 All right, so we're there in 2 Kings chapter number six. Let's look down and begin our story in verse number eight. 2 Kings chapter number eight. We'll start reading the Bible says this, then the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servant saying, in such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel saying, beware thou pass not such a place for thither the Syrians are come down. So here at this time in the nation of Israel, the king, it doesn't mention names in this particular story, but the king of Israel right now is Jehoram, the son of Ahab, and the prophet or the man of God we're talking about is Elisha. This is kind of the, if you remember a lot of the Bible stories that talk about Ahab and Elijah, this is, if you think about it, is the next generation. This is the son of Ahab, Jehoram, and we're talking about Elisha who followed in the footsteps of Elijah. And what's happening here is Syria is warring against Israel and Elisha, God is revealing to Elisha where their camp is. And Elisha is going and telling the king where their camp is. Let's keep reading in verse number 10. And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of and saved himself there not once nor twice. So he keeps doing this. He keeps telling the king of Israel where the Syrians camp is. First number 11, therefore the heart of the king of Syria was so troubled for this thing. And he called his servants and said unto them, will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? He's basically asking them, he's saying, okay, who is the traitor? Who is telling the king of Israel where our camp is? Verse 12, the one of his servants said, none my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet, that is an Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, go and spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him saying, behold, he is in dolphin. Therefore he sent to their horses and chariots and a great host. And they came by night and compassed the city about. So he takes this massive army of horses and chariots and he sends them to the city where Elisha is by the cover of darkness. And verse 15 is our main verse for the sermon. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, then host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, alas, my master, notice this phrase, how shall we do? So keep your place in 2nd Kings chapter six. We're gonna be coming back to it throughout the sermon. But I want you to notice the servant's reaction. It's picture where he's at. The servant is just, he's helping Elisha. It's just another normal day in the ministry for him serving God, helping Elisha, just normal everyday life. And then with a warning, he just wakes up one morning and goes outside and there is a massive army around him seeking his life just right out of the blue. And his reaction is, how are we going to get through this? How shall we do? And the thing is, is this can happen to us, whether it's just as a nation or in our personal lives, things come up, life takes unexpected turns and bad things just arise, unexpected situations come. And likewise, just like this servant, our reaction can also be, alas, how shall we do? How are we going to get through it? That's how unexpected times are. We really don't know what's going to happen. What, how we should react. And so in times like that, times like that that are uncertain and we don't know what's going to happen. We don't know how we're going to deal with it. How shall we do? What do we do in times like that? The title of the sermon this morning is, how shall we do? And I'd just like to give you this morning, four different ways or things we can do to react to uncertain times that happen in our lives. Turn to First Kings chapter 19. First Kings chapter number 19. First this morning, how shall we do? We're going to be answering this question this morning. How shall we do? What do we do in uncertain times? First this morning, we must continue in the faith. We must continue in the faith. You're there in First Kings 19, look at verse one. The context here is Elijah who is before, this is this previous generation. It's Elijah as the prophet and Ahab is the king of Israel. And Elijah just got done with the showdown at Mount Carmel where he proved that God was God and he killed all the prophets of Baal. First Kings 19 one and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and with all Ahab he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life is the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba which belonged to Judah and left his servant there. So Jezebel here's what Elijah has done that he has killed all these false prophets and she says I'm going to kill you Elijah. I'm going to make you like those prophets that you killed. So Elijah is scared and he runs for his life and he flees. And we're gonna keep reading, skip to verse nine. We'll keep reading in verse number nine but as we read through this story I want you just to be thinking about how uncertain of a time this must be for Elijah. How unexpected it must be. Put yourself in the shoes of Elijah and think how unexpected this situation must be. All the uncertainty. Verse number nine, he came through there into a cave and lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came to him and he said unto him what do is thou here Elijah? And he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant throw down thine altars, enslave thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. Just a very uncertain time for Elijah and he said go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind ran the mountains and break in pieces of the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind and earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire is still small voice. We read these verses a lot where he's going up to this mountain and there's this fire and there's this earthquake and there's this wind and we get used to reading these verses a lot and just think about as you're Elijah how confused you must be. You're going up and there's an earthquake and there's a fire and there's all these unexpected things happening. There's people who are trying to kill you and take your life. Think about how you must feel. Verse 13, And it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering end of the cave and behold there came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear Elijah? And he said, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant throw down thy nulters and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said unto him, take it easy for a while Elijah. Just take a break from ministry. Just take a break from what you're doing. You get a special pass Elijah. You've done a lot of great things. That's not what God tells him to do. God says, get to work Elijah. He gives him a whole list of things that he tells him to do right away. He says, go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus and when out comeths anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Moloa shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. They shall come to pass that him that escaped with the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay and him that escaped with the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me 7,000 Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal in every mouth which had not kissed him. Verse 19, so he departed thence and found Elisha the son of Shaphat and we'll stop reading there. But the point being Elijah kept going. There wasn't just some special thing that Elijah kept going. That's what God expected of him. This was a very difficult, probably one of the, if not the most uncertain, difficult time in Elijah's life. And when God speaks to him, God says, keep going. In fact, I'm gonna give you a whole list of things Elijah that I want you to do. Stay busy, Elijah. Keep doing what you were doing in the first place. Turn to Luke chapter 22. Luke 22 verse 28. Well, you're turning there, I'll read to you Acts 14, 21 and 22 that says, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. And that we through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. So when the disciples are going around here, when Paul is going around to different churches, it's a time of a lot of persecution. People have been killed already for the cause of Christ. Stephen and James have been killed, maybe even others. There's a lot of persecution going on. And what do they tell the disciples? They say, keep going. Continue in the faith, even though despite all the uncertainty, there is. There in Luke 22, we'll read verse 28. This is Jesus Christ talking. He says, you are they which have continued with me in my temptations. Turn to Deuteronomy 32. Here when Jesus says temptations, he's referring to hardships, trials, and he's talking to the disciples and he's saying, even though there's a lot of uncertainty, there's a lot of hardships and trials that we're going through, you've continued with me. You know what that means? That means that there was a lot of people that did not continue with Christ. The Bible talks about there were times when people left Christ and walked no more with him because of the things he said and because they were offended. They couldn't deal with those temptations that he speaks of. So how do we do it? How do we keep going in uncertain times? You're there in Deuteronomy 32. We'll start reading verse 16. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods and abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed them to devils, not to God, to God's whom they knew not, to God's that came newly up whom your father's feared not, of the rock that begot thee that were an unmindful and has forgotten God before me. And when the Lord sought, he abhorred them because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters. And he said, so what does God say about those who no longer follow him like they should? Notice God's reaction, verse 20. And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be for they are a very frower generation, children in whom is no faith. He says they have no faith. They're faithless. They don't have the faith to follow me. Because look, when anybody, for any reason stops following God like they should or like they at one point were, it's because of a lack of faith. You don't have to turn there, but Habakkuk 2.4 says, behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. How just you are, a lot of people think how just they are is how just they think themselves to be, but how just you are is how much faith that you have. Turn to Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11. The just shall live by his faith. So how much faith you have is how just you as a Christian are. Hebrews 11, we'll start reading in verse 32. Hebrews 11, 32. And what more, and what shall I more say? For the time would fail to tell me of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samson and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness, were made strong. We'll just skip to verse 37. He just goes on to say all the great things these men in the Bible did, all the amazing things they did for Christ and for God. Verse 37, they were stoned, they were son of thunder and were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. These are people who had a lot of uncertainty in their lives, who had a lot of trials and tribulations in their lives. In verse 38, I love verse 38. It says, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in caves and dens of the earth. Why not? I love how it talks about these men and women who did great things for God. And it says at the end of this description, it says the world was not even worthy of people like this. And you say, why not? What did these people do that made them, got them to the point where the world was not even worthy of them? Verse 39, and these all having obtained a good report through faith. Received, not the promise. You say, why is faith such a big deal? What does faith have to do with uncertain times? Well, look at verse one, Hebrews 11 verse one. Just flip the page over. Hebrews 11 one defines faith for us. It says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Turn to Mark 4, 36. Faith is what, if you don't have faith, then you will only follow God when it's easy. You will only follow God, because there are certain times in our lives where everything is crystal clear and we can see God and we can see what he's doing in our lives, but it's not always like that. There's a lot of uncertainty that arises. And if you can't follow God, if you don't have faith to get through those times, then you will not last long. You will not continue in the faith. Mark 4, 36 says this, and when they had sent away the multitude, they took him, even as he was in the ship, and they were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship, so that he was now full. And he, talking about Jesus, was in the hindered part of the ship, asleep on a pillow when they awake him and say unto him, Master, hearest though not that we perish, and he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still, and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? Why are we fearful? And when uncertain times come and we are afraid, why are we fearful? Here's the answer. How is it that ye have no faith? See how these two things are connected? When, why do people stop following God like they should? It's because they're afraid. Why are we afraid? It's because we have no faith. Dude, we are faithless. So how do we keep going? You don't have to turn there, but 1st John 5.4 says, for whatsoever is born of God, overcome with the world, and this is the victory that overcome with the world even our faith. Turn to Hebrews 3.14. Like I said, if you do not have faith, you will only last while it's easy because in the Christian life, there are uncertain times. It's the, our Christian life is not always crystal clear. We can't, everything is not perfect all the time. There's uncertainty that arises. And if the faith is what will get us through that. Hebrews 3.14 says this, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Things may get real difficult, especially in the Christian life, but it is that faith that we need to continue and to keep going. And not only, it's not just some great thing we do. It's just, it's what's expected of us. Remember Elijah, that was what God expected of him. God expected him to continue and to keep going even through those uncertain times. Go back to 2 Kings, chapter six. 2 Kings, chapter six. So how shall we do? What do we do in uncertain times in our lives? First, I said, we must continue in the faith. Second, this morning, we must realize God is in control. We must realize God is in control. Let's keep reading at verse 15. 2 Kings 6.15, we'll read this verse over again. And when the servant of the man and God was risen early and gunned forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, fear not. You see that fear again and that correlation with uncertain times. Fear not for they that be with us or more than they that be with them. And Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Turn to Isaiah 45. You see, God allowed this young man to see the angels and God surrounding, protecting him, the chariots of fire. But the point being, even if he could not see those horses and chariots of fire, they were still there. Whether you can see it or not, we can't see the chariots of fire and the angels of God protecting us physically right now. But they are there just as much as they were in 2 Kings chapter six. That's good, right? There in Isaiah 45, we'll keep reading and we'll start reading in verse five. I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girdeth thee, thou hast not known me. Here God is saying, even if you don't know me and you don't admit it or you don't realize it, I'm still a God and there is none else like me whether you know or realize it or not. Verse six, they then know me from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things. God says, I have complete control of everything. I am God and there is none beside me. Here's what we can forget, free will exists. We have free will and God has given people free will on this earth. But God still has that final override power, if you will. God still has that power where he is still in control of everything even though he allows people to do what they want. I think about it as when you're learning to drive, if you have a driving instructor, you'll drive around in this car and you have the steering wheel and you have the gas pedal and you have the brake but oftentimes on the passenger side where the instructor is driving, he also has a steering wheel. You have the free will, you can turn and you can drive but he gets to take over at any moment and he still has complete control. Turn to Isaiah 14-24. Well, you're turning there, I'll read you Job 12-9 that says, who knoweth not that in all these the hand of the Lord hath wrought this in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. God, whether you're saved or not, whether you believe in God or not, God holds your soul and your breath in his hand. You're there in Isaiah 14-24, the Bible says, the Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Here's why we tend to forget this because you think, okay, God's in control, everybody knows that, that's easy. Well, we tend to forget this a lot and here's why I think we forget this, we have free will and we live in a world where everyone else has free will and we see the world play out as a result of people's free will that God has given them and so we tend to forget that God still has that control over that and God still has that final override power. Turn to Deuteronomy 33. And we'd be a lot calmer at uncertain times in our lives if we realize that. If we realize, I can't see the chariot's a fire and I can't see the angels of God and I can't see what's going to happen but I know God's in control, we'd be a lot calmer in situations like that. Deuteronomy 33.27, this is one of my favorite verses, the Bible says, the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms and ye shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say, destroy them. This is where we get that song leaning on the everlasting arms. What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms is from this verse where he's saying the eternal God is your protection, is your refuge and the everlasting arms are what's holding you up and protecting you. We tend to forget that. Elijah's servant could physically see the chariot's a fire but we can't but they're still there. Realizing God is completely in control all the time will help us navigate those uncertain times in our lives. So how shall we do? First, we saw we must continue in the faith. Second, we said we must realize God has complete control. Third this morning, we must remain joyful. Turn to Habakkuk 3.17. Habakkuk 3.17. Habakkuk 3.17, the Bible says this, although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls. It's a pretty bad situation that is being described. Verse 18, yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hind's feet. He will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer upon my string instruments. Do you know that your joy does not have to be attached to your current situation? That's what we think a lot of times. Our joy is directly proportional to what's going on in our lives. Turn to Psalm 40. While you're turning there, I'll read you James 1.2 that says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diver's temptations. Say that's hard. Well, part of it is those first two things we discussed. Part of being joyful all the time, even in uncertain situations, it's a result of realizing God's in control and continuing in the faith. The thing about that song we sing, trust and obey. It goes trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. These things build off each other. If you are trusting God and you are realizing he's in control and you are continuing in the faith, no matter what, that is what will help you to have that joy, no matter what happens. And there in Psalm 48, we see this idea again, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, yay, thy law is within my heart. Here the writer of the Psalm is saying, what gives me joy, what I delight to do is following your will. And it's the same thing here, trust and obey. If you want to have joy, turn to Acts 27, Acts chapter 27. We're gonna read a story here about the perfect reaction to a very uncertain time. Here in Acts 27, the context is, the apostle Paul has been arrested. The Jews have falsely accused him and he has been arrested. And just because of certain things the Jews have done, he's forced to appeal to Caesar, meaning that he is now on a ship sailing to Rome to appeal to Caesar in person. Verse number nine, Acts 27, nine. Now when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already passed, Paul admonished them and said, sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. So Paul here is telling the people on this ship, I don't think we should leave right now. I don't think we should go right now. There's gonna be a lot of damage done and it's not going to be good. Verse 11, nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul. So they don't listen to Paul. Verse 12, and because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenis and there to winter, which is an haven of Crete and lie towards the south and northwest. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing they'd obtain their purpose, losing thence, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Eurycladon. And when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island, which is called Clota, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they had taken up and used helps undergirding the ship and fearing less they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so we're driven. Very uncertain time. I mean, I can't imagine many times that would be more uncertain than being in a ship in a storm and you might shipwreck. Verse 18, we being exceeding tossed with the tempest, the next day they lighten the ship. And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should have been saved was then taken away. So this story is the definition of uncertainty. The Bible literally says all hope was lost. It was a hopeless situation. It's been days since they've seen the sun. They're caught in this great storm. So what does Paul do? What is the Christian? What is the apostle of Christ do in this time? But after a long abstinence, so after a long time of just not saying anything and not piping up, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, Sirs, you should have harkened unto me and not have loosed from creed and to have gained this harm and lost. So in a real nice way, he basically says, I told you so. I don't listen. Verse 22, and now I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship. For there stood by me this night, the angel of God, whose I am and whose I serve, saying, fear not, Paul. Thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo God hath given thee all them the sail with thee. He says again in verse 25, wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me, how be it, we must be cast upon a certain island. The people there must have been, Paul, are you crazy? Paul, look around you. We haven't seen the sun in days. We're going to shipwreck and you're standing here and you are telling us and expecting us to be of good cheer. Well, if Paul was able to be of good cheer in a time like this, it must be possible. So how was it possible? How was Paul able to do it? How did he expect others to do it? Look back at verse 25, wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, here's the key, for I believe God, there's that faith again, that it shall be even as it was told me. He knew God was in complete control. And you see, having faith in God in times like this, it doesn't mean that they still shipwrecked. Paul still ended up telling them, we're going to shipwreck, we're going to be cast upon a certain island, but that doesn't mean that you can't be joyful. That doesn't mean that you can't be of good cheer in uncertain times that happen in our lives. Turn to Hosea 515. Hosea 515. While you're turning there, I'll read to you Psalm 118, 24 that says, this is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Not every day is great. There's good days and there's bad days and there's really bad days, but no matter what day you're living, no matter how bad it is, you are living a day that God has created. So rejoice and be glad in it. And uncertain times will be much easier when they happen in our lives. So first, this morning, we said we must continue in the faith in uncertain times. Second, we said we must remember God is in control. Third, we must remain joyful. Fourth, this morning, how shall we do? We must use those times to grow spiritually. You're there in Hosea 515. The Bible says, I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face. And notice this phrase, in their affliction, will they seek me early? Here, this is a concept in the Bible that in here it's talking about a backslidden people, people who are backslidden and once times get hard, then they see God, but this also applies to people who are serving God. When even if you are serving God and you're doing everything you're supposed to be doing, when uncertain times come and you don't know what's going to happen, that's when we often become the closest to God. It's in our affliction. Turn to Revelation 218. So when those times come, when uncertain times pop up, we should use those uncertain times to grow closer to God. James 513, you don't have to turn there, says, is any among you afflicted? Let them pray. This verse is saying, you know what a great time to pray is, you know what a great time to grow close to God is when you're afflicted. When things aren't going like you planned or like you want them to go. Revelation 218, this is Jesus Christ speaking to the churches. He says this, none to the angel of the church and the tire are right. These saying say, if the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass, I know thy works and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first. Especially in this time, there is a lot of persecution going on and as time went on for these churches, there was more and more and more uncertainty, more persecution, more people were being killed for the cause of Christ. But yet Jesus Christ says to them, as time goes on, your work and charity and services are going to be more than they were in the beginning. The more hard times, the more works we have opportunity to do in our lives. Turn to Acts 7.52. Acts 7.52. Here we're reading about Stephen. We're not going to read the whole story, but Stephen was arrested for doing miracles and preaching Christ. And he's brought before the rulers of the people and the chief priests and he's preaching against them. And even in a point where at this point he could and did end up dying for the cause of Christ, he's preaching against them with boldness. Verse 52, Acts 7.52. Which of the prophets he's preaching against them? Which of the prophets have not your father persecuted and they have slain them, which showed before the coming of the just one of whom he have now been the betrayers and murderers who have received the law by disposition of angels and have not kept it. He's preaching them to the Jews and saying, God himself gave you his law. God sent angels to you to show you his law and the prophets that he sent to preach of your Messiah, you killed. And then the Messiah came and you killed him too. Verse 54, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. That's what hard preaching does. And they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy Ghost, keep in mind, this is the most uncertain time, I'm sure that has ever occurred in the life of Stephen. He is about to die. He's about to be killed for the cause of Christ. And notice how close he is to God. But he being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet, whose name was Saul. So even at the most uncertain point in his life, he has never been closer, I'm sure, than he was in these verses. In the chapter before, we won't read it, but in the chapter before, the Bible describes as he's standing before them as they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. It says, all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. I believe this is referring to the fact that his face was shining like Moses when he came down from the mountain because he was speaking with God. I believe this is what it's referring to is Stephen that his face was shining like an angel. And you say, how is that possible? He died. Well, what Stephen did is when he was in a extremely uncertain time, he used that to be the closest to God that he had ever been. He said, well, that's a great story, but that only happens in the Bible. Well, let me tell you about someone named Curtis Hudson. We sang that song this morning. Curtis Hudson was, he was a young man who actually ended up becoming a independent fundamental Baptist pastor. And he had a church of about 50 people. He had been pastoring the church for five years and still only had about 50 people at the church. Curtis Hudson, he went to a preaching event because he had heard about a man named Jack Hiles. And Jack Hiles at this preaching event was preaching on soul winning. And he was describing how Jack Hiles was saying how he had baptized 700 people that year because of the effects of soul winning. So Curtis Hudson goes home to his church and he gets his church soul winning. And he starts soul winning in his church, something that was a major focus of his whole life. And within 10 to 15 years, his church had gone from 50 to 2,500 people after he went back to this church and started soul winning. And the story of his life, I won't go over the whole story of his life, but he spent, he dedicated his life to soul winning and he fought very hard over things like salvation by grace through faith. And he preached against repent of your sins, things like that. But what I want to read to you is the story of the end of his life. This is from, this is a paragraph from his biography. Someone went and wrote a biography about his life. I'll just go ahead and read, it goes on to say this. Curtis had never gone to a doctor. Keep in mind he's only 60 years old at this point. Curtis had never gone to a doctor. Finally in 1992, his wife pressed him to have a routine physical examination. With suspicious symptoms, further tests were made by urologists who found a cancerous tumor. The news was not good. In fact, the devastating pronouncement was six months to live. So at 60 years old, he was told you only have six months left to live because of cancer. The schedule altered greatly with special family time taking priority. However, he continued preaching weak as he could be towards the end, three days before his death. And I want you to notice, you know what most people do in uncertain situations, like, I mean, for crying out loud, hearing that you're gonna die, knowing you could die any day at this point, he noticed how close this man must have been to God. It says three days before his death, Curtis awakened from a deep sleep to give his last sermon. It started at 1 p.m. on Wednesday and lasted until 3 p.m. on Thursday, a 26 hour discourse full of wisdom and praise. The last soul he won was that of the home nurse attending to him, and he died. That song we sang this morning, there's a video you can find online, but just a few weeks or months before he died, he, Curtis Hudson, a very frail person at this point, he gets up and he sings this song that we sang, I'm on the winning side. And he preaches this sermon and you just, you hear about this life. Three days before he died, he gets up and he preaches for 26 hours straight. If that's not being filled with the Holy Spirit, I don't know what is. And so what should we do? When uncertain times come in our lives, instead of running from God and becoming scared and losing faith, why don't we use those times to get the closest to God we possibly can? There's a sermon I listened to a few months ago that Curtis Hudson preached. I'm not sure how long it was before he died, but it was at the point where he knew and people knew that he only had a few months left to live. And the sermon he preached was called none of these things move me. And he preaches on, he was talking about Romans five eight is one of his verses. And he says, all things are not good. He said, I'm going to die in a few months. I don't know when I'm going to die. That's not good. But all things work together for good. Someone who had great faith. Why don't we do that? What a lot of people end up doing in uncertain times, they become more backs then. Why don't we use those times to grow closer to God, not further away? Romans five three, don't have to turn there says, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation work with patience and patience experience and experience hope. Difficult uncertain times are the greatest opportunity we have to grow closer to God. So just in conclusion this morning, what's the common denominator? Because all these things we talked about, how shall we do? We talked about continuing in the faith. We talked about realizing God's in control, staying joyful, growing closer to God. All these things have turned to John 20. All these things have a certain common denominator. There's a certain key to sticking with God in responding correctly to uncertain times. Turn to John 20, verse 24. The context here is Jesus Christ has risen. Jesus Christ has risen to the dead and he hasn't appeared to everybody yet, but he's appeared to different disciples. At this point 11 of the 12 disciples have seen him risen, verse 24. But Thomas, one of the 12, called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. So Thomas has not yet physically seen Jesus Christ risen. Verse 25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, except I shall see in his hands, the print of his nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. You know what certain people do in uncertain situations? Not just the Christian life, just people in general. You know what people do sometimes when something comes up and they don't know how to respond? They lock up. They don't know how to respond. Everything just kind of comes to a halt. I've worked with people like this. I know people like this, how they're great at what they do, but something comes up that they don't know how to respond and they just lock up. Do you know what Christians do sometimes when unexpected, uncertain things happen? They lock up. They stop their Christian life. They stop continuing in the faith. They forget God's in control. They lose joy and they get further away from God instead of closer. All these things that we talked about, they do the opposite. You say, why? Why do people do that? It's because of the Thomas mentality. It's because of this mentality where something unexpected happens. You don't know how to respond. Everything's not perfectly clear and you say, no, I will not believe. I will not have faith. So how do you function as a Christian in uncertain situations? If we're to sum it all up in one word, it's faith. It's faith because if you don't have the faith, if you can't get the faith to keep going, to continue in the faith, to realize God's in control, to stay joyful, to get closer to God in uncertain times, if you don't have the faith to do that, you will get nowhere. Because you've heard of the term shooting star Christians, or I call them, or bottle rocket Christians, how they're doing really good, but they don't last long because as soon as something difficult or unexpected comes up, they're out. And that's how you will be if you cannot get through uncertain situations because it will not be clear all the time. And it may be hard to have faith, but the faith is what will get you through the times where you may not be able to see those chariots of fire. Let's keep reading. Verse 26, John 20, 26. And after eight days, again, the disciples were within and Thomas with them. And then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust into my side, and don't miss this. Look what Christ says to him. He says, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord, and my God. And notice what Jesus says to him, someone who has no faith, someone who did not do well in uncertain situations. He says, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. We may not be able to physically see God and we may not be able to, there may be times where it's difficult and everything's not clear and there's unexpected situations where things change very quickly, but blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. So to answer our question one more time this morning, how shall we do? What do we do in uncertain times? We must be not faithless, but believing. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.