Sunday March 14, 2021 AM

The organ music this morning, be sure and thank Wylene. It's so good to have her.

Back with us today. Alright, well welcome to Sunnyside Baptist this morning. We're glad you're joining us. If you're joining us on livestream, we're glad that you're with us that way as well. A few announcements as we get started this morning.

Our evening service tonight at 530. Come back for that if you can. Also Wednesday, even though it is the week of spring break, we are still having church dinner at 545 here at the church in the fellowship hall for everyone and then 630 Bible study and prayer time for the adults and tag for the kids after that and then looking ahead at the end of the month truth group after the evening service on that Sunday night.

Okay, our fighter verse for the week is from Philippians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

Few needs still in the nursery. If you are able to volunteer to be a full-time worker during the Sunday school hour in that infant room, please see Marla Hovarder. We need several of those additional slots filled for the Sunday morning services in there.

Operation Christmas child giving is still going. Little small stuffed animals, if you can give those during the month of March. And then as if we needed an excuse to eat frosting, in the bulletin there's a need for some little tubs of frosting for the tag group.

They're wanting to use those for a craft sometime this semester. So if you've got some of those lying around, if you don't, go ahead and go get you some. They need about 20 of those for their craft. All right, I think the frosting needs to be removed from the can, but they might have some volunteers to clean that up in the tag ministry if they need to.

All right, any other announcements before we get started this morning? Okay, it's good to be together this morning. We're gonna have a time of quiet prayer and preparation before worship, and then.

After that, Dad will open us in prayer. Lord God Almighty, how grateful we are to be able to come into your presence in Jesus' name. How grateful we are for the gift of faith in Christ alone and in his righteousness, which clothes us, gives us access into your presence, enables us to be accepted and received because of Jesus.

Lord, how grateful we are for the counsel of your word that reminds us to be still and to know that you are God, and reminds us that it is the fool who says in his heart that there is no God. Lord, you are great and greatly to be praised.

So we pray for grace this morning that we would worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord, our maker. Lord, may we find our rest this morning in Christ alone. We thank you for your loving-kindness, and that is because of your mercies, Lord, that we are not consumed.

Great indeed is your faithfulness. Lord, we give you glory and honor and blessing this morning in Jesus' name and because of Christ. In his name we pray, amen.

Would you stand with me for our call to worship? Our passage this morning is found in Psalms chapter 60. We'll be reading verses 4 and 5, and when we get to the word Selah, pause just briefly. My understanding is in music this term means rest, so when you take a rest from your music.

So to think and to meditate upon the scripture that God has given us. Read with me together. You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah. That your beloved ones may be delivered.

Give salvation by your right hand and answer us. Our first song this morning is a new song, at least it's a new for me. It's called, Oh for a heart to praise my God. There was a handout at the podium in the back if you were able to pick one up as you came in.

Also the words are up on the screen for us. And this melody is very soothing and more importantly the words cause us to think about our heart being in tune with God, to give praise from our heart to him because he alone is worthy.

And then after we sing, Oh for a heart to praise my God, then we'll also sing the chorus of To You Alone on page.

124 of your little black hymnals. Verse 1, reading to the end of the book.

Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, and the Negev, and the plain, the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.

And the Lord said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.

So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. But no man knows his burial place to this day.

Although Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom. For Moses had laid his hands on him, and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

For all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all his land. And for all the mighty power and for the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful to once again be here with each other, and we're mindful of the blessing that it is to fellowship with your saints. Lord, I pray that you will be with us today, and I pray that we'll keep our thoughts on you.

I just pray for Michael as he comes, that you would embolden him to say the words that you've put on his heart this past week. Just pray for those who are sick among us, Lord. I pray that in their suffering you'll draw them close to you.

I pray that their thoughts will be on you. Just thank you that Wylene was able to join us today, and the blessing that it is to hear her playing the organ again. I just pray that you will help us to concentrate only on you during this time, and I pray that our hearts would be receptive to the words that you bring to us.

In Christ's name, amen. You can be seated. We're going to continue our song service in our HMA hymnals. If you would turn to page 123, to the praise of his glorious grace, and then we'll also sing page 110, Speak, O Lord.

Asking that the Holy Spirit would continue to speak as he already has in Sunday school, in our call to worship, and through song to him. Speak to our hearts that we may give him the praise he deserves.

Sing with your.

Heart with me. Gather and see each other. Worship the Lord together. It truly is an.

Unparalleled blessing. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for this day, this day that you have made. Thank you for bringing us together in this way and in this time, and I pray that you would bless us with a special blessing by your Holy Spirit as we turn our attention to this word that you have, that you have breathed out by your Holy Spirit flawlessly and fully through holy men of your choosing.

As we read these words that are living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, as we consider these words that are good for doctrine and for reproof and correction and training and righteousness, that you would do your work in us, that you would feed us, that you would form us, and that we would rejoice in your truth today.

So, Father, we know that you know our needs before we even ask, and that you are a good and heavenly Father, and that every good and perfect gift comes down from you, and you never change. Even in the midst of all of our changing circumstances, you are perfect and right and true.

So, here we are today, needy and hungry, and asking you for food, and we ask that you would, by your Holy Spirit, in this holy scripture, give us a clear and full and wonderful view of your Son, Jesus Christ, so that we would be able to worship him, and rejoice in him, and be formed more and more into your image as we follow him.

We pray these things for the sake of Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 116. Psalm 116, and we're going to be looking at verses 9 through 11 this morning.

The Lord has been dealing very personally with me through these psalms. We started in Psalm 111 and aiming to go through Psalm 118, and the Lord has been dealing very personally with me as we have been going through each of these special compositions, each of these special songs that teach us what it is to praise the Lord, how it is that God wants to be praised, what we should include in our worship to him, how our hallelujahs are to sound, and when they are to be offered to him.

And this one in particular has been very poignant for me, the reasons why we're going so slowly through the thing, but it just impacts me again and again. You know, dark nights, weary mornings, and painful days are all part of the fight of faith.

It's all part of it. Living by experience and walking by sight puts me quickly into doubt, quickly into discouragement. We are told that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

We are told that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. So there ought to be praise in my prayers, and praise in my soul, and praise in my songs. Praise is indeed God's gracious choice for us in the struggle, in the fight for faith.

And this is what Psalm 116 shows us, first 11 verses, that we see that we are to call upon the name of the Lord whom we praise in the fight or at the feast. The second part of the psalm, verses 12 through 19, whether it's chaos and it's suffering, or whether it's orderly and it's feasting.

In either case, we are to call upon the name of the Lord whom we praise, and that the Lord who is praiseworthy in all things is trustworthy at all times, no matter what those times may be. So I invite you to stand with me as I read this word, Psalm 116, verses 1 through 11.

Let us hear the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by his Spirit, through his holy servant. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he has inclined his ear to me.

Therefore, I will call upon him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul.

Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low and he saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believe, therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, All men are liars.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. My mother was in very many respects a gracious woman, but she was not a Southerner. People didn't get that. She was raised in Minnesota, in Iowa, and also in Chicago, Illinois.

So she did not ooze with Southern charm, but she had lots of Midwestern and Northern sensibility and practicality, and she loved children. She was a teacher for decades. One of her favorite things to do was to read stories to them, and something, it was a pastime that she did with my brother and I, and she would read to us all sorts of stories before bed.

One chapter, and then we begged for the second one. Okay, two chapters. And one of the things she did was she read to us the series, the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, Little House on the Prairie. And of course, Farmer Boy is the best one in a bunch.

But my second favorite was Little House by Plum Creek, when they lived in a dugout. And then later on, they built a house next to Plum Creek. There was a moment there in the story where there was a plague of locusts, grasshoppers, just covered everything.

And Paul's crop was completely decimated, and Laura recalls the grasshoppers in every nook and cranny in the house, all over the ground, everywhere. And Ma looked about and saw the chickens running for all the grasshoppers, and eating and eating and eating till they could run no more because they were so fat.

And this is a moment where my mama really liked what Ma Ingalls had to say. She said, there was no great loss without some small gain. No great loss without some small gain. At least the chickens are fed.

And I've always remembered that because my mom made a point of pointing it out to me. You know, we don't really have trouble believing that. Most of the time, if we can't see a silver lining in some great tragedy, somebody else could point it out to us, and we can agree in principle.

There's no great loss without some small gain. What we have trouble believing is the testimony of the scriptures, because it seems so far-fetched. It seems so too much, even, what the Word of the Lord says.

In 2 Corinthians 12, verses 9 through 10, we read this. The Lord says to Paul, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. This is where it's tough to believe it.

Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It's even harder. Verse 10, therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, then I am strong. Well, it's true, but it's hard to believe it when you're in it, isn't it? That is not an isolated testimony among the Apostles, a one-off statement by a man who had been through a great deal.

We also see this in Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 through 7. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Again, James chapter 1, and I'm reading this because we need to believe it. We need to build ourselves up on our most holy faith. James 1 verse 2, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing, lacking nothing. So what is the testimony of the Word of God? Ma Ingalls says, no great loss without some small gain.

For the Christian, the Word of God says, there is no small loss without some great gain. There's no small loss without some great gain. And we see that in the life of the believer here in Psalm 116. We have seen that he is afflicted, that the pains of death surround him.

He feels the pain and the weakness of his flesh, and the pangs of Sheol have laid hold of him, and all the sorrows attending what would accompany his death or the death of those that he loves. And he has found trouble, and he has found sorrow.

He was brought low. He is in great pain and suffering. He is afflicted. But then we've been considering how it is that he is to live with the hallelujah in his heart, that he would say hallelujah to himself inwardly, that he would say hallelujah to the Lord upwardly, and that he would say hallelujah to all around, outwardly.

That's what we're looking at this morning, verses 9 through 11. And how does he do this? How does he bring the outward hallelujah? He does it before God, and he does it in faith, and he does it despite men.

When we're looking at verses 9 through 11, we are to consider our daily conversation, and then that's the older use of the term. Our going about, and our doing of this, and our saying of that. And when we see the psalmist in suffering, what kind of life is he living but one full of difficulty?

But our difficulties, you see, give us occasion. It gave the psalmist occasion. It gave Christ occasion. It gives us occasion for praising God, and giving testimony to others of God's glory. And as we've read from Peter, and James, and Paul, that through these trials, God uses these things as his image-refining, idol-removing means for our great good.

These are image-refining, idol-removing, these afflictions, these sufferings. And so we have cause to give praise to God. We see his goodness. We understand that he is praiseworthy in all things, and thus we can, that he's trustworthy at all times, and so that our hallelujahs are not restricted to only certain times and certain places when everything falls just right.

But the hallelujah can be offered to the Lord in an outward, in public, and in real fashion, no matter what's going on, because we know who God is. And so we have this first before God. Verse 9, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

You see, verse 7, he talks to himself. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully for you. He's talking to himself. Verse 8, he's talking to the Lord. You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

Now he's talking outwardly. Here's what I'm going to do. Here's what I'm going to do. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. He's giving praise to God in saying that, and it's really because of all that's happened.

All of his needs have been laid bare beneath the providential watch of the Lord, and his weakness is laid obvious before the Lord, and he needs the strength of God. He's got nothing left. Only God can help now.

And because of what he's preached to his own soul, of God's good and sovereign attentions, because of what he has declared of a bountiful shepherd, he says, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

He is determining something here. He says, this is my plan. I'm not going to sit back and wait. I'm not going to dig a hole and hide. I'm going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. That's the plan, and that is an approach of faith, and it can only occur at verse 9, because of what verses 1 through 8 say.

Because of who God is, how he has been praised, how he has revealed himself. It is the doctrine of God that sets the direction for the godly. It's the doctrine of God that sets the direction for the godly.

Who God is matters for the everyday, and that's why he says this, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. What does he mean? He means that all my daily conduct, everything that goes on in my day, all of it is in the presence of God.

Well, of course that's true. God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. God is omniscient. He knows everything, so that goes for everybody, doesn't it? Well, yes, of course it does, but not everybody recognizes it, and then not everybody rejoices in it.

He's recognizing it, and he's rejoicing in it. Now, wait a second. This is the God who in his sovereignty has brought him into the pains of death and the pains of Sheol. Hang on a second. This is the God who controls all things.

He is omnipotent, all-powerful, and look, he's found nothing but trouble and sorrow for so long. Now, hang on a second. He was brought low, so how can he with such confidence say, well, I'm going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living?

Well, it's a matter of faith, isn't it? And he knows that God is good. He knows that God is good, and he'll let God determine the definitions of that. Before the face of God is the idea. R .C. Sproul was fond of talking about before the face of God.

Everything we do is before God's face. We have to recognize that God is paying attention, and that he cares, and that it matters. Everything that we do before the face of God, and he says, I'm going to walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Why is this important for us? Because so often, we think we're walking before men in the land of the dead. Our first consideration is that, well, what will others think? Our first assumption is, it's bad and getting worse.

This man says, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Oh, he's been rescued from Babylon, from Persia. He's been brought back to the land of Israel. He gets to live in Jerusalem here, and he knows, I'm not in the land of the pagan dead.

I'm in the land of the living. I'm in the land where we worship the Lord, and I'm going to walk before him. He will be my primary consideration. Such fear today, such fear today of big brother, of cancel culture.

What will people think? What will people say? What will men do to me? That is walking before men in the land of the dead. But we are to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Live before his face.

Fear God. Think of him first in all these things. Psalm 56 is the Psalm of David that this Psalmist drew heavily from. You can see that he had memorized Psalm 56. He had meditated on Psalm 56. He loved Psalm 56, and it just poured out of him here in this Psalm.

We don't have time to read the whole thing, but notice some key verses Psalm 56 verses 3 and 4. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, I will praise his word. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear what can flesh do to me.

Verse 11. In God, I have put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Verse 13. For you have delivered my soul from death. Have you not kept my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light of the living, before the face of God in his presence?

What is there? Well, the scriptures tells us that in his presence there is fullness of joy. There is fullness of joy. They say happiness is circumstantial. Joy is not dependent on circumstances, which is true.

But joy is dependent on our abiding in the Lord. Joy is dependent upon our resting in the Lord. Joy is dependent upon our walking before the Lord in the land of the living. In the presence of God, there is peace that passes all understanding.

In the presence of the Lord, there is wisdom and there is knowledge and understanding for it is the fear of the Lord that is the fountain of all of this. In the presence of the Lord, there is eternal life.

This is eternal life that we know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. In the presence of God, we know the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So in the suffering and in the affliction, in the pains of death, in the pangs of Sheol, when you look about and you find trouble after sorrow, here's what we can determine for our outward hallelujah.

Having dealt with our soul inwardly, having praised the Lord, we can say this, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Everything about my life, all the problems with it, all the details with it, I'm going to walk before the Lord before his face.

I'm going to walk before him in the land of the living. One commentator says it's like you're wholly exposed and wholly befriended. Completely exposed and completely befriended. That's the sense here.

How is that possible? That we can be entirely exposed before God and also entirely befriended by him. That we can walk confidently before the Lord in the land of the living. One example of this is given to us in Hebrews 4.

It's a practical example. Hebrews 4 verses 12 through 16. For the word of the Lord is living and powerful. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow.

It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Do you hear it?

It's entirely exposed. Now, to recognize that and then even to rejoice in it means that we have to then consider what is it that God sees? What does he see when he looks at me? How even to know what he sees when he looks at me?

Well, that's the point of the word of God. That cuts deep, gets right to the heart of the matter, so that we may sit like a toddler trying to lift up and look over the edge of the tall box to see what's inside.

The scripture gives us some understanding of what God sees when he looks at us. Wholly exposed and yet wholly befriended. It's the word of God that shows us our sinfulness, our complete and utter disgracefulness in our corruption.

And yet, how is it that we're wholly befriended? Because we have a whole and complete friend, an advocate, a high priest. The very next verse here in Hebrews 4, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, we have him as a high priest.

So let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You see, there's walking before the Lord in the land of the living. Seeing everything about my life from God's point of view, from the scriptures, and then knowing that he's my full and utter advocate and friend.

He's for me, totally, entirely through Christ. I can come before him. Every little thing that happens in my life, I can come before him. Come to the throne boldly. Bring it all to God in faith. Nothing makes you so aware of every step you take like pain.

If you have pain, every time you take a step, you're aware of every step you take. If you have to have support to walk along with your pain, you're conscious of every step you take. Think about it a lot.

And here is the great gain. No small loss without some great gain for the Christian. Here's the great gain. That we would live in a solemn and happy awareness of God's presence in every moment. That I know God is not absent from me in any moment.

Oh, but that my mind, that my soul, that my spirit would not be absent from him. That I would not be oblivious to him and his goodness and his light and his glory. But that every step I take, it's so dependent upon him.

What great gain. What great gain. What joy. What fullness of joy. What peace that passes all understanding. What wisdom. What knowledge. What understanding is there. What great gain that is. And outward hallelujah before God and in faith.

Verse 10. I believed, therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. I believed, therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. Now we've heard the psalmist talk about what he's going through. We've talked about the terms.

Pains of death, pains of sheol, trouble, sorrow. He was brought low. He's talked about it already. Was he complaining? One of the first verses my parents made my brother and I memorize. Do all things without murmuring and disputing.

Every time we start arguing and complaining, it's like. Do all things without murmuring and disputing. Was he complaining here? He was not complaining. He was not complaining. You see, it is not complaining to state in faith.

In faith, I am greatly afflicted. Right? It's not complaining. He's stating it in faith. He's walking before the Lord and then he declares this. And what does the Lord hear? He hears this and he notes our suffering, but we are suffering in faith.

And when others hear this, they know that God is worth trusting. We've not abandoned the reality that God, who is praiseworthy in all things, is trustworthy at all times. This is true. And God is good.

And he is gracious and righteous and merciful. And I am afflicted. Stating it in faith. It's very difficult to do. It is difficult to do. I know many personal failures in this regard. And it comes every time I lay hold of forbidden fruit.

And try to define good and evil on my own terms. In my own self-centered, rotten-headed way. If I grab the fruit from the tree and I begin to say what is good and evil, then what comes forth is very often complaints because God is not up to my standards.

That is not faith. That is not faith. Also, having confessed the goodness of God, just basically saying, I am afflicted. That's not complaining. That is saying God is good and righteous and merciful. And I am afflicted.

It's just stating the way that it is. Many in our time, in the name of Christ, think that it is faith to say, I am not sick. I am not sad. I am not dying. When they are sick. When they are very sad. And when they are dying.

Or they think it is faith to say, I am healthy. And I am happy. And I am living to 105. When in fact, they're not. That's witchcraft. That's called witchcraft. It's a word rebellion against a sovereign God.

To try to speak things into existence that do not exist. We are, in faith, we are to state with full trust and belief in God, I am greatly afflicted. And that may sound a little weird. But what does that, what is a good example?

What would that sound like if we would say in full faith in God, trusting in God that I am afflicted? Well, got a great example in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 8 through 10. Now listen to the way that Paul does it here.

This is a good example. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.

That the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. That's how you do it. I am greatly afflicted. But I'm walking before the Lord in the land of the living. I know that God is good. And I know there's hope ahead because I'm with Christ.

And Christ has suffered and died for me. And he is risen from the dead. And I'm with him. And therefore, I know I am greatly afflicted. But I am walking in faith. And how do we know that this is the great example that it is?

Well, look at verse 13. 2 Corinthians 4. Paul says, and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written. Notice the quote, Psalm 116, verse 10. I believed and therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak.

Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. And will present us with you. For all things for your sakes that grace having spread through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

You see what Paul does? He's quoting Psalm 116, verse 10. He has this in mind. I believed, therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. How do we do that? Well, we do that by saying, this is the fact. I am hard pressed, but not crushed.

And he goes through the whole list. This is how we do it. This is how we in faith and our outward hallelujah, our afflictions become the platform for praise to God by telling everyone how you're doing.

I'm greatly afflicted. Praise the Lord. He's good. That is not the normal way of speaking. But it is a Christian way of speaking. It is a God glorifying way of speaking. And it's so important that Paul puts the suffering that he's undergoing and that the other Christians are undergoing.

He puts it into the context of the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus. Why is that so important? Well, he says it in 1 Corinthians 15.

The fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that all those who are in Christ, our labor is not in vain. There's nothing worse than when you're in suffering and affliction and so many setbacks and you begin to say to yourself, well, this is useless.

Well, this is pointless. We're not getting anywhere. But if you're in Christ and Christ is in you and you're united to Christ by the grace of faith in the life of the Holy Spirit, you will be raised up with Christ.

And so nothing you do in this life before the face of God is in vain. You can walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And that is the outward hallelujah that is done in faith. And that is great gain.

That is great gain. Faith in Christ amid affliction gives us life in the light of the resurrection. Life in light of the resurrection is great, great gain. And lastly, it's despite men. This outward hallelujah is despite men.

Hymn writer H .F. Light composed these two lines. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. When other helpers fail, this outward hallelujah is despite men. I said in my haste, all men are liars.

So what's going on here? Some translations say alarm. Some translations say alarm. Some say haste. So which is it? Well, this is a word that brings to mind both. It's the kind of word that brings to mind the visual reaction to a fire.

I did not invent this illustration that I'm about to give. I did not know this was going to happen before it happened. But yesterday, some kids in the neighborhood tried to set a dead pine tree on fire across the street.

And do you know what happened? There was both alarm and haste. As the neighborhood surrounded the tree and someone had some water and put it out and he called the fire department and got him over there and there was alarm and haste at the same time.

And that's the kind of word that we have here. So what kind of a haste is it? There is a kind of haste that is careless. There is a kind of haste that is careless. Uriah grabbing the ark. There is a kind of haste which is taking care.