Sermon

Baptism Sunday

Hopewell Church Of God

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  1. Do you trust him this morning? Whoo! Hallelujah.

  2. Amen. If you have your Bibles, take hold of your

  3. sword by the hilt and open to the book of Judges,

  4. the eighth chapter, Judges 8. I want to say this

  5. morning how good it is to have with us Brother

  6. Caden Roberts, who is going through the MIP program.

  7. He's visiting with us today. It's his assignment.

  8. So y 'all be on your best behavior. Don't none

  9. of y 'all let the Holy Ghost run you down the

  10. aisle or nothing like that. We got company. We

  11. got company. Y 'all behave. That's about as dripping

  12. with sarcasm as I can get. Amen. Brother Caden,

  13. thank you for being here with us this morning.

  14. I trust you've already encountered the Spirit

  15. of the Lord. His Word enriches your heart. I

  16. pray that for each of us today, that we have

  17. encountered, I've already met the Lord. The Spirit

  18. of the Lord is truly in the house. Amen. And

  19. as it is obvious, we will be having water baptism

  20. as soon as I quit or get finished or whatever

  21. we end up doing here in a little bit. We have

  22. seven folks following in the footsteps of the

  23. Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. Give them praise for

  24. that. They deserve it. Following in his footsteps.

  25. Amen. A little report from Men on the Mountain

  26. this past weekend. I think they ended up with

  27. nine salvations, first -time salvations, and

  28. ten rededications. Amen. So, amen. God's still

  29. saving. He's still saving. One particular. Report

  30. I got, testimony, his old boy had never been

  31. to church before. Was in Satan's something other

  32. motorcycle gang. And always wore the do -rag,

  33. the colors, and the whole deal. First time he'd

  34. ever been to church was Friday night. Give his

  35. heart to the Lord. Amen. Showed up Saturday morning

  36. without the do -rag. Pastor Caleb told me, he

  37. said, you're talking about a transformation.

  38. Man come on this mountain, never been in church

  39. before, and before he left, 24 hours later, had

  40. a broom in his hand serving. That's transformation.

  41. Amen? That's transformation. And so we just thank

  42. the Lord for that. If you have your Bibles, trust

  43. you do. Judges chapter 8. We're going to read

    Judges 8 chapter mention

  44. verse 4 to us today. Let's see what the Spirit

  45. of the Lord has to deal in our hearts this morning.

  46. Judges 8, 4 reads, And Gideon came to Jordan,

  47. and he passed over, he and the three hundred

  48. men that were with him, faint yet pursuing. Faint,

  49. yet pursuing. I think that's just what we'll

  50. call it. Faint, but in hot pursuit. My Lord.

  51. Hallelujah. Might take me a spell right here,

  52. and we ain't even started yet. I'll pray for

  53. you if you pray for me, and hopefully we'll come

  54. out of this thing together. Lord, I love you.

  55. I thank you this morning so much for your...

  56. presence with us for truly thou art in this house

  57. Lord as we feel your glory touching our hearts

  58. and minds now as we have partaken from the loaf

  59. of life which is the bread the word the living

  60. God's voice I pray Lord that you would help us

  61. now help me to preach that which is pleasing

  62. to you but edifying to the body and that we leave

  63. this place Lord so much better than we came in

  64. And we'll be quick to praise you for it all in

  65. Christ's name. The church says? Amen. Ask your

  66. neighbor, are you in hot pursuit? I know you're

  67. faint. Someone once described the journey of

  68. life in this fashion. When as a child I laughed

  69. and wept and time crept. How many of you remember

  70. how long it took for Christmas to come? Right?

  71. Or the 4th of July so you could go buy your $3

  72. worth of firecrackers. That's about all we'd

  73. get. But you've got a lot more for $3 than you

  74. do for $20 these days. We've got enough to get

  75. in trouble. I'll just put it and leave it there.

  76. When as a youth I dreamed and talked and time

  77. walked. When I became a full -grown man, time

  78. ran. Amen. Time's just running away from us,

  79. right? But it gets better. And later, as I grew

  80. older, time flew. Anybody in the fly zone? That's

  81. about where we're at. Soon I shall find, while

  82. traveling on, time gone. Let that sink in just

  83. a little bit. Time crept. Time ran. Time walks.

  84. Time flies. And before we know it, time is gone.

  85. We look into our text this morning, the statement

  86. at the end of that fourth verse. For Gideon,

  87. he was in that time running. He's a grown man,

  88. full grown. But in the time in which Gideon's

  89. living, Midian, the Midianites are ruling over

  90. them, terrorizing his people. And we find in

  91. the story, you'll find Gideon threshing wheat.

  92. By the wine press. That's two different operations.

  93. But Gideon is threshing his wheat by the wine

  94. press for fear of the Midianites coming to steal

  95. his harvest. My, my, my. Where are you hiding

  96. to hold on to your harvest? But what finds Gideon

  97. is the angel of the Lord. Now, a little sidebar,

  98. you can't hide from God. When he's on your trail,

  99. he's going to find you no matter where you are.

  100. So the angel of the Lord approaches Gideon, and

  101. he approaches him in a most odd way for Gideon.

  102. Gideon, thou mighty man of valor. He's thinking,

  103. who are you talking to? I'm hiding over here.

  104. I'm hiding from the enemy. But see, what God

  105. knows about you. is that when you surrender to

  106. Him, what He can do through you. Amen? What He

  107. can do through you and what God desires to do

  108. with you. You know the story. Hopefully you do.

  109. If not, you need to go read 6, 7, and 8 of Gideon's

  110. life. You need to read this story of how he proved

  111. it was God actually talking to him. I, you know,

  112. sometimes folks like to cast a little... little

  113. dark light toward Gideon for trying the spirit

  114. but I'm one of those I mean if he was in trouble

  115. I'm in big trouble because I put out fleeces

  116. I do all kind of stuff to know because simply

  117. you just want to know that you're in full obedience

  118. to the Lord right and that's what Gideon will

  119. know I don't want to step out into something

  120. God that you're not in and if it's true to you

  121. let me just hold if you'll wait a minute let

  122. me go let me go get something he said I'll be

  123. right here he goes in prepares the sacrifice

  124. and puts it before the angel of the Lord. He

  125. touches it with that staff. It's consumed. And

  126. then that wasn't just enough, so he had to go

  127. with a fleece route. Well, let it be wet on one

  128. side and dry on the other, right? Let it be dry

  129. on one side and wet on the other. And finally,

  130. after he got it, he finally knows that it's God,

  131. and he surrenders to the Lord. When you and I

  132. are living out this life, and we're going through

  133. this process and this journey of walking through,

  134. there's some things that begin to happen. We

  135. may find ourselves in hiding. We may... try to

  136. withdraw from the pressure. That's what he's

  137. doing. He's withdrawn from the pressure of the

  138. enemy. He's trying to maintain and keep what

  139. little he's got. But can I tell you, child of

  140. God, that's not where you and I need to be. We're

  141. not just trying to maintain what we have. I'm

  142. not just trying to keep what little I got of

  143. the Spirit of God and the power of God and the

  144. presence of God and the peace of God and the

  145. joy of the Lord. Are you hearing me? I'm not

  146. just trying to maintain what I have. because

  147. there is no maintaining because I use a little

  148. bit of it all every day. So I am after the fresh

  149. supply. I am with Gideon. I am in a hot pursuit.

  150. Amen. It's not that we don't get faint in life.

  151. Faint just simply means to grow weary, to grow

  152. thirsty, to grow exhausted. So we find here with

  153. Gideon some of us in the same fashion. Gideon

  154. went through, received the instruction from the

  155. Lord. He gets the picture. a clay jar. He lights

  156. a torch and he puts it inside it. He gets his

  157. sword. They get trumpets and he dispatches the

  158. men out. You have to go. I don't have time to

  159. preach the whole process of how he got from 35

  160. ,000 to 300. The process isn't a point. The fact

  161. is he went with 300 men selected by God to face

  162. the enemy and he followed obediently. Specifically

  163. the instructions that were laid out before him

  164. on how to get this victory. Amen. And so they

  165. get there. They're on the tops of the hill. They're

  166. in the midnight hour. He blows a trumpet. He

  167. breaks the jars. The light illuminates. Talks

  168. about the arm of God and the sword of Gideon.

  169. And then all of a sudden they jump to their feet

  170. and light everywhere. They feel as though they're

  171. surrounded. They turn on each other. And a great

  172. victory is won. The text that we're reading today

  173. is post -victory. Are you hearing me? It's post

  174. -victory. But he still has the same 300 men.

  175. They have battled all night. They are tired.

  176. They are weary. But there were some who escaped.

  177. And he's not going to stop with the escape of

  178. the enemy. So he begins to pursue after the two

  179. princes that were left. And he's in a hot pursuit

  180. after them. He's on their heels. And he comes

  181. to the Jordan. Now the Jordan has so much representation

  182. for us. We sing about crossing over old chilly

  183. Jordan. has so many references for the children

  184. of Israel. It's just on and on and on it goes

  185. with the power of God and the encounters at the

  186. Jordan. He passes over the Jordan, and he comes

  187. up, and he comes to the little place of Sukkoth,

  188. and he's wanting some refreshment. He's wanting

  189. some bread and some water and some food for his

  190. men, and they refuse him because of the two kings

  191. that he is in pursuit of. They said, well, do

  192. you have their heads? in your hand, we're not

  193. going to help you because if you're not here,

  194. they're going to come in and they'll find out

  195. that we helped you, yada, yada, yada, as the

  196. story goes. Sometimes, child of God, I want you

  197. to know something. When you may be surrounded

  198. by others who could help you, help may only come

  199. from the Lord. Others may not strengthen you,

  200. but one thing you can rely on is that God will

  201. strengthen you. But I love what old Gideon told

  202. him. He said, look here, if I survive this thing,

  203. I'm coming back here. And he said, I'm taking

  204. the brush of the wheel. If you go back and read

  205. it, in other words, when he comes back, he goes

  206. to them, he takes their leaders, he cuts a limb,

  207. and he disciplines them. My Lord, grown men got

  208. leg striped because of their failure to assist

  209. in the war. I thought, my Lord, that sounded

  210. like some of my youthful days when mama said,

  211. you get back here and I'm going to show you.

  212. When Gideon come back to town, son, he took a

  213. limb and striped them. You need to read that.

  214. If you don't read the Bible, there's some interesting

  215. things in the Word of God. But it lets us know

  216. this. When others may not come alongside you,

  217. God will still cause you to obtain the victory

  218. that you are in hot pursuit after. They go into

  219. Sukkoth and they said, we're faint, but we're

  220. still in pursuit. We're faint, but we're still

  221. following. We're faint, but we're still chasing

  222. after. That's where I'm at in my life right now.

  223. I am weary. I am exhausted. I am thirsty. I am

  224. hungry. But I am still in hot pursuit of the

  225. glory and the victory that has been promised.

  226. And each of us, we all are faint. You are weary,

  227. but God is still on your side. And the promise

  228. of victory is still proclaimed over each of our

  229. lives. And I am in hot pursuit. And devil, if

  230. you mess with me, I'll come back with a hickory

  231. switch. Gideon said, all right, have it your

  232. way, but I'll be back. That's long before MacArthur

  233. ever said it. You know, maybe he's a Bible reader.

  234. I'm coming back. When we think about this pursuit

  235. of life and this journey that we're going through,

  236. times get hard. Battles are difficult. And look,

  237. it's supposed to be. It is supposed to be difficult.

  238. Why? Because the devil's trying to kill you.

  239. Hello? I mean, do we understand the reality?

  240. The devil's trying to take you to hell with him.

  241. He knows his final destination, and he's trying

  242. to take as many as he can with him. And in opposition

  243. to that is the Lord of glory who's trying to

  244. usher you into his presence. And when we grow

  245. faint and we grow weary and we grow exhausted,

  246. we still must press on. Perseverance is a virtue

  247. for the child of God. We must persevere. And

  248. in my mind is echoing, and I know I've said it

  249. before, but I just heard it again. Endeavor to

  250. persevere. Who knows that reference? There you

  251. go. That's outlaw Joseph Wales, by the way. That's

  252. Chief Joseph. Well, it was. And never to persevere.

  253. Faint, but still in hot pursuit. I'm moving forward.

  254. Faint, yet pursuing. Yes. In this life, Jesus

  255. said, how many know the letters of red are the

  256. words of the Christ? In this life, you shall

  257. have tribulation. And he should have put a comma

  258. there and went on. Suck it up and get over it

  259. and look to me. But that's not what he said.

  260. He said, in this life, you shall have tribulation.

  261. But the Lord in his kindness said, be of good

  262. cheer. Why? Because I have overcome the world.

  263. And he began to declare, Peace I give unto you,

  264. not as the world gives peace, but my peace give

  265. I unto you, that your joy may be for when and

  266. where in the middle of the faint moments of life.

  267. We draw deep from the well of Isaiah when he

  268. declared it from the well of our salvation. We

  269. draw deep and we take in. In the moments that

  270. we are faint, when we can't find no other resolution

  271. and any other help from any other direction,

  272. we look toward the hills as the psalmist declared.

  273. My help comes from the Lord. You may be faint,

  274. but remain in pursuit. Weary, thirsty, exhausted,

  275. yet chasing following. Mark 15 or Matthew 15,

  276. 32, the Lord said, then Jesus called his disciples

  277. unto him and he said, I have compassion on the

  278. multitude because they continue with me now three

  279. days and have nothing to eat and I will not listen

  280. and I will not send them away fasting lest they

  281. faint in the way. Gideon went to Saccoth and

  282. got no help. He went to the rulers and the leaders

  283. there and got no bread. He had no water offered

  284. him. Nothing was given to him. But you and I,

  285. we have the words of the Lord. You can be with

  286. him, but he'll not turn you away. He'll not send

  287. you away fasting. Why? Because he does not desire

  288. that we should faint along the way. What are

  289. you saying? If you abide in him and he abides

  290. with you and you are part of that true vine and

  291. you become part of that true branch and you're

  292. crafted in there and you abide in him, he will

  293. always, are you hearing me? He will always nurture

  294. you. He will always nourish you. Because he will

  295. not send you away. Because he does not want you

  296. to grow exhausted. He doesn't want you to grow

  297. weary. What are you saying, pastor? I'm saying

  298. that we remain in him. Though the world turn

  299. against you, you just remain faithful and persevere

  300. with the Lord. Because when the time comes and

  301. you feel like you can't go another mile, there's

  302. going to be an addition of grace into your life.

  303. There's going to be a fresh wind begin to blow

  304. in. And you're going to get your second wind.

  305. And you're going to remain. in pursuit. You can't

  306. grow faint in prayer. Don't grow weary and exhausted

  307. praying. You've got to pray on, child of God.

  308. Luke 18 and 1. And he spake a parable unto them

  309. to this end that men ought always to pray and

  310. not to faint. Every believer needs to pray. I

  311. was kindly I was shocked this weekend in talking

  312. to a pastor about his congregation and a conversation

  313. he overheard between some folks. And I know these

  314. people very well. They were talking to each other

  315. saying, well, yeah, you're very busy. You got

  316. kids, yada, yada, yada. You got life. And I don't

  317. know that you have to read your Bible every day.

  318. I don't even know actually that you have to pray.

  319. Well, I don't think so either. We are so busy.

  320. Hello, folks. That just, that one thing it did

  321. is it made me mad because it made me feel like

  322. a failure for I'd pastored those folks for a

  323. few years and I thought, what did you do? And

  324. wanted to call them on the phone. What's coming

  325. out of your face? Would you tell me what possessed

  326. you to come to a conclusion that you're so busy

  327. that you don't have to pray? When the Word of

  328. God declares that men ought always to pray, that

  329. we faint not, because you will faint, you will

  330. get exhausted, and you will quit without the

  331. grace that is added to your life every single

  332. day, without the promise of the victory that

  333. has been declared over you, that the enemy shall

  334. flee before you. If you don't get in your word

  335. and you don't get on your knees, how can you

  336. sustain? You sure can't come back and take those

  337. who are against you with a switch. I got to keep

  338. going. We can't faint in our confidence. In our

  339. confidence. How many of you are confident in

  340. God? Let me tell you something. He's not always

  341. going to do what you tell him to do. I know how

  342. we pray. We do more telling than we do asking.

  343. How do you know that? Because that's the way

  344. I pray sometimes. And if he had listened to me,

  345. some of you would be in better shape. Because

  346. I pray for you. Amen. But he don't do what we

  347. tell him. Matter of fact, he don't even take

  348. my kind suggestions. I just quit. And I kindly

  349. fell back on, Father, your will be done. And

  350. I pour out my need. Let your prayer come before

  351. the Lord with supplication and intercession,

  352. with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made

  353. known unto God. So that's what I've got to where

  354. I do. I turn folks over. I turn problems over.

  355. I no longer offer suggestions or solutions. I

  356. just offer you up before the Lord. I offer me

  357. up before the Lord. And I declare it hallowed

  358. be thy name. Oh, thy kingdom come, thy will be

  359. done. do is put myself back on the wheel and

  360. mar me down one more time application of the

  361. water and of the spirit break me down keep me

  362. on the wheel your will be done and some of us

  363. ought to declare it's your will not my wishes

  364. but it's your will oh God that I faint not hallelujah

  365. that I don't grow exhausted and I don't quit

  366. and give up 2 Corinthians 4, 1, Therefore, seeing

  367. we have this ministry, for all you that have

  368. ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint

  369. not. As we have received mercy, we faint not.

  370. There's a reason that Jeremiah penned in that

  371. wonderful book of Lamentations that we are not

  372. consumed because of the Lord's mercies, and His

  373. mercies are new. Every morning. Why? Because

  374. some of you, like myself, we are reformed heathens.

  375. Transformed heathens. I'm not a heathen. I'm

  376. a transformed. I used to be. Try not to be these

  377. days. Not perfect in that attempt. But I'm doing

  378. my diligence to try not to be. Therefore, seeing

  379. we have this ministry, whether you realize it

  380. or not, each of us, each of you, we all have

  381. a ministry. You're a missionary whether you like

  382. it or not. By being a disciple of Christ as you

  383. go, as you go through life, as you are going,

  384. you are to witness of the goodness and the glory

  385. of God. To try and make other disciples. That's

  386. all of us. Doesn't matter what age. Doesn't matter

  387. where we're at. And we can't grow faint in doing

  388. that. We do not faint. Therefore, seeing we have

  389. this ministry, as we have received mercy, we

  390. faint not. God gives and grants his mercy every

  391. day. So you and I must never, ever give up. We

  392. must continue in the battle. We must keep fighting.

  393. Oh, from Friday night's message, Proverbs 24

  394. and 16. For a just man falleth seven times, and

  395. he riseth up. Pastor preached a message up there

  396. Friday night and said, you can't keep a good

  397. man down. Hey, Lord, even though sometimes the

  398. righteous were knocked down seven times, you

  399. can't keep a righteous one down. Not just a man,

  400. but you can't keep a righteous woman down. You

  401. can't keep a righteous child down. The enemy

  402. can do his very best. And we get, how many have

  403. seen, what was it, Captain America? Seen that?

  404. Little Steve Austin, real scrawny like. And then,

  405. what was his name? Steve somebody. Who? Rogers.

  406. Was he? No, he was the $6 million man. Huh? That's

  407. for your time, see. Steve Austin was the $6 million.

  408. Where you at, people? Come on, somebody. Majors.

  409. We'll have to go with Stone Cold then. It's my

  410. sermon, y 'all. Just along for the ride. Where

  411. was I at? No, we're going to pass that. No, we're

  412. looking at keeping a good man down. Though the

  413. righteous fall seven times, he riseth up. How

  414. many knows it's harder to get back up after you

  415. fail three? Number four is a little more difficult.

  416. Five is more difficult. Six is more difficult.

  417. Seven is more difficult to keep rising and keep

  418. getting back up. Don't you think you get faint

  419. after seven, eight, nine times? I've lost count.

  420. I quit counting. I quit counting. I don't count

  421. that anymore because I get knocked down regularly.

  422. But Steve, watch his face. Captain America. What's

  423. his name? Now we're back to Steve Rogers. Got

  424. back to where I was going, James. Every time

  425. he got knocked down, he'd say, I can do this

  426. all day. I mean, that was even before he got

  427. juiced up, you know. He said, I can do this all

  428. day. He in the fight, little scrawny thing. Sometimes

  429. it's, you know, not the size of the dog in the

  430. fight. It's the fight and the dog. You've heard

  431. that. I can do this all day because of my confidence.

  432. It's no longer in myself. My confidence is not

  433. in my strength. And so my resolve is in he that's

  434. in me. Because one of my favorite, and I quote

  435. it all the time, is John 4 and 4 back there,

  436. 1 John 4 and 4. Greater is he that's in me than

  437. he that is in this world. I can do this all day,

  438. devil. I can do it because I'm not getting up

  439. on my own. I get knocked down and he picks me

  440. up. Isn't that what the psalmist said? He picks

  441. me up out of the pit. He takes me up out and

  442. washes my clay and he puts me on. I can do this

  443. all day. Why? Because I have become confident,

  444. and my mind is made up. There is no other choice

  445. but him, God, and God alone. So come on, devil.

  446. Give it your best shot, and he has, and he does,

  447. and I just keep getting back up looking at it.

  448. I wipe a little blood, blow a little snot, wipe

  449. a few tears, and say, I can do this all day because

  450. it's not me. It's he that lives in me, the power

  451. that I have, the hope that I have. Hear me, church.

  452. You may be faint, but keep getting back up. You

  453. may get knocked down. five, six, seven, ten,

  454. fifteen dozen, but he will help you back up.

  455. You'll rise up. Life, life, life, life. Whether

  456. you're running, whether you're walking, whether

  457. it's creeping by, whether it's flying by, or

  458. whether it's almost gone. Stay and remain in

  459. hot pursuit. Remain confident in him. Psalm 34,

  460. 19, many are the afflictions of the righteous,

  461. but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

  462. Don't grow faint in your hope. Don't let your

  463. hope become exhausted. Hope is a powerful thing.

  464. Amen? Hope is a life -giving source. Hope causes

  465. us to keep going. Amen. Don't faint in your hope.

  466. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16. For which cause we

    2 Corinthians 4:16

  467. faint not. But though our outward man perish,

  468. yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Hope

  469. keeps going and hope keeps us going. Our bodies

  470. are perishing. Amen. At best, what we can do

  471. is try to keep them in shape and they still fall

  472. apart. Amen? Even with new parts. Some of you

  473. got new parts. Stainless, titanium. Probably

  474. some plastic. Our bodies perish. We have to renew

  475. ourselves every day. Y 'all quit. Faint not.

  476. Don't let your hope be despaired for the hope

  477. that we have is not in this world. Paul told

  478. Timothy, he said, our hope is Jesus Christ. That's

  479. why when we walk through the dilemma of life,

  480. whether it's creeping, flying, you heard it.

  481. Doesn't matter at what point of life you're at.

  482. Hope is what gets me to the next step in life.

  483. But I found myself praying more lately, even

  484. so, Lord, come. Even so, Lord, come. And my hope

  485. is not growing faint in the return of the Lord.

  486. My hope in the return of the Lord is increasing.

  487. I'm looking for Jesus to come any day. Any day.

  488. day the Lord could come. The signs of the times

  489. are aligning. I don't know how much persecution

  490. we'll have to endure. I don't know how much trial,

  491. how much tribulation we'll have to endure. But

  492. one thing I know we won't have to endure is the

  493. wrath of God when he comes back with his wrath.

  494. When he unpours the cork and he just lets his

  495. power reign across us. We won't have to indulge

  496. the wrath of God. We'll be removed. Hallelujah.

  497. And I am looking and yearning for the expediency

  498. of the removal. I'm looking for the trumpet to

  499. sound and the skies to part and look toward the

  500. east of the rising of the sun and see a glory

  501. that far causes a shadow to be cast upon the

  502. blazing of the sun. And that is the glory of

  503. the Son of God standing to receive us. My hope

  504. is firm. Don't faint in doing work. Galatians

  505. 6 and 9, let us. Not be weary in well -doing.

  506. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

  507. Yes, weariness creeps on the flesh. Yes, even

  508. weariness creeps into the soul. Because of the

  509. tribulations and persecutions and the afflictions

  510. that accompany this life. At some point, we all

  511. must realize that, hey, we're not saved just

  512. so things get better. Sometimes we get saved

  513. and turn to the Lord and things get worse. They

  514. do. Circumstances worsen. But even though circumstances

  515. grow worse, grace increases. People think, well,

  516. I've started trying to serve the Lord and everything's

  517. falling apart. Well, it's supposed to. Well,

  518. I thought it was the other way around. You'll

  519. get there. Push on. There has to be a level of

  520. commitment. Anybody can serve the Lord in a lily

  521. valley. There's no thorns. But you walk through

  522. where the roses bloom, you're going to get pricked

  523. along the way. So don't just start looking for

  524. an... I don't know why I'm saying this. Don't

  525. just start looking for an instant relief. The

  526. instant relief comes to your soul. The weight

  527. and the burden of sin is lifted. But then the

  528. enemy assures to you that the burden and the

  529. weight of this life increases. Why, pastor? Because

  530. he wants you to go to hell with him. Don't grow

  531. weary. You'll reap. You'll reap in due season

  532. when the time comes if you faint not. In trusting.

  533. Don't grow faint in trusting the Lord. We sung

  534. that just a minute ago. Ephesians 3, 13. Wherefore,

  535. I desire that you faint not at my tribulations

  536. for you, which is your glory. Paul said, don't

  537. you get exhausted for what I'm going through.

  538. On your behalf, are you hearing pastor today?

  539. Don't get exhausted for what I may be going through.

  540. Don't get exhausted for what those around you

  541. are going through. Don't grow weary. Don't faint

  542. because of the afflictions and the trials of

  543. others which we endure for your glory. Why? Because

  544. the words of our testimony cause us to become

  545. overcomers through the blood of the Lamb. When

  546. I overcome, you are increased in your overcoming

  547. ability. Why? Because of the testimony that I've

  548. just lived through and declared to your life.

  549. Well, if they can make it, so can I. Because

  550. God is no respecter of person. Entrust him. Trust

  551. the Lord. Trust God in everything, every trial,

  552. every test, every temptation, every affliction.

  553. In well -doing, 2 Thessalonians 3, 13. But you,

  554. brethren, be not weary in well -doing. Sometimes

  555. people exhaust you. Don't they? Don't weep and

  556. howl and moan and groan. Just trust and pray.

  557. Quit griping. Stop whining. Quit belly aching.

  558. Start looking at more than who you are and what

  559. you are and the situation around you. Elevate

  560. your vision to see where God is at. We love to

  561. whine. What have we got to whine about? I'm redeemed

  562. by love divine. People declare, well, don't you

  563. ever ask why? No, we don't. Pose the question,

  564. why not sometimes? I mean, why not? He's my God

  565. too, just like yours. And the promises that we

  566. have for each of us. So we persevere, we push

  567. through. Isaiah 40, 29, he giveth power to the

  568. faint. Whoa. And to them that have no might,

  569. he increases strength. Even the youth shall faint

  570. and be weary, and the young men shall utterly

  571. fall. But they that wait upon the Lord, you know

  572. this one. Shall renew their strength. And they

  573. shall mount up with wings as eagles. And they

  574. shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk.

  575. And not. Faint. I'm still in hot pursuit. What

  576. are you saying pastor? I'm encouraging you to

  577. remain. In hot pursuit. In whatever situation.

  578. Whatever dilemma. You may be facing. God's got

  579. you. Do you have him? He don't let you go. Have

  580. you turned him loose? Where's your confidence

  581. in God? Where's your ability to trust God? Are

  582. you praying? Are you in his word? Are you still

  583. doing the work? Are you still plowing through

  584. with the ministry that God's given you? If you

  585. don't think, he's going to increase your strength.

  586. He's going to cause us all to be victorious.

  587. We all become overcomers if we remain in hot

  588. pursuit. Stand with me this morning. Remain in

  589. hot pursuit. We're going to have baptism here

  590. in just a little bit, but we're not rushing this

  591. next portion of this service. Because this is

  592. why we've come. That if we faint, if we're weary,

  593. if we're exhausted, if we're thirsty, if we're

  594. hungry, we hear the words of the Lord that he's

  595. not going to send us away fasting. Unless we

  596. faint along the way. I don't believe in accidents.

  597. Don't believe in luck. No such thing as luck.

  598. You have to be superstitious to believe in luck.

  599. You can give me a nine -leaf clover and it ain't

  600. going to do no good. I believe in God. I believe

  601. in the favor of God. And if I don't faint when

  602. my time gets up, I'm going to get a reward in

  603. due season if I don't faint, if I don't stop

  604. short. So I'm remaining in hot pursuit. And I

  605. know I'm not the only one that's faint. I know

  606. that. We've all got our battles. You either just

  607. come out of one, you're about to go in one, or

  608. you're standing flat -footed in the middle of

  609. one. But I'm not going to faint. I'm going to

  610. adjust. Where's these hoorah boys at? Any Marines

  611. in the house? Adapt and overcome. That's about

  612. what we're about to do. And I'm staying in hot

  613. pursuit. Remaining in hot pursuit. So with that,

  614. how many of you need a refresher this morning?

  615. Come on down. We're going to have to get on each

  616. side of the baptistry. If you need a refresher,

  617. just come on down this morning. If you're feeling

  618. faint, you're feeling weird.