"The Lord is the stronghold of my life"

This has been automatically generated, and therefore may contain some unintended inaccuracies.

So today's reading is 1 Samuel role in chapter 23, which can be found on page 2 9 5 of the church bibles. When David was told, look, the Philistines are fighting against Kiila and alluding the Freshian clause, He inquired of the lord's saying, shall I go and attack these full signs? The lord answered him, go, attack the full of signs and save PI. But David's men said to him, here in Judah, we are afraid. How much more than if we go to Kiila against the Philosan forces.

Once again, David inquired of the lord and the lord answered him, go down to Kiosan for I'm going to give the Filosans into your hand. So David and his men went to Kios, for the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Kiila. Now Abiaphas and of the Himalek had brought the ephod down with him when you fled to David at Kiila. Saul was told that David had gone to Kiala, and he said God has delivered him into my hands for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.

And so called at all his forces for battle to go down to Kiala to besiege David and his men. When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiyath of the Greece, bring the Evog. David said, Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Kiala and destroy the town on account of me. Will the citizens of Kiala surrender me to him? Will soul come down as your servant has heard?

Lord God of Israel tell your servant, and the lord said, he will. Again, David asked, will the citizens of Kiila surrender me and my men to saul? And the lord said, they will. So David and his men, about 600 in number left Kiala and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Kiala, he did not go there.

David stayed in the wilderness strongholds, and then in the hills of the deserts of zip. Day after day, saul searched for him, but God did not give get David into his hands. While David was at Horish in the desert of zit, he learned that saul had come out to take his life, and saul son jonathan went to David at Horish and helped him to find strength in God. Don't be afraid, he said. My father soul will not lay a hand on you.

You shall be king over Israel, and I will be 2nd to you. Even my father soul knows this. The 2 of them made a covenant before the lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Orresh. The Zephites went up to saul at Givier and said, is not David hiding among us in the strongholds of Orresh on the hill of her Kyla south of Jeshamon?

Now your majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands. Saul replied, the lord bless you for your concern for me. Go and get more information. Find out where David usually goes, and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty.

Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you. If you're in the area, I will track him down among all the kinds of Judah. So they set out and went to Zeph ahead of Seoul. Now David and his men win the desert of Ma'am, in the Arab sun of Jeshan.

Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Mown. Once Sol heard this, he went into the desert of Mown in pursuit of David. Saul was going along 1 side of the mountain, and David and his men, on the other side, pouring to get away from his soul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to saw saying come quickly, the filler signs are raiding the land. Then saw broke off as pursuit of David and went to meet the bill of science.

That is why they call this place, Summer, Heller, Hamma Hillicott, and David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Angiti. Great. Thank you, Emily, for reading that for us. As has been said, it is hot. If you need, a drink water, feel free to go to the back.

There's a jug of water there. There are cups there. I recognize. It can be a challenge to be listening when it's so hot, and I know you probably didn't sleep very well last night. And, yet now in the heat, you probably eyes might start going a bit and you might start drifting and you might start that.

If you need to get up and grab water, feel free to do so. Also to say, so we're in our series in 1 Samuel and, we're having a so many break in that series over the coming weeks because, next week will be at Revive. I hope you're able to join us for that. The week after, we've got our guest service, thinking about suffering, to please invite people to that, to come along to that. And then the following week, actually, we've got Tom Sweetman from Cornerstone Church is gonna come and be preaching for us on something else.

So, so we've got a little mini break from 1 samuel, and then we'll come back to our series in 1 samuel. So that's where we're heading over the coming weeks. Let me pray for us and for the lord to help us to focus and to learn from his word. Let's pray. Hammondly father, we thank you that we have your words, and we pray, please, that you would help us to concentrate, help us to listen to your words, help us to be ready to learn from it, and please would you change, inspire your spirit be at work in our hearts.

Father bring faith, we pray. And strengthen traits. Well, most of us, in fact, all of us, I would say, a different time struggle in the Christian life. We can question at times whether we can keep going. As Christians.

It can feel a bit like if you've ever been to bath. I know some here have, if you've ever watched the buses trying to get from the town up to the university, you know that there is a big hill that goes from the town up to the university. And if you've been on the bus or you've watched the bus, you know, as you see it going up the hill, you can wonder, is it gonna make it? Is it gonna get to the top or are they gonna need to get all the passengers to get out of the bus? And if you've been on it, you can feel like, maybe we should all get out and push.

But maybe you've been elsewhere where you've had a road that's been like that and you've struggled in your car or on public transport and you've thought maybe you need to get out and push. And sometimes a Christian life can feel like that as well. Are we gonna be able to manage it? Are we gonna get through to the end? Keep holding on to Jesus.

Maybe it's because of just difficult things that happen in life, tragic events, hard times, busyness, maybe it's constant temptations that we face, or maybe it's just spiritual dramas. We can question it, can't we? Are we gonna make it? Oh, sure there are times when it feels like you're on the bike heading down the hill as a Christian. And those are great times.

Wonderful times. I hope you're enjoying 1 of the moment. But this is gonna be about the harder times, the difficult times. So that if you're going through it now, or if you're not, you know that there are gonna be those times that we are prepared for. And there is much help for us in our passage today about just that.

If you turn to the passage, 1 Samuel 23, There are 3 parts to this passage. You might think as you look at it, that there are only 2 parts because the NIV does a break at the beginning of verse 7, but actually there are 3 parts to it. And the break is not for any of those parts at the beginning of 1st 7. Those headings that have been put in there have been inserted by the translators. They are can be a useful tool for us, but I think in this passage, actually, it's not particularly helpful.

So just ignore NIV heading. There are gonna be 3 sections that we're gonna see, and we're gonna focus in to begin with on the middle section. And then we'll come to the 1st section then to the last section. Okay? That's the order we're gonna do things in.

And we go to the middle section because this is a key moment for David King David. The context of the whole chapter is David has been, anointed to be the next king of Israel. But we've still got Saul as king of Israel. And Saul is not happy that David is gonna become king of Israel. And so he's pursuing David is out to kill David.

David is on the run. And the middle section is a key section where David is strengthened in his faith. So we're gonna hone in on that middle section 1st. And the context of this is found in verse 14. Would you have a look at it?

Keep the passage open in front of you and have a look at verse 14. It says David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the desert of zip. Day after day, saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands. While David was at Horish, in the desert of zip, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. Okay.

So there is the context for it. David on the run is in the wilderness in the desert and he learns that Saul has come out to kill him. Imagine that. I've never had that where I've known that someone is out to take my life. But that is what David is experiencing.

He's on the run. Saul is after him. And now we come to an oasis, not a physical oasis, but a spiritual oasis for David. Verse 16, and soul son Jonathan went to David at Horish and helped him to find strength in God. Just picture that moment.

Jonathan. What a great friend he is to David Jonathan, it's saul's son, so son of king saul, who is out to kill David, but Jonathan is David's friend and comes to him. And the text says, helped him find strength in God. What a great friend this is? And there's a lesson here for us.

Just a little 1. Very often we will. And as a church family, those among us who are going through difficult times. And I want to encourage you to get alongside them. And not just to have in mind the physical needs and the emotional needs, though they are very, very important.

But to have us our goal to strengthen 1 another in the lord, in god, in our faith, just as Jonathan did. And the truth is, that that when Jonathan comes alongside David, He strengthens him in the faith, and notice how he strengthens him. Would you see how Jonathan strengthens David? 1st 17, he says to him. Don't be afraid.

My father saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel, and I will be 2nd to you. Even my father saul knows this. Now what's Jonathan doing as he comes alongside David, as he strengthens him? He is reminding David of a promise that God has made.

The promise that God made that David would be king of Israel. Chapter back, you saw Samuel the prophet, say to David, you will be king, and anoint him with oil. And now Jonathan reminds him of this. Do you notice Jonathan doesn't say to him here anything that David doesn't already know? It is promise from God.

And Jonathan says remember this. And therefore, of course, saul won't get hold of you and kill you because God has promised you will be king. And again, that's a helpful build something for us to learn, isn't it very often what we need when we're going through struggles, when we're going through difficulties? It's not necessarily theological novelty, but it's sometimes just the reminder of what God has already promised. Maybe things that you already know that you need to be reminded of.

Some of you are very good at DIY. I know there are many here who are much better than me at DIY. You're good. You've got the tools in the shed and probably a very well ordered share of that. And you know what you're doing with those tools.

But then you get people like me. Who frankly haven't got a clue what we're doing really. And we've got some of the tools, but we don't know how to use them. And I need at times to have people like some of you to come alongside you and go, by the way, now's the time when you lead that tool. You got that tool.

Now you need to use it, certainly with theological truths. We many we have maybe you've already got many theological truths in the shed, but sometimes you need a friend, you need someone from hope church to come alongside you and to say, now you need to use that tool. You need to put it into practice. Now at the moment for that truth, live in the light of it. Use it.

And we all need that. I need that at times. There are times when, yeah, pastors need someone just to come alongside them and remind them of basic truths of the gospel, things we've already heard. But we need reminding of them. And what is the truth?

Well, the truth that, Jonathan reminds David of is that he will be safe because God has promised he will be. Now this is quite a David specific promise, isn't it? That he will be safe because God has promised he'll be king, and therefore, of course, Saul's not gonna get him and kill him. That would wreck that promise. But you and I don't have that promise.

You have not been promised that you will be king of Israel. But what promise do we have? Well, as we go back to that thought at the beginning, That's sort of how we're gonna keep going. What promise has God given us? What promise has Jesus given us?

I'm gonna take you to a verse or 2 in John's gospel. Jesus speaks there. I think it will come up on the screen. I don't think I've got control of this. There you go.

You have it. From John chapter 6, verse 39 to 40. Let me read this for you. This is what Jesus says. This is the will of him who sent me.

Jesus says. This is god's will. This is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my father's will is that everyone who looks to the sun and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. Here is a promise.

Let me be a little bit Jonathan like for you. Actually, my name is Jonathan. It'll be somebody who's never. My 1st name is Jonathan. Don't call me back.

And I let me be Jonathan like for you. Here is a promise that God has made to you, and me. That Jesus says. Who is it that will keep us to the end? Who is it?

Who will make sure that all of god's people will be there at resurrection day. Whose job is that? It is Jesus' job. God the father has given him that job. His job is to make sure of every 1 of his people will be there.

Not most of his people, Not almost all of them, not all but 1. Every single 1 of god's people, to be there at the resurrection. It is Jesus' job. To make sure that happens. How do you know that if you are 1 of those, it says there?

For my father's will, is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him. That is, rests their life on Jesus. Believes in him shall have eternal life. And I will raise them up at the last day. There is god's promise to you.

Was it 1 you already had that he was in the shed? Get it act and use it. And we need that promise when we're struggling. When we're thinking, can I keep going? Can I keep going to the end?

Here is your promise. Hold on, because that Jesus is the 1 who will hold on to you. But I want to ask how does Jesus keep that promise? How does he go about holding on to you and me through this life? Well, 1 of the ways there are several ways in this whole chapter.

1 of the ways which I've not actually put as 1 of our points, but I suddenly realized after I put the points together. 1 of the ways that he does it, of course, is through Christians, getting alongside 1 another, Jonathan like to remind 1 another of god's promises. That is 1 of the ways Jesus keeps hold of us. So we need to keep doing that to keep getting along to things like Sunday services so that we can hear the word preached. So we get along to gospel communities, our small groups, so we can get alongside 1 another.

Because that's where you're gonna hear more if there are people in your group who are struggling. And who you need to remind of god's promises to get along to those things. So that's 1 way. We've got 2 more ways that Jesus keeps hold of us, and we'll see that there are parallels for those. 1 in the biggest 1st part of the chapter, 1 in the last part.

Okay. So now we're gonna go to the 1st part of the chapter. Let's go on in the slides. What are the ways that Jesus keeps hold of us? 0.2.

God protects. Through the commands and warnings in his work. How does Jesus keep hold of us? Through the commands and warnings in his word. We see that in the 1st part of the chapter.

So here we go back to the beginning. And you get this bit, I'm gonna call it keyla. Now I am aware that when I say that people go to Keelah, it's gonna sound like tequila. I can't get away from that. It's just the name that that there is.

I'd like the way Emily said it when she was reading her key either. I'm just not gonna keep going saying it. I don't know. It'll get to say this quela. So if you're gonna get distracted by tequila, you know, that's just gonna have to be the way it is.

Alright? Just go with it. So let's go for this this incident at quela. At the beginning of the chapter. Now I was really helped in understanding this incident by Dale Ralph Davis and his book on 1 time at which, by the way, is brilliant.

I I'd encourage you to get a hold of it. So he points out that there is a particular structure to this passage. If you're at our last session of 1 in the word, we talked about structures of passages, and this is 1 of them. And I'm gonna help you to see the structure of this passage that it is the kind of structure where there is a kind of mirror in the middle. It's sort of symmetrical as as the story goes.

And I will point that out to you with the help of a diagram on the screen, and I'm just gonna tent talk to you through the story. Okay. So it's story time, but, but you'll see the structure of it hopefully on the screen. And, Colin, I'm gonna need you to help me. So here's the 1st bit of it.

I hope. Yeah, I hope you're gonna be able to see it. You might need to bend a weave or just tell me the duck fairly sure. You might be able to see him. Okay.

The story begins. David hears a report that the Philistines are attacking Kila. Nakila is, a town in Israel is part of god's people. He hears the Philist on your attacking, and it should be the king. You guys have rescues god's people.

It should be in Seoul who does this. But David, as the anointed next king, is actually taking on that role. So he hears, here's a report that Keelah is under attack from the Philistines. Next bit, he inquires of the lord twice, whether he should go and help the town of Keelah by attacking the Philistines. He asked twice, doesn't it?

Slightly odd that he asked twice, but he asked twice. He says, should we go? God says yes. But then his men say, well, it's not a great plan to go. We're already fearful.

We don't really wanna go. David says, I'll ask of the Lord again, and God says, yes, go. I'll hand them into your into your hands. Next bit, David, and his men go to Keelah. Go to Keelah.

To fight the fellowsteins and win, That's verse 5. Next bit. You get this weird little verse. Verse 6 about abbie Arthur and an e fort. And as if we ran it through, it's in brackets, and you're thinking, what on earth is down about, and we'll come back to it.

Next bit. Now that was the mirror. Okay. Now we start to get the symmetry. Next bit.

Saw calls his army because he hears that David is in Keelah, and he rejoices. Not that David has rescued Keelah, but that David has tracked himself in Keelah. He says he tracked him there. I will go and get him. So he summoned his men to go to Keelah.

Next, David inquires of the lord twice again. Yeah. David says to the lord, He says, will saul come and get me? The answer is he will. And he says, will the men the people of Keelah hand me over?

And the Lord says, thank Will. So David inquires of the lord twice. Last, saul's here at saul hears a report that David has therefore escaped from kingdom, and that's the incident. Now do you see on the screen? You've got the symmetry there.

It's a way that, in Hebrew that they tell stories, that they have a hinge point in the middle. And that points you to what's really significant that the hinge is really significant. What's the hinge? The hinge is verse 6, which are translators have put in brackets, which actually turns out to be really significant. Is the bit at the middle.

When the writer is saying, this is really important. So what is that really important thing? 1st 6, have a look at it. Now, Abiyatha, son of a Himal lake. Had brought the efod down with him when he fled to David at Kiva.

And you're thinking, what on earth is that all about? What's an efod? An efod is a kind of breastplate. That was made for the priests, and there was 1 particular ephod that the high priest had. And what's significant about that ephod, that breastplate, that that thing that they would wear.

Is that it was a means of inquiring of the lord. It was a means of communicating with the lord to find out what the lord wanted. Now, we don't know the details of how you use this e fod. It's a bit hazy as you read through. And you can read more, look it up in a concluded this afternoon, look it up on the internet, find out more how they would go about it.

But actually, you don't have the detail of how they did it. The important thing in the text is that they had it. And that David could therefore inquire of the lord, which we saw he did twice at the beginning, twice at the end. And that is the really significant thing in this in this incident that David can inquire of the lord is hearing from the lord and is obeying the lord. Contrast Soul, who as king, hasn't heard from the lord for a very long time, hasn't inquired of the lord for a very long time and hasn't heard from the lord for a very long time.

And when he did a while back, he disobeyed the lord. Big contrast, saul and David. Now, our point, how is the lord preserving and protecting David? The answer is through him inquiring of the lord and getting the word of the lord, which is in the form of commands, go to Keelah, and warnings. You're gonna be handed over.

And this is how the lord is preserving David through commands, through warnings. Now we need to hear this as well. How does Jesus keep hold of you and me? What are some of the means that he uses? Yes.

He uses people to come alongside us. Remind us of the promises of God. But he also uses commands and warnings. There are commands in God's word. Jesus commands to us to be obedient to him, and there are warnings.

Jesus gives several warnings in his words. Warning like You cannot serve God and money. That's in Matthew 6. Watch out for false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly a ferocious world. Matthew 7.

Or watch out for the hypocrisy of the pharisees. Jesus over and over again issues us with warning saying, don't go down that path. Don't go that way. Watch out for money. Watch out for greed.

Watch out for false prophets. He warns us. Now there are 2 wrong moves that we can do when it comes to the warnings that Jesus gives. 1 is to think that they don't really matter. We might think if Jesus's job is to hold on to me He's gonna hold on to me until I get to the, until I get to resurrection day.

You might conclude. Therefore, it doesn't matter about his warnings. I can do anything I like. Doesn't matter. He'll hold on to me.

I don't need to heed the warnings. I think this says to you, that is false. You do need to heed the warnings. We need to listen to the warnings in god's word. We must.

It is 1 of the means Jesus uses to keep hold of us. So 1 wrong move we can make is to think, oh, forget about the warnings. We don't need them. The other wrong move is to think it all rests on me to get there to the, at the end. That me sticking with Jesus depends on me, my effort, me listening to the warnings, me doing it all.

I've gotta do it all, and then we would crumble under the weight of it, wouldn't we? At which point we need to come back to the promise to say, no. Jesus is the 1 who will keep hold of us. Now how do you hold those 2 things together? The answer is you just do.

You've gotta hold on to both. Jesus is the 1 who will hold you. How does he do it? Part of the way he does it is through promises and warnings. You might say Well, yeah, but if David had just ignored God and stayed in Cuba, wouldn't have God rest with him?

Anyways? The answer is we don't know how what the lord would do because we're now making things up. How did how did God keep hold of David? What did God use here? He uses commands and warnings.

When we get to the resurrection valley, and we are there. Maybe there's Like at Revive, a banner saying hope church, and are all gathered around there, there won't be. But if we're there, with millions of others from all tribes and nations in town, and we are there, And every single person who is gold is there. Jesus has kept his promise. They are all there.

We're all there. Every single 1. As you go around talking to people to say, how did you get here? How did you make it here? Everyone will say?

Oh, it wasn't me. God got me here. Jesus got me here. He held on to me. He got me here.

And every single 1, I think. Fast majority will say. He got me here, and he used the commands and warnings in his work as part of his way of getting me. So we do need to listen to the warnings and the commands. We do need to respond to them.

Now if you today are drifting, falling away, ignoring the warnings in god's word. Can I urge you to respond to them? Don't drift. Don't fall away. Respond to those warnings.

It is part of how Jesus will keep hold of you. Okay. That's 1 of the ways that he keeps hold of us. What's the other way that we're going to see? Well, we'll see 1 more way in the last part of the chapter.

We're almost there. You're doing very well. 3rd point. God protects by his providence. God protects by his providence.

We see this from verse 19 onwards. So you might need to flip over the page to page 2 9 6, and we will skim through this story very quickly. The Zephites who are part of god's people, but from the area of Judah, which by the way is where David is from as well, kind of area roughly the David is from. So they're sort of fellow Judah, Judah Heights with with, David. They go to saul and say, we're happy to hand David over to you.

He's in our territory. Come down, come to us, and we will hand him over to you. We'll make sure you get David. And saul responds, and I can't you can imagine it's a slightly sickly way either he might say verse 21. The lord bless you for your concern for me.

Oh, what's up here? Is there seems to be a bit of a false piety here, you know, the lord. He's calling on the name of the lord, although he's he's a dissapeable. But also, you know, for your concern for me, our victim mentality here. But he says to them, you go find out more find out more information, and then I'll come down and and get David.

Well, so the ZIFites go. Verse 24, they go and sort of follows on afterwards. And they begin the search and in verse 25, David goes to the desert of Maon. And verse 26, saul goes off him, and this is where you get the chase. And I don't know what you need some theme music in your head for a chase.

Don't you some, I don't know, theme music from a wild west or something like that Chase going on, or maybe it's a Benny Hill style. Anyway, it's a chase sort of music that you've got going on in your head. The chase is going on. They get to a mountain verse 26, saul's going on 1 side of the mountain, David, on the other side, and the and some commentators think maybe Saul was, doing a pizza movement around the mountain. And they're hurrying along verse 26 as saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men came to catch to them.

Oh, the music's building up here. I can sense the excitement some have drifted off, but it says some excites some tension in the room. 1st 27, a messenger came to Seoul saying come quickly. The Philistines are raiding the lands. Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines.

At just the right moment, the messenger arrives. Thank saw this called away to another battle. And it is just at the right moment. I mean, there is a delicious irony here that David in the 1st part of the chapter defeated the Philistines. And now in the last part of the chapter, the lord uses the Philistines.

They'm attacking to rescue David. They have now become his savior as it were. But it needed to happen, didn't it, just the right moment that they attacked, that the messenger comes along, and the messenger doesn't get delayed, doesn't get stuck in traffic on the a 3. Doesn't I don't get lost. Doesn't lose the message.

Forget the message, but arrives and arrives just at the right moment for to be drawn away and for David to be rescued. And so we see here as we often do in the Bible God's Providence, that God will use all things and anything to preserve and protect his anointed king and his people. There are no coincidences in the Bible. There are no coincidences in life. He uses all sorts of things to protect and preserve his people's faith and to bring people to faith as well, an invitation to a guest service.

He uses all sorts of things. Reminds me a bit of the story of, Corey 10 Boom and her sister, Betsy. Maybe you know, you've heard of this. If you've not read the hiding place, I'd encourage you to read it. It's a great book to read or to listen to.

If you've got Spotify, you can listen to it for free on Spotify. There you go. You can listen to her. Corrie 10 boom. She was, from Holland.

She and her sister were, put into a Nazi concentration camp during the 2nd World War. In Raven's Brook, and they were assigned to a horrible barracks, which was overcrowded, filthy, and flee infested. And, they they managed to have a Bible in there with them, and they read at 1 point from god's word, once 1 thessalonians, they read give thanks in all circumstances. So you think how can you give thanks there? But they said, and Betsy particularly said, if we're gonna take god's word seriously, we need to give thanks.

So we will do that, and they did. And Betsy insisted that they should give thanks for the fleas. And Corey couldn't get ahead around that struggle with that. But she said, no, if we're gonna take this seriously, we need to thank off the fleets. Well, as time passed, they realized that the soldiers rarely came into their barracks And as a result, they were able to have bible readings and prayers and, and discussions with the other women about things in god's word, and many women heard the message of the Bible in that barracks.

And then eventually they realized the reason the soldiers didn't enter the barracks was because of the fleas. In the providence of God, you can use fleas and he can use messengers, and he can use all sorts of things to protect and preserve his people. And I'm sure there are many here who can testify to God using all sorts of things. Just happened to sit next to someone. Just happened to be in a place at a certain time and God using it.

And we've seen it too as a church champion. That just under 3 years ago, some of us at emmanuel were praying together asking the lord. What have you got for us? Not knowing what the lord would do immediately after it's that following week. Pete Woodcock from Cornerstone, saying to me If you wanna plant a church, we, the elders of Cornwall will be prepared to back you.

The lord's providence, the lord's purpose, and that we can meet here in this school. That we can be here. That we are here is a part of god's providence, and he is at work in each 1 of us and through each 1 of us. And therefore, we can trust him He will get us home. He will get us there to the end.

Maybe you're feeling like Christian life can feel the uphill. Maybe you're feeling wonder whether I'll make it. I hope today has been an encouragement. I hope this passage has been an encouragement. What do we see here?

The promise I've got, be encouraged by it. Be strengthened by it. Jesus has promised he will get you there to the end. What does he use? He uses Jonathan's.

Jonathan's in particular, but friends who know god's word and can remind you of it. He uses commands and promises in his words, and he uses providence. We can trust him. They may lead us in prayer. Heavenly father, we praise you that you promise to get us to the end, trusting you.

Father, we need that. We are very weak. We can't get there on our own. Hold on to us. We pray.

Use all the means that you have. Encourage us help us to be an encouragement to 1 another. Father use your commands and your organs and use your providence, but we praise you that you have promised you without a long time.