Introduction: Not a message about one person like Gideon, but a message about a condition of this life. This condition is called despair. It means that all hope is gone. The Lord has left us on our own. But throughout scripture, God gives us examples of those who seemed to be left by the Lord and who often thought they had been deserted by Him but who later found that He had not left them at all.

• “Believed that Satan tries first of all to keep men in love with their sins and pleasures, to prevent them listening to those who warn against them.
• “If this fails, his second ploy is to persuade the sinner that his anxieties about his soul are ‘but a melancholy fit’, calling for physic…
• “Satan’s third attack was to use consciousness of sin to reduce the sinner to despair of his own prospects.
• “Finally his fourth line was ‘to make thee rest upon thy own righteousness’, to think that heaven can be earned.” –from A Tinker and a Poor Man by Christopher Hill (pl85-86).

1. GOD IN THIS PLACE
1. The Flight of Jacob (Genesis 27:42-43 [42] And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. [43] Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
   See All...)
2. The Appearance of the Lord (Genesis 28:10-13 [10] And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. [11] And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. [12] And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. [13] And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
   See All...)
3. The Lord is in this Place (Genesis 28:16-19 [16] And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. [17] And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. [18] And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. [19] And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
   See All...)
2. THOU GOD SEEST ME
1. The Flight of Hagar (Genesis 16:4-6 [4] And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. [5] And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. [6] But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
   See All...)
2. The Appearance of the Lord (Genesis 16:7-12 [7] And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. [8] And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. [9] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. [10] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. [11] And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. [12] And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
   See All...)
3. Thou God Seest Me (Genesis 16:13-14 [13] And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? [14] Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
   See All...)
3. THE MASTER IS COME
1. The Loss of Lazarus (John 11:14Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
   See All..., 21)
2. The Mourning of Mary (John 11:20Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
   See All...)
3. The Call of the Master (John 11:28And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
   See All...)
4. SEEING HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE
1. The Flight of Moses (Exodus 2:11-15 [11] And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. [12] And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. [13] And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? [14] And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. [15] Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
   See All...)
2. The Backside of the Desert (Exodus 3:1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
   See All...)
3. The Appearance of the Lord (Exodus 3:2-6 [2] And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. [3] And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. [4] And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. [5] And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. [6] Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
   See All...)
4. Seeing Him Who is Invisible (Hebrews 11:27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
   See All...)
5. CAUGHT UP INTO PARADISE
1. The Stoning of Paul (Acts 14:19And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
   See All...)
2. Caught up to Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1-7 [1] It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. [3] And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) [4] How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. [5] Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. [6] For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. [7] And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
   See All...)
3. Returned to the Work (Acts 14:20-23 [20] Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. [21] And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, [22] Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. [23] And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
   See All...)

CONCLUSION: Are you in despair? Do you feel that you have been deserted by the Lord. Know that He is still with you. Seek His presence and His power. Ask Him to show you His divine presence in your prison cell.