that we can trust in and lean on. I'm thankful for a God in heaven that knows how to provide for his people and how to protect his own, amen. All right, we're gonna be in the book of 2 Chronicles here this morning. 2 Chronicles chapter 16. Now we're gonna begin there in verse one, make our way down to about verse six. But I really wanna major on verses five and six this morning. 1 Chronicles chapter 16. Now we're gonna read verses one to six, but I wanna really major on verses five and six today, and I pray that the message will be a blessing to you. When you find your place, stand with me if you would. We'll read the word of God together this morning. I've entitled the message From Restriction to Renovation, From Restriction to Renovation, 2 Chronicles chapter 16, and I'll read verses one through seven. Understanding this morning that throughout our text, one of the things that we're going to see, of course, is a man that he should have trusted in God, but what he did was he put his trust in the affairs and trust of men. However, God was faithful, and God remains faithful even in our unfaithfulness. Amen? and God is still faithful and God still worked everything out for His honor and for His glory. But we're going to look at a text here this morning that's going to show us that even in the midst of Asa's decision that he made, God was still there and God was gonna use it for his purpose and for his glory. So let's take a look at it here this morning. I think it'd be a blessing to you. Let's begin there in verse one. The Bible says, in the sixth and 30th year of the reign of Asa, Basha, king of Israel, came up against Judah and built Ramah to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house and sent to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, and dwelt at Damascus, saying, there is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father. Behold, I have sent thee silver and gold. Go break thy league with Basha, king of Israel, that he may depart from thee. And Ben-Hadad hearkened unto the king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the city of Israel. And they smote Ejon, and Dan, and Ablameim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass, when Basha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. Then Asa the king took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Basha was building, and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah. Let's pray this morning. Father, we come to you today. We thank you, Lord, for your blessings on the day. Ask God for your help this morning. Lord, we pray that you would just be with us as we go through your word. God, you speak to our hearts. Lord help us to hear what we need to hear God help us see what we need to see this morning May our hearts be Ready to receive your word today May it may your words fall in a lodging place in our life and and God that we would just take it and think on it Lord and we had ponder on your word this morning And Lord that it would help us in our life. God, you said that your word will not return void. And so we're praying God that it would do what you have intended it for it to do. Lord, I pray that you'd bless the service, the congregation today. Lord, help us to shut out the world for a while. just to hear your voice, and Lord, just give us what we need from heaven. Lord, help me as I preach today, God, to give honor and glory to you, and also to expound your word, Lord, as it needs to be done. God, we love you and thank you for it all in this, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, you may be seated. Here this morning we see, I've entitled this message, From Restriction to Renovation, Listen in Life. There's gonna be lots of times in our life when we're gonna face some things. As we've noticed here in the very first verse of this chapter, we're gonna face some things that are like Ramaz in our life. things that are restrictions, things that provide, in essence, a resistance to our life, a resistance to the path that we're on. The Bible shows us here in verse one, the Bible says, in the sixth and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Basha, king of Israel, came up against you. You know what the word Basha means? The name Basha means to stink. It means to have a bad odor or it means to be something that is, or to be something that is offensive. So an offensive odor, an offensive smell, something that is, something that is odorful, you know, something that is not pleasing, of course, in your life. Listen, in life those types of things are going to happen. As we're serving God and as you're living for the Lord, we're gonna come up against some things that are gonna be a stink to our life, that are gonna be an odor for us. Notice, we can see here in the text, the Bible says that in the 30th year of the reign of Asa, that Basha, king of Israel, came up against Judah. And so we can see that he was living his life for the Lord. He was just man, he was doing what he needed to do for God. But as he's living his life for God, there comes this odorsome stink that comes up in his life, in essence, and he begins to build something. The Bible says this place that Basha began to build was this place called Ramah. And this place, Ramah, was a fortification, a place that would be up against God's people. And listen, when you're trying to live for God, the devil's gonna do everything he can to bring something in your life Some sort of, some sort of fortress, some sort of barrier, something in your life that'll be a hindrance to you to keep serving Him. Something that'll come up into your life that'll be a stink to your life. Something that is unpleasing. Something that is, something that you don't like, something that you're not looking, that you wasn't looking for, but I tell you what, it showed up anyway. Anybody ever had something like that happen? Man, you're just trying to serve God and live for the Lord, and then there was something that just showed up in your life, and I tell you what, it was smelly, and it was stinking, it was a fortification like the devil just sent it to block you, to hinder you, to do what he could to keep you from progressing in the path that you need to go down. And the Bible shows us here in this text, there in verse one. The Bible says in the sixth year and 30th, in the sixth and 30th year of the reign of Asa, that Basha, king of Israel, came up against you. The first truth I want us to see this morning is what is meant to stop you, what is meant to stop you, God can also use to start you. What is meant to stop you, God can also use to start you. We see here in the text, we begin and we see that there was this fortification. build up against Asa. But there was something that Asa did do, however, that we see that he really kind of got off on the wrong path. But even though he kind of made a decision that probably wasn't the best decision to make, God was still a faithful God anyway. How many of you have ever made some bad decisions, but yet God was still faithful? Amen. And so we can see that he got off on a path that really he didn't need to travel on, but in the midst of it, God still showed him that he was a faithful God. And I want us to see, number one, I want us to see the mistake that he made. The Bible shows us there in verse 1, for that Basha, he built this place called Ramah, watch this now, to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah. So this restriction was made, this fortification was built so that Asa would not receive that which he needed to receive. There was a blockade that was there. But notice what happened in verse 2. What did Asa do about it? Well, the Bible says it there in verse 2 that Asa, he brought out the silver and the gold of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and he sent it to Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria. What happened was, was instead of Asa relying on God, instead of Asa waiting on God to turn out this situation like God had done in the past, what he did was, was that he emptied the treasuries of the house of the Lord. And you know what he did? He sent all of that to a pagan ungodly king to help get him out of his mess. And so we look at that and we think, man alive, why in the world would Asa do such a thing? Why in the world would this man of God, who had done some tremendous things for the Lord, why would he pull all of the silver and gold out of the house of the Lord and try to pay off a pagan worldly king to get him out of the predicament that he was in. Listen, that was a mistake that he had made. And if we're not careful in our life, when the devil seeks to bring restrictions and blockades in our life, if we're not waiting on God, if we're not putting all of our faith and trust in him, then we will empty ourselves of so much stuff. We will empty ourselves of joy. We will empty ourselves of God's will. Man, we can empty ourselves of so much stuff because we're looking to something else. to get us out of where we're at. That was a mistake that he had made. He made a mistake in relying on a pagan king to get him out of his predicament. When the one of the things that he should have done and what he could have done was he could, just like he had in the past, is put his faith and trust in God and allowed God to move and work in his life. But this moment he did not do that. But listen, I don't want to falter on him too much, but it is a mistake that he made because, listen, if we're not careful, we can do the same things, and maybe we have already done something like that in our life. Instead of relying on God and trusting God and waiting on God for God's timing or waiting on God and God's provision, we can mistakenly look towards the things of the world and say, well, you know what? Maybe I can trust in Him. Maybe I can trust in that. Maybe I can rely on this over here and that'll get me out of where I'm at. Well, in essence, really what happened is his plan did work. God could have folded it up. His plan did work. But let us understand that just because his plan worked doesn't necessarily mean that that was God's perfect will for his life. even though God permissively allowed it to happen. God was gonna allow it to take place. But what would God rather his people do? Trust in him, right? Wouldn't God rather his people trust in him and rely on him than rely on a pagan king that lives for this world? Of course. But you know what? In the midst of his faithlessness, if we wanna say that, In the midst of his wavering spirit, God still showed up to be faithful and strong. And I'm thankful for the times in our life when there have been blockades, and there have been restrictions, and there have been things that come up in our life that keep us from pressing forward, or things that come up that hinder us in our life, that even though we make some bad decisions, that the God of heaven is still faithful when we are faithless. And the Bible shows us here, I mean, what was the purpose of Basha? His purpose was to set something in Asa's life and in his kingdom that would be a blockade against him, that would be a restriction against his life for the intent. Listen, the whole purpose and the intent was to keep people from coming in, to keep people from coming in to where Asa was. He was gonna set up this blockade. Of course, God knew what was going on. God knew what was happening. But we see that when he faced this blockade, when Asa faced this, Instead of him saying, God, I got this in my life. Lord, I got this blockade, I got this restriction, I got this enemy, I got this obstruction in my life. Lord, what am I going to do with it? How are we going to conquer this? Instead of him coming to God about it, he turns to a wicked king, a wicked pagan king, and tries to buy him off. And of course he did. I mean, the wicked pagan king was ready to receive. the money that came out of the treasury of the house of God. Listen, the devil always wants to empty you of everything that you got. He don't mind taking everything that you have. And so we can see this wicked king, yes, he was willing. Yes, I'll go, I'll go deceive this man that I've been in league with because listen, if you can buy somebody like that off, he wasn't really his friend anyway. He didn't have no loyalties. He didn't have no alliances. He was just a pagan man for hire. There was no righteousness in this man. There was no loyalty in Ben-Hadad. He was just the mercenary up for the next highest bidder. That's all that he was in his life. But when we see that this is the type of person that Asa turned to when he could have went to an almighty God so he can see his mistake. We see the mistake that he made. We see that he shouldn't have done that, but yet God still showed himself faithful. But we can see this blockade that came into his life. There in verse two, the Bible says that Asa brought out the silver and the gold of the treasure of the house of the Lord, the king's house, and he sent to Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, and said, there is a league between me and thee, and as there was between my father, between my father and thy father. Behold, I have sent thee silver and gold. Go break thy league with Basha, king of Israel, that he may depart from me. And Ben-Hadad, he hearkened unto Asa, and he sent the captains of the armies against the cities of Israel, and they smote Eshon, and Dan, and Ablamain, and all the store cities of Naphtali. And it came to pass, when Basha heard it, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease. One of the things I want us to see here this morning, as I stated from the very beginning, is that what was meant to stop us can also be what is meant to start us. Ramah was a place of restriction. It was a symbol of something that was meant to hinder, to block. It was a symbol of limitation in life. And the devil will do everything he can to bring these things in our life as we're trying to serve the Lord. And as we're trying to serve God, man, the devil brings... But listen, we gotta make sure that we're seeking the face of God and that we are in the will of God, not looking to this, not looking to that. Well, this is just... Asa could have said, well... You know what Asa did? Asa said, this is what I desire. This is what I want. When Asa should have said, well, you know what? This is the direction that I'm looking towards. What Asa should have done was he should have been completely looking in the direction of God because God was going to faithfully give him the direction that he needed. God was going to faithfully give him everything he needed in life. The Bible shows us right here that one of the things that he did was he turned. He didn't do that. What he did was he put his faith and trust in himself. He put his faith and trust in man. But God was still yet faithful. God allowed it to happen even in the midst of his unfaithfulness. And God still allowed it to happen. And when all of this took place, and when Ben-Hadad went up against Israel, and he tore down all the cities and he fought against them, we have Basha, he's looking over and he's saying, man, I thought me and Ben-Hadad were friends. And so what does he do? He says, well naturally, I'm going to have to pull all my resources back together. I'm going to have to go back home. So he left off, he stopped building this Ramah, this place of restriction and boundary and limitations up against God's people. and he came on back to the house. But I want us to see here this morning in the midst of that, what was meant to stop God's people, Ramah, what was meant to stop God's people, God was gonna use that to start them back up. As I said, Ramah was a place of restriction, it was a place of limitation, but yet notice what happens in verse six. Ramah was left alone. Verse six, what does Asa the king do? The Bible says that Asa the king, he took all of Judah, he rented all his people up. And the Bible says, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timber thereof, wherewith Basha was building, and he built therewith. Jeba and Misbah. You know what that is? Well, Misbah means lookout or place of watching. So what happens is, listen, the devil will do everything he can to set up ambushments in your life, to set things up against your life that'll keep you from pressing forward, that'll hinder you in your spiritual life, that'll be a blockade, a restriction, a hindrance, so to speak. And what happened was, was that, man, when they, when Bosh has set up this Ramah in his life, what ended up happening was, was that this Ramah now got left alone, and then Asa walked up to it, and he rounded all of his people up, and he walked right up to what was a hindrance in his life. He says, you know what? God's allowed this hindrance in our life to now be a blessing to us. And they took all the stones of Ramah, and they took the timber of Ramah, and you know what they did? They gathered all that stuff up that was a restriction and a blockade in their life, and they took it back and built something out of it. And that's what I'm trying to get us to see this morning. That what the devil sets up in front of us that is a stink, that is odorless, that is against us, God can allow those things to be a foundation. God can allow those things to be something that'll help to press us forward into building something new and into doing something different. Notice the Bible says right here. The Bible says that they took all those things. They're in verse six. They took all that stuff. They took the stones away. They carried away the stones. They carried away the timber. And what they do, these things, this place of Ramah that was built up against them, they took all that stuff that was built against them and they went and built two cities out of it. They made something out of what was restricting them in their life. They made something out of what the devil was putting up against them in their life. In other words, their obstruction became their opportunity. Does that make sense? What was obstructing them in their life became an opportunity for them. As I said, the word misbah means a lookout or a place of watching. You know what that brings? It means vision. Listen, the devil do everything he can to keep us from a vision. The devil do everything he can to cloud it out and to help us not to see what we need to see. But yet in the midst of the ramah, in the midst of the things that was set up against God's people, the Lord allowed God's people to have the victory And they used what was against them to completely do something amazing. And they took the stones. They took the stones that were there in Raman. They took all that stuff away, and they began to build and make something out of it. What I'm trying to get you to see this morning, if you haven't seen it already, is that the things that are brought to us that are meant to be a hindrance, that are meant to be a blockade, that are meant to stop us from serving the will of God and being in the will of God, the things that come our way that the devil has set up against us, God can help us to take those things and build a foundation. and build a foundation of something that is good. Build a foundation of something that is right. The Bible says they took the stones that was there and they begin to make something out of it. I heard a long time ago somebody said this, take the stones of, take the bricks of criticism and build steps out of them. In other words, you take those things, you build steps. Man, take things that are against you in life and use it to elevate yourself, which brings us to the very next place, the word jiba. That word jiba means heel or elevated place. So you know what we want to do? We want to make sure that in life we take the things that are thrown up against us. The things that are ambushments against our life. The things that are set up against us and we take those things and we use those things to elevate us. Does that make sense? Instead of bringing this into a place that will Lower us down instead of coming instead of instead of allowing those things to bring us into a place that is That is that is away from the Lord man We take those things and we what people say that we take the things that the situations that happen in life And we use these things that are against us to to help elevate us to another place. That's what we call spiritual growth. And so God desires to bring spiritual growth and God desires to bring vision into our life out of things that the devil tries to use to hinder spiritual growth and to hinder vision. Does that make sense? And so we can see right here, that the Bible shows us something tremendous. That even though that there was an ambush, an ambushment, even though that Basha set something up against God's people, God was still going to enable these people to use something amazing to help them do something out of it. And so we can see the blessing that they were able to receive. We think about the very same thing in Genesis chapter 50 in verse 20, where Joseph said, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. They throwed Joseph in the pit, you know, and he was forgotten all about, and Joseph faced his brothers later on, and he said, you know what, you meant evil for me, God meant it for good. There was an outcome, there was a purpose. And even though sometimes the bosses of life may come up and set the remorse up against us, The God of heaven can use the ramaz. The God of heaven can use the restrictions and the blockades and those types of things to allow us to come up to them and pick them apart stone by stone and help us to build things out of it. And it'll help to give us vision and it'll help us to be elevated in our spiritual growth. Romans chapter eight, verse 28, the Bible says, all things work together for good. Isaiah 54, 17 says, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And so we can see that when he faced the ramaz of life, then God was there to be able to heal. What's something else that we can see? Well, I think one of the next things that we can see is not only do we see what was meant to stop us can start us, but I think we also can see that God can use the rubble for our resource. God can use the rubble for our resource. Asa took those stones, He took those stones and he made something out of it. Let's ask us this this morning. What is it that has come up against our life, that is an ambushment against us, that is holding us back, that is doing everything it can to keep us from pressing forward? What is it in life that God has a desire to bring to a place of rubble, but what is it that is in our life that is hindering us at this moment, at this particular moment right now? What is it that is there? And so we ask ourselves, we say, well, OK, well, if this is what it is and we identify that, we understand in our life that God can use that rubble as a resource for us. God can help us to take the rubble of Ramah. and lay it for a foundation for something different. Does that make sense this morning? And so we can see here today the blessings and how God can work through the things that's going on in our life. The book of Exodus in chapter 12 and verse 36 talks about how when God's people, when they were walking out of Egypt, and as they were walking out of Egypt to build a different life, the Bible says that the Egyptians gave them the spoils that they had. God provided exactly everything that they needed as they went on their journey. So what I'm trying to get us to see this morning is that God knows how to provide for his people. God knows how to take care of his own. And so we can see in the text that Asa the king, he took all of Judah. They all went down there together and they carried away the stones of Ramah. Just like the Egyptians carried away, just like God's people, the nation of Israel carried away the spoils out of Egypt. God provided for his own people then, God was providing for Asa now. God says, listen, you follow me, listen, I'm gonna help you, I'm gonna build your life, I'm gonna be there for you. But listen, even though Asa was unfaithful in this decision, God still showed himself to be faithful in the midst of Asa's life. And I'm thankful this morning, listen, How many of us would this morning agree, I haven't always been as faithful as I should? I believe all of us have. Every single one of us here this morning can nod our head and say, you know what, I've made some pretty terrible decisions in my life, but even in the midst of that decision, God showed some grace. In the midst of that decision, God was faithful. In the midst of that decision, God, this is what shoulda happened, but this didn't happen, but this is what probably shoulda happened, but yet because of God's grace, what happened to me, did not happen the way it should have been. God had grace and God had mercy. And so we can see here that God took the things that were a blockade in Asa's life and helped him and helped Asa to use it as building blocks to see, to have a place of vision, to have a lookout in his life. God used what was against him to elevate him to a place to where he could grow and to where he could see and have vision because the devil does everything he can to stop both of those things. So we have to make sure in our life that number one, that we are relying and trusting in the Lord. Relying and trusting in the Lord now God did help and God God gave his God gave his permissive will well listen I'm not just looking for a permissive will this morning. I want to be in the perfect will of God a man I want to be in the perfect will of God We can see here in the text in verse 6 at Asa the king of Judah and all of and they, all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah. Everybody was involved. And the timber thereof, where they built, where Basha was building, and he built therewith Jeba and Mishpah. So the third truth I want us to get to this morning is that the end of their work was the expansion of another. The end of their work was an expansion of the other. What the enemy tried to end, God extended. What the enemy tried to end, God did extend. We can see that the Bible says there in the text, the Bible says in verse five that he left off his work, that he let his work cease. That he let his work cease, basa. He turned away from where he was at. His plan worked, Asa's plan worked. Basha stopped in building Ramah. He stopped the work and he turned around and he goes back home because his own home was under attack. And so what does Asa do? He rounds up all of his people and he goes down there to Ramah and he says, you know what? The end of their work is going to be the beginning of ours. We're going to take what they meant for bad. We're going to take what they meant for evil. We're gonna take what they meant to be a hindrance and we're gonna take what they meant to to be a blockade We're gonna take what they meant that was stinking in our life And we're gonna take it and use it to elevate us in spiritual growth and to help us to have some vision in life They was going to use it for God's honor and glory even though it was set up against them They were going to use it for God's honor and glory and I'm telling you this morning that we have to do the very same thing. Because there's gonna be some remorse that come up in your life. There's gonna be some things that come up, but man, they stink to high heaven. Man, they are terrible, they are bad, and they are blockades in your life, and they're limitations, and they are restrictions. But I tell you what, the very first thing you better do is you better seek the perfect will of God. Because that is the place where you wanna be. That is the place where you wanna reside. We see that something that was meant to be for their end, God was gonna use it to be an extension of their ministry. Notice, he says that they took the stones and they took the blocks, they took all the timber, they took all these things and they began to build other things out of it. Listen, in life we have a decision to make. I can take the things that people have, the horrible, terrible things that people have, thrown at me and said and done and all that stuff and I can allow that stuff to be a weight in my life to hold me down or I can decide to say, you know what? I'm going to use it to help me build something good out of it. What are you going to use with the steps? What are we going to use with all the things that is thrown against you? Are you going to allow it to be awake in your life to keep you down? Or are you going to say, you know what? I'm going to let the carpenter build something out of this. And so we can see here in the text, the Bible says they built things out of it. They made things out of it. What was an ambushment against them, they took it and they built something out of it. So in your life today, whatever it is that against you, what can you do to use that as something to help elevate you in your life? to help it make you better, to help it to bring you to a better place. What is it that it could be? We can see that what the enemy tried to be as an end to God's people became an extension of God's plan. The enemy's collapse was something that God was able to use for His own people's construction. And so let's think about that in our life. What is it that has collapsed around us that the enemy set up for an ambushment against us that we can now use to build and make something out of it. Listen, that's between you and God. But I'm sure all of us, we can look around and we can see some things that would help us. Listen, we gotta make sure that in life that we don't allow these things to keep us from working and these things to keep us from building because listen, what's the Bible saying, Nehemiah? There was all kinds of things that came up against Nehemiah and his people. And you know what he said? He says, listen, I can't leave. I got too much work to do. Why should I leave off the building? Why should I stop? Why should I stop? Why should I leave from doing this when there is so much left that there is for me to do? And he says, there's no reason for me to stop the work. He says, I'm doing a great work. In essence, I cannot come down. The Bible says in Nehemiah 6.3. I'm doing a great work. I cannot come down. I cannot cease. I cannot stop. Listen, make sure in our Christian life that as we are building, And we are building out of what the devil has really left behind. Because you know what they did there in Nehemiah? They were going back to a place that was decimated. It was a place that was in ashes. It was a place that was in ruin. And you know what they had to do? They had to rebuild it back right there where it was at. They had to rebuild back. And you know what I'm sure some things they had to do? They had to use resources that were around them. They had to use some things that were there to help them build back. where they were at. So in life we ask ourselves, what is it, what is it that needs to be built back? What is it that, what is the, what is the, what is the remal that the devil has placed in my life? What is the remal that is, that is something that stinks? What is the, what is the remal that is a barrier or a limitation in my life? And how can I use this to help elevate me in my spiritual life, to help me get to a place of vision, to help me get to a place of growth? What is it that I can use? Instead of allowing these things to be a weight in my life and continue to hold me down, God helped me to take these things and use them to be building blocks so that I can see better, so that I can grow strong. And so that's what they did in Nehemiah. They were at a place that was totally decimated, that was burnt down to the ground. And they went down there and they built it back. And Nehemiah said, I'm doing a great work. I cannot come down. The Bible says that men, as they were building, as they were building back the walls, they had a trowel in one hand and they had a sword in the other. And listen, that's what it takes. And that's how life is. That is the Christian life. As we're trying to travel through the Christian life, we got a trowel in one hand. We're trying to build. We got a sword in the other. We're trying to fight off the devil and the attacks of everything else. That, my friend, is The Christian life. Trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. You're trying to build while you're also trying to fight. That is the Christian life. But I'm thankful that we have the best sword available and I'm thankful that we have a trowel that you use for the honor and glory of God, that God can build anything and make anything. But we just gotta make sure that as we're traveling in this journey that we don't allow the Ramaz to be permanent blockades, to be permanent things in our life that keep us from pressing forward. We also gotta make sure that we're seeking the face of God and the will of God, not trusting anyone else or anything else. Galatians in chapter six and verse nine of the Bible says, be not weary in well-doing. 2 Corinthians chapter four, verses eight and nine, the Bible says we're troubled on every side. We're troubled on every side, yet we're not distressed. Philippians chapter one, verse 12 says, the things which whereof have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. He says, you know what, I've had some things happen to me. Paul says, you know, I've had some things happen to me. He says, but you know what, it's all been for the furtherance of the gospel. It's all been for the furtherance of the gospel. I've had some things that's been said. I've had some things that's been done. He says, but you know what, it's all for the furtherance. of the gospel, because no matter what has happened to me, if it advances the cause of Christ, if it advances the cause of Christ, then it's been worth it. And so we can see that what the remorse that the devil can set up in our life can be things that God can use to expand our ministries. So what God can bring us to a collapse, God's people can use for a construction, Christ himself When we think about us pressing forward for the cause of Christ, Christ himself set the greatest example in man's suffering. And how did he do that? We see the Lord Jesus himself came to the world for this very purpose, to seek and to save that which is lost. There was a lot of remorse that was set in the path of Christ. There was a lot of things that was set in front of him that by man's standards, man could easily have said, no, I'm not pressing forward, this is it for me. But yet Christ himself, even though when he was rejected, and Christ himself, even though when he was there and they tried to find cause and fault in him, and Christ himself, when they plucked out his beard and they whipped him with the cat-of-nine-tails, and he carried his cross, towards the top of the hill of Golgotha. And as he was on his way, bleeding profusely out of his body, and the Bible says in Psalm 22 that he can look down and he can see his bones. When the Bible says he was marred more than any other man, when they beat upon him and spit upon him and ridiculed his name, and when they done all these terrible things to the Savior, there he is on the cross, and the priests come by and say, if you are the Christ, then come down from the cross and show us all. And the Lord refused and said, no. You know why? Because his end was our beginning. The end of his fleshly body, his sacrifice, was going to provide salvation and a new beginning for the rest of us. We see in the book of Acts, Stephen, the first martyr in the scriptures. The Bible shows us he gives us this tremendous sermon. Man, he lays it out. He gives this tremendous sermon, and then what happens is, man, the Pharisees, they got all mad and upset. And the Pharisees, they got all upset, and the Bible says they ran upon him. They took him outside of the city, and they stoned him with stones. They stoned him with stones. I mean, this man, he was a tremendous man of God, a tremendous preacher. And they took him outside of the city because they couldn't stand what he had to say. and they brought him out there, they drug him out there, and they gave their coats to the apostle Paul, Saul at the time, he wasn't saved yet, and he's standing there, the apostle Paul, as I said, not saved yet, but he's there, and he sees what all's going on, that he is consenting, unto his death. And so he's sitting there and he's holding everybody's coats. He is consenting to what's going on. And they drag Stephen out there and they stone him to death. And as they are stoning Stephen to death, Stephen looks up towards heaven. Says, God, forgive him. God, forgive him. And the Lord Jesus himself, the Lord Jesus himself, the Bible says, stood up off of his throne. stood up off of his throne. What I'm trying to get us to see this morning is, are we gonna live a life for Christ that'll little be so amazing that the Lord Jesus gives up off his throne, makes him literally stand up in praise and in adoration for what you've done? They stoned Stephen to death. And Stephen, while he's being stoned, is asking God to forgive him. And the Lord Jesus, knowing what that's like, stands up off his throne and, in essence, gives a standing ovation to the life of Stephen. Stephen's life ended, but it ended with the Lord Jesus lifting up off of his throne. That's the kind of life that we should aspire to live. A life that says, you know what, in my life, in the beginning of my life, the middle of my life, and the end of my life, I want to live a life that is so pleasing to God that the Lord Jesus, in essence, lifts up off his throne and gives a standing ovation to how you lived, finishing well. So we look at ourselves today. There's so many Ramahs. There's so many things that the devil is placing in our life to be restrictions, to be boundaries, to be limits, things that are smelly and stinky and are not helpful. But are we gonna allow those things to keep us down in the dirt? Are we gonna allow those things to keep us fulfilling God's will? Are we gonna allow those things to keep us from pressing forward? Are we gonna say, you know what, I'm gonna take those things I'm going to build something out of it. I'm going to follow the will of God and I'm going to, man, I'm going to build something out of what smells so bad. Wow. So we ask ourselves, what are we going to do this morning? You're the one that's in charge of that. You're the one that's in charge of that. Listen, not me. Not the Lord. But you. What's your decision today? Let's pray this morning. Father, we come today, we're so thankful for your goodness, Lord, and your provision and how you provide the things that you do. Lord, I pray that you'd help us today to take the things that's been set up against us in our life. And God, that you would take these things and use it, Lord, for honor and glory. Lord, help us to take things, Lord, that have been that have set limits and boundaries in our life. Lord, help us to take these things, help us to grow spiritually and have a greater vision in our life. Lord, I pray if there's anybody here today that's not saved, that today would be the day they'd call out, Lord, to you for salvation. There's nobody looking but me and God, but if you're here today, you can say, you know what, I've never trusted Christ as my Savior, but I sure would like to, I know I need to. You hear this morning and say, you know what, I need to start over. I need to make sure that I'm saved on my way to heaven. And here this morning, that's exactly what I want to do. And you know what, I'm going to lift my hand up and say, you know what, I'm not saved, but I need to get saved today. Anybody like that here this morning? Nobody's looking but me and the Lord. As the piano plays, the ladies will sing here in a minute. But if you're here this morning, say, you know what, I need to get saved. I'm not saved, but I sure do need to. Anybody like that here today? Maybe here this morning you say, you know what, I just want to make sure I follow the will of God. I want to make sure that I build some good things out of the life that God has given me. I do have some battles that I need to get through and I got some things I need to overcome. And I'm praying this morning, I know I'm saved. I know I'm on my way to heaven. But I don't want to live my life being hindered by weights that's been hindered by the ramaz of life. I want to take what's thrown at me, use it for God's honor and glory, use it to build something out of. I want to take the life that God has given me and let it be a standing ovation to my Savior in heaven. That's what I desire. My desire is that I live a life that is so pleasing to God that the Lord Jesus himself will lift up off his throne. The Bible says when Stephen was getting stoned that he looked up into heaven and saw the Lord. May our life be a life that is so pleasing to him that we hear those Words that Christians desire to hear the most. Well done. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. We can stand if we would. We're going to open up the altar here this morning. You need to come and pray, I encourage you to do so. Listen, no matter what it is, no matter what's going on, no matter what you're facing, listen, if it's about salvation, you make sure you come up here and you grab me by the hand and say, preacher, I need to get saved. We'll have somebody take the Bible and show you from the Word of God how you can get saved. But I want you to see and understand this morning, God loves you. And God sent his son, the Lord Jesus, down to cross for you. For every sin that you've ever committed. If you'll put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus today, that the Lord Jesus will save you right there where you are. Just put your faith and trust in Him. I will sing of the goodness of God. Cause all my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God. I love your voice. You have led me through the fire. In darkest nights, you are close like no other. I've known you as a father I've known you as a friend And I have lived in the goodness of God Cause all my life you have been faithful And all my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Cause all my life you have been faithful All my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God I love you Lord For Your mercy never fails me All my days I've been held in Your hands From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ Cause all my life you have been faithful ♪ ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ I love your voice ♪ you have led me through the fire and darkest nights you are close like no other I've known you as a father I've known you as a friend and I have lived in the goodness of God Cause all my life you have been faithful And all my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Your goodness is runnin' after, it's runnin' after me Your goodness is runnin' after, it's runnin' after me When my life laid down, I surrender now I give you everything Your goodness is runnin' after, it's runnin' after me You saw my life, you haven't paid for All my life you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Amen. I'll tell you what, the Lord's gave us a lot to sing about this morning. And the Lord is faithful. And let's go to Lord in prayer, ask God to bless the evening, and I look forward to seeing you back here in just a little bit. So let's pray together. Father, we come to you this morning, God, we just thank you so much, Lord, for your goodness. Lord, I pray today that you'd help us in all that we do just to give you praise. Lord, I pray that you'd just be with our people as we go our separate ways this morning. And Lord, you would help us just to be the light and be what you need us to be. God, I pray for your help today. And Lord, may we just seek just to point people to you. God, we love you. Thank you for it all in this, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.