YouTube video OGUreVi61EQ

Good evening. Welcome to worship tonight. We're a little smaller in ranks, I think, with the summer months, but I'm so glad that you're able to come and be a part of this time as we um honor the Lord and worship at the close of this Lord's Day.

Uh before we begin our service, I do want to remind you that tomorrow we have the blood drive here at the church. And if you've meant to sign up for it and haven't had a chance to do that, there's some of the bulletins from this morning in the little box over there and you can pick one of those up. There's a QR code and you can still sign up.

They're trying to get folks to sign up so that we have a good number. As I've said before, this is a way that we can uh love our neighbors. we can care for those around us and we never know when we might be the one that is the recipient of of someone else's generosity in that way.

So I want to encourage you to give if the Lord so leads you. Let's take a moment prepare ourselves to worship the Lord. The Lord calls us to worship this evening with these words from Psalm 148 verse 1.

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in the heights.

Please pray with me. Most sovereign Lord, you are the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, and whose name is holy. And yet you tell us that you are also with those who are of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Would you draw us now to yourself by your Holy Spirit, even into the heavenly places where we are presently seated with Christ? Combine our praise with that of the angels and the saints throughout the ages who gather at your throne and give us even now a foretaste of what awaits us in the joy of heaven with you. We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. Our first hymn this evening is number 110 in your hymbook. Hallelujah.

Praise Jehovah. Let's stand together and sing. Hallelujah.

together. Holy Christ. We are glory.

to Glor. Glory. Glor.

Earth. Glor. You may be seated.

I did not know that song until I came into the ARP. Uh that was the song that we sang at the first um general senate meeting that I attended and I thought that was a great song. It's very upbeat and encouraging and I don't know if they sing it at every senate meeting but they sing them sing it at most of it seems.

So great song based on I think Psalm 148. Well, last week we learned in the shorter catechism that in order to escape God's wrath and curse that is due to us for our sin, God requires of us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance unto life. And the first of those we are going to look at tonight.

And so let's read responsibly the next question. What is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.

As I alluded to this morning, faith involves three steps. First, faith involves knowledge. And second, it involves ascent or acknowledging that something is true.

But neither of these, either separate or combined together, represents saving faith. After all, Satan knows the truth of Christ's crucifixion and agrees with what was accomplished on the cross, but he certainly receives no benefit from it. The reason why is because saving faith requires that third element, which is trust.

Trust is always personal. When we trust in Christ, we put our full confidence in him and no other. We lean into him with all of our weight and we rest upon him alone for salvation as he's offered in the gospel.

Notice also that the source of our faith in Christ is saving grace. The reason that you and I trust in Christ is not because of anything in us that would lead us to uh choose Christ or believe in Christ or follow Christ. If that were the case, then we would have a reason to boast.

But rather, our faith in Christ is a saving grace. It is a gift that is given to us by God that we receive with gratitude and turn around and practice in our daily lives for his glory and his praise. Let's join together in our prayer.

Our merciful God, abounding in grace, we freely confess that if left to ourselves, we would never choose to trust in Christ. And ourselves, we are dead in our trespasses and our sins. The dead have no life in them to cooperate with you.

Our wills are in bondage and we have neither the desire nor the ability to choose Jesus and follow him. We need you to do what we cannot do for ourselves. Father, we praise you for the spirit's work of regeneration and the accompanying gift of saving faith to trust in Jesus.

With this gift, help us to exercise it always that it would grow and flourish. Strengthen it that it would stand amidst times of trials in our lives. May it be tested and not found wanting.

Cause it to come forth as gold purified in the fire and by it bring us all the way home to you. Our Father, please hear our prayers tonight as we continue to lift up to you Terry Jackman. In your perfect timing and gentle care, oh God, we ask that you would take her home to yourself.

And as you are the father of mercies and the God of all comfort, please give comfort and peace to Bill and to their children. uphold them by your Holy Spirit and buttress their faith as they entrust Terry to your perfect care. We thank you that Christ is her good shepherd.

Father, we also pray for the volatile situation in Iran. We ask you to hold sway over those who make decisions that the way of peace would move forward. Lord, we pray for your church in Iran, which has experienced substantial growth in recent years.

Please uphold these brethren and make them bold for Christ. May these dark times in Iran help the people of that nation to see the frailty of life that Muhammad cannot save them, only Christ can. And advance your kingdom, we pray, through the preaching and the faithful witness of your church there.

Lastly, Lord, we pray for our president and our leaders in government. Please grant them wisdom and a humble spirit that is born of an awareness of their complete dependence upon you. Open their eyes to see their accountability to you and their need for Christ.

We pray not for the leaders that we deserve, but ask you to give us godly men and women who seek your face always and submit themselves to your perfect will. Our father, these prayers we offer to you through the matchless name of Jesus Christ, your son and our Lord. Amen.

You may remain seated and let's turn in our hymn books to number 650. I will sing of my redeemer verses 1, two, and three. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Glory. Hallelujah.

I invite you to turn in your copies of God's word. Our scripture passage tonight comes to us from the book of Habach chapter 2:es 2-5 which can be found on page 785 in your pew Bibles. Over these past few weeks, we've been walking through the book of Habach.

And if you remember Habach, it is a series of of back and forth between the prophet Habach and the Lord where Habach, he's complaining and God answering. So far, this has happened one time Habach has asked God why he wasn't doing anything about Judah's sin. And God had answered him that he was doing something.

He was raising up the Babylonians to judge Judah that they might turn back to him. And from that some time has passed. Babylon has begun to invade and Habach gives a second complaint.

How can a holy God allow a nation that's more evil than Judah to conquer them? And here in our text this evening, we see how God begins to answer that complaint. And as we have gone through, we've seen first that God is always working.

then that have God uses evil even in his plans. And this evening, we can see how faith plays a part in all of it. Well, let's go before our God in prayer.

Our gracious God, we thank you again for your holy, inherent, infallible word. Lord, we thank you that you have given it to us that we might know you, know who we are, know what you have done for us, and know we how we might respond and live this life. And Lord, we understand that we are sinners and blinded by our sin.

And so, oh God, we pray that your spirit would open our hearts and our minds that we might see your truth for what it is, Lord. That we would cherish it and love it. We would hide it in our hearts.

We would practice it in our lives and we proclaim it forth to all those around us. So, oh God, may you be with us tonight. Be with me in spite of my brokenness.

May your people hear you and be blessed. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.

Again, Habach chapter 2:es 2-5. Hear now God's word. And the Lord answered me, "Write the vision.

Make it plain on tablets so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end.

It will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come.

It will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him.

But the righteous shall live by his faith. Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as sh.

Like death, he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own. All peoples.

The grass withers, the flower, fades. The word of our God endures forever. Amen.

I have never been much of a gambler. Aren't you glad you hear your pastor say that? I say that not simply for the the sinful thoughts of it, but I'm a person that likes to be sure of what is going to happen.

I don't like to put what I have on the line unless I am certain that something will succeed. Maybe you can relate. That's why you never go to a casino where you can bet money and yes, increase your chances of winning, but also potentially lose that money.

or even at a friendly poker game with others. I'm the type that instead of just pitching in $5 potentially earn 25, I kind of want to hold on to my five. And that mentality is another reason why I could have never been a waiter.

Now, for those of you that have worked in food service like that, yes, you have the possibility to make quite a lot in tips. But what happens if that night nobody comes in? What happens if nobody tips?

Well, see, for me, I don't like to take that gamble. I don't like to take that risk. So, I would much rather work at a place where I get a rate that I know I'm going to get this certain number for this number of hours worked and not worried about the amount I will have at the end of the evening.

And again, maybe you can relate. Maybe you have that mentality or maybe like you like to live your life a little more on the edge. But when we consider gambling or the risk of something, sometimes many people would say the Christian life seems like a risk.

And here you are, you are literally giving up everything to follow Jesus, putting your faith in him for your salvation. Is it worth it? Sadly, there are many people that think when they come to faith, everything gets better in their life.

And surely there are things that do get better when it comes to faith, joy in Christ, assurance, peace, and so much more. But that doesn't mean that the life that we live is not going to be free of hardships. Often there are times because of our faith, things get worse.

And many people think, well, I thought my problems were supposed to go away. They're supposed to be solved. And many people when faced with this reality are wondering, well, is following Jesus worth it?

If I have to go through all of this, is becoming a Christian truly worth giving up all the sin and the pleasures of this world? And there are many people in this world that will sadly say no. They would say it's not worth it.

But what we see in our text tonight is we see it is worth it. We see in the book of Habach that our faith in Jesus Christ is not a gamble that we can risk losing everything. Yes, we give up everything, but in Christ we gain something that can never be taken away.

For in this text, we are reminded that we have a God, but when he makes a promise, he brings that promise to pass. And if we have put our faith in him, then we can be sure of our salvation, sure of his promise to us that he will be with us and we can rest in him no matter what might come our way. And our text tonight reminds us of that by first showing us God's fulfillment, then showing us man's folly, and finally showing us the believer's faith.

And so he's began to look at this and maybe you're asking another one's asking, "Well, how how do you know you can trust God? You can be sure of what he says." Well, the first point here tonight with God's fulfillment shows us that we can be assured of all that God has said will come to pass. Look at verses two and three.

And the Lord answered me, "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time.

It hastens to the end. It will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it.

It will surely come. It will not delay. You know, again, this is speaking here.

And he has asked God if he's really going to send these Babylonians to come and to punish Judah. And here is God's response to this. God responds as Habach says he will wait for the answer.

Here's God giving the answer. And he tells Habac to write the vision. Now, the vision comes later on, but we're not going to be talking about it here tonight.

But what he does is he tells Habach to go and to write this vision he is about to receive on tablets. So that when Habach writes down what is going to happen, it is going to be plain for all to see, very clear for everyone around. so that the one who reads the message of it will see just what exactly God has planned.

It's as if Habach is to put up a massive billboard with neon lights about this coming vision so all may see and understand. For this is a vision that will cause people to run. Run in fear of judgment.

For it is a vision that will show God is going to come and judge the Babylonians. As much as they think they are high and mighty, he would judge them. They will not escape.

And yes, although it will seem like for a time to them they're thinking they're winning, to Habach and the people of God, they are facing the persecution for it, they can know that God's promise will come to pass. For the vision awaits his appointed time. It hastens to the end.

It will not lie. It will surely come. It will not delay.

God is telling Habach here. I understand where you're coming from with your question. Yes, the Babylonians are worse than Judah.

And yes, I did still raise them up to go and to punish Judah. But understand that the Babylonians will still face the judgment themselves. they too will be routed and they will be destroyed by the Mes and the Persians as we know from history.

And so what he does to tell Habach, although that is not happening right now, he tells him to wait on it for it hastens to the end. It will not lie. Even if it seems slow, wait for it.

It is going to happen. And it's going to happen at the time God has appointed. You see, when God makes a promise, it will come to pass.

But how often do we want things to happen in our time rather than his? Sometimes when it seems like God is not working, we feel like nothing is coming to fruition that he has promised. And yet remember, God works in his time.

And if he has said it's going to happen, he indeed will fulfill it. Think about a of a birthday present that you get. You know, again, we live in the day and age of Amazon.

So, if your your spouse orders you something on Amazon and they forget to hide it, as you might be looking at the order, you just see, oh, is that for me? Or when maybe you open your wife's Amazon package and see, oh, this is for me. I'm not saying that has or has not happened in my house.

You think, oh, can I have it now? No. It was bought for your birthday.

You don't get it till your birthday. And as my wife will tell you, I'm very bad at waiting. But the reality is the present has been bought.

Yes, you have to wait for it, but you know that it's there. You are guaranteed to receive it. And you think about what God promises.

Even if we might not see it now, we can be sure that what he has promised will happen. For Habach, he can be sure that God is going to come and judge the Babylonians. And for God's promises for us, we can be sure that he will fulfill them as well.

Yes, we might not have to endure the Babylonian army, but you and I, we still live in a fall and sinful world filled with misery, injustice, evil, sin. Often, many times asking, Lord, are you ever going to come back? But text like this reminds us there is a light at the end of the tunnel because God has promised that th those who will put their trust in Jesus Christ will be saved.

He has bought that gift for you and he has bought it not with money on Amazon but by his blood by dying on the cross that if you would come to faith in him you would be sure of your salvation in Jesus. And right now we wait until the final judgment for it to come to fruition completely. We're told just as Habach is told here to wait for it.

Now waiting for something is easy to say, isn't it? But actually waiting for an answer whenever everything is difficult and painful. Well, that's that's hard, isn't it?

Because God says he's going to return and make all things right. It's very difficult when we see the way the world is. As Christians, we see God being dishonored.

We see evil being celebrated. We see Christians being persecuted. We see ourselves facing difficulty and hardship.

So many of these things making us wonder, well, is God really going to come through? Is he really going to turn it off? The truth is, yes, he is.

But he's going to do it in his time. But on the other side of this, we don't want to wait for that, right? We want to figure it out.

And you see there's so many books or things out there. People trying to figure out the day Jesus is going to come back. You I just got back from Appalachia this week and there's a fellow that's involved with that trip.

He has this little manual book thing that he has figured out when Jesus is going to come back. He says, "Well, it might it says we can't know the hour, but it doesn't say we can't know the week or the month." Now, I don't want to know how much time this fellow took pouring into that. He's a good fellow.

Ben Ben can attest to that. But how much time was wasted on that in a time he cannot figure out than simply trusting the Lord. He's going to come in his time and in turn living for Jesus with those moments instead because again scripture says only the father knows.

So you and I if we try to fre figure out when he's going to return we're going to waste our time. And I'm not being pessimistic when I say that. I'm actually being optimistic because the scripture tells us time and time again that Jesus wins.

Period. And if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ, so do you. Yes, you might not know when that time will come when all is made right, but you can know that it will happen.

Why? Because God said it would. And if God has promised it, it will come to pass.

Just like it does here with Babylon. And we see time and time again in scripture when God has promised something, we see it comes to pass. And the same thing is true for his promises to us, his promises of salvation.

So instead of spending our time worrying or trying to figure out when he's going to come back, we can then spend our time growing closer to him, being sure the promises he has made to us. And so that's the first reality that encourages us here. We seeing God's fulfillment.

But then from this we now see man's folly because God has promised not only salvation for his people but he has also promised judgment on his enemies. And what we see here in this text is a reminder to all that would stand against God the promise that he has made to them in their folly. Take a look at verses four and five.

Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him. While the righteous shall live by his faith.

Moreover, wine is a traitor. An arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as shol.

Like death, he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples. Now, as God has promised judgment on Babylon, we know that comes to pass.

But just as God has promised judgment there, the same truth can apply to his judgment upon all at the end in the final judgment. It will come to pass. And what we find here is that there are many that will face this judgment.

Now, the part of verse four talking about the righteous, we'll get to that in a moment. But look at how God refers to the unrighteous here, the foolish one. He says, "Behold, his soul is puffed up.

It is not upright within him." And God is talking about the Babylonians here in this text. If you remember before this back in verse 11, they viewed their own might as their own god. They were arrogant.

They were conceited. They looked and were confident only in their strength and their own abilities, reliant upon themselves, and they couldn't care less about God. And verse five builds upon this.

Again, it says, "Moreover, wine is a traitor." Now, your translation may say wine, it might say wealth, but the idea here is that both of those are considered to be things of abundance in earthly means. And for those that look to wine or wealth, eventually those things will let you down. Again, this is talking about the person that foolishly puts their trust in earthly things, whether it be power, might, wealth, stuff.

It will fail you. That's why God calls these things a traitor. It will stab you in the back thinking you have it all only to realize that you have nothing.

And the reason for this that it's a traitor is first that the things of this world will never satisfy you. If you think about death for a second, he says that his greed is as wide as shol. Like death, he has never enough.

Shol always has more room. The realm of the dead. That's the idea here.

There's not a point whenever it doesn't, oh, we're full. No, death always takes more. And the unrighteous person who relies on anything other than God will never be satisfied.

Think about your bank account for a moment. Is it the highest amount that it can go? No.

Can always be a penny more. Or or think about the vehicle that you have. You may go out right now to the dealership and buy the latest model vehicle, whatever car, whatever make, model, but next year there's going to be a newer one.

Look at your own abilities. There's always something to improve, no matter how good you think you are. If you think about the things of this world, the Lord is saying they will let you down.

You will never be satisfied. There's always more to be had if you are putting your faith in them. But that is only one way that you and I can be betrayed into thinking the world will satisfy us.

The other is an even greater betrayal. For if we are putting our faith in ourselves or the things of this world, when the time of judgment comes, when we meet the Lord face to face, whether it is whenever we die or whenever he returns, we will find that all that will fail us ultimately. For the Babylonians, they failed.

Again, they were a wicked people. They were worse than Judah. They would be judged in this world by the falling to the messes of the Persians.

But also when they faced almighty God face to face, they too would be judged because of their sin, because of their unrighteousness. They would be punished for all eternity. But there's a way of thinking that, well, I'm better than a Babylonian, right?

We have this this idea in the world we live in that she had to be a good person to get to heaven. You know, I I've done a lot of good in this life. I've donated to charity.

I've helped out here. I've done this. I've done that.

But you can be the greatest philanthropist in this world, but you are still a sinner. And your sin still leaves you unrighteous before a perfect and holy God. And because of that, you will receive the same eternal punishment as Babylonians do.

your ability to do good things in this world or your ability to get away with your sin now. It is the ultimate deception, the ultimate folly because just like God has promised the Babylonians will be overthrown and they were, he promises that the unrighteous will be judged and they will. We can be assured that that judgment will happen.

And that is why you and I cannot put our faith in ourselves. We cannot put our faith in our abilities or the things of this world because the they will always fail us. They will always fall short.

The only way you and I can stand in the judgment to be considered as righteous before the Lord is through fully relying on Christ in faith. Again, that is why in verse four, we go back to it. Says, "But the righteous shall live by his faith." You notice the contrast.

First, the unrighteous, his soul is puffed up, is not upright within him. But the righteous shall live by his faith. Again, we can be comforted here because we have a promise of God that the righteous shall live by his faith.

Those who put their faith in the Lord, they will be saved. And this is no thing of ourselves. We read in our catechism question earlier, it is a saving grace.

Even the faith that we have, it is a grace of God. So that the righteous shall live by his faith. There's no thing that we do ourselves.

Is the Lord that works that faith in us. The way of escape, the way of deliverance is through faith. And we see God indeed will deliver his people even in the face of Babylon.

Now it will be take 70 years in captivity. But as you look at history, God does deliver them. He does bring them back to their homeland.

But again in a grander picture of this is true for us and all believers past, present, future. That's why in Romans 1:17, Paul quotes this verse that the righteous shall live by faith. that the righteousness of God, the perfect holy creator, the standard you and I can never meet on our own, is freely given to us by putting our trust in Jesus Christ.

The whole point of scripture is not do better. The whole point of scripture is to point us to Jesus who can do what we can't. that we would stop trusting in ourselves and put our trust in him by faith.

We cannot earn our righteousness. We are sinners only by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as the only one who can save us. That is the only way to be righteous before God.

Again, not because you and I earn it, but because Christ has graciously given it, but not without a cost. He did so by sacrificing himself. That by coming into this world being our perfect representative, he living this life perfectly where you and I fail each and every day multiple times.

So that by coming to faith in Jesus, clinging to him, he would give us his righteousness and he would take our sin upon himself and our penalty at the cross. So we would find forgiveness and be seen as righteous in God's sight. If you think about righteousness, there are many people in this world who say are righteous for the things that they do.

But truly what makes one righteous is by his faith as Habach shows us by faith in Jesus. That is why faith in Jesus is so crucial. That's why I have to ask all of you here tonight, have you put your faith in Christ?

Do you see the sin in your life and see your need of him? We are to be those that live by faith because it is only through Christ that we can be saved. no longer putting our faith in ourselves and our good abilities, this that things of this world, but instead putting our faith in Jesus.

And if you haven't done that, I urge you to do so now before it is too late. Because no matter how much good you and I have done, we do not want to be standing before God relying on ourselves because without Christ, we will still be unrighteous in his sight. Only Christ can save.

And just as the promise of judgment will come to pass for the unrighteous, we can be sure that if we do put our trust in Jesus, that God's promise that those who put their faith in Christ will come to pass as well. So may you put your faith in him as your only hope. What's encouraging in this as well is that when we come to faith in Jesus, it doesn't stop there.

Yes, at that moment if you come to true saving faith, you are saved. But faith plays a part in our lives each and every day. For we are to be those that continue to live by faith each and every day until Jesus returns.

You see, putting your trust in Jesus isn't just putting your trust in him for salvation. It's putting your faith in him to care for you, to be with you, to uphold you each and every day. Having faith that he is with you when the times get hard.

That he will provide for you when the finances are low. Having faith when we or our loved ones are ill. Having faith that he is able to deliver us from our sin.

And still having faith even if he does not answer these prayers the way we wish. Even if the finances don't get better, we still have faith. Even if the healing doesn't come, we still have faith.

Even if we still struggle with our sin, we still have faith. Why? Because we have a savior who has delivered us.

A God who has promised salvation to all who believe. And a promise we can know, no matter what might come, that it will come to pass. You see, this is a faith that upholds us during the most difficult times.

Think about Habac. He and the nation of Judah. Well, they they had a rough time ahead, but they are reminded by the Lord that they can still have faith in him throughout this entire process, knowing Babylon will one day fall and God would remain faithful to his people.

And for you and for me, as we put our faith in Jesus in our daily lives, it helps us to be confident in him even when it seems like the world is crumbling around us. In the book of Hebrews also quotes verse four. And in verse 39, we are told that we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve our souls.

Just as a quick aside, if you think about the book of Hebrews, the whole theme of Hebrews is to show Jews that were contemplating going back to Judaism because that was an official religion. They wouldn't get persecuted. It's written to show them that don't do that because Jesus is better.

He is worth it. And today, the same is true. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, even in the face of thinking this world looks a lot better than the Christian walk, we are reminded just how much we need Jesus.

Because how often have we been in moments where we have been relying on ourselves and our strength dried up? We faltered. We fallen flat on our face.

We can't do it. But if we put our trust in Christ instead, well, he gives us the strength and assurance that he will sustain us. Not that he will give us everything we want, but that he will hold us fast, getting us through whatever we might be facing, whether it is if we overcome it or if we through it meet him face to face.

And so we can trust in him for our salvation and in every part of our life. And if you look at your life for a moment, does your life reflect this kind of faith or does it waver when things go wrong? If you are putting your faith in Jesus Christ, remember you can be assured of his promises to you.

Yes, life is not going to be perfect. Again, following Jesus means denying everything to follow him. It is bearing our cross.

We are going to face hardship and difficulty and pains and problems in this life. And yet that's where faith comes into play because even in the face of all these things, no matter what tomorrow might hold, we can be assured of what our God has promised us. By faith, we hold fast to him, trusting him more and more that he might strengthen us whatever we might be going through.

Because it is faith in Christ that saves us and it is faith in Christ that keeps us going. Again, not by our merit, by the one who works faith in us. We feed those that live by faith.

And that's why as we close here tonight, I'm reminded of my favorite verse, Hebrews 11 verse one. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And that verse has always been important to me because there have been many times in my life I did not know what the next day would hold.

You could probably attest to some things like that in your life. Not knowing what's going to happen next, feeling like you're at the bottom of the barrel. The things continue to come at you time and time again and you don't seem to catch a break.

It's so easy to give into doubt and despair. And yet the wonderful thing about faith is although we might not know how long our struggles and our difficulties will last, by faith we know they will not last forever because we are convinced of our salvation by faith knowing that that indeed will it will come to pass. We can be assured of God's promises even if we don't see it right here and now in front of our face.

The Lord tells Habach that what he promised will come to pass and that he should wait for it by faith and what he has promised to us in Christ. He too will bring to pass and we too need to wait for it by faith. That's going to be difficult because life's hard.

We live in a sinful world. We face so many difficulties and tragedies and often there might be times in your life where you might question if we should continue going forward, if we should continue in the faith. And sadly, so many people have when they hit the wall they give up on the Lord.

But that's the thing about faith is it endures in the face of all things. And the reason is because our faith is not in oursel. Our faith is in the Lord in Jesus Christ and his promise to us that by what he has done for us if we have come to him in faith we will be saved.

And nothing can take that away. No matter what happens in this world, if you have put your faith in Jesus, you can be sure of the outcome. You can be sure of the salvation.

You can be sure that you have been made righteous. And then in the end, you indeed will live with God because he has worked faith in you. Often many people would look at Christians wonder if it was worth everything.

As I mentioned as we began asking the question, is the Christian life worth the risk? As we see in this text, yes, it is. Because we might face struggles now, but we can be sure if we have cast our lot with the Lord, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, that no matter what tomorrow might hold, we can be sure that in the end we will be with our savior because he has made a promise to us and his promises never fail.

And so we who've been made righteous go and live by faith. May that be true of all of us here tonight. Let's pray.

Oh gracious and all powerful and mighty God, we look to you here this evening and we are reminded of your sovereign plan over all things and how you have called all things in your word out and we can know that indeed they will come to pass as you have said it. And Lord, what an encouragement that is for us. For if we have called upon the name of Jesus Christ, we indeed have been saved.

And we one day, no matter what we might go through between now and then, will experience the full salvation when Christ comes to consummate the kingdom. But oh God, may we be those that live as people of faith today and in every day to come. It's so easy to falter and to doubt because of all the problems and difficulties in this life.

And yet, Lord, may we hold fast to you. For Lord, you are our anchor in the storm. You are our solid rock that we can stand upon that will never falter, that will never fail, one that we can hold fast to in our faith and know that even if this life is taken from us, in the end we shall live with you forever.

May we stop putting our faith in the things of this life and all these other foolish idols, but instead may we cling to you, to you alone. And may we find in you a hope that can ever be taken away. And may we all have a faith that does not waver because we have a God whose promises never waver.

Oh God, as you be with us now as we leave this evening, encourage us, equip us by faith to live for you more and more. Pray in Jesus name. But we stand together.

Our final hymn tonight is number 618. His eye is on the sparrow. speech.

Speech. Speech. Hallelujah.

We are for And thank you for being with us in worship this evening. And as you leave here, be reminded that you have a God who is with you and a faith that you can be sure of all his promises to you now and forever more. >> Okay.

All right. Let's have a quick prayer and then we'll have a benediction. Father God, we know that you are wise and everything works out according to your plan.

Oh God, we know that uh death comes sometimes expectedly, sometimes suddenly. And Lord, we pray that you would be with the the family of Lindsey Graham, Lord, in this difficult time. Lord, may you hold them fast.

May you give them the peace that surpasses all understanding. And even through this, Lord, may you be glorified. May souls come to know Jesus Christ and know the hope that comes in you even in the face of death.

So God be with his family. May he be with us as we now leave with your great blessing and your benediction. May the grace of Lord Jesus Christ, love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forever more.

Amen. And amen. Hallelujah.