Welcome to each one that is here, and we greet you in Jesus' name. Home folks, and we have a good amount of visitors here this morning. We're delighted that you've chosen to join us this morning. We don't know your names, but God does. But we want you to feel free to worship our great God this morning. For a text, turn to the Old Testament, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 43. My prayer to God this week was, Lord, what would you have for your people to hear? And what, for me as well, what is my need? This message this morning is, it's kind of twofold. One, it's a message of encouragement. Secondly, it is a message of a reaffirmation of a foundational truth that every believer in Christ needs to be settled on. Because it is the bedrock of victory in the Christian's life and of, quote, spiritual success. In Isaiah 43, beginning reading in verse 1 through verse 7, and then maybe picking up a few further down in the passage, But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba for thee, since thou wast precious in my sight. Thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Now in the years gone by, I have grown to love this portion, this passage here in Isaiah. If ever there's a passage from 48, well I'm not sure, 41 I'm going to say, and following the next several chapters in Isaiah, Isaiah brings home the point that there is, that God is God, beside him there is none else. And that brings to us a sense of security in knowing there is no other God. It is God alone. We believe in the triune God. And here is one of those passages that has spoken deeply to me. I've entitled the message, The Fourth Man. And you might wonder, well, that's kind of an unusual message. You don't even find it here in this passage. And I'll admit it's true. But I think by the end of the message, you'll understand what I mean about the fourth man. And in verse 2, I want to highlight this passage here in Isaiah 43, and I want to be speaking of a number of characters in the Bible, referring to some other passages as well, to reaffirm that foundational truth that we find in God's Word. Various writers speak about it, and we need to pick up on it in order for a stability in our own personal life. Verse two is what spoke the loudest. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. And it is that, the phrase I want to pick out of this is verse two there. It says, I will be with thee. That's the foundational truth. Verse 5 says, fear not for I am with thee. Now sometimes we read passages and it's just like water on a duck's back. We hear it, yeah that's true, and our mind moves on to other things. If it was even at the first centered on this thought. But that thought of I am with thee. You know, In verse 1, this is some of the things God says about what he has done for us. Verse 1, he says, I have redeemed thee. Verse 1, I have called thee. Verse 4, I have loved thee. Verse 7, I have created him for my glory. Verse 7, I have formed him. Verse 7, I have made him. And verse 21, this people have I formed for myself. God is saying, I have done these things. And usually when we do things, there's a reason behind it. There's a purpose and a plan. And there's no question in my mind that God is at work and he is involved with his creation. No question about it. He says, I have made you, I have done this, I have done that. And you are called by my name. And he says, thou art mine. There's a whole message right there. If you're here this morning and you think you have no purpose and why am I here on this earth? That right there would clinch the argument. I have called you and you are mine. That's verse one. But that's just a rabbit trail there. Just a little bit of a side note. Back to what Brother Phil was saying earlier. Our church has been through a stressful time. And I wondered, Lord, what message could I bring this morning that would help us as we work through what has transpired, which we believe was the work of the Lord. Ordinations cause change. Ordinations cause stress. The three families that were in the lot just come through that. That was a stressful time. Some of us know how that feels. The leadership has come through a stressful time. The one who was ordained feels the effects directly of coming through this stressful time. He and his family, their lives have been changed and altered significantly. So where do we go in times like this when the stress level is ratcheted up a few notches? How do we cope? personally, when stress enters our life on more of a general scale. Where do we turn to when these stresses come? And shake our world a little bit. It's a good shaking, but it's still stress involved. What should be our mindset towards change? Well, I think the answer, for me at least, is to know that we are not alone in this process. That fact brings my heart a certain sense of comfort and peace. Doesn't it yours? And then I go back to what Isaiah, God through Isaiah to his people. God told Isaiah, tell my people that I will be with them. And he reiterates, he reaffirms it in verse 5. Fear not, for I am with thee. And so we come back to that truth that God is with us. If you forget everything else of the message this morning, camp on that thought and think about that and what it means. Now here's a question and I'd like just a little bit of feedback. What would you say is the evidence of God's presence in your life or in the situation? What would you say is the evidence that you could point to that would reaffirm that God is in my life or God is present? It's kind of a vague question. There's no bad answers, but what's the evidence that God is with you? Peace in my, oh brother, if I had a pink balloon, I'd give it to you. That is the first one on my list, brother Brett. Do you have peace in your heart? See, as we go through stressful times and we wonder, does anybody care? Does anybody know what I'm going through? Marcus could ask that. And there'd be some brethren say, I know exactly what you're going through. But that God is present is manifest by peace. Is there something else that would be an evidence? You feel his presence. How do you feel his presence, Ephraim? It's life-giving, isn't it? Okay, someone else. Another evidence that you can point to that you would say, because of that, I know God is present. People who are supportive, yes. They come around you, lay their hand on your shoulder or speak words of encouragement. Thank you for that. The joy of the Lord, amen. Amen. There's a joy there because I'm not burdened by myself. God is with me. The Word says, I will be with thee. The Word says, I am with thee. And because of that, there's these side benefits that come in. Peace, support, joy. And I put down here, calmness. There's a lack of anxiety. Why? because He is with us. I almost apologize because this message is so simple. It's so basic, but the profoundness of the fact that He's with us is able to help carry me through some of the hardest times in my life and you as well. Let's turn back to Joshua. I'm going to be using a lot of scripture this morning. I want you to see what I see. Joshua chapter 1, And we find here a man who is asked to take on a responsibility, and it looks fairly monumental to him, but notice something. Joshua chapter 1, I want to read the first nine verses. Now Joshua is right after Deuteronomy. Now after the death of Moses, a servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that I have given unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea towards the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and have a good courage. For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success have not i commanded thee be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the lord thy god is with thee whithersoever thou goest moses has passed off the scene his protege His younger, it says Moses' minister, Joshua, has been chosen by God to assume the mantle of leadership. And as most every young man does, and I suppose that's probably the way brother Marcus feels. It's the way I felt when that call came. We feel so small. We feel inadequate. There's so much work to do, we'll never get it all done. And it's a work larger than our abilities of our own strength. And I think that's the way Joshua felt. Now let's look at this just a little deeper. In verse 5 especially, I pick up this thought again. God is talking to Joshua. and specifically to Joshua in a personal sense and God says there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee if you would have been in Joshua's shoes and you'd hear God himself saying that to you it'd be like putting a match to a pile of wood that has gas on it. It'd just be explosive. It'd just take off and no man could quench it at that moment. And Joshua needed that affirmation. God said, Joshua, be of good courage. I'm going to be with you. I need to know. I need to embrace that fact. We all need to embrace that fact. God is with me. And when God is with me, you become a team. The two of you make up a force that is unstoppable by the gates of hell. And you cannot be stopped. Joshua, I have already said, after this he went on a tear. 31 kings were defeated because one man heard from God, I'm with you. And there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. Now you talk about victory. None of us want to talk about defeat. None of us enjoy being unsuccessful in the Christian life. And if you want to get a hold with both hands on victory in your Christian life, you must embrace the concept, God is with you, He will not forsake you. I get all fired up by that thought. It's not a bragging thing, unless we brag on God, which we want to do. But I feel so small and insignificant. That's the way Joshua felt. But God said, Joshua, I'll be with you. And I will help you. And he says, be strong and be very courageous. Oh, these words were also spoken by David to Solomon. In 1 Chronicles 28 20, David said to Solomon, his son, be strong and of a good courage and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Fathers this morning, this was a father talking to his son. And if I could talk to my children, and I think I said it maybe in other ways, but David was telling Solomon, be strong, be courageous, and do it. I'm not Marcus's father. His father's sitting back here. But as a spiritual father, I would say, Marcus, be strong and do it. And he goes on to say, fear not nor be dismayed. I would say that the Lincoln and Benjamin and Eric and Neil and Diane, our five children, as my children, be strong and very courageous. And fathers need to do that to their sons and daughters, to give them the air under their wings and the fire in their soul to live lives that honor and glorify God. Our sons and daughters need to know that daddy is praying for them, that daddy stands behind them, that daddy is wishing them on. And I love what David says. Be strong and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed. There's unknowns ahead. I know that. We've faced them. I as an older man can speak from experience and you as well that are older and gone through life and they've had some experiences. We become discouraged and dismayed sometimes by the circumstances, but we never let them come bring us down because we know the one that's above the circumstances. And his name is God. He will be with us. I am with thee. Oh, that's just, oh, I just feel like a warm blanket on a cold morning. It just feels good. But David doesn't stop. He says, fear not, be not dismayed. And the next part is critical. For the Lord God, even my God. David said, Solomon, the Lord God, even my God. It says, we'll be with thee. Can we transmit something we don't possess? I think that's where the effectiveness of transmitting the faith to the next generation often fails. When we're only told what to do and not shown what to do, it's not very effective. But when daddy and mama tell us what to do as children, and they show us what to do, and they model it for us, now we get the picture. Because what daddy gets excited about, son gets excited about, generally speaking. And when daddies are excited about the Lord, when mamas are excited about going to church and being a part of a congregation that is living and vibrant and effective, The children pick up on that vision and that message. And that's what David is transmitting here to Solomon. He says, even God, my God, will be with thee. And then again, the next words, he will not fail thee and he will not forsake thee. As I pondered that this week, it was like goosebumps up and down my back. I get these Pentecostal spasms. I can't hardly hold still. That thought that he is with us. He won't forsake us. He is there. Well, let's move on. In the New Testament, no, one more thought on this. This is from a commentary. It's not original with me. In Hebrews 13, 5, we have some more of this thought, but the Hebrew writer is referring to these same promises. And he says that Let me find it here. In the Greek, and I don't understand Greek, but in Greek, these words are peculiarly emphatic. And he goes on, and I quote, there are no less than five negatives in this short sentence. Let's read the sentence. He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's Hebrews 13 verse five. The writer of Hebrews, was it Paul? Was it someone else? I'm not sure for certain, but the writer says that God has said, I'll just turn to that. Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Now that's the sentence. In Greek, the words are peculiarly emphatic. There are no less than five negatives in this short sentence, and these connected with two verbs and one pronoun twice repeated. To give a literal translation is scarcely possible, but if we could, it would run this way. Now listen. He says, in Greek, a transliteration, word for word, would be, no, I will not leave thee. No, neither will I utterly forsake thee. To those who understand the genius of the Greek language and look at the manner in which these negatives are placed, will perceive at once how much the meaning is strengthened by them and what an emphatic and energetic affirmative they amount." Now, end of quote. Sometimes when you read it, you make more sense than when you actually say it because you don't have it in front of you in paper. Actually, what the writer is saying, in Greek, this phrase is even stronger than it is in the English. And the promise is made, this promise is made in Hebrews to those who are suffering patiently, affliction and persecution. But it also contains the principle on which that it can be applied to any faithful soul. This verse, this I will never leave thee nor forsake thee aspect of it. Any adversity that you face, any temptation or trial that we face, when we realize that we're not alone in this. It says God says, I'll be with you and I won't forsake you. That brings a tremendous sense of security of the presence of God in my life in order to deal with these, as Isaiah said, the overwhelming flood and the devouring fire. And there's been a lot of floods down in the southern part of our country. Water and fire can destroy. They can destroy and have destroyed and continue to destroy. Basically what God was saying to Isaiah in Isaiah 43, there's going to be situations in which you don't know if you're going to come out of this alive. They're going to overwhelm the senses. They're going to overwhelm your capacity to cope. It'll be stressful. But don't worry, I'll be with you. That's the premise of the promise in Isaiah there. Now, as I go back, I'm going to be flipping back and forth the various situations here. But, think of Joshua, and think how that was stated when God was speaking to him. As I was with Moses. Tell me, is that future, present, or past tense? Past. As I was with Moses. Now the next part. Past, present, or future tense. So I will be with thee. Past, present, or future. That's future, isn't it? As I was with Moses, I'm going to be with you. I will be. I am with you would be present. I will be. All at once it dawned on me, God is a God of the past, God is a God of the future, and God is a God of the present. Which means he's a God of every, what's a word? It would be omnipresent. I better stop right there. I'm getting into waters I haven't tread before. In other words, God was in the past. God will be in the future. A tremendous promise to this young Joshua. And he took it to heart. And he was unstoppable in his conquering of the promised land. I found that to be so invigorating. Well, there's a number of other scriptures we could look at that have the same thought. And the reason I would do that is various writers in various books of the Bible are saying the same thing. It's not just a once and done. Genesis 28.15 and Deuteronomy 31.6 and First Chronicles 28.20, the same expression is found. And basically it says, God will not forsake his people. Let's think of Joseph. In Genesis 39, we have the story of Joseph, and it says that the Lord was with him. When Joseph was sold as a slave and Potiphar bought Joseph as a slave to work in his household, I don't know how long it was, but scripture tells us that Potiphar saw a heathen man, the chief executioner for Pharaoh. This man saw in Joseph that God was with him. He left everything he had in Joseph's hands. What an amazing story. What was the difference? An Egyptian boy, able to work, handsome, but it was more than that. And it's always more than that when this other element enters the picture. The Lord was with him. And that made the difference. Later, Joseph is ripped out of that household and thrown into the prison. You know what the prison keeper saw? This man is different. He's been accused falsely. We all know it. But look, everything he touches turns out well. The Lord was with Joseph. And that's the way it is for all of our stories. When the Lord is with us, it invigorates that fire within our heart that we are made in the image of God, but that image takes on an extra dimension, an extra shine, if you will. And God blesses the life that is given to Him. The Lord was with Joseph because Joseph was with God. He was walking with God. That's the genesis. That's the essence of the story here. David. was told by Saul, go and the Lord be with thee. David had come to the camp. His dad had sent him down there as an obedient son. He took the cheeses and the honey and the other stuff down to his brethren, to the captain, and gave it to them. And while he's there, he notices this valley, mountain, mountain, Israelites, Philistines. What's going on? And then he sees this giant of a man come down and says the things that he does. The Bible says he defies the army of the living God. Give me a man to fight. And the Israelites just backed up, afraid. David said, why doesn't somebody go fight him? He's a big man, can't you see? Cut to the chase. David says, I'll go fight him. Men hear that. Bring him to King Saul. Saul said, you're going to go fight that man? You're just a stripling. What do you think you are? No, I can go and fight him. Saul, tell you a story. I kept my father's sheep. And one day a bear come by and he wanted some lamb steaks. And the bear and I had a disagreement. And I got a hold of the bear and I killed him. Later a lion comes by Saul, now you won't believe this Saul, but a lion came by and he had one in his mouth. And I took it out of his mouth and killed the lion. This Philistine be just like them. I suppose Saul sat on his throne just, I don't know, I'm using imagination, I admit, but he had probably never met a man like this. David said, I'll go fight him. He'll be just like the bear and the lion. I'll get rid of him in a heartbeat. Saul said, but you can't, here, let me give you my, let me give you my shield. Let me give you my armor. David puts him on, you can almost see him, hardly able to walk because this stuff is so heavy. David said, no, no, no, I don't need that. What does Saul do? He says, David, go, and the next part is key, and the Lord be with thee. David springs a little light. You know the story, okay? I like to dramatize a little bit because simply as I close my eyes I see this little stripling go down there and in the name of the Lord he takes down the enemy of the Lord. And that's what you men and we can do when we have God with us. We can take down the enemy that is facing us and is assuring us of our defeat, but they don't know who we serve. And that made the difference in David's life. Notice when David came walking towards Goliath, Goliath said, I come to thee. David says, you come to me with a spear and a shield and a sword. I come to thee in what? The name of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, did you, do you know what the word Emmanuel means in Matthew chapter one, verse 23? What does the word Emmanuel mean? God with us. That was the name of Jesus that the angel said to Joseph, this is what you're going to name him. Emmanuel, God with us. That thought just captivated my mind this past week. We need to keep moving. Jeremiah was another one. Four different times, God told Jeremiah, don't be afraid of them. I'm with thee to deliver thee. They shall fight against thee. They shall not prevail against thee. Why? I am with thee. That makes all the difference, brothers and sisters. Paul in the New Testament, Acts 18 verse 10. He was sent. He went to Athens. They rejected. He comes to Corinth, the city of Corinth. And he's not sure how he's going to be received. God said, Paul, Don't fear, I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city." From cover to cover we have that affirmation, God is with his people. On May 2, 2023, the Surgeon General of the United States issued an advisory that had never before been issued. You can see it on their website. It is entitled, our epidemic of loneliness and isolation. Vivek Murthy, I think is his name, the Surgeon General, he listed four things and I found them to be fascinating. We've just come out of the shutdown era, remember? That's just been a few years ago. It seems like a long time ago. Here's what he said. Now let's think of God is with us. Let's think of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. He says four things. Number one, do this, connect or call a friend and talk. That helps overcome loneliness. Number two, invite someone over for a meal. Number three, listen and be present during a conversation. Number four, seek out opportunities to serve others. And I thought, we've been doing this for years. And yet our government sees it fit necessary to tell people what to do. Here's the thing. God is with us, but with all the ways of communication and ways to connect. Why is there an epidemic of loneliness in our country? We have more ways of connecting with each other than ever before. But we have societies, not just our country, it's around the world in nations. Loneliness. Loneliness. Nobody cares about me. I'm all alone. It can be a depressing thing. I know it can be. True or false? Is a person ever truly alone? I have to give the test here. That's a false statement. Isn't God everywhere? Doesn't he know all our names? Sometimes we feel like we're all alone and nobody cares. But that's a feeling. It's not a fact. And there's a tremendous difference. Because 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 7, sometimes we feel that way, I'll admit, and it's not wrong to feel that way. Some of the great men in the Bible, Lord I'm the only one, just go ahead and kill me and get rid of me. God says, Elisha, I've got 7,000 that have not yet bowed the knee. We don't know, but God does. But 1st Peter tells us in chapter 5 verse 7, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you." Sometimes we feel nobody cares. Sometimes we feel we're all alone. But God is always present. We just need to reach out to him. I'm going to close with another Daniel and his three friends. The fourth man. You know, Daniel's Lyons Den experience How he came out of there. You know what the king said? He said, Daniel, the God whom thou serviced continually. See, he didn't stop for the 30 days that the men had asked for. If anybody serves any God besides you for 30 days, let's throw him into the lion's den. Faithful Daniel knelt, prayed openly. The God whom thou serviced continually, He will deliver thee from a heathen king." Now let's go to the next one. The fiery furnace experience. Here's this great image and here's this king and he says, everybody bow down. And there's three men who said, you know, I don't think we will. There's another God that we serve and we're not going to bow down to your God. And when the king hears word of that, he is infuriated. make that furnace hotter and they do. And his mightiest men take these three, I don't know exactly how it was done, but they had to get close enough to throw them into the fire and the fire was so hot it killed the men throwing them in. King's thinking, I got rid of my problem right there, didn't I? Turns to pick up his wine glass and looks down in and The wine glass falls out of his hand and shatters. Hey, didn't we throw three men in there? There's four in there! And the form of the fourth, the fourth man, is like the Son of God. What do you think that king felt at that moment? Before, he felt he's in charge. I'm the one that you're to worship and bow down to. And here's three, Poor men. Sunday school lesson for the adults. Rich in faith. God chose them to reveal his power. They said, our God will deliver us. He can. But if he doesn't, that's alright. And the king throws him in. And a little time later he looks in and there's four walking in the fire. You know the story. Now, back in the 90s, maybe you remember, maybe you don't. I love singing in songs. There's a song written, He's Still in the Fire. You can still find it on YouTube. Spears family, I think, recorded it originally. And it speaks about that very incident. He's still in the fire. And the song is based on a story, and the young boy's reciting it. The boy says, Mama reads a story of the three Hebrew men to the son. And the son says this, Mama, if three men went in and three men came out, where's the fourth man? You know what Mama said? She said, son, he's still in the fire. And He'll be there to help you when you call upon His name. This is part of the song lyrics. He can still deliver by His almighty power, and while here below, it's good to know He's still in the fire. Now, that's a song, and it's just a vision of what might be. Where is God? God is everywhere. But the fourth man is in the fire with his people when things are stressful, when things are hard. The fourth man is the son of the living God. His name is Emmanuel, God with us. And he has promised you, each one of us personally, that name, the name of Christ, I will be with you and I will never forsake you. Let's kneel and pray. Father in heaven, we come to you this morning so thankful and so grateful that you have promised, whether the waters overwhelm us or whether the fire tries to devour us, whether Satan is trying to overcome and to get us to trip and fall and to cast away our faith or whatever, we know that the Son of the Living God, Emmanuel, that He is with us and He will take us through the fire and through the waters. He will be there in our strongest temptation and in our severest trial and the new responsibilities that you bring to our lives. God, we know that you are there. And that brings us comfort. It brings us hope. It gives us strength. It gives us vitality. It gives us courage, like Joshua, to go and conquer the enemy. Like David of old, I come to you in the name of the Lord. Oh, Father, help us by faith to come against the enemy in the name of the Lord and find victory in you. You are God. You're good. Your word has spoken to our hearts, and I pray that we can continue to walk in faith, to walk in victory, and to walk in joy and peace and calmness of spirit, knowing that you are with us. In Jesus' name, amen.