Living A Right Side Up Life, In An Upside Down World

You don't have to. I don't want you to. Amen.

Jesus loves you, died for you. It's just a matter

of repenting. Repent. That doesn't mean you're

sorry you got caught and cry a little bit. I've

seen that for many years. But repent means to

turn and walk away from. Not do it anymore. Amen?

And we're the hardest of creation to convince

that we need God. A whale will swallow a man,

spit him out wherever God tells him. A donkey

will open his mouth and speak whenever God tells

him and says what God tells him to say. You know?

But you and I, us, people, those that he created

and made in his own image, we are the hard -headedest.

most stubborn, self -indulged of all of his creation.

We actually think that we can do this without

him. If that's you today, stop trying. You're

just messing things up. You're just making a

mess out of it. Stop. Turn your heart toward

Jesus. Surrender your life and your will and

let him Take control of your life. You live in

accordance to his word. And my, my, my, my. Well,

does that make things easier? Not necessarily.

It just means he's with you during the hard times.

Right? If you have your Bibles, that little free

sermonette, that ain't even got nothing to do

with your offering today. But what I'm about

to give you is what you pay for. I'm feeling

pretty good this morning. Let's look at Isaiah

Isaiah 37 · chapter mention

chapter 37. Isaiah 37. You may want to put a

finger later on in Psalm 30. We may take a stop

in Psalm 30. But thank you for being in the house

of the Lord today. Amen. Thank you for worshiping

the Lord from your hearts, lifting up your voices.

Putting your hands together and just worshiping

him. Those of you that worshiped in your giving,

thank you so much. Any and everything that gets

done, gets done because of you and your faithfulness.

Amen. So thank you so much for that. A lot to

be praying about today. A lot of people still

sick. It's been a bad year for this pollen. We

haven't had the rain that we normally get to

kind of get everything out of the air. When you

can drive down the road and see yellow clouds.

When the dust, the wind blows and it's just pollen.

And for the people that suffer from that, it's

a real affliction. Amen. And so we need to pray

to the Lord. Because it turns into other things.

It starts out one thing and it ends up totally

blown out of proportion. So let's remember that.

Remember Sister Liz Burgess. She used to attend

here. Her daughter passed away this morning.

And so Sister Lynn Brown takes for prayer and

pray for Sister Lynn. She has COVID and dealing

with that. So a lot of going on. And how many

of you got a need? Real quick, just slip it up.

We're going to pray over this and we can pray

for that as well. And then we're going to have

time for prayer in a little bit. Amen. Isaiah

37. Let's begin at about verse 14. Isaiah 37,

14. And Hezekiah received the letter from the

hand of the messengers, and he read it. And Hezekiah

went up unto the house of the Lord, and he spread

it before the Lord. Hezekiah prayed unto the

Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel,

thou dwellest between the cherubims. Thou art

the God, even thou alone. Of all the kingdoms

of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open thine

eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words

of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the

living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria

have laid waste all the nations and their countries,

and have cast their gods into the fire, for they

were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood

and stone. Therefore, they have destroyed them.

Now, therefore, O Lord our God, save us from

his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth

may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.

I want to preach to you this morning on a simple

thought. Living a right side up life in an upside

down world. Living right side up in an upside

down world. Amen. Doesn't it happen sometimes?

Doesn't it just feel like life's just discombobulated

and just all out of sorts? But there's a way

that we can live through all of that. Amen. And

let's just pray one for another. Remember all

these needs and hands that were lifted all across

the house. And let's ask God to do great and

mighty things. Father, we love you today. Thank

you so, so much, Lord. for your kindness toward

us and your grace upon us. Lord, we thank you

for your word. And from this word today, Lord,

we're going to see how that we can continue living

when this world in which we're living in is upside

down, inside out. I ask, O God, that you just

continue to move upon the hearts and lives of

your people. Lord, touch me today. Help me to

preach what's edifying to the people and pleasing

to you. Lord, that we leave here differently

than we came in, but with hope and, Lord, with

courage and with strength that we all receive

from your word. So help me today, Lord, to relay

your heart to your people. Be quick to praise

you for it all. In Christ's lovely name, and

the church said, amen and amen. You can be seated.

Living right side up in an upside down world.

I guess the question could be posed and probably

has to be, what do you do when trouble comes?

It's not if, but it's when, right? Surprised?

Don't be. Don't be surprised. Trouble's headed

your way. It's going to happen. Amen? And I know

we get confused. We think, well, trouble's supposed

to go away when we become a Christian. No. Faith

gets built in troubles and trials. Our confidence

in God is built. You know, we think just because

we give our heart to the Lord, everything goes

away. No, no, no, no. You become a target then.

You become a target. Well, what target? The devil's

out to kill, steal, and destroy everything you

got now. Same thing as before, but he's intensified.

He was your friend before. He was the one escorting

you down that sinful path. trying to get your

flesh to be appeased. But now when you receive

the Lord, you repent and you turn and you're

walking toward the Lord and away from all that

he has and all he's trying to do for and against

your life, then he sets out to kill you because

he knows that he's not going to be in hell alone.

You've just left him standing in the road. Amen?

And so the devil's out to kill you. That's why

things may seem as though... that they get more

difficult after you accept the Lord. Because

when you receive the Lord, grace is going to

come. And grace is going to strengthen you day

by day. And you have to have faith in God. As

the fact is, trouble does come, and it comes

on all people, just like rain. It rains on the

just, and it gets on the unjust. And at one point,

everybody gets a little wet. Amen? This is not

those 30 % shower days. You know, we'll look

at that forecast. It's 30 % chance of rain today.

Well, there's 70 % chance you're not going to

get any. And the only time that matters is when

your garden really needs it. You're not really

concerned unless you really need to be in that

30 % range, right? Job put it this way. Man is

born of woman is a few days and a full of trouble.

And when we begin to think about it, trouble

comes in many different forms. In fact, it can

come from a single catastrophe. It may come in

multiplied facets of ways. It could come like

a plague of grasshoppers. It could be, what do

they say, what's the old saying, death by a thousand

cuts. None fatal enough, but altogether just

drains you dry. And it may even be very surprising

that it may come from a source of an ongoing

problem. Something that just every day just seems

to nag. Sometimes it comes from our own mistakes,

our own actions, and our own sin. Trouble comes.

Right? You know, beware the person that points

to everybody else, but there's only one common

denominator in every problem of their life. Them.

Hello? Be cautious of somebody that's just standing

there, their life's falling apart, but it's everybody

else's fault but theirs. If that's you today,

hey, look in a mirror. You heard about the old

fellow that passed the devil sitting on the side

of the road on a stump crying. He said, well,

what are you crying about? He said, well, people

blame me for everything. Could be from our own

making, but more often it's not directly. It's

not directly traceable to us, but sometimes the

enemy wants you to believe it's all you. Sometimes

it is, sometimes it isn't. I'm saying that trouble

comes from many different ways. And yes, we do

sometimes cause our own trouble. Trouble can

announce itself with a text, with a phone call,

with a voicemail. There's just so many different

avenues that trouble can be introduced into our

life. Trouble can come and... form a very serious

and life -threatening diagnosis or even worse,

prognosis from whatever you may have heard. It

can come just as simply as pulling out in the

highway and someone not watching where they're

going and boom, trouble hits and trouble finds

you. You can open up your paycheck and there's

a pink stub in it. You've been laid off. You've

been let go. In our day and time, trouble can

show up on TikTok. Somebody puts something out

about you. Somebody can say something mean concerning

you on a Facebook post or one of these other

things, and we get all bent out of shape because

you can't believe all that, but if you don't

have it, you don't have to worry about it. One

thing is for sure, we cannot control all of the

trouble that may come our way. But the one thing

that we can control is the reaction that we have

in response to trouble. You can control how you

react and respond to the trouble that enters

into your life. You and I alone have the ability

to determine if the trouble that's coming against

us is going to make us better or bitter. One

or the other, we have to make that decision on

our own. And the text that we've read today in

our hearing from Isaiah gives us a good illustration

of how you can make it through trouble, how you

can go through this world that's upside down

but yet still live right and be right in the

midst of a world that is inside out and upside

down. I don't know if you've noticed, but common

sense has gone with the wind. It's not out there.

So trouble is facing us on every side, but there

is a way that you can live when trouble comes

your way. When the inconvenience is, some things

are just inconvenient, right? Not necessarily

trouble, not necessarily a great problem or dilemma,

but it's inconvenient. But if we're not careful,

we can allow inconveniences to irritate us to

a point of aggravation, and, man, my life gets

turned upside down sometimes simply by inconvenience.

It's not trouble. It's not a big thing. But it's

the mountain and molehill effect, you know. If

I would see it for the molehill and just mash

it and go on, but no, no, I've got to cause this

thing to grow. I make these situations. Situations

grow in my life. I think we just need something

to get mad about. To justify the way we want

to feel sometimes. I don't know how it works,

but I do know this. There is a way that I can

get around it. There is a way that you and I

can get beyond it. There's a way that we can

move past it. And the first thing we can do is

what Hezekiah did. Here we see the king of Judah.

He gets this threatening letter from the king

of the Assyrians. And look, let's go back a little

bit. In chapter 36, verse 4, the king of Assyria,

he says this. confidence is this wherein you

trust? He's telling them, where do you have such

confidence that you can resist us? Who are you

trusting and what are you trusting in? And then

he goes through to rehearse. We've already taken

every nation around you. We've even taken some

of your own fortified cities and we're in control

of them. So what makes you think that you're

going to escape our hand? And then we see Hezekiah

in 37 early in verse 3 says, this day is a day

of trouble and of rebuke. He's saying here we

are now captured. We're finally getting our feet

on the ground. And now all of a sudden we've

got this. But today is a day of trouble. It is

a great problem. But understand this. The Lord

is on your side. Amen. The Lord is with you.

He's not forsaken you. You are his people. But

yet trouble does come. Yes, the enemy is outside

the gate. Yes, he's huffing. Yes, he's puffing.

Yes, he's trying to blow. Blow your little house

down. But stand firm and stand strong because

the house on which you are living and the place

on which you stand will not be removed. It cannot

be destroyed. How do you know that? Because the

Bible declares that the gates of hell shall not

stand against the church. It cannot withstand.

And if you are part of the ecclesia, the called

out, if you're part of the redeemed, yes, trouble

will come. And trouble will stand outside your

door and huff and puff. But it's not going to

blow the... walls of the kingdom of God down

because it is not powerful enough that means

you're strong enough and you've got to encourage

yourself in the Lord and knowing that God is

on your side when trouble comes your way. Sennacherib,

the king of Assyria, sent in these threatened

letters by his messenger, and here he comes.

He's pouring them out. We make our way through.

All of a sudden, they call for the prophet. Here

comes in Isaiah. Isaiah gives them a word from

the Lord. He said, look, what God's going to

do, he's going to confuse his mind. He's going

to cause him to hear, and he's going to have

to run back because he's going to hear that they're

fighting on their home front. So they're going

to leave, and you're going to have a little bit

of reprieve. Well, they get a little reprieve,

and sure enough, God does exactly what he said

he's going to do. But yet, in his leaving, he

sends another threat. I'm coming back. Yada,

yada, yada. We're going to do this and we're

going to do that. And when Hezekiah, the king

of Judah, he gets the report and he begins to

read the letter, his heart is shaken. But know

this right now. He has a response to the trouble

that comes his way. And if you and I can respond

in like manner, we're going to live upright in

an upside -down world when trouble comes. The

first thing he did is he went to the house of

the Lord. Now, I know, I know, I know right now

that is not what you and I do. The first thing

that we respond to is we fall to pieces. We just

blow up. We don't know what to do. And so what

we do is puff up and stay at the house on the

first opportunity of Sunday. We got trouble reported

on Thursday, and we're so devastated by the report

that we don't even show up on Sunday. But not

Hezekiah. The first thing he did is he went to

the house of the Lord. God, when are we going

to realize that this is just not metal and sheetrock,

but this is the place where the glory of God

is housed and where we enter in and meet the

Holy Spirit. Don't just pile up, puff up, and

stay at the house. Get yourself to the house

of the Lord. Now, I'm about to preach to all

those that are not here today, and you can tell

them. Unless they're sick. Tell Ron he gets a

pass. Brother Dwayne, I'm not talking about them.

They're sick. Now, if they're just sorry and

lazy, light them up. I'm telling you. Oh, Lord.

I don't know if it's preaching what I'm about

to do. Oh, Lord, I've been telling myself, don't

do that. I tell Brian, I try to tell myself,

don't go down those trails. It's dangerous. But

my Lord, it seems like that's only the part that

people get and understand. He went to the house

of the Lord. So many in our culture do exactly

the opposite. The last place we want to be on

Sunday is church. Why? Because the wheels just

fell off the wagon. Well, you need the ultimate

mechanic to put your life back together. And

honey, it ain't you. How many of y 'all know

what a saw log is? I feel one coming right up

from the lower belt. It's stiffening my spine.

You better be thankful God is more consistent

in his faithfulness to you than we are in our

faithfulness to him. A little hit and miss, don't

get it done. And a hit and miss here, a Sunday

or two there. You've got to get consistent in

your faith. It's like we said the other Sunday,

the Sunday after when I preached that burning

heart. If your heart doesn't burn to be in the

house and the presence of the Lord, check your

heart. Hezekiah had the worst news. They're coming

back. And he's coming back even with a larger

army the next time. You cannot withstand the

force that is coming your way. So when he reads

it, yes, his heart sinks, but he doesn't panic.

He picks up the letter, and he takes it, and

he goes to the house of the Lord. No better place.

And going and taking your burden to the Lord.

I was singing that earlier this week. Take your

burden to the Lord and leave it there. Right?

Oh, leave it there, leave it there. Take your

burden to the Lord and leave it there. You got

to trust Him and obey, right? Take your burden

to the Lord and leave it there. Don't sit at

the house and wallow over it like a dog on a

stew bone. But it seems like we get some type

of self -gratification from wallowing in our

misery. And we stay at the house and do it. Get

yourself up and get to the house of the Lord.

You say, well, I don't know if I'm coming back

here or not. Well, find you one that's a little

softer. But get to one. The landscape is dotted

with them. He went to the house of the Lord.

No better place, not a bar room, not a bottle,

not a pill, not the psychiatrist's couch, even

though you may need that later. You look around,

he had plenty of reason to be in fear. He's part

of his country already. Cities under his care

were already under captivity. And now the enemy's

outside his gate, threatening to come in and

take over his city. He went to the house of the

Lord. David said in Psalm 73 and 2, but as for

me, my feet had almost slipped. It almost went

down. Why? Because he began to look on the things

and the evil that was around him. Psalm 73 is

a great read. You need to write this down and

go home and read it. Read Psalm 73. He talks

about as he begins to look at the evil people

that are around him and how he got his mind off

the Lord because he looked at how blessed the

evil were. Gold chain. Some of them, some fatty

eyes he bugged out. Blessed. And he said, I almost

tripped up. I almost messed up. But he didn't

stop there. Verse 16 and 17 reads like this.

He found his answer. When I thought how to understand,

it was too painful for me. Until I went into

the sanctuary of God, then understood I their

end. I've told you multiple times, and I'm going

to remind you one more time. This life is as

bad as it gets. Are you hearing me? This life

is as bad as it gets. But after this life, it

gets much, much, much worse. And what David is

saying, I look around me and I don't understand

why I've got trouble. The psalmist, why I've

got problem. Why everything seems to be going

wrong for me. I'm despaired, angry on me. If

it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck

at all. My God, when you begin to look at those

who are around you that you think are so blessed,

and when you come into the sanctuary of the Lord,

when you make yourself come in, and the peace

that passes all understanding wails over your

troubled, ridden soul, and you get encouraged

in hope and faith, then you say, now I understand.

Now I get it. It may look as though, look. Sin

has a pretty appeal to it for a little, little

while. Right? Oh, it looks good. It appeases

the eye. But they never show you a few years

down the road from all those sin -laden commercials.

They'll show you those people after sin's had

an effect on them. They don't show you coughing

up their lungs from cancer. They don't show you

on IVs from cirrhosis of the liver. They don't

show you wiping the drool because they fried

their brain. Huh? They don't show you how your

body's riddled with disease because of infidelity.

Fornication and adultery. They don't show you

that end effect of families destroyed and lives

decimated. See, the devil, he don't want you

to see that. He just wants you to see you living

it up. About to turn 60 years old, and to this

day, not one drop of alcohol has ever crossed

these lips. Not one. Not one. Doesn't mean I

wasn't going to hell. It just means I didn't

do that. And the moment that it came the closest

for me giving in to the peer pressure and everything

going on. We sat in downtown Dunlap, Tennessee

on the side of the road. We sat down there all

Friday night, Saturday night. Played bluegrass

music on tailgate. Ride hot rods up downtown,

drag race out of town, all that stuff. And my

buddies would drink. So about the time I was

probably about to give in, it would have been

bad because what they were handing me was a bottle

of hot Jim Beam. It would have been ugly. And

about the time I was just about to say okay,

we had an old boy named Tudor sitting over there

on the tailgate of the truck. And all of a sudden

I heard, ka -thump. And I turned around to look,

and he'd passed smooth out and hit his head on

the wheel tub in the back of the truck. I thought,

you idiot. About five minutes later, here he

come rolling out. on his hands and knees in the

parking lot downtown, heaving his guts out. And

right there, when I saw that, I decided right

there, that ain't for me because there's nothing

hurts this old boy more than to have to throw

up. And that done it. It wasn't the alcohol,

but me seeing him, I thought, if it makes me

do that, I'm out. And so when my friend came

back up with it, he's a lot bigger than me. He

shoved that at me. I said, if you don't get that

out of me, I'm about to slap the living taste

out of your mouth right here. And they knew that

that would happen. They left me alone. No one

from the rest of that time ever offered me anything

else to drink. See, the devil don't show you

all that stuff. But somehow, even in my rebellion,

God still got through to my hard head. Trouble

makes its way. Don't make trouble for yourself.

Understand the end. David's attitude toward God's

house, Psalm 122 and 1. I was glad when they

said to me, let's go in the house of the Lord.

Are you glad? Now, I know I'm preaching to the

choir here today because you're here. Aren't

you glad it was Sunday morning? I'm glad it's

Sunday morning. I'm glad when it's time to come

to the house of the Lord. I come down here even

when it's not time. I like to walk in here when

no one else is here. If you'd like to know the

peace of God, the house of God sometime, just

let me or Pastor Brian know. We'll get you in

here and just come and sit in the dark on one

of these rows. There is such a sweet, sweet presence

of the Lord. It's different than we're all in

here together. When he's just here and you come

in to his presence. Now you know why I'm so protective

over the sanctuary, right? Why I don't want you

drinking coffee. Why I don't want you bringing

your Coke in here. That's the reason I leave

my coffee out front when no one else is here.

You've got to understand, I don't just do that

when you're here and are watching. When we are

here, I come and if we come through those doors,

my coffee goes on that little table, my hat goes

out there. No matter what my hair looks like,

the hat comes off my head in the sanctuary of

the Lord. Why? Because he stays here. His presence

is in this house. I got to hurry. Psalm 92, 13.

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord

shall flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm

84 and 10 says, For a day in thy courts is better

than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper

in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents

of wickedness. Psalm 69 and 9, Because zeal for

your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches

of those who reproach you have fallen to me.

I get offended because they offend you. Psalm

26 and 8, Lord, I have loved the habitation of

your house and the place where your glory dwells.

Hebrews 10, 25 is a warning for you and I today.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together

as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another.

And so much the more as you see the day approaching.

What day is in reference? The day of the coming

of the Lord. The closer we get to that, that

means there should be a zeal that just really

consumes us to be with God's people and to come

and be in God's presence. To be there. Now, don't

get me wrong. There are Sundays that you're going

to miss. I get that. It's them other ones that

I don't get. I get it when we're sick. You know

I preach when I'm sick right here. Oh, you may

not know that. Yeah. There's many Sundays that

I stand right here where most of y 'all would

be at the house feeling like the way I felt.

I mean, is that fair, preachers? I have literally

held on to the podium because I was so dizzy

that I couldn't hardly stand up and proclaim

the Word of God. If you can just preach long

enough until your help shows up, you can make

it for the next 30 to 40, but get a grip when

it starts winding down because you're about to

go down. Zeal. The Lord is coming. Don't let

this world, don't let these false gospels that

is being talked about out there. Watch what you

read on that goofy Facebook stuff, would you

please? Just because it has a religious connotation

doesn't mean it's truth. Man, there's this. That's

a sermon for another day. He sought the Lord

immediately. Went to the house of the Lord immediately.

He didn't talk to his military advisors. He didn't

get the cabinet in. He went to speak to the Lord.

He was a man on a mission, much like Jairus in

Luke 8, much like the father with the son that

the evil spirit would take on in Mark 2 or Mark

9. He went straight into the house of the Lord.

He didn't consult anyone else. All other resources

are secondary. He moved towards solving his problem

by seeking God's help. Can I tell you, when trouble

comes your way, when catastrophe strikes, would

you start with the Lord? Seek the Lord. He sought

the Lord immediately. You will never... I love

this. You will never delay victory by stopping

and first asking God for help. You'll never delay

your victory. Your victory is coming from him

anyway. Right? Matthew 6, 33. Seek ye first the

kingdom of God. You know that one. His righteousness

and all these things shall be added unto you.

Hebrews 13, 6, so that we may boldly say, the

Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can

man do to me? But Jesus would say, rather you

should fear the one who can destroy both the

body and the soul. Right? There's something.

I've got to move on. When you bring your burdens

to the Lord, he sought the Lord. He laid the

whole problem out. He just went in there and

just laid it all out. Here's the letter, Lord.

Knowing good and well that the Lord knew what

was in the letter. Right? But there's something

about casting our cares on the Lord. Well, if

he's all -knowing, then he knows my problem.

Yes, he does. But sometimes I think he really

wants to know if you know. Yeah, he's got it.

But he wants to hear from you and I that we understand

that the only help and hope we got is him. That's

faith. That's trust. That's the reason he invites

us boldly to come into the throne of grace in

the time of trouble, that we might find the help

that we need appropriately at the moment. The

Lord is good, so you cast your care on the Lord.

1 Peter 5 and 7, he cares for you, right? Psalm

55, 22, cast thy burden upon the Lord and he

shall sustain thee. If every human source or

resource of help has failed, if you've tried

everything out there to do away with your problem,

your trouble, and you still got it, don't let

the Lord be the last resort. Start with him and

you can skip all that other stuff, right? Psalm

81 and 6 is sort of a different verse. It says,

and I removed his shoulder from the burden. I

removed his shoulder from the burden. When you

think about it, that sounds a little odd, doesn't

it? It's like, well, Lord, why didn't you just

take the burden off his shoulder? Well, sometimes

the burden remains behind, but the Lord gets

you and I out from under it. Huh? Doesn't matter

to me how he does it. Get me out from under it

or get it off of me. The load gets light either

way. But the thing about it is, is God is in

control and God is in charge and he's the one

who can help us. So you lay it all out. You lay

your problem before the Lord. You got to be willing

not only to seek the Lord's counsel, but you

also got to be willing to accept the Lord's answer.

Now this is where... We get in a rub sometimes

because the Lord wants you to do what's right,

and that ain't necessarily what you maybe want

to do. We have to be willing to accept. You know,

God is just as faithful when he says no as he

is when he says yes. How many of you, just by

a small poll real quick, you prayed for something,

asked God for it, and he gave you exactly what

you asked for, and about a week later you're

wishing you hadn't prayed for that? Well, keep

on. You will. It'll happen. You think, man, Lord,

next time I ask for something you know I don't

need, just say no. Just tell me no. Stand with

me. I'm going to quit. He laid it all out before

the Lord. We cast our burden. Take it to the

Lord in prayer. Lay it all out. God's big enough

to handle every... situation that can come into

our life we have the invitation Jesus said come

unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden

I'll give you rest take my yoke upon you and

learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart

and you shall find rest unto your souls for my

yoke is easy and my burden is light The Lord

is able to either remove the burden or to remove

you out from under it. The psalmist said in 77

and 2, in the day of my trouble, I sought the

Lord. Are you seeking the Lord? 46 verses 1 and

2 of the book of Psalms says, God is our refuge

and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, will not we fear? 32 and 7 says, thou

shalt preserve me from trouble. 27, 5, in the

time of trouble, he shall hide me. 37, 39, he

is their strength in the time of trouble. 54

and 7, for he hath delivered me out of all trouble.

You search through the word of God. The scriptures

deal with all manner and every matter of trouble

of mankind. Give us the assurance that he's going

to save us out of them. Psalm 34 and 6 says,

this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and

saved him out of all his trouble. He went to

the house of the Lord. He laid it all out, and

he prayed. Hezekiah prayed. He didn't just spread

the letter and the thread out. He prayed. You

know, there's a scripture that says you have

not because you ask not. And it goes a little

further and it says, and at times you ask amiss.

What's that mean? We pray our prayer outside

the will and the parameter of God's will. That's

when you miss. When you pray and it's not God's

will, you're not getting that. But just because

trouble comes doesn't mean God's not going to

help you. I'm going to read Psalm 30 and I'm

going to close. It's believed to be the psalm

at the dedication of David's palace. I will extol

thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up and

hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord,

my God, I cried unto thee and thou hast healed

me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from

the grave and thou hast kept me alive. That I

should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the

Lord, O ye saints of his. And give thanks at

the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger

endureth but a moment. In his favor is life.

Weeping may endure for a night. But joy cometh

in the morning. He said, in my prosperity, I

said, when everything was going real good, I

shall never be moved. Isn't that the way we are?

As long as we're on top of the mountain, Lord,

hallelujah, I shall not be moved. Lord, by thy

favor, thou hast made my mountain to stand strong.

Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

I cried to thee, O Lord, and unto the Lord I

made supplication. What profit is there in my

blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust

praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Hear,

O Lord, and have mercy upon me. Lord, be thou

my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning

into dancing. Thou hast put off my sackcloth

and girded me with gladness. To the end that

my glory may sing praise to thee. And not be

silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks

unto thee forever. Psalm was talking about some

of his troubles, some of his trials, some of

his hardships. And he said, Lord, what do you

get out of it if I die? My blood can't sing.

The dust ain't going to do it for you, but you

raise me up and I'm going to praise you. And

because you raised me up, that's where your glory

is coming from. I'm going to give glory, and

people are going to know that in my trouble,

I cried, you answered. Living a right -side -up

life in an upside -down world, it's doable. It's

doable. Trouble does come. Heartaches do make

it into our lives, unfortunately. Salvation,

accepting Christ, does not make us immune from

car breakdowns, washing machines tearing up,

dryer elements going out. Doesn't make us immune

to the fact that you thought everything was good

at work. You go in and say, hey, we don't need

you anymore. Oh, God, you forsook me. What was

that emergency broadcast system used to come

on when the static would come on TV at night

when the TV stations cut off? Or you'd hear that,

this is only a test. It's only a test. Don't

panic, my Lord. TV will be right back on. Life

will continue. Hold on. Don't panic. You say,

well, you don't know what I'm dealing with. Well,

hey, look. Look around you. We all got stuff.

Your stuff ain't no bigger than my stuff, and

my stuff ain't no bigger than your stuff. Your

trouble ain't no different than mine. Might have

a different diagnosis, may have a different prognosis,

may have a different name, a different face,

but it's driven by the same destructive force.

So in the end, it's the same. We don't have to

work with the people I work with. Tell them I'm

going to pray for you and walk away. I can't

believe what they said on Facebook. Delete it.

Don't be a busybody. Don't be a busybody. Feeling

good. I'm trying to get us to square our shoulders

back and let's get on toward heaven. Because

heaven's heading toward us. That day is approaching.

You ain't got time dilly -dallying around with

your pet sin. It's not like a pet rock you carry

in your pocket. Your pet sin will take you straight

to hell. Well, I just like, well, there's the

problem when you start with that personal pronoun

I. You, you're the problem. Well, I just like

that. Well, then don't gripe when you start to

feel the heat coming your way. One day, if you

don't get right and live right, one of these

days, when you stand before a holy, righteous

God, at that great white throne judgment, when

all of us are in line, one thing that you cannot

say, what is today's date? The 18th? 19th? April,

right? We're still in April. April 19, 2026.

You're going to stand before God. If you've not

made yourself right through Jesus Christ, and

judgment's about to come down on you like a hammer

for eternity, one thing you cannot say from today

forward is, nobody ever told me. I'm telling

you. Right now, if you want to go to heaven,

stop your sinning, repent, accept Christ as your

Lord, turn and walk away from the garbage, and

let's go to heaven together. That's if you want

to go. If you don't, if you're not interested

in heaven because yourself, your pride, and your

flesh, well, then just go right straight on to

hell. You say, well, that's pretty. Blunt? Well,

I've tried every other way. I just don't know

how else to explain it to you. You say, well,

I do not want you to burn in hell forever. This

new internet, it's not new. It's been around.

Every couple hundred years, it comes back around.

This nihilism. Well, you're just going to burn

up and it's over. Honey, that ain't what the

book says. The Bible declares that the fire is

never quenched. It don't ever get put out. And

in torment, weeping, wailing, lashing, lashing

out. Forever. Forever. Just because what you

think is fun, I hope it's worth it. But when

you stand there and you're about to get your

sentence to eternity, you won't be able to blame

Pastor Waters. Because I'm giving you invitation.

You don't have to go. Jesus loves you. Believe

it or not, I love you. You say, well, you sure

don't sound like it. Well, tough love sometimes

breaks through the crust. Sometimes you've got

to have tough love. My children and I had to

have tough love. And it normally started in the

back and worked its way forward. But eventually

it got through. I love you. Or I would not be

trying so desperately to break this down where

you fully understand it. Hell is a real place.

Heaven is a real place. Jesus was. The Son of

God is the Son of God, always will be the Son

of God. God in the flesh who died to take your

sin away and the punishment of it. But it's on

you. It's on you, just like it was on me. That

night I made that decision. I'd love to say that

was the night I went back to church the next

day, but no, no. The merciful hand of God spared

me even further. Father I love you. Lord I love

these people today.