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Amen so Hebrews chapter 13 tonight. The title of the message is never alone never alone And I really appreciated the fact that you know, we sang some song the first song we sang this morning or this evening rather Was how can I be lonely? So sometimes write a sermon I wonder you know Is this really what I should be preaching and then that happens and I think man This is exactly what I need be preaching So I believe that God does do that type of thing from time to time to kind of confirm things for us So anyway the certain like I said that the title of sermon is never alone And he begins there in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 1 it says let brotherly love Continue he says be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entered entertained angels unawares Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and as and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body Marriage is honorable and all the bed undefiled that whoremongers and adulterers. God will judge Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he has said I will never leave thee Nor forsake thee. So of course verse 5 there is a very precious promise. It's the same thing It's quoting what was God said to Joshua before he went in the Promised Land Telling you to be strong and of good courage and he told him, you know You need to be strong you need to be courageous because of the fact that I am never going to forsake you that I am going To be with you and really that's something that we need to apply in our own lives today because of the fact that We get lonely, you know, you know different seasons in life, you know, maybe we're here tonight and we say I'm not lonely Everything's great. Well, you know, there's probably people in the room that are lonely Whether they actually are physically alone in life from time to time or the vast majority of time maybe even inwardly, you know somebody with a family can feel alone at times or so we should never Keep excuse me so we should never feel like You know, although we're not lonely today that that might not be something that comes to us later in life We're gonna go through these seasons of loneliness in our life And of course, you know the holiday season kind of has that stigma of you know This is a very trying time for some people and I'm sure that it is and when I was writing this I thought well I remember having heard you know That the holiday season is when that the suicide rates spike because of depression it's actually the complete opposite that's it That's a myth It's actually when it's the lowest So but that's not to say that people still don't struggle with Depression during this time of year time when people are coming together with family people are spending time with loved ones Often we might find ourselves, you know missing somebody that used to be part of our lives or we find ourselves not having many people to spend that that precious time with That dear time with and we start to feel lonely So I thought this would be an appropriate sermon for the year and just to remind us that you know, we're never alone I was thinking about even today like I mentioned earlier announcements when I'm walking down the streets I was going door-to-door by myself, but you know, I was you know You could get a little lonely when you're out there doing it by yourself I thought about you know Our own pastor who when he started this church spent a lot of time knocking doors by himself or just with his young children And you know, I don't know if that was the case for him But I could definitely see how a person in that position could start to feel Lonely and say I'm the only one, you know, where is everybody else? Why am I doing this and I'm reminded of that as I was out there today, and I just thought to myself Well, you know the Lord is with me, you know We're out doing his work and that's that's something that we should take to heart And again, maybe it's not gonna apply to you this evening but I guarantee if you live long enough there's gonna come a time in your life or you're gonna feel alone and We need to know where these passages are and understand these promises from the Word of God Such as this one where God says I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So what's interesting here is that God, you know, you see several other relationships in this passage You got that ever mentioned. Of course, you see in verse 1 let brotherly love continue, right? He says there, you know, you know, that's something that we should have in this life. You know, that's a source of fellowship That's a source that would help us deal with loneliness to some degree is if we have you know brothers and sisters in Christ That's a very important relationship He also mentions in verse 4, you know the marriage, you know, so marriage is honorable and all, you know That could be a big cure for a lot of people's loneliness. You know, they're they're moving through life Single and they're feeling alone. Well, you know marriage gives you that fellowship. It gives you that companionship that man needs to have But really even in those situations if you have those things It still doesn't offer you the opportunity that having that companionship with Christ has And all these relationships we understand the brotherly love and in the marriage God can be glorified through those relationships but not I don't believe to the degree when you have a Relationship a close walk with the Lord you are giving God glory on a regular basis You know the closer we are to God the less lonely we feel and not only that but that relationship affords you the opportunity to give God glory and Really, you know, that's that's not something you can necessarily find to the great the same degree as in a friendship or in a marriage even So it is a relationship, you know Like all others like all other relationships and the relationship that we have with God can be taken for granted I mean do we not sometimes take for granted our brethren in Christ? That's why it says there let brotherly love continue. Don't stop it. Don't you know, don't prevent it from happening Because we can't take those relationships for granted. We can't take one another for granted in Christ Even in a marriage people can you know get used to each other they can you know, they can you know Just be around each other so much that they just kind of you know She he knows she's stuck with him and she knows that he's stuck with her that it's for life And we can just start to say well, you know, they're stuck with me, you know, and they're they're they're They're they're just gonna be there no matter what we can start to take these relationships for granted and our relationship with God is no Different it's a relationship like any other relationship And I know that that's kind of a term that we shy away from And these type of churches because it gets thrown around so much. I have a relationship with God, you know But you know, there is some truth to that right? We do have a relationship. We have a father and son relationship We have a child and father relationship with God We have a friendship with Christ. We are he is our Savior that is a relationship. There's no doubt about it But That relationship like all others can be taken for granted They can say well I'm saved and I know that and just move on with their lives and not take the time to give God The glory that we could be giving him if we would just stop and think about it We could start to throw a pity party and we could start to feel really bad and start to you know Feel really alone and never and what you're doing that you're taking you're you're just showing how that you're taking that relationship for granted That you really don't understand how close God really can be to you Rather than sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves and feeling alone. We should take that opportunity to draw closer to Christ So here's the thing about a loneliness, you know, God does not want us to be alone God does not want us to feel lonely. We all know in Genesis chapter 2. It is not good for the man to be alone God said it is not good for a man to be alone. God wanted a helping for him God didn't want him Adam living his life By himself God didn't want him getting lonely The Bible, you know speaks highly of marriage and that's an important relationship He says let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth So we know that God doesn't want people to be alone And we understand that and many of us in this room, you know, we've taken that step we are married We have rather we have brethren in Christ We have a family here a church family, but despite that even sometimes people will find themselves feeling alone And even those that have you know family can become to come to feel very distant and families get broken up families They have rifts in them families Start to drift apart, you know, what we you know Something that we are family that we were very fond of at one point can can change, you know I know that's been true in my own experience and I'm sure many in this room can attest to that as well So these relationships, you know, we today we feel great today. We're not alone today. We have many friends today We have a great church But there might come a time when we do begin to feel lonely and it's at those times We have to understand something. We're never alone. We're never alone. We always have the Lord don't take that for granted And others will feel spiritually alone at times we might feel like well, we're the only one taking the stand We're the only one that's standing up for Christ We're the only one You know at the workplace or in our family or wherever it might be that's standing alone for God and we feel alone Well, you know, that's that's par for the course. Sometimes sometimes you have to go through that But you have to remember that even in those times you're never alone And those times we should probably reflect on other, you know Men of God other Christians other of God's children that went through such trying times where they might have felt alone I mean you think Moses fleeing Egypt We just read over these stories. We forgot that was an actual human being that went through that They came up in Pharaoh's house saw his brethren being mistreated went out and tried to help them Maybe went about it the wrong way You know, I know first-degree murder is the best thing to commit and to try and sway people But that's what he did, you know in his heel and he finds himself rejected of his own people You know and and and and has to flee Into a foreign land. I mean leaving the land that he grew up in to go wander around you know and sit in the backside of some desert and Do that for many years, you know He probably had some nights on that journey where he felt pretty alone Like he was the only one you think of Joseph another person who probably experienced a great deal of loneliness His own brethren taking him and throwing him in a pit and then selling him into bondage. I Mean how what a heartbreaking story that is And what if that happened any one of us? I mean or we heard of somebody having that happen to them He would we'd feel very bad for that person No doubt Joseph felt very alone during that time during all those years in the prison that he spent I Think about our Lord upon the cross when he cried out why hast thou forsaken me the loneliness that he must have felt So loneliness is something that it's it's a fact of life. It's something that we go through It's something that we're all going to experience from time to time Some of us will probably go through some deeper seasons of it than others But we have to remember to whatever degree we're suffering loneliness, we're never really alone and Those that are feeling that that are feeling hey, I feel alone. I feel very lonely You know, they're trying they've got the relationships in church They might even have the marriage relationship and that's doing great but sometimes they still feel alone because they haven't taken advantage of that one relationship like they should have which is Christ and drawn close to him and Even those that are even taking full advantage of that relationship. Maybe all these things are growing great But we still feel that loneliness The people that are actually going through this this loneliness these promises of God become more precious We can't appreciate it sometimes when everything is going good. We can't oh, I I know the Bible says he'll never leave me No forsake me and that's nice. I Appreciate that I know where that is and I've got it marked and maybe one day I'll have to turn there but not now But I tell you what the person that's going through that they live in this verse I will never leave you nor forsake. They will never leave you nor forsake thee That might be good what gets them through a day to people that are suffering that this promise becomes so much more precious You think of other such passages Psalm 27 when my father and mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up The psalmist there isn't saying when my father and mother forsake me, you know life as I know it is over What's the point of going on? Nobody cares? No, he knew that he was never really alone He knew that the Lord would be there that the Lord like we talked about this morning is faithful Great is thy faithfulness that he would be there to lift him up to take him up Now if you would let's turn over to 2nd Corinthians You don't need to keep anything there in Hebrews were done there, but go over to 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 you get there keep a bookmark in 2nd Corinthians Another one of these great passages that would a person that's going through loneliness and not You know and is looking for that Promise from God. Well, here's one for you. You got Hebrews 13 You got passages like Psalms 27 you got this one here as well Beginning in verse 2 where it says grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort Who comfort us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith We ourselves are comforted of God Verse 4 is a little wordy what he's saying there is like he's saying look God comforts us in all our tribulations That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble You know sometimes the reason why you're going through that trial is so that you can help somebody else in the future You know why does God let things happen to us sometimes so that we can help others so we can sympathize with another human being So that we can know what it is that they're going through But he says there in verse 3 that he is the father of mercies and the God of all comfort You know God is a multifaceted individual. He's not just one thing. He's a person like me and you of course Far higher and greater in every way But he has a personality when you read the Bible you get to understand that of course We're very familiar with the fact that you know God You know God Just judges and God has anger and God has wrath and God has hatred and God has great love And not only that but God Comforts, I mean that's what it says here that he is the God of all comfort You know we're lonely. We're hurt Where are we gonna find relief? Where are we going to find help with God? You know that the church isn't always gonna be enough The relationships that you have on earth are not always going to be enough For some of those things some of us that are suffering deep-seated loneliness There's not gonna be a relationship. You can find on earth. That's gonna necessarily help it the way God could he is the God of all comfort so we need to understand these promises that we have and Understand that God has promised to never leave us that he will comfort us in all our tribulations That we are never alone Even when we feel like it It's just a matter whether or not we know These these passages these promises Now as I said keep us something there in 2nd Corinthians 1 But let's turn over to John chapter 14 John chapter 14 is probably in the running with Probably my favorite chapter if not in the whole Bible definitely in the New Testament. It's it's one of the great great chapters John 14 John 15 But John 14 in particular There in verse 16 where it says and I will pray the Father And he shall give you another Comforter well was he called again where we just read and God of all comfort Here this is a title that is given to the Holy Ghost And he says he is the comforter now. Why does he call him that? because he comforts us and That's something that you know Maybe that's not the most exciting topic to preach on but it might be something that literally saves some people's lives Brings them back from the brink of despair to understand that God is with them that God loves them and that they are not alone He's the God he is he is the comforter that he may abide with you forever That he may abide with you forever he's never going to leave us We're sealed with the unto the day of our redemption the spirit we have indwelling of Christ Forever that's a precious promise. That's something we need to get our minds around especially if we're suffering with loneliness He says even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him, but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and Shall be in you how close is God? How close is the comforter tonight with you? The Bible says he's with you and that he's in you. He's abiding in our hearts by faith That's that's that's a very close relationship. There's none closer He said in verse 18. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you So we experienced this closest to the well, you know, I am feeling lonely and I understand these promises But how do I actually access that? How do I actually go about? Experiencing the closeness of Christ. How do I actually experience? Knowing that God is with me. Well, you do that through the Holy Ghost and that's what it's showing us here You read that you do that through the closeness of the Holy Ghost That that name in itself is is given to imply this attribute of God's care, I mean look down there in verse 26 But the comforter comforter, which is the Holy Ghost who's the comforter? It's the Holy Ghost That is in you that is with you forever That's how you experience that that's how you get over that loneliness. That's how you get through that dark season of Loneliness in your life is through the Holy Ghost. I Mean the brethren in Christ help the church family helps Close friends help But that's not always going to be enough for us You know if we have that marriage relationship that helps But we have this relationship It's available to all of us if we're saved at any age at any season in life if we're ever feeling lonely That we had it's right here. It's in us. It's it's right there at our fingertips. It's right here in the Word of God The Holy Ghost is there to see us through Now I do want to kind of get into the thrust of this here and and make Application and what I want us to understand tonight that this is a precious promise no doubt And whether we need that right now or not we might one day. It's good to know this It's one of the great promises the Word of God that God is with us, but let me say this it is not without requirements there are requirements on having that comfort come to you that that that comfort that can see you through a Season of loneliness now disclaimer of course we understand once save always saved I don't feel like I need to go into that here with this group. We understand once we're saved. We're always saved That's not what I'm saying tonight that somehow the Holy Spirit is going to be taken from you, and you are no longer saved That's not I'm saying at all. We're sealed. Okay. We've already been bought. We're just waiting to be redeemed But what I am saying is that there are degrees to closeness with God Not every Christian that's born again. Is that the same has the same? Degree of closeness to God some people are farther away from God than others I Mean, that's that's just a fact of the matter, and it's all dependent and any any one of us can be as close to To God as anybody else. I mean you see that you know a great picture. That is the twelve disciples You know there was the twelve right and then there was the inner circle of the three Peter James of John You always see God taking you know Jesus is always taking those three the twelve are always with them But when special things when he's raising the the young maid from the dead The transfiguration on the mount not everybody was as close There was a certain group of men that God was just a little bit closer And then even within the three there was John wasn't there that disciple whom Jesus loved the one who leaned upon his breast So you know that should be a goal in our life. How close can you get? And you say well is it really that important well You know it's probably might might see you through a dark season in your life We talked about it this morning thou knowest not what a day may bring forth life is full of unexpected unexpected surprises You might need to lean real heavy on these promises one day So we should understand them now, and we should Always be ready to to call upon Lord and and seek to draw close to him now before that season even comes Be prepared for it Now there are some requirements and the one requirement that God puts on this and we'll see here in John 14 is Obedience I want to get closer to God. I want to be with God. I'm lonely I want to feel him I want to be comforted by him. I want to know that he's with me I want to have that in my life. Well, then you need to be obedient It's not just gonna happen on its on its own you have to do your part as well like we talked about this morning that requirement is obedience Look there in verse 15 He says if you love me. Oh, I love God. Okay, if you love me keep my Commandments Now what you know, I can tell somebody if somebody loves God they keep his Commandments That's that that you know the degree to which you love God will be instantly reflected as and In how much you keep his Commandments? To what degree you keep God's Commandments that's going to show us how much you love God If you love me keep my Commandments and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter That he may abide with you forever He says look keep my Commandments and I'll give you in a comforter You see God does distance himself from the disobedient You know, and I'm not saying that's why we're always feeling, you know, if you're feeling lonely It's not necessarily just because you're disobedient it might be but God what we need to understand is that God does distance himself from disobedient children. I Mean think about it you parents in your own life with your kids When the kid is just being a snot, you know When they're just being a pain in the neck You're always having to deal with them. I mean, is that the kid you're gonna want to spend your whole day with You got something special to do you got some special trip that you can take or you're going out, you know kids that We we look at it such a mundane thing. I'm gonna go to the grocery store I'm gonna go fill the car up with gas. Oh, can I go can I go? kids just clamp they just love to do that kind of thing just just to be around dad or mom and Goes to do these silly mundane tasks that we as parents loathe Alright, and it's great to have the kids because it makes it, you know interesting. You never know what they're gonna say But if you're that parent and you've got one kid that's just been this sweet charming obedient angel That you know, they all could be if they wanted to you have that one and then you have this whining complaining Just pain in the neck. Which one are you gonna take with you on that trip? Which one are you gonna want to spend time with for 20 30 minutes an hour on the road? Oh I think we all know the answer. I Think it's the same way with God God distanced himself like look you need to get an addict to get your attitude, right? Why would I want to hang around you? When you don't obey When you're just a pain in the neck I'm gonna go spend my time with this one over here this child who's keeping my commandments who's loving me who? Appreciates me and wants to please me So there are requirements Mainly just one really and it is obedience and we need to understand that God does distance himself From the disobedient now keep something in John Let's turn back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 If you kept something there 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 Well I want to be close to God. I want to be near God. I want to know that God is like a father to me Well look at verse 17 2nd Corinthians 6 Wherefore come out from among them and be separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you Sounds like a requirement to me now there's something we have to do on our part if we want verse 18 to apply and We'll be a father unto you and you should build my sons and daughters saith the Lord God on the Lord Almighty Well, I want to know God is my father and look again. I understand we're saved God's our father. That's never gonna change But you know even on this earth, you know, some of us have fathers that our relationships are very very distant You know and not every father just because he's your dad is necessarily a close parent and Sometimes that relationship that same thing can happen with us and God not on God not that it's God's fault But that you know, we get out of sorts. We don't want to come out from among them We don't want to stop touching the unclean thing. We want to keep doing those things which God disapproves of And he says well, you know what I am although God is again is the father unto us we know that he said I'm not gonna be as a father unto you Or maybe he's gonna be a father unto us in ways. We'd rather he didn't You know the chastening hand of God where he chases every son whom he receiveth That's not that you know, that's not the relationship I desire to have my kids or it's just a constant You know beating 24 hours a day and it's not praise God, right? But there are seasons aren't there? We have to understand something these promises are precious, but they come with a requirement and God distanced himself from the disobedient and God's proximity to us how close we are to God is directly Proportional to our obedience the more obedient you are the more you love God, you know what the closer you are to God The closer we get to God I mean, I know that's true in my own life Seasons of life where I drifted away and God just seems so far away. Then you have to stop and choke. Well, why is that Oh, Because this sins in my life because I'm not doing this and I'm not doing this and this sin is in my life And I haven't gotten this right and I have I'm not you know with it. It piles up. It doesn't take long. We go. Oh That's why God seems so far away. That's why I feel so alone because I've pushed everyone away and And God seems far away because we're not obedient And if we begin to obey you just be like us with our own children come a little closer You get the ice cream cone today, you know at the water store. That's the big thing in our house We're in the water store because we you know, we don't drink the tap water, you know Right. It is not in Phoenix. That was an illustration. I forgot to use this morning We showed up in Phoenix like the first day we were there And we found out real quick don't drink the tap water it's terrible it is not So we go to the water store and we fill up our water jugs and and and whenever we do it One of the kids gets to come because there's usually an ice cream cone involved. It's called water and ice They should call it water and ice cream But that's the one guess who gets to go it's the one that's been the most behaved And that's what I'm trying to illustrate to us is that our proximity to God is proportional to our obedience You go back to John chapter 14. You'll see this in verse 21 John chapter 14 verse 21 there is a requirement of obedience to have a close fellowship with the Lord He says in verse 21 he that hath my he that hath my commandments and keepeth them. He is that loveth me. Oh We so many of us have God's commandments don't we We might even have several copies of it We've got one in our car. We've got one in our bed stand. We've got one, you know in this room. We've got one at work We've even got one that we just leave on our favorite church chair. So no, so somebody thinks we're sitting there You know who you are People do that all that's the weirdest thing you get to see so many weird things I would say weird things, but some things that maybe other people never notice And when you're when you're in these ministries and things like that people Like each church is six days from now. Like you're already you're already marking your spot with an extra copy of God's commands Oh, we've got God's commandments with us, don't we? We've got that first part down he that hath my commandments I'm all set. No, it goes on and Keepeth them What does he mean by keep them don't lose your Bible? No, what he means is, you know observes them obeys them he keeps them He does them he it is that love with me You know, it's one thing to say I love God oh I love God But we're not keeping his commandments. Well, do we really love God? And he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and here it is and I will love him and will manifest myself To him that's a deep verse I remember the first time someone showed me that verse hit me like a ton of bricks This idea that God would manifest himself to you Now, what does he mean by that? Don't get no don't go crazy with this and think that God's gonna appear in a vision That something you're gonna get close to you're gonna keep God's Commandments Which you should anyway and that some night you're just gonna have this, you know glowing orb in your room or something You're gonna have a vision of Jesus. That's how he's talking about. He's not talking about a physical manifestation You know where God will manifest himself is in your heart and he'll do it through this word It's no coincidence. That's not there for it's no coincidence that that's how that the order of things goes in that verse He that hath my commandments and keepeth them What is their command? It's his word if I have his word and I keep it and I'm in it and I'm obeying it I'm gonna see Christ in here and it's gonna reflect Christ in my own heart And I'm gonna realize something that I have God living in me that I am not alone that I'm never alone But it comes with a prerequisite that prerequisite is obedience Bible says in Proverbs 8 I Love them that love me and them that seek me early shall find me You know, he's saying seek me early doesn't mean just get up in the morning Well, that's a good time to do it and seek God before your day begins. He's saying seek me early in life No, don't wait and I know and I to some degree and this is my own testimony. Don't wait Until you're old to seek God seek him early spare yourself so many heartaches young people and seek him early and Find God's love early love God early and draw close to him now You see God's promise of comfort is to the obedient We don't no one here wants to be lonely. Nobody here wants to feel alone and We would all want this promise of God's comfort to be ours At least we should But here's the thing it's to those that are willing to obey it's there It's there for the taking anyone else can have it if we're willing to obey Let's turn to Psalm 66 66 Keep something in John. We're gonna go back to Psalm 66 And we'll start wrapping this thing up here And Psalm 66 let's look at verse 16 where the Bible reads Come and hear all you that fear the Lord and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I Cried unto him with my mouth and he was extolled with my tongue If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me But verily God hath heard me he hath attended to the voice of my prayer, you know, that's a that's a heavy verse in verse 18 You know the promise of God's willingness to be with you to comfort you is based on obedience And if you regard iniquity in heart, it says right there The Lord will not hear me I'm lonely I'm all alone down here God help me well We want to be heard in those instances, don't we? We want God to hear us and answer we want to pick up the book his word and read it and have God speak to our hearts and Answer our prayers through his word and other things But if we're regarding iniquity in heart if we're disobedient don't count on it Don't think it's gonna happen because it's not It says it right there That if we're not obedient God's not going to hear us turn back to John chapter 10 The Bible says in Proverbs 28 he that turneth away his ear from the hearing of the law Even his prayer shall be an abomination Lord help Lord hear me Lord be close to me Whatever it is. Your prayer is whatever your prayer is tonight If you've turned your way or away from the hearing of the law and said a this isn't for me I can do what I want Here that prayer. He doesn't say that God doesn't hear you. It says that person abomination That's a strong word God is offended that you would even begin to make that request when you've been living the way you've been living and doing what you've been doing and Not obeying and not keeping his commandments and not following after him And now all of a sudden you're crying out to him and he says it's an abomination That's that's strong language If we vow if we really value this promise that God has given us that I will never leave thee I will never forsake thee and Look here in John chapter 10 This promise that he's given us throughout his word in verses 28 and 29 Let's go to verse 27 My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them the eternal life and they shall never Perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand Promises like this that we know that God has us that he's never going to leave us and we want that to be real we Want that to be true. We want to know that in every ounce of our being and To help us in life when we go through these seasons of loneliness If we really value that you know what we do we'd obey Whatever it said Whatever it is that God wanted That precious that promise is so precious to me. I'm willing to do anything for it then obey I'm willing to do whatever God says God says a lot of things. Are you sure about that? God's got a lot of Commandments for us Anyway, if we're sitting here drawing a blank and what those might be Maybe it's time to start reading it and finding out for ourselves and getting in church and figuring out what it is that God expects from us You see it is a relationship and again, I'm hesitant to even use that term but that is what it is it is a relationship And like any relationship it goes two ways We can't have this one-sided thing where it's all just take take take It's whatever I can get from God. God has some demands to God has a to-do list for you for us to fulfill See we look at a passage like John chapter 28 and And John 10 28 and we know this that our sonship is secure or Daughtership doesn't really roll off the tongue the same but it means the same thing, right? Our our being a child of God that's settled We've been born of the the water. We've been born of the Spirit. It's a one-time event your physical birth your spiritual birth We know that we're saved today. We've taken care of that that's secure. That's never gonna change But Only obedience will guarantee your fellowship That's the only thing that's going to guarantee that God is going to be there to be with you Through the through any season in life is your obedience. Let's go ahead and pray