We'll begin the message. Again, I want to remember those that are traveling. Kathy's still there. She'll be there another week, I think, right? Okay, so pray for Kathy as she travels. I pray she has a wonderful time there. And Mitch and Carla, I think they're, somebody said that they were going to induce the grandchild. If they don't come tonight or tomorrow or something like that, they're in a kind of a hurry. So pray for them, pray for their daughter and the child.

Pray the Lord bless them and that thing work out fine. I would have you to be mindful, constantly mindful, of how thankful we should be. The peace that God has given us, the unity God has given us is... it's simply amazing. And I don't think you can overstate that. God has been very gracious to us. There have been many times that many trials and afflictions rose up in the church and God himself has moved them out. And it's not... Not anything I did. I had nothing to do with it. God has graciously taken care of our difficulties.

We continue to pray that God will. Pray that God would instill unity and not division. Division is the work of the enemy. It's the work of the enemy to disrupt unity And to take our attention off of this, it takes our attention off of the gospel and places it upon men, upon ourselves or upon someone else. And it's like leaven. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. It's infectious, and it doesn't do anything but destroy.

And we should be aware of that. We should pray for grace and peace. That God give this in our hearts and set our focus on this. This. This is why we're here. This is why we do this. Paul said we preach not ourselves. I'm not here to do anything for myself. I know y'all understand I moved here for the pay, right? And the benefits. Just kidding.

I have been blessed more than anything. I cannot ask for more than what God has given us here. And I'm very thankful for it. But I'm here to preach the gospel. That's all I'm here to do. I'm here to tell you about Christ. And the Lord has been gracious to you to keep me from being me. That's good for you. Because I know me. And I'm thankful that God has been gracious to do that to you. For you. To keep me fixed. If I have been fixed these years in preaching the gospel to you, it is because your master was so gracious to keep me fixed in preaching the gospel to you.

In these years I've preached, I have found him to be most gracious, tender, You know, when I read of the things of the Spirit, when the Spirit comes, we were just saying that about the Spirit of God calling us. You know, everything the Spirit has to do with the child of God is an act of love. He gives us knowledge, He gives us peace, He gives us joy, He gives us contentment, He gives us every grace that we have. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit sent by our Lord Jesus Christ. He has been gracious to us and we should be thankful for that. We should be, of all people, most thankful and gracious. And God help us to do that, to keep our mind fixed on Him. I ask your prayers tonight as I preach the gospel to you. I long for it to be a comfort. I long for God himself to comfort you as only he can do, as only he can do.

And also before I begin, I want to announce that A young man had talked to me this last month or so about putting our messages up on Spotify. Man, I have been trying to figure that out, but I got it up there. The messages are now on that app as well as Facebook and YouTube and Sermon Audio. Now they're on Spotify because this young man, it's all he listens to.

So we'll do it. So I thought I'd put that out there if there's anybody that's online that knows anything about that. I mean, y'all may not know anything about it, but it's on there. And thought I'd let everybody know, and we'll try to put it up on the website. The website also is up, and it does work. It's still in its crude form, but it does work.

So if anybody wants to watch the sermons, you know, later, they all, you can go to the website, and the website will give you that, and it's redeemersgracechurch.com, that's the website. And I've sent that out in the bulletins, and if you, anybody needs that, they can go to the website and got my number, and they've got my email address, and they could email from there and reach me. Let's go to God in prayer one more time. Again, Father, we come before you.

What a glorious privilege you've given us. What a glorious privilege we have in Jesus Christ, our sovereign Savior and King. His blood to cleanse us, His righteousness to clothe us. Your Spirit now indwells us, moves us, gives us graces of faith and love.

For this, I give you thanks. We give you thanks. And praise your name. Tonight, we desire to hear it again. We desire to hear of your work. We desire to learn of your ways. And Father, we'd be gracious to us tonight to send your spirit that we may learn and know and believe and trust your word.

Pray, Father, for this church. I pray that you would give us and continue to give us what you have, unity of your spirit, Father, unity of mind, that Christ would be magnified, that Christ would be honored, that we would set the things of the world and the things of the flesh, set them aside and worship you. We should worship you in spirit and in truth Pray, Father, that you'd put this in the hearts of your people, that you would cause us to love one another and serve one another. Father, that you would send forth your gospel and save your people by the power of your Spirit. I pray that you'd use this even as you please for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.

Now, take your Bibles, turn back with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, I've entitled this message, Our Ever-Present God and Helper. Our Ever-Present God and Helper. Read this with me in verse 13 and verse 5. The apostle 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, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Now the apostle in writing this book of Hebrews, he was writing to these Hebrew believers whose faith was constantly being tried. These Hebrew believers were constantly being persecuted.

And he tells them at the end of this, the whole point of this message was that they should be removed from the law, that the law was only a shadow, was only a type, was only a picture, and Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every part of the law. And one word that goes throughout this whole book is better. He says the Lord is better than angels. He was a better priest, a better high priest, a better offering, of a better covenant, of a better tabernacle.

And so as he comes to the end of this, he tells these believers in chapter 12, he says, run the race that's set before you. Run the race that is set before you, even though you experience these difficulties, these afflictions, these trials. And notice what he says in verse 2 of chapter 12, looking unto Jesus. You want to know how to run this race? That's how you run this race. You run this race looking to Jesus, who is what?

The author and the finisher of our faith. He's the author. You believe. How did you believe? Well, Jesus is the author of that. Well, how are you going to finish this faith? Well, that's alright because He's the finisher of my faith. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.

Now, Paul understood. that they were being tempted to move back to the law. That was the temptation, wasn't it? That was the cause of their affliction. They had turned to Christ by faith, seeing Him as the fulfillment of the law, and the Jews still were looking at the law for their righteousness. So what was the inclination of the Jewish people?

It was to persecute the believers. It was to try to draw them back to the law. Remember what Paul said? He said, if I preach the law, then why am I persecuted? The only reason I'm persecuted is because I preach Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Now, why were they tempted to go back to the law?

This is very important to understand that they were tempted to go back Because when we're suffering affliction, when we stand in doubt, the flesh is always looking for evidence. Isn't that true of you? When you are suffering, when you are in affliction, when you are being tempted, when you are being persecuted, the best thing, the one thing you want to know is, am I acceptable to God? And so what do we begin to do? We begin to look within for evidences. We go to the law, we look at the law, and then we look within to see if we match up. What's the problem? We don't. We don't. And you see why Paul then is saying looking unto Jesus as we suffer. Look at verse 3 of chapter 12.

For consider him. that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds." See, they were being wearied by their persecution, wearied by their affliction, wearied by their troubles. And so what then would be the remedy? Again, consider Him. Consider Christ. And so tonight, if we are in affliction, if we are in this time of grief or a time of suffering. Listen to the remedy. Don't consider yourself, consider Him. Consider Him. What should we consider? Listen to this, that He endured in faith and patience. Everything the Lord did, He did in faith and patience. He was very intentional in everything he did. We're not so, are we? We're not so intentional, but the Lord was very intentional. Remember when he was a little boy and he went to the temple and his parents sought him. Remember what he said to her? He said, wished you not I should be about my father's business. He was 12 years old. Our Lord Jesus Christ did everything with endurance and patience and faith. And notice this, he endured what?

Contradiction of sinners against himself. One person wrote this, he endured contradiction of sinners against his person. They denying his deity, speaking against his sonship, against his offices, mocking him as a king, deriding him as a prophet, threatening him with the utmost contempt as a priest and a savior, and against his actions, his works of mercy on the bodies of men when done on the Sabbath day, his conversing with sinners for the good of their souls, as if he was encouraging them to sin.

That's how they treated him. And this was not a one-time event. Our Lord considered him that he endured this contradiction of sinners against himself continually every day of his life. Every day of his life he was treated as a criminal. Now isn't that totally contrary to his person? Isn't that totally contrary to what he had come to do?

Think of the accusations they made at Him. They hurled at Him who was innocent, and yet they constantly accused Him of sin. Let us consider and see that those things which He suffered, if we were to compare them to our suffering, how small our suffering becomes. Whatever you and I suffer, it is not continual. His was constant. His was continual.

Know this, beloved believer in Jesus, that this matter of suffering, then, is one that shall come upon us, for we are not greater than our Lord. If He suffered, is it not reasonable, then, that His followers should suffer? Our Lord said that in John 15 verse 20. He said, Remember the word I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord.

If they persecuted me with all their hatred, with all their vileness, with all their contempt, with all of their sin, they hated Him. Can you imagine? If we had the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and somebody hated us like that, we'd take them out. And yet, he was the one giving them breath to curse him. If they persecuted me, and you pay attention, they will persecute you also. So what are we to expect? You as believers, what are we to expect out of this life? I know what the flesh expects, but what does God tell us to expect?

Look at 1 Peter 2. Flip over a couple pages. 1 Peter 2. Look at verse 19. The apostle here is going to tell us suffering is to be expected. In fact, it's what we're called to. It's what we're called to. We as believers are to expect to suffer and bear it patiently. Why? Because the Lord's our example. Look at this in chapter 2 and verse 19. He said, For this is thankworthy. This is good. If a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. That's right. That's good. That's a good thing. It's thankworthy.

He said, for what glory is it if a man is buffeted for his faults, and yet he bare it patiently? How many times has that happened? Man, he's guilty of it, and then he bears long with it, and he says, oh, look what I did. No, you deserved it. But if when you do well and suffer for it and take it patiently, this is acceptable to God. Now here's one, four.

Even here unto are we called. We are called to be witnesses of Christ. We are called to be servants of Christ. We are called to declare the gospel of Christ. And notice this, if we do, even as our Lord did, we should expect the same treatment that He received. We are called to suffer because Christ also suffered for us.

Now, I want you to see the difference in the suffering here. Christ's suffering had a purpose, and that purpose was to save us. It was to satisfy the justice of God. That's not the purpose of our suffering. Our suffering is intended for our good, our benefit. Whereas Christ's suffering was intended for our greatest benefit, which is salvation.

My suffering doesn't do anything for my salvation. It doesn't add to my salvation whatsoever. It doesn't add to my righteousness, it doesn't add to my sanctification, it doesn't add to my redemption, it doesn't add even to the wisdom of salvation. These things God made Christ to be for us. And yet He suffered, leaving us what? An example. Now as you suffer, how are you to suffer? Listen to this. Even as He suffered. that you should follow his steps.

Who did no sin, neither was there guile found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to God that judgeth righteously. He committed all that he had suffered to the righteous hands of God. You read the Lord's life and you tell me that he didn't do that.

You could see what he did. He bore it patiently. Who himself was God manifest in the flesh and yet he endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. And not only this, but look at verse 24. Look how far He endured. He said, For His own self bear our sins, listen, in His own body on the tree. That's a miraculous thing. That's something only God could do. God made Him to be sin for us. When He did make Him to be sin for us, He willingly bore that sin, that guilt before God and suffered for it.

Taking it, what? Patiently. Bearing it. Enduring it. You want to know how to suffer? Suffer like that. When somebody wrongs us, How are we to bear it? How? Even as he gave us example. We should bear it. Did our Lord deserve this? No. He himself was without sin and yet he willingly bore our sins. If our Lord suffered then we in this life will have to endure much suffering.

Now not all believers suffer the same. Now this is something that we must deal with. We must understand this. We must bear this also, that not all believers suffer in the same manner, in the same matter, or in the same duration. They don't suffer with the same intensity at the same time, or at the same afflictions. Yet it is so. Every one of us will suffer. I don't know about you, but doesn't that sound contrary to this modern religion?

If you just believe in Jesus, everything's going to work out fine for you, and nothing bad's going to happen to you, and if it does, the devil did it, No, the believer must suffer. I think Acts 14 tells us that we through much tribulation shall enter the kingdom of heaven. So each believer, each one of us as believers in Jesus, have like our master a cross that we must bear. Our Lord said, take up your cross and follow me. If a man will save his life, he'll lose it. If a man lose his life for my sake he shall find it.

I want you to take this very seriously what it is to be a believer in Christ. It is to be absolutely 100% sold out to Christ. Completely sold out. There is no half measure here. A believer in Jesus Christ is to be completely sold out to Him as King and Lord and Savior, yes, friend, yes, Redeemer, but completely sold out to deny self, to deny the things of this world, the pleasures of the flesh.

These things are, that's what Paul says, he counted loss, isn't it? When we believe in Christ, we count all things what? Loss, garbage, dung, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. What did you really give up? When you have Christ, what did you really lose?

In comparison to Him, it's nothing. Why? We want Him. I have to have Him. So then we who have Him must be sold out to Him completely. We must take up then our trials, our heartaches, our pains, our griefs, our sorrows, and what? As we walk enduring these things, what do we do? Consider Him, lest you be faint and weary in your mind. If you only consider yourself or you consider someone else, you're going to get weary. You'll faint. So what do we do? Don't consider yourself. Consider him. Consider him.

We as Christians suffer, listen to this, under the hand of God's divine providence. Our suffering is not accidental. The suffering of this church, the Hebrew believers, was not accidental. Look what we got from it. We got the letter of Hebrews. What a wonderful gift God has given us. Because of their suffering, God brought us this letter. And so our suffering is by God and it has a purpose. Now we look at secondary causes a lot as to why we suffer. But instead we should always remember the first cause.

It's God. Here's an example of that, Job. Job's a good example of that, isn't he? Now the Lord sent Satan came and he said, well, God, does Job fear God for naught? It's because you give him all this stuff. And remember, he said, okay, you can take everything he has, but you can't touch him. And Satan goes out and he sends all of these hordes of evil people and they burn his fields, they kill his livestock, they even kill his children. You know what Job didn't say? He didn't say, Man, that devil. He didn't say, oh, look at those evil people and look what they did to me. You know what he said?

The Lord giveth, and listen, the Lord taketh away. How are we to consider our troubles? We should consider them as by divine providence, as by divinely given to us. Our sufferings are not accidental, believer. They're given to us of God. So whatever lot then the Lord gives us in every trial that the Father has bestowed upon us, I want you to keep this in mind as you consider Him. As you suffer, consider Him.

And when you do, understand this, behind every dark providence hides God's smiling face. Every dark providence Has God's love changed for you? Your circumstances have changed. Everything was going well and now everything's not. Did God's love change? Did Christ's blood somehow fail to cover your sin? Did Christ's righteousness somehow have some flaw? No. No. Believer, our suffering is given to us, and I want you to understand why, that we may learn.

Do you know everything? You that believe. The confession of the honest believer is this, that when I first believed, I thought I knew everything. But as I grow, I realize I don't know much of anything. I'm saying I know things, but I don't know the depth of them. I know God. I knew God loved me when he saved me, but I've not found the depth of God's love of you have not found the end of God's love. I knew Christ redeemed me, but I didn't know how much he redeemed me. I knew this, that He was righteous, He was my righteousness, but I didn't realize how much of a sinner I really was.

And then God does, through suffering, what does He do? He teaches us these things. I got this somewhere, I don't know where, but I thought it was good. It said, I walked a mile with pleasure. She chatted all the way, but left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow, and ne'er a word said she, but all the things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me."

Believer in God, God has determined that our sufferings have meaning. They have purpose. And what is this purpose? It is that we might experience the things of God that we know. That we might experience. I'll give you some things Luther said, and I thought they were really good.

Affliction is the Christian's theologian. I never knew the meaning of God's word until I came into affliction. My temptations have been my masters in divinity. No man without trials and temptations can attain a true understanding of Holy Scripture. It's one thing to know God, know about God, and it's another thing to know God, isn't it? When we first believe we knew Him, but what do trials do? Trials reveal more about Him.

They do reveal more about me. My sin, that's kind of the only thing it kind of reveals about me. When trouble comes, the first thing that pops up is what? Flesh. So I learn more about that. But as I experience these trials, what do I also experience?

I experience the promises of God being revealed. It's only through suffering that we may take the things we know about God and through them know more about him. This is the desire of the believer's heart to know him, isn't it? Suffering is used of God to bring his children, therefore, closer to himself. It's an endearing thing, suffering.

If left to ourselves, we would mind our own wisdom, our own judgments, we would mind those things which please our bodies and our minds and our flesh, and we would surely leave the things of God. God won't let you do that. This is why suffering, because suffering removes all of our judgments All of our wisdom, all of our reasoning becomes nothing. In the presence of affliction and suffering, God removes every crutch so that we fall on our face before Him seeking His mercy, His grace, His love, His blood, His righteousness, His joy, His peace.

This is what suffering does. Like he said, suffering is the Christian's theologian. It's how we become theologians, is through suffering. Remember when Paul had the thorn in the flesh? Scripture says that Satan, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh, Satan debuffing him, and he asked the Lord three times, and the Lord gave him one response.

He said, my grace, is sufficient for you. Lesson one, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. That word perfect, I mean our suffering doesn't make Christ perfect in anything. He's already perfect. What it does is it manifests His strength. You see how God manifests his strength is through our weakness. When we are weak, then we see what? We see the reality that he's strong. When we think we're strong, it's an illusion. It's an illusion. You're not strong. What reveals that? Suffering. Suffering reveals our weakness and his strength.

Go to Philippians chapter 3, look what Paul says about this. Philippians chapter 3, look at verse 7. He said, But what things were gained to me, I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss. It's not like he just acknowledged he lost everything. No, he actually lost everything. Now when he lost it, what'd he count it? When he lost it, what was it to it? He says nothing.

I counted it dung. Suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung. that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God, which is by faith, that I may know him. See that? Do you suppose the apostle Paul knew God? Why would he make a statement like that, that I may know him? Because he didn't know the fullness of it. You see what suffering does?

It causes us to count all the things we lost as nothing, so that we may win Christ, be found in him, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of Christ by faith, and that I may know him. That I may experience the power of his promises and his love and his mercy.

Is that what you want? Don't you want those things? I know you pray for them. I know you ask for them. Lord, please come. Reveal yourself to me. Now, how is he going to do it? He'll do it by the suffering of the loss of all things. Again, looking at Job, what an example of suffering Job was. Now, in the beginning, he did say that, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He waxed eloquent.

At the very start of his affliction, he seemed to do well, right? Until when? Until he lost his flesh. That was really his trouble, wasn't it? He lost his health. He had lost sitting on the ash heap and scraping the sores off. And then his friends come and started, it's all your fault because you're wicked. You did something wrong.

And Job throughout that whole book is defending his righteousness. He said, no, it's not my fault. That may have been true, but boy, he really pressed it on him that he was not guilty of sin. You know what Job said when God appeared? He said this, I abhor myself. See the difference? See what suffering does? Suffering brings us down to what? Abhor myself. And I repent in dust and ashes. And so then let us in the midst of our trials fall down before God. Peter says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

And listen, in due time, in His time, He will exalt you. Cast all your cares on Him. Now why would you do that? For He careth for you. Now how can you know that unless you consider Him? In your suffering you must consider Him, how much He cared. He cared for you in election, didn't He? Did He not care for you when He bore your sins on the cross? Did He not care? I know that's what we say when we suffer. Do you not care? And God answers, all I've done is care. I've never stopped caring. I chose you, didn't I? Did I not redeem you?

Here in His love, not that we love God, that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation, the offering for our sins. You wanna know what love is? That's love. He cares for you. And he cared enough for you to recall you. Why are you here? Why do you love this? I can find more people that hate this than I can that love it. And here you are, you love it. Why? Why do you love Him? Because He first loved you. He called you.

And so then as we suffer. Now go to your text. Now I got two things here. These are the promises to suffering saints. These saints in this book were suffering. He told them consider Christ's sufferings. He goes on to tell them that God chastens them and if God chastens them it's because He loves them. And now He's going to give two promises here. Two promises. to every suffering saint. One, I am always with you. And two, I am always helping you. These are two promises. Look at this. He says in verse 5, look at this.

Let your conversation be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. In the midst of suffering, the first thing we like to do is to covet somebody that's not suffering. I do. I look over there and I look at Chuck and Chuck ain't got no problem at all.

I don't know if that's true or not, but you see, we often envy what everyone we perceive everyone else is having. And Paul's saying, don't do that. Don't covet what someone else has. And if we're not coveting one another, we especially covet the wicked.

I mean, they seem to be having a good old time. Remember Asaph in Psalm 73, he had that problem. He said this, my faith almost slipped. Because I envied the prosperity of the wicked. The righteous suffered and the wicked prospered. He said, Lord, they're not afraid like I am. They speak boldly against God. And I sin in the least. I'm consumed.

We often in suffering fall in the same sin of Asaph, desiring what the wicked have. But in that same psalm, Asaph went somewhere to find out the truth. Scripture says, I went to the sanctuary. When you're suffering and you're covetous of someone else, where are you going to go to find the truth?

Not how things appear to be, but how they really are. You go to the Word of God. That's where he went. It's the Word of God that gives believers comfort in matters like this. It's the Word of God that shows the precious promises of God to His children amidst this suffering world. And so no matter the trial, no matter the pain, God gives us these two things. Listen. Don't be covetous of anything the wicked have. Be content with what you have. Why? For He said.

Now, if you want some comfort, God said. When God said something, that's it. God's not like you and me. We say things all the time. have no power whatsoever, but when God says something, he says it forever. And notice what he says, I will. I will. Now this promise of being with us is not old. In Genesis chapter 28 verse 15 is the promise God gave Jacob. He says, behold, I am with thee.

I will keep thee in all the places whither thou goest. I will bring thee again to this land. I will not leave thee until I had done what I had spoken to thee of. I won't leave you until I finish what I promised to do." Now that promise to Jacob is a promise to you. He says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

I don't know about you, but when I suffer, that's not how I feel. I feel forsaken. I feel abandoned. But what do my feelings have to do with this? Nothing. Do my feelings change this? No. God said, I will. That's it. What am I going to do? I'm going to be with you until when? Until it's done. Until it's finished.

Now, what's my hope of that? Because it's only through the merits of Jesus Christ. Now, that's my hope that God's going to do this for me. My hope is not based on my merit, but on his. It's on the merits of his son. So when we covet the things of this life, what should we look to? We should look to His promise.

I will never, you know this phrase, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee? This is a repetitive phrase. It literally in the translation is I will never, no never, no never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now I got a question for you that feel forsaken. When has He ever forsaken you? When has He ever left you? Tell me a time that God was not with you. You can't.

He said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. But the second one is just as important. Look at this back of your text. He said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Look at verse 6. So then we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. Not only is He with me.

Now that's one thing, right? Have you guys seen this? When somebody's getting beat up on YouTube, you got 20 people that are there, but they all got a camera, and they ain't helping at all. You see, God is not there as a spectator. This is good news. He's not just watching over me. He's just not watching things happen to me. No. Paul said, He is with me and He is also my helper. He is my constant, perpetual helper. What does He help with?

Everything. Tell me what you do and tell me what God does. Now what? I mean, you breathing? Yeah, I'm breathing. Okay, who's doing that? Is that really you? or your helper. When you believe on Him, when you experience these graces, or when you suffer, who's actually doing all this? Is it you? It's God. God worketh in you both to will and do of what? His good pleasure. You see, the Lord is my helper. Isaiah chapter 41 Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 10. Look at His promise here to you. Fear not. Fear thou not. Why? I'm with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Any question about that? Does he leave any room for speculation here? What about you're deserving it? Is there anything in there about you deserving it?

No, it's grace. This is the work of God. I am with you and I will help you. In closing, I want you to see this. The believer's life is much like a tapestry. Someone likened it to a tapestry. I thought it was a good illustration of that. You know, my grandma used to do quilting, and if you looked at it from the backside, everything looked in chaos. You got all sorts of colors all over the place. You can't see anything. You don't know what's going on until when, until you look on the other side.

Someone wrote a poem about that. He said, Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. Dark threads are needful in the weaver's skillful hand as threads of gold and silver in the pattern that he has planned. At times the suffering life of the believer looks dark. It doesn't make any sense.

In that time, we are to only consider Him. Consider Christ. We're to only look to Christ. We're to only trust in Christ. We're to only believe in His blood, His righteousness as my only merit. And this is the promise to you that believe. I will never leave thee, regardless of what it looks like. I will never leave thee. I will never forsake thee.

Therefore we may boldly say, now this is not something that we say in arrogancy, but it is something we may boldly in faith say, the Lord is my helper. So what? I will not fear what men shall do unto me. So in our affliction, in our doubt, look to Christ. Why? Because affliction is a teacher. It reveals things about God's Word to me. And what does it reveal? In every circumstance and situation, He has never left me, nor will He ever leave me. He won't forsake me. And He's not just a viewer, He's an active helper. And He's constantly helping. May God comfort us in our troubles, teach us in our afflictions, cause us to bow before Him. And if we lost everything, what did we really lose? Have we not everything if we have Him? If I have Him, I have everything. May God help us. I stand to be dismissed in prayer.

Gracious Father, be merciful. Be long-suffering with us. Constantly abide with us. Giving us the grace to constantly abide in Christ by faith. Help us by these sufferings to hold loosely the things of time and earth, and by faith cling tightly to Christ, our refuge, our rock, our strength. I beg you to comfort your saints in the midst of their afflictions. Tell them over and over again your promise that you will never leave us nor forsake us, that you will be our helper. You will strengthen us. You will keep us, even as you promised to do, until you have brought us home to be with yourself. And we ask these things in the name of our Savior and for His glory. Not yours, but they'll look good on that front side. That's all that matters. Macy's was perfect on the back side. Oh, it was perfect. Yes, it was. It was. It was beautiful on the back. It was. It was amazing. Mine.