eight through ten. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

Teach me thy statute, says the psalmist in the last part of verse twenty six. In other words, teach me thy word, Lord. For without eyes that see and ears that hear we are spiritually blind and deaf to God's word. We read that in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 10. We need God and his spirit to teach us his word to give us understanding.

God's word is to let the door who is Christ and what he did what he's doing and what he will do. It's all about Christ. What he did when he laid down his life to save sinners we read in Romans 5 verse 8. What he's doing right now, sitting on his throne in heaven, holding all things together by the word of his power, Hebrews 1.3, and what he will do when he returns in glory, transforming all who the father gave him to be like him. Along with the judgment, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, as in Philippians chapter two, verses nine through 11. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

And in Isaiah chapter 45, verses 22 and 23, look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth. For I am God, there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return. That unto me, every knee shall bow Every tongue shall swear.

Verse 26, teach me thy statutes. In Psalm 119, verse 27, make me to understand the way of thy precepts. So shall I talk of thy wondrous works. Again, the psalmist is asking God to teach him the word, make him to understand the word because he knows the word is to let, it's the door or the pathway to God.

If we understand anything about the word of God, we know that God is merciful, loving and gracious, saving sinners to the uttermost by his grace, all who come to him in Christ. And this is really great news to a sinner, right? We can't help but to talk about his wondrous works.

Psalm 107, verse 2, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Speak of his wondrous works in the hearts of mankind, as the psalmist says in verse 27, for the Spirit of God has given us life saving faith to believe in the redeeming work of Christ. laying down his life so that we may live and have a relationship with our God. Romans chapter 10, verses nine and 10, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And I believe that's what verse 27 is talking about.

I shall talk about thy wondrous works. Back to scripture reading in 119 verse 28. My soul melteth for heaviness. Strengthen thou me according to thy word. The psalmist is addressing his sorrow. Now the word of God is his source for strength and renewal. In Isaiah chapter 40 verses 29 through 31.

He giveth power to the faint and give them that have no might. He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 119, verse 29, remove from me thy way of lying and grant me thy law graciously. The psalmist is praying for God to intervene, to redirect his sinful nature, that nature of the flesh that we all contend with. that he may live within the law that God has established.

For us, we can relate to this and that we are reminded to obey the new law, the commandment of love, fulfilling the law through love is Romans chapter 13, 8 through 10. Oh, man, no. Oh, no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. there be any other commandment is briefly comprehended in this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself love worketh no will to his neighbor therefore love is the fulfilling of the law in Matthew chapter 22 verses 36 through 40 master which is the great commandment in the law and Jesus said unto him thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment And the second is like unto it that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the laws and the prophets.

In Psalm 119 verse 30, I have chosen the way of truth, thy judgments have I laid before me. Here we see the psalmist has made a personal commitment to walk in the way that is acceptable to our father. He is ultimately committing to manifest the fruit of the spirit, which we should all try to do always. Galatians 5, verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against there is no law.

Back to the last two scriptures in Psalm 119. Dillet, remember these scriptures have to do with the door, the pathway, or the entrance. In verse 31 of Psalm 119, I have stuck unto thy testimonies, O Lord, put me not to shame. In verse 32, I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart. These last two scriptures have to do with the pathway, or the way we should walk.

And if one does walk in the way of his testimonies and commandments expressing the fruits of the Spirit, the Lord will never put anyone to shame who does this. Romans chapter 10, verse 11, the scripture saith, whoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. The psalmist is expressing his commitment to pursue God's commandments with a loving heart. And he's praying to God to protect him from shame, that protection God gives when we do stick to his commandments and flee from the natural desires of the flesh.

Testimonies from God is essentially the word of God. And the word of God is Christ. John chapter 1, verse 14, and the word was made flesh. So in summary, verse 31 and 32 say, stick to Christ. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Run to Christ. Run to the way for Christ is the way. And I'm going to reread John chapter 14 verse 6. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me.

I gotta be honest with you, that's been very beneficial for me, to have Mike go through and bring that out a little deeper. I appreciate you, brother, very, very much. Would you turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 19? One of the hardest things for me to do when I examine myself is to understand that all these things that God tells us to do, I can't do any of it.

My physical, as Kathy calls it, my humanality. My humanality just comes out and I want to try to do things. I want to try. What must I do to be saved? It comes to us by nature, doesn't it? Surely there's something I could do. I like that. Fulfilling of the law is love. Love is something that comes from the heart. I know that it causes us to do deeds. The love that I have for Kathy causes me to do things. The love that you have for one another, for your children, causes you to do things. I just find over and over and over again it's insufficient. The weakness of this flesh that stands before you is insufficient, unqualified. Well, I don't know that I can use that word. What does it take to be qualified to preach?

Study his word. contemplate it, consider it, read it, but most importantly, to have it in my heart. Everything else I come up insufficiently, but I do have the Lord and the love for Him in my heart because He first loved me. There's a scenario here that our Lord gives us in Matthew chapter 19. I want to read all the way through it first, if you would.

Join me in verse 16. And behold. This is Matthew chapter 19, beginning at verse 16. And behold. Take note of. Pay attention. One came and said unto him, unto the Lord Jesus, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? See the nature?

See what comes from the nature of those who are sinners, may not even know the depth of their sin, but all men have it. That's what all the different religions are all about. What must I do to satisfy the wrath of my God? I've sinned against my God, and I've got to do something. What must I do? Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, in other words, if you're going to get eternal life, keep the commandments. Okay?

Well, this guy's a little bit prideful here. Look what he said to him. He said, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Look at the pride that is built up in this young man here. He says, the young man said to him, all these things have I kept. from my youth.

What else might there be? What lack I yet? So Jesus went on further in verse 21. He said, if thou wilt be perfect. If you want to be perfect, if you want to be perfect other than just what I've already mentioned to you here, go and sell that that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. Follow me.

But when the young man, verse 22, heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Now remember, God's Word is spiritual. When the Lord's talking to us in this form, it's best if we go out and understand God's Word under the spiritual sense.

Doesn't mean he didn't have great things, it didn't mean that he didn't have sorrow, but if we apply this to our spiritual sense, that that will be perfect. Go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, that thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. He went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Remember, we're talking spiritual. Folks, we have so much to call rich. Our families. We have children. We have grandchildren. Some may not, but most of us do here. We have food on the table. I'm not talking about those who may have thousands and thousands of dollars, great big homes. I'm talking about those who have food on the table. I'm talking about those who have a job to go to. There's so many things in this world that we can call, that we have that are riches. Even our poor that live on the street are richer than most in most countries.

He said, verse 24, and again, I say it to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible. What a heavy thing to hear, wouldn't you say? With men salvation is utterly impossible.

The Lord doesn't leave it there, does he? How does he close this part of the verse? But with God. Isn't that awesome? That's a favorite. I mentioned this, I think, Wednesday night last week there in Madisonville. But God. I love to hear that phrase, that's just one of those phrases that jump out at me and say, despite all the things that you go through, John, despite all the feelings of weakness that you have, despite all the doubts that you have in God's word, despite the weakness that is in you, but God.

God has plans. And He's not expecting John to take care of any of it. And He's not waiting for you to take care of any of it either. He's handled it all Himself. He says, but God, but with God all things are possible. If we would follow Christ we must forsake all and follow Him is what this is all about. Put all the things that you have of the world, all the riches that you have of this world, put them aside and follow Him. That's hard to do. How am I going to feed my family if I don't go to work? How am I going to take care of this dear lady if I don't do certain things? If we would follow Christ, We must forsake all and follow Him.

Put everything at the feet of Jesus. My mom used to tell me when I would come to her with problems that were in my life, whether it be this or that, whatever it was, that she would always tell me, John, take it and put it at the feet of Christ. Faith in Christ is such a trust in Him such a confidence in him that those who are born of God, those who are true believers, are in the totality of their lives committed to him as our God. What does he say in Scripture? He says, you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Mike and I were sitting over here in the fellowship hall earlier today. And he was talking about some troubles that he's going through as well. We all have them. We've all got something that we can call trouble in this world. And I don't remember the exact thing he said, but it was to this effect. But the Lord Jesus In other words, he's saying despite all the feelings that he's going through over this and over that, this world is not my home. I'm just passing through.

Those who are true believers are in totality. The totality of our lives are committed unto Him. Faith in Christ surrenders all to Him as our God. He's that pearl of great price for which a person gladly sells all that he has. Faith in Christ is much more than simply believing facts about Christ, it is believing Him. Believing His Word.

Somewhere just recently we were talking about something and it had to do with what can we believe in in this world? It might have been over there in the fellowship hall again. What is there in this world that we can truly believe in? Can we believe the news? No. Too often it's proved that we can't, isn't it? Can we believe our neighbor? No. How about this? Can we believe our own feelings? No. I don't understand almost all of this.

But I know one thing, and God's people are brought to know this very fact through our heart, we can put this in stone, and that is, this is the Word of God. I don't know how to tell you I know, I just know. And I know that the Word of God cannot lie. I know that if it's truly the Word of God, this is truth. This isn't by man, this is by Him. Yes, He used men to pen the ink on paper, but it was God in His Holy Spirit that guided the hands of those men to do so.

Faith in Christ is much more than simply believing that Christ walked this earth. The Jihadists, they know that there was one named Christ who walked this earth. It's mentioned in their Bible. It is to believe Christ Jesus as the Word, as you read in John 1. It is not trusting that He will save you, but trusting that He can if He wants to. Trusting in the Lord, that He is able to save His people to the uttermost through His Son, the Lord Jesus.

What Christ did on the cross for His people, for those that He's loved from before the world was, is not a way of salvation, it is salvation. Faith in Christ is the complete surrender of my life to the rule, to the dominion, to the disposal of the Son of God. Until we can truthfully say these words, we have forsaken all and followed Thee. We are lost without life, without faith, without hope. and under the wrath of God.

Let me read for you from Matthew chapter 4, 18-20. We read these words, And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, follow me. Now this is the word of power. This is the word of truth. This is the almighty God in the Lord Jesus Christ, his son. And he says, and I will make you fishers of men. And then guess what the results were. Folks, when Christ speaks, something happens every time.

And they straight away left their nets and followed him. Listen to these words over in Luke chapter 5 verse 11. We read over there. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed Him. That's what this is talking about here.

And selling all that you have, giving it to the poor, and following the Lord Jesus. If you should have life, Christ must make you His. his people, and he must make himself your God. Spurgeon said this. He said, no man has truly given himself to Christ unless he had said in his heart, my Lord, I give thee this day my body, my soul, my powers, my talents, my goods, my house, my children, and all that I have. Henceforth, I hold them at thy will as a steward under thee. Thine they are. I surrender it all to Thee.

Faith in Christ basically involves three things. It involves the knowledge of Christ, His person and work, which comes to men by the preaching of His gospel, and you can read that in Romans 10, 13-17, where it says, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word. Faith in Christ involves, and that is the ascent to God's revelation concerning His Son. And as it states in 1 John 5, 1, whosoever believeth in the Son shall have everlasting life. And thirdly, surrender to and commit to Christ our Lord.

That which most effectually keeps people from this commitment of faith to Christ is the love of the world. Loving the things of this world. Listen to James, that's what Matthew 19 verse 23 and 24 is saying there. And then Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Listen to James 4.4.

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, don't think the Bible doesn't address women. Sure does, right there. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is enemy of God. That's what it's talking about. It's talking about being rich of the things of the world. When the Lord says, may the poor inherit the earth, you know what that's talking about? It's talking about the poor in spirit. Those whose spirit knows that we're nothing but sinners, that we deserve nothing but the wrath of God for what we are. Just like Mike was saying there in the Scripture reading. Confessing what we are before God. Listen to 1 John 2 verse 15.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Matthew 6 verse 24. No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in mammon. Nothing on this earth is more dangerous to a man's soul than riches. Matthew 13, verse 22, he also that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and care And the care of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Back in our text, Matthew 19, our Lord says in verse 25 and 26, when his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed. Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Turn over to Luke chapter 12 if you would. Luke chapter 12. I want to read a parable with you that goes right along with our study here, with our message. Where are the riches of your heart? What things do you hold most dear to your heart?

I remember I remember when my brother's son was killed. We were mourning in his house down the street here. And for some reason, I had to leave to come to church. It was a Sunday morning. And rather than stay there and grieve with the family, Where are you going, John? I'm going to church.

Why? I don't know. I don't know. I just know I had to be here. I remember a time when Kathy asked me when I was walking out the door on a Sunday morning, had gone to church at least once or twice, and she said, where are you going? I said, I'm going to church. Why? I don't know. I just gotta go.

Something is drawing me to God's Word being preached. Something outside of John was drawing me to hear about Christ and Him crucified again. Even though I just heard about that very same message the week before, a different verse and a different part of scriptures, but it was the same message. Here in Luke chapter 12, look with me if you would, beginning at verse 16.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, If this will I do, I will put down my barns, I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and all my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.

Take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God, he said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich towards God. Verse 22, And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

The life is more than meat, the body is more than remnant. Consider the ravens if you would. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouses nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowl?

And which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow, they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

And seek not ye that ye shall eat, nor that ye shall drink, neither they should doubtful of mine. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that which ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Now look over at verse 34.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. His son, in the heart of one for whom he died, he becomes our treasure. Folks, when God shines the light of treasure, his light, what happened here? I lost some notes. I apologize. When God shines the light of His Son in the hearts of His people, His Son becomes our treasure. All the things of this world, we sing that song, right? This world is not my home. Well, that's because our home is in heaven. That's where our treasure is.

Slowly but surely, and I've seen this over the years with Gene and Judy, where the Lord has taken away the things of this world, we call it weaning, weaning God's children from the things of this world, the glory things, the things we glory in this world, our own works, whatever it might be, it's our own feelings. Slowly but surely the Lord weans us from the things of this world and shines the light. It's not just one time, it's over and over again until finally that light is nothing but we see. That's all Gene sees right now. 84 years old the Lord has kept him on this earth and it's come to this point where the Lord, where nothing of this world inspires or gives him hope.

Jesus Christ is our treasure in heaven. Our treasure is He, as it states in Colossians 1, verse 15 through 19, our treasure is He who is the image of the invisible God. Did you know that Christ is the image of the invisible God? We can't see God. We can't see His glory.

But we can see His Son that He sent to this earth. We can see the One who walked this earth in the flesh and laid down His life for us. We can see the glory, all the glory going to Him, which is the glory of God Almighty. We can see who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him we're all that are in earth, invisible, invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. That makes Him God, doesn't it? He's our God. He's made Himself our God. He's the God of everything. I'm not saying that he's not, I'm saying that everything doesn't know he's God, just as we didn't at one time.

It goes on to say this, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is the head, the body of the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, and in all things he might have preeminence." That's what this is talking about. That's what the story of the young man is talking about. Who had preeminence?

His riches of this world, or the riches that we have in heaven? Folks, if we have Christ, we have everything. Everything of this world is going to be burned up. I don't know what's going to happen to Judy's things, but they're not going to last forever. She's enjoying her riches right now, standing face to face with the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is her riches. To be in the presence of Christ is all the riches we need. that in all things he might have the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell."

Turn over 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This is Christ giving us giving Himself to be our preeminence. This is Christ making Himself our God. Look at verse 5, if you would. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light. Folks, our God is sovereign.

If He commands something, It's gonna happen, isn't it? Isn't that what happened when those men, when he passed by those men and he said, come follow me? Didn't scripture tell us? They immediately followed him. They left all the things of the world behind. God's people don't go out and go to other churches, go to other religions to worship. We may go into one of those goat barns, but we're not there to worship. Any of you who've ever gone to one of those goat barns, you know what I'm saying. We can sit there and listen to what they say. We've been to funerals, I'm sure. Some of you have been to funerals that were preached by some man who didn't know anything about God, who stood up there and told you, if you just make a decision for Jesus, or whatever other stuff they might tell you, and all we can do is sit there and say, that's not what Scripture tells us.

When God, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts. What's shining in our hearts? The glory of His Son, the treasure in heaven. It says to give the light of the knowledge of glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Mike just shared with us a moment ago his treasure in the earthen vessel that God has given him. Thank you, brother. I mean that. What a glory it is to stand before God's people and speak of our God. Listen to verse 8, for we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. That's what Mike was talking about. Mike Lovelace was talking about.

He's troubled on every side, but he's not distressed. He still knows who's in charge. We still know. We know. That's what it says in Romans 8 20. And we know. How do we know? Because of Him. It always comes back to Him. It always comes back and gives Him the glory. We are distressed on every side. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed.

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

We have the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken. We also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. Folks, we are saved by grace through faith. Isn't that what the word tells us in Ephesians? Through belief is what that means. Believing of who Christ is. We're saved through believing that God was manifest in the flesh. We're saved by believing what He did. He walked perfectly. He knew no sin. He who knew no sin was made sin that we would be made the righteousness of God in Him.

We believe that, don't we? You better. You better believe it. Otherwise, there's still sin in us, isn't it? Oh, I know there's sin in this flesh, but in the Spirit. Looking to the treasures of heaven, my Savior who has made sin for me. We believe what He did and we believe what He accomplished. We believe this. He hath perfected forever. That's my only hope, folks. That's my only hope. When I get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror, my only hope is that my Savior has accomplished my salvation.

You say, John, I know all this, but sometimes I don't seem to have much, if any, faith. John, sometimes it's, Lord, I believe. thou might unbelieve. Let me tell you something, and I'm going to point my finger out like this, but I want you to see this. There's three pointing right back at me, so I'm speaking to myself here. When I am sorrowful over my belief, when I'm sorrowful over how weak I am in this flesh like I was when I first started this message.

You ask me what's wrong? Are you tired, John, because you were traveling all week? No. Here's what's wrong. I'm weak. I'm insufficient. I can't understand how God would use this vessel for anything of His glory. I definitely don't deserve to be here in God's house talking about Him. But that's because I'm looking at this. And I'm not looking to where my treasure is.

You ever feel like that? You ever get so low, you don't go out? Lord, why would you have mercy on me? Because I love you. That's what His Word tells us. Stop looking at the flesh, John. Look to my treasure, which sits in heaven on His throne right now. making intercession for me, and you as well if he died for you on that cross. Look to Christ. Scriptures tell us that looking unto Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith. Is it small? Yeah. Is it weak? Yeah. But it's the faith that God has given me to believe all those things that I just talked about with you. And if you believe it in your heart, it is the gift of God. All things are possible with God. Amen.