The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - Finding God’s Presence In The Midst Of Pain ｜ Psalm 42

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00:00:18.120 All right, we're continuing our series through the Psalter.

00:00:21.540 This morning, this Lord's Day, our psalm is Psalm 42.

00:00:25.460 If you were with us last Lord's Day,

00:00:27.020 I spent the entirety of that sermon giving an introduction to this psalm, speaking through, well, exegeting Numbers chapter 16, the sons of Korah, who they were, and setting the stage for this psalm.

00:00:42.080 I believe that the author of the psalm was King David and that it's attributed to the sons of Korah because the sons of Korah, a worship band, a worship team, for lack of a better description, they were a worship team in Israel under the old covenant.

00:01:00.420 And the sons of Korah so often sang this particular psalm that it was likened to them.

00:01:07.580 But I do believe that King David was the original author.

00:01:11.360 And I believe that the setting in which he wrote this particular psalm is when he was on the run.

00:01:17.240 He was banished effectively from Israel.

00:01:20.080 And therefore the tabernacle, the temple was not yet built.

00:01:23.800 It would later be built by his son Solomon.

00:01:26.200 But the tabernacle, it dwelt in Israel.

00:01:29.260 David was on the run either from King Saul before David came into the kingship or he was banished effectively from Israel on the run from Absalom, his traitor son who betrayed him.

00:01:46.560 And the scripture says he slowly but surely won all the hearts of Israel away from his father.

00:01:53.640 He would stand outside of the palace when people would come to David with some kind of conflict, some kind of problem, needing a solution and wisdom from their king.

00:02:04.500 Absalom would meet them on the way so that they never made it to David.

00:02:09.080 And he would resolve their problem, not with justice, not with righteousness, but rather he would resolve their problem, seemingly resolve it by telling them what they wanted to hear.

00:02:21.440 And the Bible says, by doing so, the son of David, Absalom, someone that David had raised up and trained his very own and loved and cared for, he secretly, without the king knowing, he secretly won over all the hearts of the people by telling them what they wanted to hear.

00:02:41.580 And once he had accrued enough power, enough influence, enough people were on his side, he then turned on his father, King David, and threatened his life.

00:02:52.980 And David ran from his own son.

00:02:55.120 I can't imagine how painful that must have been.

00:02:58.620 And as David is now fleeing and hiding, most likely among the Philistines, he's surrounded by his enemies.

00:03:06.160 His enemies are taunting him day and night.

00:03:09.340 They're mocking him, saying, where is your God?

00:03:12.460 And what we see in Psalm 42 is David again and again saying, I long to appear before the Lord.

00:03:19.420 I miss the presence of the Lord.

00:03:23.680 And this is the same David I said last week, I'll say it again.

00:03:27.020 This is the same David who wrote in the Psalms, where can I go from your presence?

00:03:33.400 Where can I go that you would not be?

00:03:36.540 Where could I or how could I hide from you?

00:03:39.860 Right? 0.92

00:03:40.180 Even if I'm in the depths of Sheol, that is the belly of the earth, the grave, you're there.

00:03:46.660 If I find myself in the sea, you're there. 1.00

00:03:50.060 On the mountaintops or the valleys, wherever I might be, there is nowhere that I can go that I might hide from you.

00:03:56.940 So the same David who thoroughly understood the theological principle of the omnipresence of God, that his presence is everywhere, this same David cries out with anguish and torment saying, I long to be in the presence of God, which seems like a contradiction.

00:04:17.740 the same David who says there's nowhere I could go that your presence would not be

00:04:22.560 and yet this same David who understands that God is with him still is lamenting this perceived

00:04:32.300 absence of the presence of God why well because although it is true that God's presence is

00:04:38.560 everywhere because he is omnipresent there is a particular presence of God that dwells among his

00:04:45.500 people and inhabits his praises. And so by David being cut off from Israel on the run for his life

00:04:53.540 what was most significant is that he was cut off not merely from the nation or the cities

00:04:58.640 but what was there in the nation and the cities namely the tabernacle. David was cut off from the

00:05:05.480 tabernacle of the Lord and he was cut off even further from the people of the Lord who at the 0.85

00:05:13.420 tabernacle would praise the Lord so by virtue of being cut off from God's people who would sing

00:05:19.720 God's praises David was effectively cut off from God's presence absence of the people of God and

00:05:28.520 the praises of God that is the corporate praises of God sung collectively corporately by the people

00:05:34.420 of God David recognizes if I don't have the people of God singing together the praises of God then I

00:05:41.860 don't have in a very real sense the presence of God although he is omnipresent there is nowhere I

00:05:47.800 can go to hide from his presence there is a special presence of the Lord a particular presence

00:05:53.320 of the Lord that inhabits the praises of his people and by virtue of being cut off from that

00:05:59.440 there is a sweetness of the presence of God that I no longer have that I'm missing and that I long

00:06:06.960 for. And that's the setting for our psalm. Let's go ahead and dive in. Verses 1 and 2 says this,

00:06:13.680 As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,

00:06:20.440 for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Whether on the run from King Saul or

00:06:28.040 his son Absalom, David has been effectively cut off from the land of Israel, and most significantly

00:06:33.720 the tabernacle therefore the psalmist is deprived of the presence of God the people of God I'm sorry

00:06:40.180 the praise of God the people of God and the presence of God he is consumed by a desperate

00:06:45.140 and even violent thirst like a deer that's about to die that's that's if you were holding it back

00:06:51.640 with with ropes or chains and put water before it it would tear at its own limbs in order to get to

00:06:58.140 the water because it's so desperate, a desperate and even violent thirst for the pleasure and

00:07:03.920 privilege of the presence of God, which is uniquely found in a particular and special sense

00:07:10.700 in the public worship of God with the people of God. David is longing for this. Psalm chapter 84

00:07:18.980 verse 7 says, they go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God in Zion, not just

00:07:27.420 anywhere. This is a psalm speaking of the people of God appearing before God in a particular place

00:07:35.100 in Zion on the holy mountain where the presence of God dwells. We all stand before God. God is

00:07:44.860 always watching. Every thought and inclination of our heart will one day be laid bare because God is

00:07:50.720 witness God is seen God is here he is near he's with us and yet there is a special presence of

00:07:58.240 the Lord at Zion there's a special presence of the Lord in the tabernacle in the temple in Israel

00:08:05.640 in Jerusalem the holy city where the people of God gather together and make melody in their hearts

00:08:11.740 singing his praises and honoring him so too even under the new covenant even for new testament

00:08:19.840 Christians, there is a special presence of the Lord that uniquely and exclusively belongs

00:08:26.580 to the corporate assembly. How do we know this? Because this principle is reaffirmed by Christ

00:08:33.160 himself. In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus expressly says, wherever two or three are gathered in my

00:08:41.940 name there I am among them well Jesus is always there the spirit right he is seated at the right

00:08:52.020 hand of his father but the spiritual presence of the risen Christ is always with all believers

00:08:58.700 by virtue through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit if you're in Christ you've received

00:09:05.520 the Holy Spirit you're no longer your own you were bought with a price your body is now a temple of

00:09:11.880 Holy Spirit. So if you're in Christ Jesus, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You have

00:09:18.020 the Holy Spirit. You have received him. That's what 1 Corinthians 6 says. If you have the Holy

00:09:23.000 Spirit, you have the Spirit of the risen Christ. So if you're a Christian, if you're in Christ,

00:09:29.640 you have the Spirit. By virtue of having the Spirit, you have the Spirit of the risen Christ.

00:09:33.980 Meaning all Christians, all ways, all Christians in all places at all times have the presence of

00:09:41.480 Jesus. So why does Jesus say in Matthew 18, wherever two or three are gathered in my name,

00:09:49.100 there I am among them. If one Christian is isolated, all alone, Jesus is there. The spirit

00:09:57.220 of the risen Christ is there by virtue of the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit. So what

00:10:02.460 does Jesus mean? It's the same principle. It's the same concept. It means that when two or three are

00:10:07.700 gathered in his name, Christ is present spiritually in a special way, in a unique way. And one of the

00:10:15.320 things that he's present with is not just a sweetness and an intimacy, but he is uniquely

00:10:21.940 present with authority. Matthew 18, where he says where two or three are gathered in my name, there

00:10:28.200 I am in their midst. This is the same text, the same context that Jesus speaks about the keys of

00:10:34.620 the kingdom and the authority of the church for binding on earth and it will be bound in heaven

00:10:40.060 and loosing on earth and it will be loosed in heaven. He says, I give you the keys. I give you

00:10:45.220 this binding and loosing power, but this power is not severed from the king. The king is the one who

00:10:53.360 in him is endowed all authority. And so the power can only, the authority can only be exercised

00:11:00.460 when the king, the one who truly wields the authority,

00:11:04.900 the church is wielding it, but the king possesses it.

00:11:07.740 So this authority can only be wielded

00:11:10.120 and exercised by the church 0.94

00:11:11.740 when the one who actually possesses the authority

00:11:14.180 is present, who is Christ.

00:11:16.880 And Jesus expressly says, when the church assembles,

00:11:21.020 that word church in the New Testament,

00:11:22.960 it's ecclesia, is a Greek word.

00:11:25.260 It literally means assembling.

00:11:27.260 It means gathering.

00:11:29.060 It means to congregate, to come together.

00:11:32.660 You may have heard people say, the church is not a building.

00:11:36.440 The church is the people. 0.99

00:11:38.960 And that's true.

00:11:40.880 I don't know how to do it, but the little children thing where they're like,

00:11:43.920 here's the church and the steeple and open it up and here are the people, something like that.

00:11:47.420 But that's true.

00:11:49.040 The church is the people of God.

00:11:50.400 It's not a building.

00:11:51.900 But there's also a sense in which the church is the people of God when the people of God do something particular.

00:11:58.440 when they gather see the church is the people of God Monday through Saturday we scatter and we are

00:12:04.860 still the church insofar as we are still the bride of Christ or the body of Christ so we can be as

00:12:12.800 the people ourselves as the people we are the church on on the Lord's day and the rest of the

00:12:19.680 week even when we're no longer gathered together we are the people of God we are the church but

00:12:25.260 there is another sense in which the word church is used and it's the primary sense actually it's

00:12:30.800 not secondary the primary sense ecclesia is gathering and so the church is not the building

00:12:36.500 the church is the people but we can biblically say that the church is not a building but it is

00:12:44.060 in fact an assembly it is a gathering of the people so it's not just the people of god in

00:12:50.400 isolation, all watching YouTube videos and following Jesus personally and privately. No,

00:12:57.000 the church is the people themselves, not the building, not the place, but the people when

00:13:02.560 they come together. And Jesus says, when the church assembles, Avengers assemble, right? When

00:13:09.500 the church assembles and the people of God come together, he who is always present with all

00:13:14.980 believers at all times by virtue of the indwelling ministry of the spirit of god the holy spirit

00:13:20.820 he becomes uniquely present particularly with authority when the church comes together and the

00:13:27.920 idea of two or three gathered in my name that doesn't just mean two or three christian college

00:13:33.120 students in their dorm room with a djembe and an ovation acoustic guitar singing kumbaya

00:13:38.700 no it means two or three gathered in my name and all jesus means by that is not just two or three

00:13:44.140 believers coming together in a informal, unorganized way. No, what Jesus is saying there is it's when

00:13:50.480 the church gathers and here's the good news, you can have a small church. All it technically takes

00:13:57.140 to constitute a church in biblical terms, because the Bible actually does give us criteria for what

00:14:03.660 the church is, and technically all it takes for it to be a biblical, legitimate, bona fide church

00:14:10.540 is two or three people

00:14:12.620 who are gathered together

00:14:14.980 in the name of Jesus,

00:14:16.860 committed to making disciples

00:14:18.920 and baptizing the nations

00:14:21.180 and teaching them to obey

00:14:23.720 all of Christ's commands

00:14:24.760 as they seek diligently

00:14:26.060 to follow those commands themselves.

00:14:28.900 So two or three gathered

00:14:30.140 is not Jesus saying,

00:14:31.400 oh, it's not the church.

00:14:32.720 No, that's just Jesus saying,

00:14:33.980 it's okay if it's a small church,

00:14:35.720 which I am incredibly encouraged by

00:14:37.640 given our current status.

00:14:40.960 So all that being said,

00:14:43.080 that's what David's longing for.

00:14:44.880 He is longing for the unique presence of God

00:14:48.120 that is bound to the people and praise of God.

00:14:53.920 And that's not just an Old Testament reality

00:14:56.380 due to the tabernacle and the temple,

00:14:59.660 but that is a New Testament principle as well

00:15:02.920 that is reaffirmed by Christ in Matthew 18.

00:15:07.640 Psalm 42 verse 3 says my tears are my food day and night while they say to me all day where is

00:15:15.100 your God see David is so overwhelmed by grief that he cannot even eat he has lost his appetite

00:15:22.520 David does not merely grieve deeply for a moment or for an instance but he is grieving deeply day

00:15:29.800 and night is what he says my tears are my food not just for a couple hours but day and night

00:15:36.360 Continually, perpetually, meaning that the psalmist does not find himself in a moment of grief or a moment of sadness, but a prolonged season of sadness.

00:15:48.220 One of the reasons David's grief is so perpetual is because he is unable to recover what he is grieving about, what he is specifically lost, namely the praise and people and presence of God.

00:16:03.800 He has been cut off from these precious things with no visible hope.

00:16:10.460 In the natural, in terms of his circumstances, there's no visible hope of these things being restored.

00:16:18.260 And yet another reason David's grief is perpetual and continual is due to the constant reminders that he receives from those who are mocking him.

00:16:28.900 See, one method of dealing with our grief, although not a real solution, is distraction.

00:16:37.980 In seasons of sadness, there's a profound desire for us to try to forget our sorrow.

00:16:45.560 It's trying to forget, trying to distract ourselves from the hurt, from the pain.

00:16:51.160 unfortunately David's contemporaries presumably the Philistines who he is hiding among are taunting 0.75

00:16:59.720 him relentlessly they continually insist that his God has abandoned him just as the miserable

00:17:05.920 counselors of Job insisted that God must be punishing him so too the only counsel David

00:17:13.160 receives is the constant constant assurance that he has somehow failed the God he loves

00:17:19.780 and that his God is angry with him.

00:17:23.220 Matthew chapter 27, verse 46 says this,

00:17:26.700 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,

00:17:30.520 Eli, Eli, lemma sabachthani.

00:17:33.220 That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

00:17:39.360 Why have you forsaken me?

00:17:41.460 Christ experienced the same thing that David did.

00:17:45.200 There are many ways in which in the Old Testament,

00:17:47.260 David, King David, is a type of Christ. The difference is David felt forsaken. Christ was.

00:17:56.820 Christ was forsaken. The Father turned his face away. This does not constitute an objective break

00:18:04.640 in the Trinity. I'm not saying that. This does not constitute a moment where the humanity of

00:18:10.940 Christ engulfed his divinity so that he was no longer divine, so that we no longer have a Trinity

00:18:15.700 for a moment but we actually just have the father and the spirit that's not what i'm saying but there

00:18:21.040 is a very real sense where christ in his human nature which has been imputed with sin he who

00:18:30.200 knew no sin became sin christ in his human nature at the cross now imputed with sin is forsaken by

00:18:38.440 the father jesus christ the eternal second member of the trinity who has only ever known perfect

00:18:45.020 communion and fellowship with his father has now for the very first time and the only time

00:18:51.760 in human history been cut off. David felt forsaken. Christ was forsaken. And Christ was

00:19:02.040 forsaken so that all those who trust in Christ would never be forsaken. The reason why David

00:19:10.140 isn't objectively, in a real sense, forsaken by God in our text, the reason why he merely feels

00:19:18.520 forsaken in a subjective sense, but is not actually forsaken by God, is because hundreds of years

00:19:24.980 later, Christ, David's offspring, would actually be forsaken so that David never would. David was

00:19:32.860 not forsaken and you also likewise are not in a literal objective sense forsaken by God we may

00:19:40.460 feel abandoned we may feel at times in moments as though God is angry with us and there may be a real

00:19:48.780 moment of the fatherly displeasure of God the Puritans would speak of that but it's still God

00:19:55.340 as father so whether we're under his his rod his discipline like hebrews 12 speaks of whether we're

00:20:03.160 in the season of his fatherly displeasure because of our willful sin he never ceases to be the father

00:20:10.080 of those who've been born again by grace through faith in christ he is near he is with you he loves

00:20:18.000 you he may be displeased for a moment he may be just disciplining you for a season but he always

00:20:23.820 loves you and he is always your adoptive father. You and I are not forsaken in the same way that

00:20:30.420 David was not forsaken because Christ was forsaken in our place. Psalm 42 verse 4 says this,

00:20:39.300 these things I remember as I pour out my soul. David is speaking now of prayer. He's speaking of

00:20:47.740 fervent prayer, diligent prayer, passionate, zealous prayer, that in prayer before God, he is

00:20:55.320 pouring out his very soul. I think of the apostle Paul who says to Timothy in his second letter,

00:21:02.180 he says, even now I'm being poured out like a drink offering. Meaning that the apostle Paul

00:21:07.760 was suffering and being persecuted and he knew that his end was nigh, right? That he would soon

00:21:13.080 be martyred. He would soon be put to death. He says, even now I'm being poured out like a drink 0.99

00:21:18.360 offering. And he's saying this to his true son in the faith, Timothy. But he also, as he's being

00:21:23.800 poured out like a drink offering, he is also bearing his soul to the Lord. So when David says,

00:21:30.220 I remember these things as I pour out my soul, what he's saying is this. He's saying, in those

00:21:37.700 times of deep and fervent and desperate prayer to God, I am mindful, I recall these particular

00:21:47.540 things. What things? How I would lead the throng in procession to the house of God with glad shouts

00:21:55.740 and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. See, in response to his agitators,

00:22:02.920 those who were surrounding David

00:22:05.240 likely the Philistines 0.98

00:22:06.400 as he was hiding among them

00:22:08.420 on the run from either Saul

00:22:10.140 or his son Absalom 1.00

00:22:11.580 these Philistines are mocking David 1.00

00:22:14.340 they're taunting him 1.00

00:22:16.620 where is your God?

00:22:19.320 it's not a real question

00:22:20.780 it's a statement

00:22:22.380 they're saying we know where your God is

00:22:24.700 either he doesn't exist

00:22:26.500 or what's more likely

00:22:28.660 the Philistines

00:22:29.380 they were fined with a plurality of gods

00:22:32.340 They have their pantheons with multiple idols.

00:22:35.380 So they probably weren't saying, your God doesn't exist, David.

00:22:39.640 Your God's not real.

00:22:41.360 It's less likely that they're saying that and more likely that they're saying, your God exists and he's just a bad God.

00:22:48.680 He's a mean God.

00:22:50.000 Or they might even be saying, your God exists and he's just and fair. 0.99

00:22:54.560 You're just a really lousy person, David.

00:22:56.580 and so he has done the right thing by abandoning you by forsaking you because you must be in sin 0.99

00:23:04.140 right that's the very same counsel that job receives when job's suffering when he's suffering

00:23:11.140 from satan directly right but satan only doing this because god and his sovereignty has permitted

00:23:17.080 it when job is enduring this suffering his three friends come and their whole concept their whole

00:23:24.720 principle is there's no way this would be allowed by God to happen unless you did something wrong

00:23:30.140 you must be in sin Job you must have done something wrong there must be some way in

00:23:36.380 which you have failed God otherwise God wouldn't let this happen it's very likely that this is the

00:23:41.860 same counsel that David is receiving from the Philistines sure your God exists right we've

00:23:49.080 seen his work before. We know that the God of Israel exists. We even know that he's a mighty

00:23:55.260 God. So we're not saying that where is your God, meaning he doesn't exist. We're saying where is

00:24:02.040 your God, meaning he's forsaken you because you have failed. David probably longed to distract

00:24:09.660 himself from his grief, from his pain, but he couldn't because his contemporaries, these Philistines 1.00

00:24:17.280 who surrounded him who he's hiding among would prod and prick him all day long mocking him 0.94

00:24:22.660 reminding him of his pain and assuring him that somehow he had done something wrong

00:24:28.120 that God truly had forsaken him and that this was God's just response to David's sin and failure

00:24:36.540 so in response to his agitators David pours out his soul he devotes himself to prayer

00:24:47.280 Meaning this, David doesn't believe the negative report that he receives.

00:24:53.100 He doesn't listen to the bad counsel he keeps getting. 0.89

00:24:57.900 He's surrounded by miserable counselors. 0.89

00:25:02.140 Telling them, your God has abandoned you because you have failed him. 0.98

00:25:06.140 If David listened, he wouldn't press in.

00:25:09.620 To receive that counsel, to follow that counsel, would say, God's angry with you, so why don't you give God some space?

00:25:17.840 God's angry with you, so why don't you back off?

00:25:21.800 Why don't you just stay away?

00:25:23.660 And why don't you try to clean up your act?

00:25:26.220 Why don't you try to atone for your own sin?

00:25:29.080 Why don't you try to make it up to God

00:25:31.140 before you go back and approach him?

00:25:34.460 But David doesn't listen, right?

00:25:37.100 And we know he doesn't listen

00:25:38.060 because even though he continually is mocked

00:25:40.920 and taunted by the Philistines saying,

00:25:42.540 where is your God?

00:25:43.540 He's angry with you.

00:25:45.520 He's mad at you.

00:25:47.280 He has abandoned you as a just response for your failure.

00:25:50.800 David responds by pressing in even further,

00:25:54.220 by pressing into the presence of God in prayer even deeper.

00:25:58.340 He pours out his soul.

00:26:01.420 He devotes himself wholly in prayer to the Lord.

00:26:05.740 His enemies seek to remind David of his failures

00:26:08.840 and God's apparent absence.

00:26:11.380 But David, while in prayer,

00:26:13.820 he combats this constant assault by reminding himself of the sweetest moments of God's presence.

00:26:22.140 Notice David's fondest memories, and get this church, David's fondest memories, this is such

00:26:28.200 a stark contrast to many people that we would talk to today who would profess Christ, and many 0.90

00:26:33.960 of them are actually Christians, but I think there's a level of spiritual immaturity. See, 0.98

00:26:39.400 David, when he recalls his fondest memories of the presence of God, it's when he's surrounded by the people of God.

00:26:46.680 So when David thinks of the sweetest moments of God's presence, and he recalls these moments to memory,

00:26:54.280 unlike many people in the church today, for David, these are not moments in his car listening to worship music by himself on a road trip.

00:27:03.620 Or they're not moments, you know, in his room with the lights turned out, you know, quietly just praying.

00:27:09.400 No, when David recalls the sweetest moments that he can remember of the presence of God,

00:27:16.520 every single one of those moments involves other people.

00:27:22.120 They're not private moments.

00:27:24.660 David's fondest memories of God's presence are not private memories.

00:27:30.160 They're public memories where he's surrounded by the people of God,

00:27:34.640 a multitude making festival.

00:27:37.440 when David is leading a throng of people.

00:27:41.140 I don't know exactly what a throng is,

00:27:42.900 but it sounds like a lot of people, right?

00:27:45.300 And if we weren't sure,

00:27:46.360 we could just kind of interpret scripture by scripture

00:27:49.700 and just later in the same verse,

00:27:51.400 it says multitude, a multitude giving festival.

00:27:54.220 That's what David remembers.

00:27:56.160 And David is using moments of the past,

00:27:59.180 remembering the presence of God in the past

00:28:01.860 to combat the subjective feeling

00:28:04.360 of the absence of God's present in the present.

00:28:08.480 So when David feels like God isn't there in the present,

00:28:12.880 David remembers all the times when God was there.

00:28:16.380 And that lifts his soul.

00:28:18.820 That gives him hope.

00:28:19.920 It gives him confidence.

00:28:21.260 It encourages him.

00:28:22.460 It strengthens him.

00:28:23.400 Why?

00:28:24.640 Why?

00:28:25.200 Why would remembering God's presence

00:28:28.080 and faithfulness in the past

00:28:30.040 give us confidence and encouragement

00:28:32.160 when we feel like he's not present

00:28:33.960 in the moment because he who began a good work in you is faithful to bring it to fruition

00:28:40.000 meaning if I can recall a single moment of God's faithfulness and kindness and presence

00:28:45.920 with me in the past I know that I'm going to make it not because I'm good at following Jesus

00:28:52.700 but because Jesus keeps his own the shepherd doesn't lose his sheep it's not that I'm clinging

00:29:00.640 fast to Jesus is that Jesus is clinging fast to me. I know that he is both the author and the

00:29:08.100 finisher of my faith. And so if I can point to objective moments of the past where I can say,

00:29:14.580 he started something. He began a good work in me. He authored faith. He did something. He started

00:29:22.220 something, then I know from his promises in his word that he'll finish it. Jesus never starts a

00:29:30.960 project that he doesn't intend on finishing. So if I can remember moments of the sweetness of the

00:29:38.080 presence of God, his faithfulness and kindness in my life at all in the past, it gives me hope

00:29:44.420 in the present because I know he'll finish the work in the future.

00:29:50.660 Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 through 12 says this, after this I looked and behold a great

00:29:57.240 multitude that no one could number, not a private honeymoon suite with you and Jesus.

00:30:05.080 That's weird.

00:30:07.280 Don't do that.

00:30:09.180 That's just weird.

00:30:10.460 There's just so much of this lovey-dovey intimacy,

00:30:12.940 like dudes in the church,

00:30:16.680 like writing love songs to Jesus

00:30:19.420 as though he was their boyfriend.

00:30:22.920 It's weird. 1.00

00:30:24.700 It's queer.

00:30:26.240 And I mean that in both senses of the term.

00:30:28.740 So no, that's not what the Bible is talking about.

00:30:32.080 That's not what David remembers.

00:30:33.140 That's not what we need to remember.

00:30:34.320 And that's not what Revelation chapter seven says.

00:30:37.220 After this, I looked and behold,

00:30:38.780 I saw me and Jesus in heaven alone? No. I saw a great multitude that no one could number from

00:30:46.340 every tribe and nation and people and language standing before the throne and before the lamb

00:30:53.140 clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice

00:30:59.000 salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb and all the angels were

00:31:05.800 standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on

00:31:10.760 their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and

00:31:16.940 thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. This is the moment

00:31:24.840 that we're waiting for. This is what we long to see. There will be streets of gold, but that's

00:31:33.220 not the point. The heaven that we long for, what makes it so wonderful, is not heaven itself,

00:31:41.800 but the king of heaven. It's being in the presence of Jesus. But this is not this private, intimate,

00:31:50.220 lonely moment, just you and him. Part of what makes it so sweet is not just that we'll be with

00:31:56.500 Jesus, but we'll be with each other. We will be with Jesus corporately. And the closest we ever

00:32:05.020 come to heaven ever in this life is right now. It's the Lord's day. It's the gathering of the

00:32:14.560 saints. It's our corporate worship. It's the ordinary means of grace being administered on

00:32:21.500 the lord's day to the gathered church it's the public not private but the public preaching of

00:32:26.860 god's word the public praying of god's word the public singing of god's word and the public

00:32:32.160 scene of god's word as it were in the sacrament of the lord's supper and baptism john bunyan

00:32:40.160 the best baptist there's ever been john bunyan he wrote pilgrim's progress and he said that that in

00:32:46.640 Pilgrim's Progress, there was a place in this journey of Christian, the main protagonist,

00:32:51.900 and he had two companions, faithful and then hopeful, but on their journey, there was a place

00:32:56.780 where they had still not yet made it to the final destination, to heaven, the celestial city.

00:33:03.440 But there was a place where they could just barely make off in the distance a glimpse of the

00:33:09.180 celestial city. It was the Delectable Mountains. And on the Delectable Mountains, there were

00:33:15.680 shepherds who would tend to the wounds and the needs of weary pilgrims, weary sheep who were

00:33:22.820 making their way, their progress to the celestial city. And there were all these trials. There was

00:33:29.400 the valley of the shadow of death. There were all these great enemies that they had to battle.

00:33:35.800 There was a doubting castle, a giant despair, all these different challenges. But along the way,

00:33:42.420 from time to time, there were places of refuge,

00:33:46.380 the house of the interpreter,

00:33:48.640 but there was also the delectable mountains.

00:33:51.620 And this was perhaps the sweetest place

00:33:53.960 in Christian's journey, that side of heaven,

00:33:57.880 that side of the celestial city.

00:34:01.480 And what made it so sweet is that the shepherds

00:34:03.880 who represented pastors, elders,

00:34:06.860 they would tend to Christian's wounds,

00:34:08.620 They would instruct him and teach him glorious truths and wisdoms about God.

00:34:14.700 And it was a safe place, a place of refuge and security.

00:34:19.700 And from the delectable mountains, they could see off in the distance the final destination, the city of God, the celestial city.

00:34:30.600 To remember, it's real.

00:34:32.780 It's real.

00:34:34.140 There are moments in life where you just, you can't see.

00:34:36.620 you just can't see it for a moment and that doesn't mean that you've lost your faith that

00:34:42.600 doesn't mean that God's abandoned you that doesn't mean you lost your salvation but there are moments

00:34:46.760 in this life where where our own sin from within is so great or the sin of others pressing down

00:34:53.440 on us and attacking us is so great that we can't see God we can't see heaven and we begin to doubt

00:35:02.100 and wonder if it's really true.

00:35:04.460 Is it real?

00:35:06.080 I mean, Christian also has this experience

00:35:07.880 in Pilgrim's Progress at the very end.

00:35:10.480 After he's made the whole journey,

00:35:12.080 the last thing is the river.

00:35:13.840 On the other side of the river is the celestial city.

00:35:16.160 The river represents death. 0.99

00:35:18.540 He has to die. 0.99

00:35:20.000 He has to cross over the river. 1.00

00:35:21.760 And there are some pilgrims

00:35:23.140 who they cross through the river

00:35:24.560 and the water only goes up to their ankles

00:35:26.480 or maybe their knees.

00:35:28.260 That's what we would call dying in virtuous hope.

00:35:31.820 They never doubt.

00:35:33.340 Even on their deathbed, Christ is Savior.

00:35:37.520 He is promised, he is faithful, and I will die in virtuous hope.

00:35:41.840 And you read those stories.

00:35:43.380 You read about certain men of old, great theologians and pastors.

00:35:47.280 You know, the tale is that the legend has it that their final words on their deathbed were some profound, wonderful, you know, truth about God and their great confidence in Christ.

00:35:59.040 But there are many other Christians,

00:36:01.260 like Christian, the main protagonist in Pilgrim's Progress,

00:36:04.380 where he goes to the river and the water comes up to his neck

00:36:07.420 and begins to have billows and waves

00:36:09.760 and it begins to roll over his head.

00:36:11.820 And he's crying out to his friend, Hopeful,

00:36:14.200 who's walking with him.

00:36:15.960 Meaning Hopeful is holding his hand 0.94

00:36:18.740 as a true brother in the faith as Christian dies.

00:36:22.120 He's with them to help him die well.

00:36:25.200 And Christian, there are moments where the water's over his head

00:36:27.160 and he can't see the city.

00:36:29.120 He can't see it.

00:36:30.360 He's doubting that it even exists.

00:36:32.620 And all he can do, he can't see the celestial city,

00:36:35.780 but he can hear the voice of his friend

00:36:37.820 reminding him, you've come all this way.

00:36:41.460 The Savior won't let you go.

00:36:42.820 We're almost there.

00:36:43.740 It's okay.

00:36:44.660 It's right ahead.

00:36:45.400 You can't see it, but I can.

00:36:46.680 I can see it.

00:36:47.860 I see the city.

00:36:48.820 I see him.

00:36:49.540 I see the Savior.

00:36:50.620 You'll make it.

00:36:51.840 You'll make it.

00:36:52.800 And he keeps going and he goes,

00:36:54.300 even though he can't see.

00:36:56.160 He walks not by sight, but by faith.

00:36:59.340 And faith comes not by what we see, but by what we hear.

00:37:02.400 And how will we hear unless someone preaches?

00:37:04.560 And sometimes we need a friend.

00:37:07.120 Preaching to us the truths of Christ.

00:37:09.780 Preaching to us the glorious redemption that we have.

00:37:13.300 Preaching to us that Christ is the author and the finisher

00:37:16.180 and that he never lets us go.

00:37:17.720 That he is faithful, faithful, faithful.

00:37:22.720 And so there are times when we cannot see.

00:37:24.880 But there are times when we can't.

00:37:26.640 And the closest we ever get to heaven in this life,

00:37:29.880 it's the Lord's Day.

00:37:31.580 It's the delectable mountains.

00:37:33.720 It's the nourishing of the shepherds.

00:37:36.180 It's the fellowship of the sheep.

00:37:38.300 And it's the glimpse from these mountains

00:37:40.640 as we're caught up into heavenly places

00:37:42.680 in our worship on the Lord's Day.

00:37:44.380 It's that view that we get, if only for a couple hours,

00:37:48.020 if only for a moment, the far-off distant view of heaven

00:37:52.540 and of the king of heaven, that he's real.

00:37:57.340 And that all of this that we're doing,

00:37:59.280 our whole lives orienting them around God and his word,

00:38:03.500 that it's not in vain.

00:38:05.580 It's what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15,

00:38:08.220 where he says, if Christ wasn't really raised from the dead,

00:38:10.900 it's all been in vain.

00:38:12.460 I remember I had a friend in college

00:38:13.940 and he thought that he had had a profound revelation,

00:38:18.720 but apparently he had not yet read 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

00:38:23.180 But it was so meaningful to him, and he was so frustrated with me

00:38:26.700 because I probably could have done it more gently,

00:38:29.340 but this was like emotionally really meaningful and profound for him,

00:38:33.420 and I just immediately burst the bubble.

00:38:35.980 But he said, you know, I just had this moment in chapel this morning

00:38:39.980 at the college as we were worshiping where I just,

00:38:42.320 I realized even if Jesus doesn't exist, I don't regret it.

00:38:46.480 This is all, this is, you know, the Christian faith

00:38:50.180 and the friends that I have and worshiping him

00:38:52.480 and all these things,

00:38:53.540 it's been such a positive, sweet experience in my life.

00:38:57.060 Even if he doesn't exist, I don't regret it.

00:38:59.880 And I said, I do.

00:39:02.720 And then I opened 1 Corinthians 15 and read it to him 0.96

00:39:05.340 and he felt foolish and embarrassed and frustrated with me.

00:39:09.520 And so, but the point is, Paul doesn't say, 0.91

00:39:12.200 hey, even if Christ hasn't been raised from the dead,

00:39:15.640 there's still a lot of good morals

00:39:17.840 that come from the Christian Judea worldview.

00:39:21.160 That's not the Apostle Paul's view.

00:39:24.580 That's not his opinion.

00:39:26.440 I mean, there are, sure, there are.

00:39:29.380 I mean, following the word of God

00:39:30.860 is just a better way to live.

00:39:32.300 There is truth in that.

00:39:33.440 But Paul says, it's all a loss.

00:39:36.820 It's all a waste.

00:39:37.920 He says, we, if Christ hasn't raised from the dead,

00:39:40.520 we, that is Christians,

00:39:41.920 are of all people most to be pitied. 1.00

00:39:45.380 We're foolish. 0.99

00:39:46.860 It's embarrassing. 1.00

00:39:48.720 People should feel sorry for us.

00:39:51.380 And we should feel sorry for ourselves.

00:39:54.720 But Christ has been raised.

00:39:57.200 And we too will be raised.

00:40:00.440 He's real.

00:40:01.780 It's all real.

00:40:03.860 It's true.

00:40:05.420 And there are moments where we can't sense that reality.

00:40:09.580 But there are moments when we can.

00:40:11.000 And the Lord's Day in the gathering of the saints is one of those moments.

00:40:15.320 skipping forward verse 5 of our text it says this why are you cast down oh my soul and why are you

00:40:23.120 in turmoil within me hope in god for i shall again praise him my salvation see david while

00:40:31.500 overwhelmed by grief does not give his grief the reins it's okay to grieve it's not okay to put

00:40:39.100 your grief in charge. That's what's not okay. The mark of a Christian is not someone who has a

00:40:46.840 complete absence of sadness. The true mark of a spiritually mature believer is not someone who

00:40:53.140 never grieves. Jesus was a man of many sorrows, Isaiah says. So to be a mature believer is not

00:41:00.800 to never grieve, but it's not to ever be led by your grief, not to be mastered by your grief.

00:41:08.500 So what David does is while experiencing grief, what he does is he speaks to his grief.

00:41:15.060 He doesn't let his grief have the final word in counseling him, but rather he can test with his own heart, his own emotions, his own grief.

00:41:24.780 He challenges his grief and says, hey grief, I'm in charge, not you.

00:41:29.860 I'm leading you.

00:41:31.420 And grief has been given to me in this moment, sovereignly by God to produce something in me, but it doesn't rule me.

00:41:38.040 It's here to serve me.

00:41:40.880 God allows suffering and sadness into our lives, but not as a leader, but as a servant.

00:41:47.420 Suffering comes into our lives at times under the sovereign banner of God for our service.

00:41:55.180 Suffering is your slave, not the other way around.

00:41:59.060 Bad circumstances serve you.

00:42:01.220 You don't serve them.

00:42:03.200 Sadness serves you.

00:42:04.920 You don't serve sadness.

00:42:06.000 All these things God allows in moments in our life, in his sovereignty, to serve us by producing something in us for God's glory and for our good.

00:42:20.740 So the goal is not to have a suffering free life.

00:42:24.400 It's not to have a grief free life.

00:42:26.940 but it is to be in all moments self-controlled, sober-minded, and master of those things which

00:42:34.960 God allows into our life, recognizing that they are sent by God to serve us and not the other way

00:42:42.500 around. David does not allow grief to get the final word. He doesn't allow grief to lead him

00:42:50.080 around like a leash by the neck. At times when his grief becomes so powerful that it begins to

00:42:56.900 overwhelm him, the psalmist corrects himself for giving too much credence to the sorrow of his

00:43:03.160 present circumstances. When the circumstances of the present are daunting, we must take our cue

00:43:09.260 from David. We must look to the past and remember the sweetness of the presence of God.

00:43:14.760 If there is any sweetness at all to be remembered in the past, then we must look forward with

00:43:19.800 confidence to the future, recognizing that for the Christian, the very best moments all lie before

00:43:26.380 us. In other words, the key to unlocking the dungeon of despair is the promise of hope.

00:43:35.620 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who has been

00:43:40.900 born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God and

00:43:47.480 the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the son of God has come

00:43:53.000 and has given us understanding

00:43:55.000 so that we may know him who is true.

00:43:57.660 And we are in him who is true,

00:44:00.260 in his son, Jesus Christ.

00:44:02.520 He is the true God and eternal life.

00:44:05.260 1 John 5, verse 18 through 20.

00:44:09.100 See, 1 John, this text that I've just read,

00:44:12.340 it says we know we are from God, that is Christians,

00:44:15.180 and that the whole world, that's the rest of the world, 0.99

00:44:17.220 unbelievers, lies in the power of the evil one. 1.00

00:44:20.600 Now throughout 1 John, 0.86

00:44:21.900 he draws a sharp line of distinction between Christians and non-Christians, the rest of the

00:44:27.180 world. There's no middle ground. A person is either of God or they are of the world. And if

00:44:34.040 they're of the world, they are lying in the power of the evil one. Some translations actually say

00:44:40.720 the world is lying in the arms of the evil one. The picture, the image is this, that the world,

00:44:49.100 that is unbelievers they're not they're not lying in the power of the evil one like like 0.72

00:44:54.620 prisoners taken captive who are frantically and desperately trying to break free no they're lying 0.94

00:45:01.460 in the arms of the evil one like like a small child an infant lies in the arms of its mother

00:45:08.180 those who are not in Christ the unbeliever they're not they're not just merely being held

00:45:14.020 captive by Satan, although there are texts in scripture that paint that image, but their

00:45:19.100 captivity is a willing captivity and even happy and joyful captivity. They enjoy and gain security

00:45:28.260 and pleasure by lying peacefully, restfully in the arms of their father, Satan. John chapter 8 says

00:45:38.480 that if you're not a child of God, you are a child of your true father, the devil. That's the image

00:45:45.220 that we see. The devil has blinded their minds. Satan is their father, and unbelievers have a

00:45:53.580 certain affection toward him because he's deceived them and blinded their minds, according to 2

00:46:00.000 Corinthians 4, verse 4. So therefore, here's my point. Satan's chief ministry with unbelievers

00:46:06.300 is a ministry of deception but his chief ministry with believers like David in our psalm is a 0.77

00:46:14.120 ministry of despair that's the difference for the unbeliever the chief ministry of Satan is a 0.75

00:46:21.820 ministry of deception he has blinded their eyes and he is holding them in his is in his arms again

00:46:29.100 the first John chapter 5 18 through 20 text what it says is it says that for us those who have been

00:46:35.420 born of God, if we've been born of God, God protects us. That's verse 18. He protects us and

00:46:42.600 the evil one does not touch us. And look at the contrast. The contrast is, the opposite is for

00:46:50.880 those who are not born of God, who are unbelievers, not only does Satan touch them, but Satan is 0.53

00:46:56.320 holding them and rocking them like a baby. So for the unbeliever, Satan is holding them and rocking 0.82

00:47:02.860 them as they lie peacefully and blindly, deceptively in his arms. But for the believer, for the 0.71

00:47:10.040 Christian, Satan can't even touch us if you've been born of God. So what John is getting at,

00:47:16.060 what John is getting at in 1 John chapter 5 is this. If you've been born of God, he who is in

00:47:21.680 you is greater than he who is in the world. The Spirit of God testifies to the truth. So when it

00:47:27.100 says that Satan can't touch you, it doesn't mean that you can't experience hardship like Job did.

00:47:32.540 Satan, it sure looks like Satan touched Job.

00:47:35.640 It really looks like Satan touched Job.

00:47:37.800 Well, he did, in a sense.

00:47:40.160 In a sense.

00:47:41.460 See, 1 John chapter 5, when it says that Satan can't touch those who have been born of God,

00:47:45.300 what it's saying is Satan cannot ultimately deceive those who have been born of God.

00:47:50.520 While Satan has a strong hold on those who are unbelievers.

00:47:57.200 And so, the point is this.

00:47:58.800 The distinction between the strategy of the enemy for those who are in Christ and those who are not, who are still in Adam, is this.

00:48:09.480 For those who are in Adam, for the unbeliever, Satan's strategy is to keep them deceived, to keep them blinded, to keep them in the dark.

00:48:18.800 But for the believer, for those who are in Christ and have been born again of the spirit, Satan's ministry is not deception because it doesn't work.

00:48:28.800 Because the spirit preserves us.

00:48:31.880 The spirit protects us from being deceived

00:48:34.580 and testifies within us the truth of God's word.

00:48:38.900 So what Satan does with us is what he does with Job.

00:48:42.240 It's what he did with David.

00:48:43.840 It's what he did with Jesus in his earthly ministry.

00:48:47.000 It's not deceiving.

00:48:49.280 It's trying to get us to despair.

00:48:53.340 It's not a ministry of deception for those who are in Christ.

00:48:57.100 But it is a strategy of despair.

00:49:00.120 It's to get you to doubt.

00:49:01.900 It's to get you to despair.

00:49:03.820 It's to get you to grieve

00:49:05.260 and to hand over to your grief the reins.

00:49:10.020 And to be led by sorrow,

00:49:11.840 to be led by sadness,

00:49:13.860 to despair even unto death.

00:49:17.820 One final quote from Pilgrim's Progress.

00:49:20.580 Can't help it.

00:49:22.220 About midnight, they began to pray

00:49:24.160 and continued in prayer

00:49:26.280 till almost break of day now a little before it was day good christian as one half amazed broke 0.99

00:49:32.620 out in passionate speech what a fool i am thus to lie in this stinking dungeon that is the dungeon 0.66

00:49:38.840 and doubting castle ruled by giant despair when i may as well walk at liberty i have a key in my 0.97

00:49:47.540 bosom right next to his heart in his pocket called promise that will i am persuaded open any lock

00:49:55.180 in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, that's good news. Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.

00:50:02.500 Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door, whose bolt,

00:50:07.460 as he turned the key, gave back and the door flew open with ease. And Christian and Hopeful both

00:50:14.200 came out. For the unbeliever, they are deceived. For the believer, Satan tempts us to despair. 0.92

00:50:24.200 But when you despair, remember you have a key.

00:50:29.360 The way out of despair is not like climbing a 300-foot cliff.

00:50:35.520 Now, here's the beauty.

00:50:36.180 There's a lot of things that are challenging in the Christian life.

00:50:38.640 There's a lot of things that require diligence and persistence.

00:50:42.540 It requires us to push through, to run the race.

00:50:45.080 But when it comes to despair, if you find yourself locked in Doubting Castle, in the dungeon, ruled by giant despair,

00:50:53.640 Here's the beauty.

00:50:54.700 There are so many other trials

00:50:56.160 that will require a lot of work.

00:50:58.980 But getting out of despair

00:51:00.740 is one of the easiest things

00:51:02.540 that the Christian can do.

00:51:04.500 The solution is not something far off.

00:51:07.140 It's not like some rare flower

00:51:08.760 that only grows on the top of Mount Everest

00:51:10.840 and you have to scale the cliffs

00:51:12.160 and find it and make some kind of secret potion.

00:51:15.200 No, no, no.

00:51:15.820 The solution to despair

00:51:17.700 is reaching into your jacket pocket

00:51:20.260 and pulling out a key called promise.

00:51:23.280 What is that promise?

00:51:25.140 It's the promise of God.

00:51:27.220 It's the promise of the Savior.

00:51:29.080 It's the promise of Christ.

00:51:30.800 See, what David does is this.

00:51:32.060 When he is tempted to despair, even unto death,

00:51:35.620 when his heart and his own soul are warring against him,

00:51:38.840 agreeing with his enemies and taunting him

00:51:40.900 that God has forsaken and abandoned him forever,

00:51:43.700 what David does is this.

00:51:45.180 He reaches into his jacket pocket.

00:51:47.340 He pulls out the key to unlock the dungeon of despair,

00:51:50.560 the key called promise.

00:51:51.700 And what is that promise?

00:51:54.340 What's the proof, I should say, the evidence of that promise?

00:51:57.760 It's the moments of the presence of God in the past.

00:52:01.220 David remembers the throng.

00:52:02.880 He remembers the multitude.

00:52:04.440 He remembers appearing before his God with great glad shouts of joy.

00:52:08.820 And David says this, if God did it once, he'll do it again.

00:52:12.920 And he pulls out the promise of God.

00:52:15.320 He breaks the bolt on the dungeon of despair.

00:52:18.700 And he walks out a free man.

00:52:21.020 And you, by God's grace, can do it too.

00:52:24.800 And you, by God's grace, can do it today.

00:52:28.240 Let's pray.

00:52:29.440 Father God, thank you for your word.

00:52:32.020 Thank you for the liberty we have in Christ Jesus.

00:52:35.480 Thank you for the redemption and the salvation we have.

00:52:38.820 And thank you, God, that you have protected those who have been born of the Spirit from deception.

00:52:44.880 and although Satan may tempt us to despair,

00:52:49.600 in the moment of despair, we are not deceived.

00:52:53.360 Meaning that we have, by your grace,

00:52:55.900 the strength to see clearly.

00:52:58.960 We have, by your grace, even in moments of despair

00:53:02.000 because you do not allow us to be deceived,

00:53:04.120 we have the ability to remember your truth,

00:53:07.880 to remember your promise,

00:53:10.000 and to wield promise like a key

00:53:12.840 and unlock any dungeon of depression,

00:53:16.020 of anxiety, of despair, of grief, of sadness,

00:53:20.560 that we do not have to be mastered by our grief,

00:53:23.840 but that we can master our grief

00:53:26.060 by trusting in your promises

00:53:28.400 and allow grief to work for us

00:53:31.540 and produce in us greater hope.

00:53:35.040 And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

00:53:39.880 Oh, hi, I didn't see you there.

00:53:41.680 Thanks for sticking around.

00:53:42.620 I've got an important announcement to make.

00:53:44.800 That's the Theonomy and Post-Millennialism Conference.

00:53:47.960 2023, May 5th, 6th, and 7th,

00:53:51.280 the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,

00:53:53.560 Theonomy and Post-Millennialism.

00:53:55.520 We've got the speakers that we've already had lined up.

00:53:57.680 That's Dr. James White, Dr. Joseph Boot,

00:54:00.160 Dr. Gary DeMar, non-doctor, Pastor Joel Webbin,

00:54:02.800 but we also have a bonus speaker,

00:54:05.040 and that is Dale Partridge from Real Christianity.

00:54:08.220 Perhaps you've heard of him.

00:54:09.140 If not, you should start listening to his podcast.

00:54:11.160 It's fantastic.

00:54:12.980 Dale Partridge is going to be joining our team.

00:54:15.640 We're going to have live panels on Friday night and Saturday night

00:54:19.140 where you'll be able to write in questions and get them answered.

00:54:21.840 We're also going to have a catered barbecue, Texas-style barbecue meal on Friday

00:54:26.560 that's a part of your registration fee.

00:54:28.720 All that is covered.

00:54:29.900 So you need to get that.

00:54:31.080 This is how you do it.

00:54:31.920 Go and register right now at rightresponseconference.com.

00:54:36.780 Again, that's rightresponseconference.com.

00:54:40.460 God bless.

The NXR Podcast - November 06, 2022

SUNDAY SERMON - Finding God’s Presence In The Midst Of Pain ｜ Psalm 42

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