Never Leave or Forsake You
December 29, 2025
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Hebrews chapter number 13. Hebrews chapter number 13. I would tell you, but you’ve heard it too many times about the couple that argued who should make the coffee, and she said it’s in the Bible, and he said, “Where?” And she said, “At the top of the Bible, a couple pages says it right there: He brews.” And so, you’ve heard all my jokes. You’ve heard everything you’ve got to offer. Amen. And you’re still here. That’s the amazing thing. I’m glad you are.
Hebrews chapter number 13. Hebrews chapter number 13. I’m going to get this water back here. Hebrews chapter number 13. How many of you have gotten on the scales since Christmas? Oh, I’ve got a couple people.
Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. If you’re there, would you say amen? Amen. Good, good, good, good, good. This sounds a little bit. They won a little bit on that. All right. So let’s try to be focused on His word this morning. All right, amen, trying to get us all on board. Hebrews 13, just this phrase. It’s very familiar. Most of you know the phrase already, but I felt like the Lord just kept saying we need to focus on this phrase this morning.
You’ll see it, Hebrews 13. I haven’t even told you the verse, and you’re not looking at me. You’re already looking down there. Verse number five. Verse number five. Hebrews 13 and verse number five. Would you please stand as I read God’s word together, trying to show it respect? Hebrews 13 and verse number five. And you know the phrase. Help me out. What’s the phrase we’re going to look at this morning?
“Never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Let’s read the whole verse. Here we go: “Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Just that little phrase, would you read that little phrase out loud again with me? Everybody, here we go: “I will never leave thee.” Now, would you say that again, but would you imagine the Lord standing in front of you? He is. And imagine Him saying that to you, because He is. Imagine the Lord saying this to you. Here we go: That little phrase, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Would you pray that God would make that phrase real to us this morning?
Father, Your word is awesome. I pray that You would make it just come alive to Your people. Thank You for it, Lord. Thank You that You’re such a loving God that You give us a wonderful phrase like this in Your word: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Thank You for telling us that this morning. Make it real to Your people. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
I was reading some on this phrase this week, and I read this story of this lady. When she was a child, preschool—I don’t know exactly how old, but preschool, imagine that, so probably four—a four-year-old little girl and her stepfather took her and her brother, who was younger than her, a toddler, and they were driving along a long ways out in the country, and they had an aid. So they were getting a little fidgety in the backseat, fussing and fighting. You never did that, did you? Of course not. Of course not, never, never, never, you know. But they were in the backseat, fussing and fighting, and the stepfather, they were out in the middle of nowhere, gravel road. He slams on the brakes, and he yells two words. She said it just filled the car, the interior of the car. He said, “Get out!” And she thought, “Oh, man, this weapon is going to hurt right here.”
She said she just—all she could do to lift the handle. She got the handle up, got out of the car, and her little brother followed her. And they thought that stepdad was going to get out, and the car door shut, and he took off. She said, “I can remember the gravel spinning, and we’re in the middle of nowhere, sun’s going down. And we watched as we screamed and cried as that car got smaller and smaller and smaller on the horizon.” And her stepfather just forsook them.
Now, God here says you’ll never, ever, ever, ever have to worry about your Heavenly Father treating you like that. God doesn’t want His children to have to worry and think and contemplate. He says, “I will never leave thee.” That “leave” has to do with kind of you grab a hold of something and you let it loose. It has to do with that, that Greek word. He says, “I will never leave thee.”
Look over, if you will, in John, chapter number 10. John chapter 10. It’s a great verse, and it’ll be a good verse if you sometimes doubt your salvation, or you worry about losing your salvation, or you have someone that’s saying you can lose your salvation. These are great—there are many verses, but these are great verses on that subject. John 10, and look in verse number 28. John 10 and verse number 28 of God’s word, and notice what He says here. I always say this, so some of you will know it before I say it, but five times in two verses He says you can’t lose it.
Five times in two verses, He says you can’t lose it. Look at it. Let’s count them down. Verse number 28. Verse number 28 says, “And I…” What’s the next word? “And I?” You didn’t earn your salvation. He gave it to you. If you earned it by doing good, when you got bad, you would have to lose it, but you didn’t earn it by getting good. He gave it to you. And God doesn’t renege on His gift. How many of you have had to return a Christmas gift? You got one not the right size or something like that. Come on now, you know. Yeah, yeah. And hopefully you didn’t say, “Give it back to me.” Hopefully they say, “Hey, can you change this hat?” whatnot, you know? But God—God doesn’t; He gives it. So one time, help me out. Keep with me. That’s one: “I give.” That’s number one. All right. Let’s get number two. “And I give unto them…” What’s the next two words?
Well, if it only lasts until you’re bad, it’s not eternal. If it only lasts while you measure up somewhere, it’s not eternal. No, He says, “I give”—that’s one—and then He says, “eternal life”—that’s two. You know what I mean? Don’t count with your right hand; you’re going to run out of fingers. All right? Five times, two verses. Here we go. He says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they…” Here it is. “And they shall…” What’s the next two words? “They shall… never perish.”
That’s pretty clear. Never, on a good day and on a bad hair day, they shall never perish. On a day when you get up and read your Bible and you’re on top side praying like you ought to, and on a day when you sleep in and you don’t read His word and you slip and say the wrong word and you’re not what you ought to be and you’re a horrible testimony to your children—on that day, the Bible still says they shall never perish. Three times, help me out. Help me out. “And I give…” How many is that? That’s what? Come on now. Come on. “And I give…” How many is that? That’s “And I give them eternal life.” That’s what that’s. “And they shall never perish.” Now let’s keep reading. What’s the next thing He says? What’s the next thing?
He says, “Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” That’s Jesus’ hand. Listen, friend, that’s what He’s saying. “I will never leave thee.” I’ll never let loose of you is what that “leave” means. Look, you’re in the hands that you still up. I don’t think I can hold on to His enough. You can’t; it doesn’t matter. He’s holding on to you. You’re in His hand, friend. Neither… He said… Well, let’s count it up. We’ll count it up here we go. Let’s try it again. All right. “And I give”—that’s what?—“eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” That’s what. And here’s number five coming up. Number five right here it is: “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” That’s what. Friend, He’ll never drive off and leave you standing. You’ll never hear the tires of God’s car spinning out and leaving you standing day, even on your worst day. He says, “I’ll never leave you. I won’t forsake you.”
That “forsake” has a little bit more to do with being temporary. He’s with you on a good day. He’s not with you on a bad day. He’s up sometimes. He says, “I’ll never, never, ever forsake you.” I won’t walk away. It’s not a temporary thing; it’s a permanent thing. I don’t change, God says. He’ll never forsake you.
I like this what Isaiah is speaking about God’s people. He says, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?” Yeah, they may forget. I mean, every once in a while you hear about it. It’s very rare, but very rarely you’ll hear about a mom that abandons the child. But you know what God said? You say you may hear that. He says, “Yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee on the palms of My hands. Thy walls, by the walls of Jerusalem. Thy walls are continually before Me.” You ever seen someone, they put something—maybe they tie something on their, you know, a piece of string or whatever on their finger to remind them or something? Or we wear this to remind everybody we’re married. It’s kind of like that. They would put things on the palm, or they would cut it, whatnot. And God says, “Listen, I’ve got you on the palms of My hand.” A mom may, everyone’s smile, forget her child, but there’s no way. God says, “I’ll never forget you.” He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
You never have to worry about that. Never have to wake up in the middle of the night. Anybody ever… you never… It’s amazing. When you’re young, you go to sleep, and like, you know, just like you just laid down, and the alarm clock goes off. How many of you say, “I wish I slept like that nowadays”? Come on now, you know. This thing of a… We took our trip to Florida, and I drove most of the way and whatnot, but a portion, I was tired. I went over to the passenger seat, and I was snoring so loud, I kept waking myself up. Isn’t that a shame now?
And you never have to wake up in the middle of the night thinking, “Has He left me?” It can be 3 a.m., and you wake up, He’s there. You never have to wake up in the dark. You ever just wake up, “Where am I at? What’s going on?” Maybe you’re super busy and not getting much sleep. You can wake up; it doesn’t matter where you’re at. Let me read you what He says. Psalm 121: “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.” You say, “What does it mean by that? I’m not you getting tripped? The carpet being pulled out from underneath you? God’s not there for you?” He said, “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not slumber all night long.” He’s there. He’ll never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Just recently, not in our church, but just recently, I’ve heard about two spouses that walked away—they just walked away. One came home from work, said, “I’m leaving,” and the next day gone, just boom. Two of them here lately, not in our church. God’ll never do that. You’ll never have to worry about God saying, “I’m just tired. You never measure up. You’re never where I want you to be.” You don’t have to worry about God. If you never, ever do another thing for Jesus Christ, if you’re a born-again Christian, He’ll always love you and He’ll always be there, if you never go to church another time. And I want you to go to church. I want you. I hope this new year you’re planning on reading your Bible through. I hope you’re planning on praying. I hope you’re planning on doing these things. But if you never do another thing for the Lord, that’s knocking over a Christmas tree. He’ll never leave you. Never. Never. Never. In the middle of the night, you don’t have to wake up, “Well, He’s not there.” He never will leave you nor forsake you.
I love this verse. Psalm 56: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” I don’t know about that praying just when you’re in trouble. Well, God’s for it. Psalm 50:15: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee.” That’s what He said, “and thou brings Him glory.” Thou shalt glorify Me? If my child’s in trouble, it brings me little glory if they call, “Say, Dad, I need help.” God’s the same way. “I’ll never leave thee, never leave thee.” The eternal God is my refuge, underneath are the everlasting arms.
Would you say that phrase one more time? “I’ll never leave you, nor forsake you.” Would you say… You ready? Here we go: “I will never leave thee.” I want you to imagine Him saying that to you because He is.
Well, let’s change gears for just a minute here. Sometimes you say, “Well, why don’t I feel His presence all the time then?” How many of you say, “Then there’s some days I feel it, and I love it when I feel it, but sometimes I don’t”? Anybody like that? Let’s talk about why that is. I don’t know that I’ll cover all the things, but just two things we want to cover. Look over in Isaiah chapter number 59. Isaiah chapter number 59. He’ll never leave you, He’ll never forsake you. Well, why don’t I always feel His presence? Let’s just discuss two different things or categories of things. You can have Isaiah 59, and I want you to look at verse number one and verse number two. Isaiah 59, verse number one and verse number two. Once you find that, would you say amen? Good, good, good. All right, here we go.
Isaiah 59, verse number one. The Bible says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save.” Now, just stop for a second. He’s saying His hand’s not so short that it can’t reach down from heaven into your world and save. It may be eternal salvation. It may be saving you from problems. It may be saving you from chaos. It may be saving you from just losing your mind. But the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot reach down in your life anymore. Now, what’s the next saying? He said, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear.” He’s not getting old and can’t hear anymore. How many of you say your spouse has selective hearing? Anybody like that? Yeah. Tammy, put your hand down, Ms. Tammy, please do. The doctor does say my hearing’s going in certain ranges, and Tammy says, “It’s my range.” That’s where it’s going. God’s not like that. He never has hearing problems. Neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear. God can… You say, “Where’s the best place to pray?” Wherever you’re at, that’s the best place to pray. You be on the highest mountain or the deepest sea; wherever you’re at, God can hear you. His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear. And said it’s not so short that it can’t—in your messed-up world, He can come down there and get involved and save. That’s what you’re saying. Specifically, He’s talking to the nation of Israel with their sinfulness. But look at the next verse.
“But your iniquities…” Now, it’ll use this word, iniquities and sin. Iniquities has to do more with sins that are in your heart. Help me on if you know the verse: “If I regard iniquity in my…” what? It’s often things in your heart that allow or let you cross over the line, the transgression or sin. He’s talking about things in your heart, your mind. He says, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God.” Now, He’s still there; “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” but it’s put some distance between you and your God. What’s the last part? And He says, “And your sins have hid His…” Notice, not hit His face where He can’t see you. Your sins have hid His face from you. You can’t see His face. If you will, you can’t feel His presence. Your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. That’s the sad thing.
We are spoiled, rotten. We cheated. Our son and daughter-in-law, grandchildren in Oregon—we went out there in October, I think it was, and our daughter went out there for Christmas, whatnot. And so we said, “Hey, we’re footloose and fancy-free. We’re going to go to Florida.” I know, I know if a rotten tomato is thrown at me, it’s cheating. It’s not fair. I understand. It was warm here, too, though. I mean, come on. But we took off and went to Florida, and we were down there just kind of getting away and whatnot. And it was, man, sunny, 82 degrees. Somebody say amen right there. Come on now. Vitamin D is a good thing, you know. We enjoyed it. But Friday we left; we stopped in Volta, Georgia, Friday night. And we woke up Saturday morning. We weren’t in Florida anymore. We’re in Georgia, and it was overcast. And we’re like, “Wow, what a difference.” You couldn’t see the sun. It wasn’t raining, but it was a little just misty, you know. You may have turned a whopper on a little bit in the morning time, that type of thing. But help me out: When we were in Florida, you could see the sun shining, but was the sun still shining in Georgia Saturday morning? Just couldn’t see it. And that’s what sin does. He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. He’s still there, but you won’t feel His presence.
He still loves you. He still has grace available for you. He’ll still forgive and cleanse. But you’re not going to feel love like you need and want to feel love. You’re not going to have His presence. You’re not going to have joy. It’s still available for you. He wants you to have it. But sin…
You remember what Jesus said when all of our sin was placed on Jesus on the cross? And He said those seven utterances on the cross. You know the middle one, the number four utterance? He said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”
You said, “What’s the deal?” Well, when Jesus took our sin, God—He cannot look on that sin, and that separated Him and His Heavenly Father. But can I say this? Jesus took the forsakenness by taking our sin. That’s why He’ll never forsake you now, because Jesus already paid for that on the cross. But you still have those feelings because you’re convicted—God, the Holy Spirit, and your own heart and mind condemns you because of the sin. So you won’t feel His presence. You’re not going to feel love because when we’re just away from God, He’s still there.
By the way, can I say this? Maybe the best thing you can do when you’re away from God is for you to realize God still loves me. I hope on your worst day you realize God still… I’m told you’re—if you’re saved, if you’re born again Christian, you’ve truly been saved, there’s a time in your life when you accepted Jesus as your personal way to heaven, none of your good works, you put all your faith in Jesus, you called Him to be your Savior—then on your worst day, He still loves you. And the thing that will help you get out of your backslidden state is not to condemn yourself, but to realize He loves me. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
And in your backslidden state, realize… You know the Prodigal Son? Remember the prodigal over there in Luke 15? The two boys, and the younger said, “Dad, give me all my inheritance.” And the Bible says he gave his living. It’s kind of like all that Dad had, his living, he gave it out to those two boys. Remember the younger boy? He went out in sinful living. He just spent it all. Trying to make some of these stories a little bit real to us this morning. I know a young man, I love him. But his dad passed, and he got some money, and he took that money, and he went to Colorado. I don’t know how many years ago. He went to Colorado because marijuana is legal in Colorado, was at the time. I think it still is. And he spent all that money. Came back, all of it gone, has a car to show for it, that’s about it. Spent it all.
Now, that’s what this young man did, and he’s out there in the foreign country, and he’s living a sinful life. He ends up working for a pig farmer. By the way, that shows that Jewish people were not supposed to have anything to do with the pigs, but he’s out there working for this pig farmer, and sometimes we talk about him eating the pig’s food. Actually, that’s not correct. He wanted to eat the pig’s food, but the owner said, “No, that’s the pig’s food, not yours.” And when he couldn’t even eat what the pigs were eating, as in the Bible says, he came to himself. Look over in Luke 15, if you would, please. Let’s just see what happens. What was the thing that helped him get right? Look at Luke 15.
And look in verse number 18. There’s so much here, we won’t have time to get it all. By the way, parents, he didn’t go after that boy. The dad didn’t go where he was. I think Dad knew where he was. He knew what he was doing. The older brother knew about it. I think Dad could find out, but he didn’t go after that. He just let that boy go. And when he hit rock bottom, he came to himself. And look at this. Luke 15. Look in verse number 18. This is the Prodigal Son. He says, “I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.” I can’t get off on this too much, but can I just say this? He didn’t want to go to everybody else and complain about Dad, how mean and how hard and how those rules and all that. He wasn’t going to try to manipulate. He said, “I’m going to go to Dad. I’m going to go right to Dad. I’m going to get things right with Dad. I’m not going to pit mom and dad against each other, not going to pit my brother and everybody else. I’m going to go to Dad. I’m not trying to manipulate it. I’m ready to truly get right.” He said, “I’m going to go to my father.” He said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven”—that’s a big thing—“and before thee.” And he says, “And am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of the hired servants.”
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran. This represents God the Father. Really, the only time I can think of the Bible representing God running is this time right here. The only time. Had compassion on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Friend, when you’re away from God, you’re not going to feel His presence, you’re not going to feel His love, but you remember He still loves you and He’s waiting for you. He’s not going to leave. He’s not going to forsake you. He’s waiting. And boy, this boy started coming over the horizon there, walking towards Dad. And the Dad, man, he had compassion, and he ran to him. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” You’re not going to feel His presence, but He’s not left you. He’s waiting for you. He’ll run to meet you when you come back.
Then the last time you say, “Well, okay, He’ll never leave me nor forsake thee.” Why don’t I always feel His presence sometimes? Because sin, like a cloud, separates me and God. He’s still there. He still loves me. The sun shall shine, but I won’t feel it.
And then number two, one other time. Look over, if you will, in the book of Job, the book of Job in chapter number 23. Job chapter number 23. And once you find Job chapter number 23, I want you to look up here for just a second here. And I want to rehash the book of Job. You know it, but we want to rehash a little bit, just kind of get it in our mind, a little bit, maybe in our hearts a little bit here. The book of Job. Job 23. Are you there? If you’re there, would you say amen? Good day. If you’re there, just look right this way for a minute here, Job 23. And let me tell you about this story here. Job 23, and just keep your finger. Let me talk to you for a minute here. Job had 10 kids. Can you imagine that? My wife’s brother has 10 kids, and some of them are growing up and getting married, and he’s like, “Hallelujah, no more,” you know, too many bills, you know. But Job had 10 kids, and in one day, all his children were killed. Now, try to just—it’s… We’ve heard that all our life, Job. And try to let it sink in. There’s a lady that talked to her this week, Shelly. She had a child die around Christmas time a couple years back. She’s had a grandchild die around Christmas a couple years back. And Christmas Eve, her mom died this year. Now, think about that. You’re like, man, three people around Christmas. This guy had all ten. I’m just trying to make it real. All ten of his children. I mean, losing a child—I’ve heard somebody say, you know, it’s one of the worst things because you never expect to bury your child. But can you imagine burying all 10 of your children in one day? Wow.
Not only that, not only that. This is one of those days that, you know, it just keeps getting worse and worse. And there’s a little time frame here, but his finances—he was a rich man—and just, he lost all this wealth. He became like living in poverty, kind of like bankruptcy, poor. Now, it’s one thing to be poor. How many of you say I’ve heard somebody say, “Well, I grew up poor, didn’t even know it”? You’ve heard that statement, you know. Well, if you grew up rich or you are rich and then you become poor, you know it. You’re used to luxuries, you’re used to money, you’re used to, in our time, cars and houses and lands and clothes and anything you want. That was Job, and Job lost it all. So, lost all his children, then he lost his money. Then he lost his health. I mean, it’s one thing, you know, all that. Even the devil said this, they said, “Well, skin for skin, you know, you gave him good health.” And the Lord said, “All right, you can touch his body.” He lost his health. He was just miserable to be sick all the time in it. And he just got the sniffles, or, you know, how many have had that flu bug going around? Have you been sick a little bit here lately? Brother Adam just got over that, you know, and it’s been going around, you know, and these fevers and all this stuff, you know, and boy, you just feel miserable. So, he lost his children, he lost his finances, he lost his health. And a little before the health thing, his wife, even. I mean, some men say, “Well, I just can’t make it for a minute without my wife.” What Job had to for a minute or two or more. She didn’t leave him, but she did say—she was grieving—but she did say, “Hey, curse God and die.” That’s what she said.
Now, I’m just talking about Job in the middle of all this; he’s going through this great trial. And at the end of it, God did—at the end of about a year, year and a half—do you think this thing will last? The whole thing lasted, but at the end of it, God blessed him twice as much: ten more children, finances and health and influence and all that. And I think God used him greatly during that day and time, and for all these thousands of years, we’ve gotten a blessing out of the book of Job. He’s used him greatly, been in the middle of all that. His friends come and start criticizing him. How many of you have ever had a friend call you a liar? You ever had a friend call you a liar? You ever have a friend call you a hypocrite? Anybody ever just, man, you’re just… You act like you’re all that, but you’re the biggest sinner you know? And that’s what Job’s friends called him. And I’m saying, in the middle of all that, now I want you to notice maybe the hardest part about this whole test Job was going through.
Look in verse number eight, Job 23. Look in verse number eight. Job 23. And look in verse number eight. He says, “Behold.” Job’s going through it, and he says, “Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him. On the left hand, where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him. He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him.” Sometimes, look right here—we’ll give the next verse—and just hear me here: Hey, sometimes you can’t feel His presence because He’s growing your faith.
Four times the Bible says the just shall live by faith. I like it when feelings are involved. I like that. I love it when I can feel the presence of God, but I can’t live off of feelings. The just shall live by… Job says, “I’m going forward. I can’t find Him.” To the left hand, right? Backward, I can’t. His presence… He said… Well, Job said, “You know what? He’s promised me, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’” It’s going to feel sometimes like He has left you, but the just shall live by faith.
Notice the next verse. Notice what he said. I love it. What a man of faith he was. Verse number 10: “But He knoweth the way that I take.” He’s not left me. He’s not forsaking me. “When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Sometimes God just grows us in living by faith. Every great work that’s been done for God has been done out of faith. “According to thy faith, thy faith it hath made thee whole.” Hebrews 11: by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. And I’ve been looking at it. There are so many promises in the Old Testament for those that trust in God. And God… Lord, what does it mean to fully, truly trust in You? That’s kind of been on my heart, my mind. What does it mean for… What would it mean for Paul to fully trust in God? And God’s reminded me, sometimes you won’t feel My presence, and that’s when you trust Me. You live by faith. Job couldn’t find His presence, but he said, “He knows the way that I take.” And when this test is done, I’m coming forth as gold.
I love this song. How many have ever heard the song? It’s a great song. I love Ron Hamilton. He’s got some great songs, but there’s some, “Lord, I need Thee. Lord, I need Thee.” I can’t… I don’t know all the words to it. Can’t sing anyway, amen, you know. I’ve sang that to God in prayer time. But, you know, as of late, maybe the last year or two, you know, every time I sing that, the Lord says, “You’ve got Me.” “Lord, I need…” What do you see? What do you do? You got Me. “Well, I don’t feel You like I want to feel You right now.” Don’t live by feeling; live by faith. You ever try to change the words of a song in the middle of a song? “Lord, I’m glad I got You.” And I do. I do. It’s all right to pray that. In the Psalms, sometimes you’ll see him praying that. It’s all right to sing that. But the honest, simple truth is you do have Him if you’re saved. You got it. He promised, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
I have been reading just a couple pages out of this book. I don’t know that I agree with every statement in this book. It’s an old book, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians. And I got this chapter—I’m past it—but this, Madame G-U-Y-O-N. Now, it’s spelled G-U-Y-O-N, but they say it’s pronounced… Let me see, I got it how they said it was pronounced, and I’ll let you come to the conclusion how to say it: G-A-Y-O, G-A-Y-O, Gay-o. All right, Madame Geyo, France in the 1600s. God used her greatly. I don’t know that I agree with everything, but God used her greatly, and she—at a certain time in her life—I want to read it for you, all right? Y’all with me out there? I’m going to read just a paragraph or two here, all right? Y’all stick with me; we’re going to be done, we’re going to go home.
And she says, “As great as were the trials already mentioned, Madame Guyon had yet to pass through one of her greatest, most prolonged trials. In 1674, she entered upon what she afterwards called her state of privation or desolation, which lasted for seven years. During all that period, she was without religious joy, peace, emotions of any kind, and she had to walk by faith alone. She continued her devotion and her works of charity, but without any pleasure and satisfaction she had previously felt. She seemed to be left without God, and she made the mistake of imagining that God had really forsaken her. She had yet to learn how to walk by faith instead of by feeling. True joy and peace comes from living by faith without regard to feelings. We are filled with all joy and peace in believing, Romans 15:13. But when we look at our feelings and take our eyes off the Lord, then all true joy and peace leaves us.”
That Madame Guyon, it seems, made this great mistake, and for seven years she kept looking for feelings and emotions before she learned to live above feelings and simply walk by faith in God alone. Then she found that the life of faith is much better, higher, holier, and happier than the life governed by feelings and emotions. She had been thinking more about emotions than about the Lord, more about the gift than the giver, but at last her faith rose triumphant above circumstances and feelings. And after that seven-year period, she said, “I had the presence just—I knew it by faith.” And God used her greatly.
I like to live by feelings when feelings are there. Woo-hoo, I like it, man. I like, I like when I’m preaching, and sometimes, man, you just feel like God’s just… God’s owning that service and His hands moving. I love that. But sometimes you just obey out of faith. The just shall live by faith. Four times the Bible says that. Job said, “I’ve looked here and I can’t feel or find His presence.” So when God was ready, it never left him. By the middle of it, Job lived by faith. “He knoweth the way that I take when I’m tried. I shall come forth as gold.”
Hey, remember His promise? Help me out. Original over there in Hebrews 13:5. Help me out. Say it out loud. Here we go. Here we go. Ready? “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” You know what they say? The teacher is always silent during the test. Sometimes I don’t feel His presence during the test. Boy, I like once you pass the test, and God works greater through you.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Maybe you hear this morning and you say, “You know, I would like to be a child of God and have that guarantee, that promise: ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” I would like to have that. I know I’m a sinner. I understand there’s a penalty on my sin, and I want to trust in Jesus alone to pay for my sin debt and give me a home in heaven. I need to get saved. I have never fully trusted in Jesus. I want to do that right now. If that’s you in your heart and your mind, right there you said… Right there you said, “I want to ask Jesus to pay for my sins and be my personal Savior.” If that’s you, would you whisper a prayer something like this to Jesus? Would you let… “Dear Jesus, I admit it. I’m a sinner. Now, I understand there’s a sin debt, like a fire, hell. Well, Jesus, I believe You died for me. I want You to pay for every one of my sins. Would You come into my heart? Would You be my Savior, Jesus? Thank You for giving me that promise. You’ll never leave me nor forsake me. Thank You for that.”
Our heads bowed and eyes are closed. If you’re there and you say, “Preacher, I never have, but I just prayed and asked Jesus Christ to be my Savior,” if that’s you this morning, would you just lift your hand? “Never have, but I just asked Jesus to be my Savior.” If that’s you, just lift your hand. If that’s you, just lift your head. If anybody like that? All right, good, good, good. Anybody else? Anybody else? “Never have, but I just prayed and asked Jesus to be my Savior.” Good. I see one hand. Congratulations. He’ll never leave you nor forsake you. You’re His son. That’s awesome. That’s wonderful.
Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, I think I’m going through that time… I want to learn to live by faith. God spoke to my heart about that. Those are very difficult times.” God spoke to my heart. “I want to live by faith during those times.” Those are tough times. Maybe one of the greatest tests you go through is just living by faith. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you this morning, you slip up your hand. “Preacher, that’s me. I want to live by faith during those times.” Those are tough times. Maybe one of the greatest tests you go through just living by faith. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up. “Preacher, that’s me.”
“There’s some sins in my life like the cloud, and I can’t feel Him. I know He’s not forsaken me. I know He’s not left me. He promised. I know that’s true, but I can’t feel it because there are some sins and some iniquities in my life that separated me and God. And I want to come to Him and confess. He’ll forgive and cleanse, and I need to get some things right. I want to get those sins out of there so I can get back up feeling.” Yes, that’s a good thing. We want those. Yes. And whether I feel or not, He promised He’ll forgive and cleanse, but I need to get rid of those sins. And He’ll take care of those sins, confessing before the Lord. God spoke to my heart about that. If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up. “Preacher, that’s me. That’s some sins.” That’s me. That’s some sins. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. God bless you. You can put your hands down.
Oh, my friend. He longs, He longs to get that fellowship restored. The relationship—He still… Your Father still loves, but He wants to get back close to you because He loves you very much. He never left you nor forsook you, but He’s waiting to get that fellowship restored. What a good thing.
Let’s all stand, if you would, please. Let’s all stand. We’re going to have a word of prayer. And God’s leading you, come to an old-fashioned altar. Maybe just where you stand, however God leads you. There’s something special about an altar. He’s leading you to the altar. You come there however it leads you. Let’s just thank You for the promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake thee.” Thank Him and love Him and be grateful for that. Let’s get things right and let’s live by faith. Do that. If you prayed and asked Jesus to be your Savior, you come let me know, or one of the men know, and we want to help you in your new life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.
Thank You, Father, that You promised us. You told us in Your word. Lord, it’s like You are standing in front of us, facing us, saying, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Thank You for that, Lord. Thank You. Helps to live by faith. The promise is always true. Let us draw nigh to You with that promise. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Would you just be obedient to our piano, please? Just be obedient to the Lord. That’s right. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Living by faith can be tough to do. Lord, I want to live by faith. I want to get some things right with You, Lord, so I can feel Your presence. We’ll live by faith during the lean times. There are the tough times.
Me out there, you say, “I feel like I deserve for Him to leave me about a million times.” Anybody like that? Oh, I’m there. Praise the Lord. He promised us, guaranteed in His word, in writing: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” I want you to say it one more time. All right, here we go. You ready? “I will never leave thee.” Now, I want you to say that, and I want you to imagine God looking at you saying that, because He is. And I want you to go home with that truth in your heart. Man, I’m so glad you’re here this morning. Appreciate every single person being in God’s house. Praise the Lord. It’s one of those days after Christmas; it could be easy to miss. And you’re here. Praise the Lord for you. Good for you. Glad to see you. I’ll be back tonight. And then Wednesday, New Year’s Eve. Come. The deacon will be preaching. We’ll have a good time. Fellowship, food afterwards. And you’ll win every game you play. Okay, I’m in church. I better quit all that. You know, we’ll have a good time playing games. No Monopoly. We don’t want any fights. Amen. Amen. We’ll have a good time. There we go.
Original File: 2025-12-29 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Never Leave or Forsake You＂- Sunday AM 12⧸28⧸2025