That is exactly how God is, amen. He's still God whether we agree with what he does in our life or not. And I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I certainly love this church, love your pastor, and thank God for his blessings. Appreciate you praying for my family over the years and your faithfulness to us and We certainly get a lot of help out of the meeting every year. And I don't know about you, but I look forward to it. It's some things I need, amen? And I don't know about you, I get to a point in life you need to be preached to, amen? And it's a blessing. Second Corinthians tonight, if you will. Second Corinthians chapter number four. If you can and you're able, stand with us a moment. We'll reverence the reading of God's word. I want to read just a few verses tonight and look at a thought and a text, maybe be a blessing and a help to you. I want to try to encourage you this evening if the Lord will help us. 2 Corinthians chapter number 4, begin reading in verse number 1, and I want to read down to the end of the chapter and give you some things out of this text, maybe be a blessing and a help to you. 2 Corinthians chapter number four, verse one. Therefore, seeing we have received this ministry as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them which are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body of the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe, and therefore have spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are Let us pray. Father, I love you tonight. God, thank you for this opportunity to be in your house. Thank you for your people that have gathered. Lord, I pray that you'd touch Brother Joey tonight as he preaches. Give him unction and power and liberty. God, give him the words. Father, I pray that you'd let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be accepted on thy side. Oh, Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Let me not say anything, be a hindrance or a harm to anyone, but God, through the demonstration of the Holy Ghost of God, would you speak through us and to us. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. As you look into this passage of Scripture tonight, you find that there are some key words that are mentioned in the text. And as I begin to look through these verses and read through them, I begin to see that there are some words that jump out on the page. First of all, just as a way of introduction, I want to say this, we notice the treasure that is found in this text. 2 Corinthians 4, 7 says this, For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. In other words, though we are just earthen vessels, we are human beings, as saved people we have a treasure which is the power of God in us. We have the Holy Ghost of God living inside of us. This power is a treasure. But then we notice in our text that also we find that there is trouble. Notice the trouble that shows up in the text. The Bible said in verse 8 and 9 that we are troubled on every side. yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair. Verse 9 says persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. Even though we have this treasure of God's power living upon us, it does not exempt us from trouble. It does not exempt us from the problems of life. Troubles will come no matter what you have. No matter if you have the Spirit of God living inside of you. That does not exempt us from being distressed. It doesn't exempt us from being in despair. But the Bible said we will not be destroyed. Though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed day by day. Not only do we see that we find the treasure in the trouble, but notice something else in our text. We notice that we find the thanksgiving. 2 Corinthians 4 and 15 says, For all things are for your sakes, that the abundance of grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God. Despite all of our troubles, Brother Clint mentioned it to us this evening, we should be a thankful people tonight. Despite all the distresses of life and the situations that we face, we ought to be a thankful people. We ought to have a heart of thanksgiving. The thankfulness of many gives God glory and abundance. It's what our scripture says. So if you begin to thank God and you begin to praise Him, the thankfulness of many will give God glory in abundance. So not only we notice the thanksgiving, but notice the truth that I find in our text. And I'm headed somewhere. I just want to give you these thoughts and then we'll get into the message here in a moment. But 2 Corinthians 4 and 16 said, For which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. Verse 17 says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Can I say something to us? The outward man is perishing day by day. This whole outward man is dying. I'm just a young man, I'm only 39 years old, but I feel like mine is falling apart, amen. I just had my second fusion in my neck, amen. And I feel like it's falling apart, but I mean, I ended up with a disease in life, nothing I can do about it, and that's just the way it is. They say it will continue to happen all the way down my spine, and I'm okay with that. That is something God gave to me. And because of those things, we notice the truth in our text. The outward man may be perishing tonight, and your body may be failing you, but I want to let you know something tonight. The truth of the matter is that though the outward man perish day by day, the inward man is renewed. I'm feeling more alive today than I have in a long time. You say, why is that preacher? Because I have something greater and bigger living inside of me called the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth is the outward man is dying more and more every day. But for us that are saved, Christ is renewing us day by day. Not only do we see the truth in our text, but notice the trust that we find in our text. Verse 18 says this, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal. but the things which are not seen are eternal. Can I say something to us tonight as God's people? We don't trust in things that are temporal here on this earth. I'm not trusting in, listen, you may be. I'm excited that Trump got in, but amen, if your whole trust is in that, neighbor, you're in trouble. I'm not trusting in all them, amen? But I do have a trust, amen, that has never failed me, and his name is Jesus. He's never let me down. He's never failed me. He's never made a mistake in my life. As God's people, we cannot trust those things we can see. But I trust things that I cannot see. You say, how does that work? That's how we got saved. I'm trusting in a God I've never seen, but oh, I have seen him, neighbor. I've never seen him face to face, but one day I will. But I have seen him, and I have felt him in my life, the day that he saved me. That's how we make it through our troubles. That's how we make it through our trials, because we believe in a God whom we cannot see, but we know he's in control. That's a trust. But could I say something tonight? There's some things I want us to remember. and I wanna give them to you tonight. I noticed all these things in the text, but I wanna give you three things that I want us to remember tonight, and I hope it'll be a help to us. Number one, I want us to remember that we're gonna have hardships. Can I just be honest with you tonight? Sometimes it just seems like day after day after day, it's a hardship, amen. Seem like you wake up and you go to bed and it's a hardship. You get a phone call and it's another hardship. How you get a text message, another hardship in your life, or a loved one has gone to heaven, or something has happened in your life that has created hardship. Could I say something to us tonight? Thank God hardships will not last. They're only temporary. The burden of this life is just but temporary, child of God. The problems won't last. The perplexity won't last. The persecution won't last. The perishing won't last. I mean, they're gone for a short time, but if they know Jesus as their Savior, we will see them again. What are you saying tonight? I'm saying that we will have hardships. But 2 Corinthians 4.12 says this, So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We're always dying here on earth, but Jesus is always living, so we must trust Him. Hey, I'm dying every day. My body's slowly deteriorating and passing on. But I'm living just as wonderfully and well as I ever could live. You say, why? Because there's a God living inside of me that is taking care of me. And as long as He lives, amen, and He's gonna live, hallelujah, because He got up on the third day to live forevermore. And as long as He's living, I'm living. And I can have a life. But there's gonna be hardships along the way. But the hardships are just temporary. The burden's temporary, but I'll say this, the blessing is terrific. In God's time, God blesses and restores the things that this life takes away from us. I was admiring these precious babies around here. And I thought to myself, I told Brother Mike, I said, look, what a blessing that grandbaby is. And I thought to myself, that is just like the blessings of God. how that sometimes hardships come and things get taken away from us and we don't understand at the time, but in God's timing and God's plan and God's way, He makes it such a blessing in our lives. We don't see the blessing at the time, but God takes those things in our lives, those hardships in our lives, and He turns them around and He makes them into a blessing. 2 Corinthians 4.16 said, For which cause we think not, Though the outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. You know, hardships, not only are they a terrible time in life, or a temporary time in life, but sometimes they're a tragic time. Sometimes God will send tragic hardships, and it places you in a hurtful place. It places you in a holding place. You ever had a loved one pass away and you didn't understand? You know what God was doing? God was taking you and putting you in a holding place. And sometimes God has to do that to us. It's a place where you're burdened while you're holding on. It's a place where you're calling out to God while you're holding on. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 4 said this, For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened. Sometimes we groan and we're broken. But my wife, the Lord, through times in our life, my wife wrote a song, Broken for the Better. And sometimes God breaks things in our life and takes things from us and those times are hard times and we don't understand them and we begin to complain and murmur at God like He gave us some kind of bad deal or short end of the stick. But God is using those things in our life to make us better. We don't understand that. But that's what God's doing. Not only are hardships sometimes a tragic time, but hardships are a time of testing. You know, sometimes God's just trying to test to see if we're going to keep the faith. Who are you trusting in tonight? Sometimes God will take that job from you to see if you're trusting in it or in Him. Sometimes God will take a loved one from you, see if you're trusting and everything's dwelling on that one instead of Him. I'm asking who you're trusting in. You say what? I want you to remember there's going to be hardships. I want you to remember there's going to be troubles and testing times. Sometimes the testing of our faith. Let me say this, I was reading in a book and I ran across this illustration and it really struck me and I put it in my sermon here. One day a preacher who had lost his family in a tragic fire, he was walking through town. His mind was troubled and he had questions related to his faith. In fact, because of his tragedy, he was seriously thinking about quitting on the Lord. He wondered how God, a God that was so good, a God that was so gracious and a God that was so holy would allow something so terrible in his life. To allow his family to be burned up in a fire and him never be able to get them out. Him be the only one to escape alive. As he passed, as he walked, he passed a construction site where a huge cathedral was being built. And as he watched the men working, he noticed one of the men was carving out a small triangle of granite with a chisel and a hammer. The preacher called out to the stonemason and he said, Sir, I know you're a busy man, but could I ask you what you're making? The stonemason stopped. He pointed to a place right at the very tip top of the cathedral. He said, do you see that little tiny open triangle at the top of the roof? The preacher answered, why, yes. Well, the workman said, I'm carving this out down here so that it will fit up there. The preacher began to weep and cry because he knew what God was doing in his life. Sometimes God's just carving us out down here, child of God, because we won't fit up there with the things that we have in life. And sometimes that's what God's doing in our life. The hardships may come. The young man began to understand exactly what God was doing in his life. He went on to preach, and many folks were saved. As I read the book, You know what, the Lord was merely carving that man out down here so he would fit up here. Could I say something to us tonight, friend? Trials and tribulations are not sent to destroy us, but they're sent to shape us for the honor and glory of God. Could I remind you, Revelation 4, 11 said, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. We have been created by God to give Him glory and praise and honor, and that is what God made us for. And if God can get glory out of your life with some tragedy or some triumphant thing in your life, that some hardship, he'll do it. Because that's what he's trying to do. Not only remember, number one, that we have hardships, but could I say, number two, remember we have a hope. Remember tonight God hadn't left us alone, amen. Romans 8, 24 said, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, what doth he yet hope for? You know, the world thinks we're crazy because we hope in things we never saw. But I'm glad, amen, I'm glad like the hymn writer wrote, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest name but holy lean on Jesus' name. I'm glad my hope is not in this world. My hope is not in, amen, a government, amen. My hope is not in my abilities. How? Because I make mistakes every day, child of God, but I'm glad I have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ who's never failed. As a matter of fact, his mercy and grace is renewed every morning. Great is his faithfulness. Listen, I'm not always faithful. You might be. But I'm not always faithful. But he always has been. I'm not always graceful. I'm not always having mercy with others. Matter of fact, I don't like stupid people. Amen. Everybody alright? Don't get mad. Amen. You got some pet peeve too. But you know something in life? I found out God has grace with everybody. And you know what? Hey, yesterday I thought I ran out of the grace of God. Yesterday I made mistakes and yesterday I messed up. And can I just be honest with you? Sometimes I don't know how to be a daddy. Everybody okay tonight? Sometimes I don't know what it is to be a father and sometimes I don't know what it is to be a good husband. Everybody all right? But I'm glad God don't run out of grace with me. I'm glad I wake up the next day and there's more grace and there's more mercy. You say why? Because I got a hope, child of God, tonight. I have a hope that's not in this world. Spiritually, we have a comforting hope. He said He would not leave us comfortless. He said He would send the Holy Ghost. And I'm glad that we have a spiritually comforting hope. We have a hope of our faith. Hebrews 11 verse 1 says, Now faith is a substance of things hoped for. Boy, if you ever grasp a hold of that verse, that will help you. The evidence of things not seen. Amen. I've never seen Jesus face to face. I told you that at the beginning of the sermon. But one day I will. Amen. I've never behold Him. Amen. But boy, I've been in some services where I felt Him and where He moved on my soul and where He stirred me. Amen. I've never seen Him face to face. Amen. But one day I will. What is that? I've got hope. Not only do we have hope of our faith, but we have hope of our Father. Jeremiah 17, 7 said, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. You know what? You're a blessed man tonight. Amen. You're a blessed individual if you have your hope in Jesus Christ. You know, there's a world out there today, they don't have any hope. They're looking for hope everywhere. They're hoping things will get better, amen. A lot of them, they're counting on Trump to bring it through, amen. They're hoping that it'll all work out, amen. But I'm glad I got a hope that's not in this world tonight. Boy, I'd be a man most miserable if all my hope was in him. Thank God we have a hope for the future, amen. Not only we have a hope in our Father, but we have a hope for the future. Proverbs 23, 18 said, for surely there is an end. and thine expectations shall not be cut off. What are you saying, preacher? One day all these hardships and troubles will be over and the explanation of it all will be heaven. Did you realize tonight, child of God, this world is not your home? You're just passing through. I mean, listen, I know we building houses here, amen, and we call them home and we ought to. I thank God for my home, but I'm glad. I'm glad this world's not my home. I'm glad I'm just passing through. This is not where I'm staying forever. Amen. Hey, if you ever get a phone call, then I'm gone, don't believe it. If you get a phone call that I'm dead and I'm not living no more, don't believe it. Because I'm living more, I'll be living better. Hey man, I'll be living greater than I've ever been living before. We have a hope in our future. Not only do we have spiritually, do we have a comforting hope, but spiritually we have a confident hope. Why? Why preacher? Our hope is based on having confidence in His power and His promises. I read a bunch of promises today in His Word. Amen. Every day I pick up this book and I read it. The more I read it, the more I find out about my Savior, the more I find out about His promises, the more I find out about His goodness and His faithfulness, and I find out that everything that He ever said is true. The more I read it. Spirit, we have a confident hope. Remember that child of God, we have hope in this life. So we said, remember there'll be hardships. Remember we have a hope. But could I say lastly, could we remember that we have heaven? Heaven is home for me. It's not a fairy tale that they've just made up. Child of God. Heaven, if you're saved as a child of God, as a born-again believer, heaven is not a fairy tale. It's not some thing that's made up. Hey, heaven is real. Amen. John said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He said, In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. He said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again. That is a promise, child of God. Heaven's not a fairy tale. I want you to remember, child of God, you may be having some hardships in this life. But we have a hope. This world doesn't have a hope like we have. This world doesn't have heaven like we have. But I thank God that heaven is home for me. Could I say something about heaven? Our heavenly home is a perfect place. Why is our heavenly home a perfect place? Because Jesus is there. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 1 says, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Could I say something tonight? There's no sin. There's no sorrow. There's no sickness. There's no sadness. And thank God, most of all, child of God, you ought to get excited about this. There's no Satan up in heaven. No tempter to bother us anymore. No devil to try to lure us away and drag us down the wrong road. He'll be gone, hey, and heaven will be perfect. There'll be joy and gladness. No more following a graveyard. No more following a coffin out to a graveyard. No more saying goodbye to loved ones. No more disappointments, amen. No more of those things. All those things are gonna be passed away. Say what? Heaven's a perfect place, child of God. Not only is heaven a perfect place, but I'm glad it's a permanent place. Our heavenly home is permanent. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 1 says this, Eternal in the heavens. Our heavenly home is eternal in the heavens. Amen. Hey, it's not going anywhere. I can't wait to get there. I've read a lot about it. I believe God didn't give us any more information about it because He knew some goofy nut would make an amusement park and charge a bunch of Christians a bunch of money to go see it. But I'm sure looking forward to seeing heaven. I got a little boy up in heaven. As David said, I can't bring him to me, but I can go to where he is. I got a little boy up there, I can't wait to see him. But most of all, I want to see my Savior. My grandmother just passed away and went to heaven and she's there. And I want to see her again. But it won't be nothing like seeing my Savior. I want to thank Him for His amazing grace. I want to thank Him for saving my soul on February 26, 1996. As a 12-year-old boy, I want to thank Him for dealing with my heart and calling my name. I want to praise Him for that. Our heavenly home is a permanent place, but not only is it a permanent place, but it's a precious place. It will be precious. Why? Because the Savior will be there. The Spirit will be there. The saved will be there. And I threw this one in this afternoon. There's going to be a supper there. Amen. You say what? God's going to be married, supper of the Lamb. Amen. One day I'm going to sit at his table. I don't know all what he's going to have, but I bet there will be some good stuff. There's probably going to be some banana pudding homemade, amen. More than likely. I mean, I'm just thinking, you know. Probably going to be some boudin or some crawfish, you know, or something. I mean, there's going to be some good stuff like that. Probably going to be some steak. Rib eye about this thick, you know, about that big around, you know. Marble all the way around the edges. You say you think like that, I just think that heaven's going to be better than this world. And I know that supper will be like no other supper that's ever been invited to. And I've been to some pretty good ones down here. I've been invited to some pretty nice tables, amen, and I've been fed some pretty wonderful things. But I bet it won't be nothing like that supper. You say, why? Because my Savior is going to be there. Child of God, what are you saying? I'm saying, Child of God, tonight we need to remember that we have a hope. I understand we have hardships tonight. I just come this way to encourage you tonight. As a church, we have hardships. But I'm glad tonight that we have a hope. that's not in this world, a hope that's not found in our bank accounts or in what we can do or what we have, but we have a hope in Christ. And I'm glad tonight to know that heaven's my home. You didn't know, Brother Mike, but one of my favorite songs, that last song you sung, we sung that at several of my My grandfather's funeral, me and my two sisters, and several of the funerals that I've been a part of over the years, me and my sisters have sung that three-part harmony. I take the lead, my two sisters sing harmony, and we've sung that song. I love that song. It's one of my favorites. You say, why? Because I'm looking. I'm looking for that land. I'm looking for that place. I want you to remember, sometimes we forget Sometimes the hardships get so big for us, amen, that we forget that we do have hope, child of God. We're not like the rest of this world. And sometimes with all those hardships, we look past our hope and we forget that heaven's our home. Child of God, if you're sitting here tonight, this world's not your home. If you're born again tonight, heaven is your home. Hey, listen, the world knows nothing about that. I don't understand how they go out and bury loved ones. I don't see how they do it, Brother Mike. I don't see how they bury loved ones and go through those hard times without a hope, without a home of heaven. But child of God, we have a home in heaven. Whenever I had my last heart surgery, December 2023, they give you all this list of risks that you know. I say my last one because hopefully it is. Amen. I've been doing really good since then. So I always say it's my last one, amen. I've only had two and I don't want no more. That was enough. But they give you all these lists of risks and they talk to your wife and they say, now if this happens while he's inserting, you know, we're going to do this and that and the other. And sometimes, you know, if we get insert an artery and something happens and we can't fix it and he could bleed, you know, and all that. Go through all that list. And I looked at the doctor and he said, man, you look like you've got a worried bone in your body. I said, I'm not. He said, why is that? I said, heaven's my home. He said, I'm not worried about those things. See, you can't scare me with death. I don't want to die, amen, but I'm not afraid to die. He said, why? Heaven's my home. So I just stop by this way to encourage you, church. Though we have hardships, we have a hope that's in Christ. And we have an eternal home in heaven. I hath not seen, neither ear hath heard, neither entered in the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. We have yet to see what God has prepared for you and I. And this world is not our home. Heaven is our home. Father in heaven, Lord, we love you tonight. God, I thank you for this opportunity to be in your house. God, thank you for your people being attentive and listening, God, tonight. Thank you for this opportunity that has been given to us to preach. Lord, we sure love You. We thank You for all Your many blessings.