Jesus was a man. And He’s the same today, but He’s God. He could weep at a tomb because He’s human, but He could say to Lazarus, Come forth. And may that same One today meet you in your need. He can sympathize with you. He can weep with you. He can laugh with you. Or He can save your soul. I wish that I could present Him like He really was when He came to this earth. How wonderful He was. And your sorrow is His sorrow, and your joy is His joy today. And He’s going to be the same in the futurethe same yesterday, today, and forever. He’s never going to change.

Jesus Christ, He’s up yonder at God’s right hand today. He still wants little children to come to Him. He still has His arms out for them. And sinners can still come to Him, and He can still say, even to the one that’s gone to the very depths, Go, and sin no more. I can free you. And if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. You can come to Him. A great many people feel gingerly going sometimes into church or into meetings. You know, if Jesus was there in that meeting, I think you’d hear His laughter, and I think you’d fall in love with Him as a person, as a man.

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Now you and I are moving toward a heavenly kingdom, and as we move toward a heavenly kingdom, why, we need to recognize that we down here should serve God. But how are we to serve Him? Well, we’re to serve Him acceptably. Yes, but how can we serve Him acceptably? With reverence and godly fear. My friend, Christianity is not playing church.. It’s a living, vital, real relationship to Jesus Christ that affects your life.

For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Isn’t that wonderful to have Him say that to you? And I don’t care who you are or what you do, this is the response of faith to the Word of God here. And it brings you to the place that you know that He’s never going to leave you nor forsake you. Isn’t that wonderful? I have a notion that I’ve got friends today that would forsake me. I may have relatives that would forsake me. But, you know, the Lord Jesus, He’s never going to forsake me. It’s wonderful to have Him on your side, and I hope you have Him on your side.

Let brotherly love continue. It doesn’t mean, friends, that believers are to love like brothers. They are to love because they are brothers. Now if you’re a child of God, you’re my brother. You’re my sister. And we’re in the same family. Maybe you don’t want to be in my family, but you’re in my family. And we love each other. May I say to you this is something that’s real. The Christian life can be put like a triangle. At the top, you can put God. At one side, you can put yourself. On the other you can put others. And it is faith and love toward God, and it’s love toward others. That’s the way we manifest it. Let brother love continue.

We’re looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. In other words, a believer must keep his eyes on the Lord Jesus, not on men. And if he doesn’t keep his eyes, he’s apt to get to the place where he doesn’t avail himself of the grace of God. Now God has a tremendous reservoir of grace. He wants to lavish it upon His children, and He’s prepared to do that, and He’s able to do it because Christ paid the penalty for our sins, and God is rich in mercy, rich in grace. And He wants to expend it on us.

Now the grace of God is available. And all the grace that you need, God has plenty. He has a surplus of it. But you’ve got to avail yourself of it. Have you gone to Him, Christian friend, and talked to Him? Talked to Him, oh yes, reverently, but talk to Him like He’s your Father and tell Him about yourself. Tell Him you need grace. I cried out to Him for grace. Oh, boy, did I need it. And I want to say to you we all need grace, and it’s available, but you’ve got to apply for it. You’ve got to ask Him for it. It’s available.

Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Now that simply means this. At this time, the temple was not destroyed. Persecution that was going to come from the Gentiles, the Roman Empire, had not yet broken upon believers. And He’s saying to them, You just haven’t yet resisted unto blood, though you’re having your problems and trouble. The only cure for your weakness and your weariness and your faltering and your failing and your stumbling and your discouragement is to consider Him. Consider Christ. Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Now my friend, may I say this to you very candidly today. I want to be very careful. And it’s this: Unless you stay close to the Word of God, which will keep you close to the Person of Christ where the Holy Spirit can take the things of Christ and make them real to you, you’re going to get weary in the Christian life and you’re going to faint in your minds. And that’s the reason there are so many discouraged Christians around today. My friend, you come to the Word of God and get close to Jesus Christ, and you’re going to be encouraged. And you’re not going to be weary about this life down here.

If you think that somehow or another that putting up a few little rules that you’re going to avoid all of the rough places and the hardships of life, you’re wrong. You’re going to find out that one day you’ll argue with your wife. You’re going to find out one day that you’re going to have a problem with that child that you got. You’re not going to have a thing that’s ideal by any means. And how are you going to handle all of these? My friend, by faith. By faith. You and I are going to have problems, but if we walk by faith, He’ll see us through. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.