Good to be among God's people this day. I hope to share something with you this morning that if you haven't experienced, you will if you live long in the Lord. It is a wonderful thing that when the Lord saves us, He considers that we are but dust and ashes and He considers all of our weaknesses and we are We are so needful at the beginning in our Christian life. In fact, we're needful all the way through of the Lord manifesting His presence. It's good to be filled with feeling and the Lord touch our feelings to where we have joy and peace and a sense of His presence, a sense of His life within our soul, a sense that He's hearing us when we pray, a sense that we are in wonderful fellowship with Him, a sense that, my, we can leap over a wall and run through a troop. We can just dance and shout and praise God and rejoice in the Lord because we're so blessed and it's good to have the sensible presence of the Lord. But what about when the Lord begins to withdraw His sensible presence from our life and we begin to experience dryness We begin to experience darkness, discouragement, trial, trouble, and it's hard to pray. It's hard to see me press on. There's so many things that overwhelm our spirit and we're full of discouragement. What about those times? I'm going to talk about that. I want you to turn with me. I want to read two scriptures. The 43rd Psalm. Let me begin reading from a verse in 2 Timothy 2.19 and then Psalm 43, 2 Timothy 2.19. Nevertheless, and the nevertheless comes after an exposure of terrible negative false teaching, people departing from the faith, people erring from the truth, people, as Mark was preaching to us, people who had heresies about the resurrection, and people were being disturbed. And in the church, as you even looked out, there were people that were turning away from the faith, and they were falling away, and their faith was being overthrown in verse 18. Don't think that people can't influence. And as we've just heard, don't think the voice of strangers is not an effective voice. It is. And we need this admonition to not heed the voice of strangers. But in light of all of the negatives, in light of all that could be said about what is happening in some people's lives, the apostle comes with this marvelous statement. He says, nevertheless, The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His." Now it's very important that the emphasis is upon, it's not that they're the Lord's people, and they do. They know that they are His and they have assurance. But sometimes in these dark periods of discouragement and trial and trouble and loss of joy, we wonder, where is the Lord? And it is exceedingly important that the foundation of the Lord stands sure at this point. And it's not so much the emphasis, we know the Lord, but the Lord knows us. The foundation of the Lord stands sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His. And it may be that our emotions are very flat and our feelings of the sensible presence of God is not like perhaps it once was. But it should not affect our service, our worship, our obedience, our duty. Notice how this admonition is followed up. Nevertheless, the foundation of the Lord stands sure, having this sealed, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ. That is, if I'm naming, I believe in Christ. I believe in the Lord. I do name His name. I do want to identify with Him, with the Lord Jesus. I don't feel good. I may be in pain, and I'll illustrate this in a moment. I may be in pain or I may be going through a lot of things that are affecting my emotions negatively. But I do name the name of Christ. Well, let everyone that names it the name of Christ, notice, depart from iniquity. Now is not the time to sin. Never is the time to sin. Stay away from it. And I don't care if your feelings have nothing to do with your obedience. You can obey the Lord and do what He says regardless of how you feel inwardly. This thing of serving the Lord is a matter of putting your heels in the ground and determining in your will, I'm going to do what's right. I want to follow the Lord. Now, turn with me. I want to read another passage. The 43rd Psalm. You're familiar with this, I'm sure. Psalm 43. I'm going to read it in its entirety. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. O deliver me from the deceitful and the unjust man, for thou art the God of my strength. Why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth, and let them lead me. Let them bring me into thy holy hill and into thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted? within me hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance and my God." Here is a man who confesses God. Here is a man of God. In verse 2, he declares, Thou art the God of my strength." In verse 4, he calls God, my exceeding joy. That's what He is to you. You may not have joy at the moment, but God is your exceeding joy. Verse 5, he confesses again, my God, at the close. In verse 4 he says, I will praise Thee Oh God, my God. He's all the way through this. He's saying, God, you're my God. Do you get that? He is making a declaration of his faith in God. He makes a declaration in his faith that God is his joy, God is his strength, that God is his help. But you'll notice there's also something else that is appearing that's very dominant. His sense of well-being was in the pits. I mean, this guy's down. In verse 1, he confesses that he's full of fear. He's afraid of the deceitful and the unjust man. In fact, he says, plead my cause against an ungodly nation, deliver me. from the deceitful and the unjust men. It seems like at this time there was a lot of wrong, wicked people around him that he felt threatened by. And so the company that was around him was very much a concern and made him afraid. But that's not the half of it. In verse 2, he asks the Lord, he says, Lord, I don't feel like You're close to me anymore. I feel like in fact that You've cast me off in an amazing way. Why dost thou cast me off? Do you ever feel like that? I'll assure you that because God is wanting to work something in you, you see, He coddles to your hypersensitivity at first by giving you much feeling and much sense of things that you need. If you did not have them, you would be overthrown. But there will come a time it will be necessary for you to be strengthened and to learn more of God. And therefore, he's going to withdraw. And he's going to allow things in your emotions, in your feelings, in your experience that seem to be ultra-contrary to his goodness And so the psalmist says, why does thou cast me off? Why do I go mourning? I'm in sorrow and I'm even shedding tears. Verse 3 says, send out thy light and thy truth. Send out thy light. I'm in darkness. Lord, other people around are full of rejoicing and they're walking in the light and they feel like they're just basking in your sunshine. Lord, I feel like I'm in a gloomy place. I'm cast down, I'm discouraged. In fact, he says in verse 5, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Christian standard translates this, Why am I so depressed? Can a Christian actually be depressed? That's what he's confessing. Why art thou just my soul? That as I am so much in emotional and inner turmoil, that I am depressed. And you find that all he can do is put his hope and trust in God and wait, which is exceedingly pleasing to the Lord. cast God away, though he feels he is being cast away. Not to turn his back upon the Lord, not to go and join those deceitful workers, but to hope in God. To hope. To hope that God will come and give me some relief. some rest, a visitation that will lift his spirits and impart encouragement. Now here's one of the main points I want you to understand. That in this matter of faith, in walking with God, in following the Lord, the important virtue is not your immediate sensual experience. whether it is delightful or whether it is dismal. Because whether your immediate surrounding experience brings delight to you or whether your immediate environment is bringing turmoil and stress and pressure to your spirit, that is not the most vital thing. Your immediate sensual experience, the important Virtue, in this matter of faith, is your faith. Your ability to believe and confess the Lord, who He is, what you believe about Him, what you know to be true about Him, because our emotional state, our feeling, Our hypersensitivity, and we all are hypersensitive, we can be easily affected, be easily moved. Some of you, you really are easily moved, aren't you? You're easily discouraged. You're easily cast down. There's a number of things that can do that. But in following God and believing, The vital matter is our stand and our position on God Himself and certain fixed realities that never change. Irrespective of our experience that may be up or down, that may be high or low, there are realities that never change. Now when we come to the Lord, I'll use myself. I could use a guinea pig here, but I'll use myself here. When we come to the Lord... These are real things, by the way. This is a real flashlight. Do you believe it? Come and touch it. This is a light. It's a flashlight, of course. It's a real flashlight. You can see it? Everybody can see it? Okay. Let's say it represents light that's coming to us. Jesus is the light of the world, isn't He? He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. So He is the light, and when you become a believer, the light is shining. For the first time in your life, your life was dark, but now it's light. And you begin, for the first time in your life, because of the light of the Lord that's shining in your life, your mind is illuminated and you begin to think properly for the first time. Your insanity and stupidity and craziness is being driven out because of the light. The light of God's truth is upon you. Now, you know what this is? Very perceptive. Hey, it's a rock. You want to come feel it? You want to pick it up? I barely got any. It's a heavy rock. It's a rock. Solid. It's there. You know, this rock's been laying in my yard for I don't know how many years, and yes, you know what? It's never changed. Every time I go by it, it doesn't look any different than it did last time. Weighs the same, looks the same, is the same. It doesn't change. It's a rock. You know who I'm talking about. There's no shadow in Him. There's no variable. Shadow turning. He's solid. He's immovable. He's unchangeable. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our God! Amazing! And the Word of God, the Bible, the truth, this Word, this Word full of promises, every word in it inspires. jam-packed full of promises and blessings and teachings and admonitions. The Word of God just... it's true, isn't it? It's true! God, we heard it! God cannot lie! He's not trying to pull a fast one on us. Everything, the Word of the Lord stands sure. The foundation of the Lord stands sure. This foundation of His Word is stronger than this foundation that I'm jumping on. This would give away before this. This will crumble before this. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word will never pass away. Now when we're converted, we first come to the Lord, like I say, these realities, and I could use other items to represent the realities of God, but they're so wonderful. And they're so visible and we're so sensible. The light has come. We are resting on Jesus, the rock of our salvation. The Word of God has been quickened to us. It's powerfully alive. It's working mightily in us. We're receiving it. It's joyful, powerful. We're hearing His voice. It is a wonderful day. And the Lord allows us to go on. This is wonderful. Praise the Lord. I thought when I first was converted and started walking with the Lord, I was lifted up almost to the third heaven so full of joy, and I thought, this is going to be a breeze. This is all the joy, the peace, the wonder, the blessing. Okay. About two or three months into my conversion, Here I am, and I say, there's a veil that comes up, and I don't see these realities. They begin to fade a little bit in my experience. Does that happen? Can we begin to go through a dark season? Okay. Our feelings, see, we're affected. Let's see. Let me use some illustrations. Now, it's a wonderful thing when we're being pampered and everything is pleasant. Man, Lord, You're good to me. Boy, the blessings are flowing, Lord. Man, how wonderful it is to be a Christian. All right? Pain hurts. The fan and we like the massage. What about when the pain begins? What about when sickness and illness? And there is a kind of a veil that comes up here between us and the spiritual reality. Now, let me tell you again, pain hurts and it's difficult. Whether it's the pain of sickness, pain of chastisement, There's no chastisement for the present that seems to be joyous, but grievous. It didn't hurt you, really, with me doing you any good. Let's say, oh, Lord, would you heal me? Lord, would you give me relief? Lord, would you set me free from this? He could. But he doesn't. Let me ask, what's the difference in the realities here when I'm being pampered or whether I'm in pain? How is this affected? See, the foundation of the Lord stands sure. There's lots of things that affect you. The way we feel. Hey, we might get a... We're a student. We've been in a class and we've just come home from a biology class and we've studied hard and we've got a grade. We got a grade for the course and it is a... Praise the Lord! God has been good to me! Wonderful! Hallelujah! We go to our next class the next day. A pop test came up that we weren't expecting, we really wasn't prepared for. We get our grade. Oh, that hurts. I don't want that kind of grade. I want that kind of reflection on my life. Sometimes we get the A, sometimes we get the F. What's that doing? What's the grade doing to this? The grade's doing something to us, but what's the grade doing to this? See, we are being saved not through our emotional experience of the moment, but we are being saved by the eternal realities that are in Jesus Christ that never change. It's just so. And that's where our faith is resting. Beloved, there are many things that affect our emotions, but the reasons of God, the foundations of God, the things that are actually saving you is not your present experience, though it looks dark and discouraging. Listen, Isaiah 50 verse 10. Have you ever read that verse? I'm sure you have. Listen to this. It's an amazing analysis, an amazing confession that any real child of God could even be described in this condition. But I'm thankful it's in the Bible. Listen to it. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that has faith in God, that obeyeth the voice of His servants? That is, you're obedient. You're doing what you're told. You're submitting to the authority. But listen to this. that walketh in darkness and hath no light." There's a very visible period of doubt and dryness and discourage. Now, what are we to do in the period of drought? I don't feel like the Lord's very close to me. I don't feel like my prayers are being heard. I've been experiencing such emotional lows and I seem so weak, I don't even know whether I'm even saved. Listen to this. Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay, not depart, on his God. You see, what the Lord wants us to do when He raises the veil and the curtain comes up between us and the full consciousness of eternal realities, He wants us to stay put. Don't move. He wants us to trust. He wants us to believe. He wants us to keep on. And I tell you, it is our faith, our trust, our perseverance in those moments when we're discouraged and down and being tried that is actually more virtuous to Him and pleasing to Him than those emotions faith and obedience that we have when everything's fine. I'm going our way. Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon our God. How we feel at the moment is utterly minor compared to what we believe about the Lord. We're very poor judges at our own experience, whether it be good, or whether it be bad. Sometimes we judge our situation to be bad when it's really not bad. If we could really see, as we ought to do. You know, we're very poor judges of what we go through. We go through things and we think, this is bad. But if we could really see it from the eternal perspective, it might not be bad at all. And sometimes what we go through and we think, this is really good, the reverse is actually true. There's a proverb that says something like this, it's better to go into the house of mourning than it is the house of feasting. There are things that we learn, there's things that come out, there are things that are proven when we're in the house of mourning and we're down and discouraged that will never be proven when we're up and high and filled with emotional fervor. Beloved, let me tell you this morning, it is the unchanging truth of God that secure our real safety and our real well-being. My real safety is not in whether I'm getting a spanking at the moment, or whether I'm getting the plush treatment, or the good grades, or my wife is healthy and my children are obedient. That's not where my real security and safety and salvation lies. My salvation and safety and real well-being doesn't depend upon how I feel. It depends upon the light of Christ, the solid rock of God, and the immutable and changing promises of the gospel. You know, Jesus said this, "...as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the living God, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Romans 5, 9 and 10 says, Much more then, now being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled shall be saved by his life." You're not saved by your emotional experience. You're not being saved because you're healthy. You're not even being saved because you are healed of your disease. You're not healed by any temporal, physical experience. The vital matter, the heart of the issue, is not how we're feeling at the moment. Our feelings change! But the important thing is what do you think and believe about Him? the one true and living God. What think ye of Jesus Christ? What do you believe about the Scriptures? When the veil is up and the spirits are low, do you still believe the Scriptures are true? Every promise is there, and you've been even You've been casting yourself on the Lord and you've been praying and it doesn't seem that your prayers are being answered. Can you believe that the promises are still true? Beloved, our hope is based upon the things of God, the realities, the eternal realities of the Lord that never change. And this is delightful to the Lord. and upon who you base your hope." Job said it well when he says, Yea, so he, I will trust in him. Our salvation from A to Z is bound up in the objective work of Christ. Christ died for our sins. according to the Scripture. And that can be trusted. When the whole present world is foreboding and bleak, the foundation of God stands sure. I want to mention this before I close. It's a wonderful thing, and I prefer it. I would rather feel pampered than to feel punished. I vote for the fan, not for the swat. Amen? I vote for health above sickness. I vote for obedient children, sweet, wonderful, obedient children. I vote for that. I don't vote for children that are rebels. I vote for the A. Hey, I hear something else. It's coming in. Praise the Lord! The Lord's meeting all my needs. It's nice to feel that your needs are met. It takes a lot of fear and worry out of life when you've got plenty of money in your pocket. But when these things sprout their wings, and it's gone. You see, when you're going through a financial difficulty, and really a crunch, it brings, of necessity, it brings a lot of worry. You're not human if you're not being concerned about, how am I going to get through this? Does the Lord ever try us in that manner? No. Yeah, but because I had a lot of this and it affected that, because I don't have any of this or have little of it, has this changed? That's why I'm saying put any scenario together you wish. The foundation of God stands sure. You know why God's going to save me? Because I am in Christ. And I have believed on Him. I do believe on Him. I'm telling you, this light and joy and refreshment and encouragement is wonderful, but it is not essential in the matter of obedience. Did you notice what I read in Isaiah 50.10? One who had no light and walked in darkness had the fear of the Lord, but he obeyed the voice of his servant. I just tell you this, let everyone that nameth the name of Christ Depart from iniquity. When you're going through a low period, you don't have to do what's wrong. You don't have to sin. You can stay on track. There's real value and virtue in the sight of our God when we can do our Christian duty by faith without any high or glorious emotional stimulants because it is the highest peak of Christian development when you can come to walk by faith, truly walk by faith, and the just shall live by faith. Not by sight, not by emotion, but by faith. What is faith? It is the expression that I believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ. I believe that He died in my place upon the cross I believe that God raised Him from the dead and that He ascended into heaven. I believe He's at the right hand of God and He makes intercession for me. I believe that He's coming back in glory one day to receive me unto Himself and that where He is, there I shall be also. And I can believe that and I can trust in that because you can. And when you are trusting in that, it is reality. Prove it is unchanging, it is untarnished, it is unaffected by anything of our presence. You can do what's right. When you don't feel like it, you can get down on your knees and you can pray to the Lord. Say, Dear Lord, I don't really even feel like praying, but I want to pray to You. I want to call upon Your name. You can go to church when the last time you were in church you saw somebody that gave you an offensive look or you heard a word that didn't please you. You can go to church because the Bible tells you to do it. You can do your duty. Your feelings have nothing to do with your obedience. You're following the Lord. You're doing the Lord's will. But obey the Lord. You can do what's right in a situation that you may not even understand all the implications of why the Lord has commanded you to do it, but you just understand that the Lord told you, thou shalt not do this. Well, don't do it whether you understand it or you see the end of it. You don't do what you're not supposed to do. I'm just saying, beloved, the foundation of God stands sure having this seal. The Lord knows them that are His. and therefore let everyone that nameth the name of Christ part of iniquity. So hang in there. Stay with it. Press on. When your heart's full of joy and the bells are ringing and the birds are singing, press on. Stay with it. when thou art cast down and discouraged and life has thrown you a real curve. I am God. I change not. Amen. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your kindness to us. Thank you for calling us to know you. Thank you for giving us joy and peace, the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of your Son. Thank you, dear Lord, that you are with us and that it is your good intention that we be experienced Christians so that, Lord, we may grow in grace and knowledge and learn a little through practical Experiences of life learn that God is faithful. The Word is true. You do not fail. The world is coming to an end. Jesus Christ is coming. There will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. There will be a judgment day. We will stand before you. Everyone will receive the things that they have done. in their body, whether they be good or evil. Help us, dear Lord, to know that your truth is infallible, uninfluenced by our feeling, our emotion, our experience. Help us to rest and hope thou in God, for we are sure that when we hope in you, we shall yet pray you and rejoice for you being our help. We thank You, dear Lord, that in Your wisdom You never give us too much of what's hard for us. You measure out our dark days. You appoint a time limit to our sufferings. You, in measure, even in the darkest moment, You hold us up. For, Father, we recognize the fact that we could even stay faithful to You and believe in You, though all hell may be breaking loose. The fact that we could say, I still believe and I still want to do right. is a measure of your wonderful grace and a proof that you're working in us to do in the will of your good pleasure. Thank you for your grace for us. Thank you for meeting with us in this meeting this weekend. And I pray, Lord, as now we depart this place, going to our various jobs and our family situations and our churches back home and facing the various dilemmas and trials perplexities of life that, Father, we will be able more fully to trust in You and realize, dear Lord, You've got the whole world in Your hands and we can trust You in all times and in all seasons. Bless these saints. Take care of them. Watch over them. Preserve them. Give them the measures of health every day that they need, dear Lord, to be faithful unto Thee. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen.