Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Grief to thy God to order and
provide. In every change ye faithful will
remain. Be still, my soul, thy best,
thy heavenly friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful
end. Be still, my soul, Thy God doth
undertake To guide the future as He has the past Thy hope,
Thy confidence let nothing shake All now mysterious shall be bright
at last. He's still my soul, the waves
and winds still know. His voice who ruled them while
he dwelt below. Be still, my soul, the hour is
hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and
fear are gone, sorrow for God Love's purest joy is restored. Be still, my soul, when change
and tears are past. All safe and blessed we shall
meet at last. Thank you. I'm going to be reading from
Romans chapter 8. I'll begin in verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit
the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the
flesh. For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ, if so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace, for your care, for your power, which does all
things. Lord, we're so thankful that
you rule and reign and are doing all things according to your
will and purpose in the earth. Lord, we ask that you would indeed
help us in our struggles and our difficulties and our sorrows
and our sufferings. Lord, that we would not turn
to the flesh to produce the things of the flesh, but Lord, that
we would be turned to you, and that by your Spirit we would
produce the fruits of the Spirit. And when we are troubled, when
we are sorrowed, when there are difficulties, we would look to
you and bear those fruits which you have ordained to be brought
in your people. And Lord, We ask that you would
help us, that you would keep our hearts and our minds ever
looking to the Lord, that you would uphold your people and
bless them richly in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would
help us to love one another and to provide for one another and
to care for one another, to pray for one another and to be helpers
of one another's joy. And Lord, we know that you can
do all things. And so we pray and ask that you
would remember us and look upon us, even this night, that your
spirit would rest upon us here, that you would cause us to see
our Lord and Savior, rejoicing in Him, worshiping you and praising
you as you are worthy. And Lord, we pray that your spirit
would also be with us as we seek to minister this word of reconciliation
to this community and to those in the surrounding cities that
you would establish this work here, that you would draw your
people out of darkness, out of their homes, out of false churches,
and that you would establish the word here. Lord, this is
of your grace, it's of your power. We ask you because we don't have
the strength, we don't have the wisdom, we don't have the ability
in ourselves to do that which our God does so perfectly, so
wondrously, so gloriously because all the power is yours, all the
praise is yours. Lord, we ask that you would indeed
use this small body to call out many in darkness, many to the
Savior, many to hear what Christ has done for his people, and
that you would settle them, that you would give them your Spirit,
that you would indeed give them the new birth, that we might
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches, that we would see
Jesus, the Lord and Savior, that we would look to you alone. It's
in Christ's name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's sing the Solid Rock 272.
The Solid Rock. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness fails his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath is covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, he then is all my hope and stay. On Christ a solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. Then he shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ a solid
rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. Thank you. It's a really nice rendition. Yeah, it is. Thank you. Timing
was really good. Yep. The sound was pretty and
everything. I'm happy I found that. It was
easy to sink to that one. Okay. Good evening, brethren. Let's
go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5. I want to look
at verses 14 and 15 to begin our study tonight. Paul writes here, For the love
of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then we're all dead. If Christ came and gave his life,
then every one of us is a sinner. Every one of us is dead in trespasses
and sins and has no life or ability to save ourselves. And that he
died for all, that they which live, those in whom his life
is manifested, that they should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again." So this is speaking
to us who believe, how believers live. The children of God are
constrained to faith, hope, and love by the love that Christ
has for them. He works this life in them. He
works these graces in them. He gives them his spirit who
produces these fruits in us. Love, hope, faith, joy, peace. And so what the Spirit is teaching
us is that the life of Christ, which is manifested in us now,
He's showing this life in us and He's showing us that in Him is life and in this flesh
is nothing but works of vileness and darkness unbelief, they're
works that are worthless and don't produce and do that which
is good and right. In fact, the things that we do
in this flesh are the things that sake the wrath of God, which
cometh upon the inhabitants of the world, and for which cause
Christ came into the world to save his people and to deliver
us from that wrath of God. And so our Lord does this. He
works this love in us. He works these fruits in us through
the hearing of faith. And He manifests His life in
us. He teaches us. He strips us of
this flesh. And He reveals Christ in us more
and more. John the Baptist said it this
way when his disciples came to him and said, Lord, It looks
like, or they said, Master, it looks like this Jesus is baptizing
more than you are. And John said to them, he said,
well, he must increase and I must decrease. He must increase and
I must decrease. And so that's what the Lord works
in all His people. If He's going to manifest this
life of Christ in us, we're going to decrease. And Christ will
increase in us more and more. And after those words, which
we just read, after those words, Paul is speaking to us about
the ministry of reconciliation that our God has given to his
church. I'll just read verse 18 there.
And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. And so the love of Christ teaches
us and brings us not to love and to serve ourselves, not to
serve this flesh, but to live unto him. He makes us ambassadors
of his word, of his kingdom, of his salvation, of his glory,
to preach, to declare, to proclaim what he has done for sinners. And He does this by giving us
the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives us life through
regeneration, and makes us to live unto Christ. He teaches
us. Now turn over to Romans 8. Let's
go to Romans 8, and we're going to look at verse 16 and 17. He says there, the Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Again, this life of Christ is
manifested in us. We should not live unto ourselves
but unto Christ who gave himself for us and rose again. And if
children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. And so your God makes us to know
that we are His children, that we are heirs of God, and that
we are joint heirs with Christ. And all the blessings of God
in Christ are wonderful, glorious blessings that teach us, that
give us joy and hope in Him, fellowship with our God. But
there's a component spoken of here of suffering. He speaks of suffering here in
those verses that we just read. For these blessings, to know
our Savior, to rejoice in Him, to live unto Him, and not live
unto this flesh. While we're here in the flesh,
Paul said, if we're children, then heirs, heirs of God, and
joined heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him,
that we may be also glorified together. And so the promise
of life and eternal inheritance with our Savior is coupled with
suffering here now. Well, why do we suffer? Why do we suffer? Well, one thing
that it's through suffering, it's going through trials and
through suffering that we learn not to live unto ourselves. That's
where we learn the truth of what John the Baptist said when he
said, he must increase and I must decrease. I'm going to decrease. I'm going to become less and
less and he's going to become more and more and that's the
way it is in the life of God's people. And so Christ died to
make us his own through blood redemption. Let's look at 2 Corinthians
5.15 once more. And that he died for all that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them and rose again." And so again, let me
say, he accomplishes this life in us through the gift of the
Holy Spirit and that in the Spirit produces the life of Christ in
us. We're dead in trespasses and
sins by nature and Adam, but we now have the life of Christ
in us, dwelling in us. And our Lord is teaching us that
He uses suffering to bring forth those fruits in us which He has
ordained for us in Christ. We are the workmanship of Christ
and he's ordained fruits in his people and he brings that about
through suffering. And so the purpose of this message
is to help us understand this truth as believers who suffer,
as we experience difficulties and setbacks or disappointments,
astonishments, as we go through trials and sufferings and sorrows
and troubles and those afflictions. It's to comfort our hearts with
understanding, to know my God has purposed this for me. He's
given this to me. He died for me. That the life
of Christ would be manifest in me. And I have an inheritance
in Christ. And Paul says, if so be that
you suffer. That is, it's not that you've got to suffer to
gain that. You have that. But he manifests
this life in us. That we do have eternal inheritance
in our God and Savior. And we see that through being
manifested in us, through that life, so that even as we go through
sufferings, we see the life of Christ being manifested in us. So I've titled this, Do You Suffer?
Do You Suffer? And so we'll look first at the
purpose of suffering, and then we'll see a pattern of suffering
which is given unto us in the scriptures and in us. So suffering
and having trials and afflictions, they are a relevant part of our
lives here in the flesh. It's just so. We do suffer. We do have difficulties. We do
have disappointments and sorrows. If you look at Acts 14, Acts
14, verse 21 and 22, it says there, When they had preached the gospel
to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra
and to Iconium and Antioch. And so this is speaking of Paul
and Barnabas who had gone out on one of their missionary journeys.
And they were now heading back through the cities that they
had already come through preaching the gospel and the Lord revealing
believers. So Acts 14, 22, it says, now
confirming the souls of the disciples. So as they're going back through,
they were confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting
them to continue in the faith. Why'd they have to exhort them
to continue in the faith? Well, they were facing opposition.
They were coming to difficulties. They were coming to trials that
opposed them. that seemed to be difficult for
them to go through, to endure. As believers, they were enduring
new trials and new difficulties as such. And Paul said, in that
we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. And so understand that our God
has appointed for us and ordained for us tribulations, oppositions,
sorrows. He's ordained it for us. He's
purposed to give us these things as we're journeying home, as
we're making our way through the wilderness to the inheritance
which our God has given to us. We're going to be brought to
that inheritance through much tribulation. And the Apostle
Peter, when he was writing his first epistle, he tells us in
that first chapter there, in the first epistle, chapter one,
that God has wrought in us a living hope. He's given us life in Christ
that we hope now in our Savior. And he declares that we have
an inheritance in Christ, telling us that it's reserved in heaven
for you, that God is the one who is keeping us and preserving
us through this life, bringing us to that inheritance. And he
concludes this in verse six and seven, where he says, wherein
ye greatly rejoice. Though now for a season, If need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the
trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth. This faith we have can't even
be compared to the value that men put on silver and gold, things
like that of substance. That's nothing compared to the
faith that your God has given to you. that this faith, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." And so we see
there that Paul speaks of us having tribulations. Peter speaks
of us having manifold temptations. James also, when he writes his
epistle, right out of the gate, he says, hello. And then he says,
my brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations,
knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. That's verses two and three of
the first chapter. So these troubles, these trials,
these difficulties and sufferings, Our God is telling us that He's
given them to us because they work for our good. They're actually
for our good. What we go through, these things
appointed by God, they are for our good. And they are keeping
us and turning us from the flesh to our Lord and Savior. And so we're going to suffer
for Christ's sake, and it's going to come in the form of diverse
temptations. That's how James wrote it. Peter
worded it manifold temptations, which is the same word. Diverse,
manifold, various sorts, various colors, various characters. That's what it's saying. It's
going to come in all shapes and sizes. from all different directions,
in all different ways, these things come. So that it's like
a motley assortment of troubles, of provings, of adversities. We're going to have a various
sort of these things that try us. And we shouldn't think that
our sufferings are light. When you're pressed and when
you're heavy and when you're weighed down with these things,
sometimes we might tell ourselves, well, why is this so difficult?
Why does this bother me? Why is this a trouble to me? Well, if it wasn't troubling
you, then it wouldn't be a trial. It wouldn't be a temptation.
It wouldn't be an adversity or a suffering. If you didn't care
about it, then you wouldn't feel it, and it wouldn't mean anything
to you. But God has purpose to bring things to his people, which
he knows and has purpose to try us, to press us, to make us to
feel it, to be troubled or to feel the opposition or the heat
of it. And so it's not going to be a
light little tickle that we just easily brush off. It's going
to be things that are hard, that are difficult to experience. You know, Paul Paul said, at
one point he said, and I don't burn. I'm not suffering afflictions
and adversities against me. When one man had him smacked
in the face for speaking, he called that man a whited sepulcher. And then he had to retract that
even when he found out that it was the high priest who had him
smacked in the face. And so Paul had to bear those
things. And he said, I burn not. I don't feel that. I feel it. I feel it. I suffer. I sorrow. And so these are things that
will provoke us in the flesh. And if we react in the flesh,
we're going to do fleshly things. We're going to bear those fruits
of the flesh. What do these fruits look like
in the flesh? We'll turn over to Galatians
5. Galatians 5, and let's look at verses 19 through 21, where
Paul gives us a list of just a few of the things of the fruits
of the flesh. He says, now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of
the which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past,
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. In other words, those are all
that the seed of Adam knows. That's all they know, is how
to operate in that realm. That's what they do. And they
have no part, because we don't have any part in that inheritance.
That's not our life anymore. Our life is Christ. And that's why we don't want
to do those things, because we just have no part in those things.
We're delivered from those things. Why partake in those things of
death is what Paul teaches us. And so, even if you don't know
all the words of what those mean, we know when we're lashing out
in the flesh. And we know when we're turning
on someone and trying to cause them harm. And Paul's saying,
that's the work of the flesh. That's the work of the flesh.
That's the fruits or the produce. In the supermarket, it's called
the produce section. That's the produce of the flesh. That's
the fruits that the flesh bears and how it operates. And so when
you suffer or when you are tempted and going through a trial, you
either manifest that produce or fruit of the flesh Or you
suffer it. Or you suffer it. You bear it.
And you suffer with that pain, with that sorrow, or with that
opposition. You suffer it and instead produce
fruits of the Spirit. You either produce what the flesh
would have you produce, or you suffer it and you walk in the
Spirit. Now let's look at, well before
we go there, Galatians 5, 14, and 15. Look at that, 14 and
15. Paul says, for all the law is
fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. If you produce fleshly fruits,
if that's where you want to dwell and that's how you want to operate
and what you want to do, that's going to destroy one another.
That's how you destroy one another. That's not promoting reconciliation. That's not promoting reconciliation.
We want to be peacemakers and to reconcile. That's what we
want. And so we've been given the Spirit
of our Savior. We've been given His life. And He's called us to serve Him. And He's given us this ministry
of reconciliation. Don't forget that. Don't turn
to the flesh. Turn away from the flesh. Look
to the Savior. We're not in that flesh anymore,
meaning that that's not our life. That's not our hope. That's not
how we deal with troubles and difficulties. We have the Spirit
of God dwelling in us. So trust your God in faith and
in prayer. Turn to him in prayer. And so
we want to bear fruits of the Spirit. As Peter said, that we
should show forth the praises of him who hath called us out
of darkness into his marvelous light. So let's, while we're
here in Galatians, let's look at verse 22 and following. Galatians 5.22, he said, but the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law.
If you bear these fruits to somebody, who can charge you and say you're
doing something wrong? There's no law against bearing
these fruits. No one can say, you shouldn't
do that. Don't be nice to that person. Why not? What's wrong
with that? Why can't I be kind, and loving, and patient, and
understanding, and gentle? There's nothing wrong with that.
And they that are Christ's, he says, they that are Christ's,
verse 24, have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts which were talked of up there in verses 19 through 21.
If we live in the Spirit, well, then let us also walk in the
Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one
another, envying one another. Don't do those things. In fact,
I was thinking about this on the way over in Revelation 13,
verse 10, where it talks about just all
that's going on in this system of Antichrist, the things that
go on in the world, our Lord tells us who are His people. It's Revelation 13, 10. He tells
us, well, first He says, verse nine, if any man have an ear,
let him hear. And then He says, he that leadeth
into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth with
the sword must be killed with the sword. Those are fruits of
the flesh. Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints. And we see there in that, that's
the fruit of the Spirit. And so, however difficult things
get, we're encouraged to look to our Lord and to bear those
fruits of the Spirit, patience, faith. Believe the Lord, because
the things that are going to be are going to be. And the trials
that are to come are going to come, and many who are at their
part in Adam, they're gonna bear the fruits of the flesh. But
you that love Christ and have his life in you, he says, bear
the fruits of patience and faith, the fruits of the spirit. Trust
your God is what he's saying. Wait on him. And Paul even adds
in Romans 8, 12 through 14, we've read some of this before the
message, but he said, therefore, brethren, we're debtors not to
the flesh to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And so when we go through trials
and sufferings and difficulties and the things which have been
appointed for us, the fiery trial which proves our faith, Don't
perceive them in the flesh. Don't look at them in the flesh
and say, I've got to do something about this. I've got to fix this. I've got to handle it in such
and such a way. No, no you don't. Look at it,
approach it in the spirit. Be loving, be gentle, be patient,
be understanding, be tender hearted, forgiving one another even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Be dear children,
dear children. is what he says to us. And so
to do it, to respond in the flesh, that's unprofitable. And it certainly
doesn't work towards that ministry of reconciliation which our God
has called us to. So look at Romans 5 before we
go on. Romans 5 verses 3 through 5. We see here how the Lord appointed
these trials and troubles but he's also appointed these fruits
in us. Romans 5 verse 3 Paul says not only so but we
glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation worketh patience
and and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." And
so again, through these trials and troubles, we see the life
of Christ manifested in us. And we see that death in ourselves
which He has given to us and worked in us by His grace and
power through the trials, through the sufferings to strip away
those works of the flesh where we are decreasing and the grace
and glory and power of our God increases more and more all by
His glorious power, all by His working, all by what He does
in giving us the spirit and life in Christ. Now, let's go on to
the pattern here. This bearing of fruits of righteousness,
it's impossible for this flesh of ours. It's impossible. It's
impossible. We can't do it. So let's turn
our eyes to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Him. When
we see Christ, we see His faithfulness. We see His suffering. We see His suffering which He
suffered in Himself for the redemption, for the purchase of you, His
people, to give you life, to restore you in grace and fellowship
in the Lord, to know Him, to trust Him till we receive that
inheritance in Him of which we have which were made partakers
even now. We are told in Isaiah 53-7 that
Christ was oppressed, that He was afflicted, yet He opened
not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth
not His mouth. And so Christ did this for us
even while as yet we were enmity against God, dead in trespasses
and sins, sinners, sinners against the true and living God when
we were hateful and hating one another. Yet he suffered and
he died for his people in order to accomplish, to work that salvation
for us, to reconcile us to God. Peter, 1 Peter 3.18, he says,
for Christ also hath once suffered. for sins. He suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. And so we're made alive. We died with Him. and were made
alive by Him, by His life. He's given us His Spirit. He's
worked all this salvation for us and in us. He's done this
work for us. And He tells us that it's to
conform us to His death and to conform us to that life of Christ,
to be made like unto our Savior. Let's turn over to Philippians
3.10. Let's see that. For Paul, is
declaring His hope. He says that I may know Him and
the power of His resurrection. I want that power of His resurrection
life being revealed in me. But it comes with this as well,
and the fellowship of His sufferings, where we die in self, being made
conformable unto His death. So you that know Christ and want
to know Him more and more, you're going to suffer. He gives us
sufferings and trials and troubles to strip away this flesh. And He takes us who are in earthen
vessels that are corrupt and mortal because through that,
through the weakness of what we are in this flesh, He is glorified
and praised and honored because He accomplishes the salvation
in us. Now again we see another example.
Paul was given as a pattern to them who should hereafter believe
on Christ to life everlasting. So that when Paul was called
by the Lord and the Lord was sending Ananias, a believer at
that time, to go to Paul and to preach the gospel to Paul.
And it says, and he didn't want to go. He didn't want to go to
Paul. But the Lord said, you go. And in Acts 9, 15, and 16,
the Lord said unto Ananias, go thy way. For this Paul, he's
a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how
great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And so Paul was
used of the Lord and sent to the Lord to bear many sorrows,
many sufferings against him, many offenses against him. The man was beaten with rods,
he was stoned, he was shipwrecked, he went hungry, naked. He was treated very poorly, very
inhumanely by his countrymen and in the Gentile lands as well. and his life, his whole life
was filled with suffering for Christ's sake but he was used mightily of the Lord
and even the church in many ways gave him some of his most difficult
challenges and hardships came from the professed believers
there. They were questioning his validity
as an apostle. They would come in to turn the
churches that he had brought the gospel to, to turn them from
him. And they looked at his life,
the fact that he was in prison numerous times, they counted
that against him. They looked at that as something
shameful for Paul. They held that against him. It
was a shame. And they would use it as an excuse
to put him out of their mind and just wanted him to go away. And so they would do things to
cause more suffering for Paul. And look at, turn over to 2 Timothy,
and we see that. 2 Timothy 1. Verses 15 and 16, Paul writes to Timothy saying,
this thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away
from me. Well, that means at one point
they stood with Paul, but here they're all turned against Paul. They turned away from him. Of
whom he says are Phrygelus and Hermogenes. And he goes on saying,
the Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he
oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. There's
that chain. And he speaks of it often in
the letters of a bond. or a chain. He's referring to
that same thing, that which many used against Paul and counted
it a shame to him. And those names Phygellus, Hermogenes,
and Onesiphorus, they're recorded in some very old documents from
that time as being from among the 70 that the Lord sent out
to preach the gospel in the villages in Jerusalem. Those names, Phygellus,
Hermogenes, and Onesiphorus. And so two-thirds turned away
from Paul. Two-thirds turned away from Paul
in this. And that hurt. I'm sure that
hurt Paul. That was a suffering that Paul
bore because they didn't like what he said. They didn't like
what he said against Moses. They didn't like what he said
about circumcision. And I don't think they liked the hope that
he gave to the Gentiles, who were children of faith, as are
all the children of God, they're children of faith, they come
in faith. Now look at Ephesians six. Ephesians
six, and look at verse 19 and 20. Here we see it again. Ephesians 6, 19 and 20, Paul
said, pray for me, and for me, he asked for prayer, that utterance,
I've got to preach the gospel, that utterance may be given unto
me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. that therein,
in my bonds, in my suffering, in the trials, in the adversities,
in the things which man counts to be a shame and a sorrow or
something against me, that therein I may stand up and preach the
gospel boldly, that I may make known the mystery of God as I
ought to speak. And so Paul saw that through
the sufferings Through all the things that the flesh counts
to be setbacks and too much, Paul said, I've got a ministry
which has been given unto me, a ministry of reconciliation
to preach this gospel faithfully to the Lord's people. Pray that
the Lord help me to do that. That's what he says. Now let
me show you one more. Philippians 1, go to Philippians
1 verse 12. Paul, while under arrest there
and having this bond on him, he found reason to rejoice in
it. He said, but I would have you
understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me
have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so
that my bonds, this chain I have in Christ, are manifest in all
the palace and all other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ, even
of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to
my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the
defense of the gospel. You know, Paul wasn't comforted
in this suffering here, in this trial. He wasn't comforted because
he found only good motives in it. He understood the heart of
man. He knew that men do things for
all different kinds of reasons. And he understood that there
were enemies who sought to make things harder for him. But he
rejoiced, knowing that Christ still rules. Christ still sits
on the throne. Christ is the sovereign Lord
God Almighty. And nothing can thwart the will
and the purpose of our God. And Paul rejoiced in that. And he understood, as we'll see
as we read on a couple more verses, that these sufferings would mean
a fresh supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. So look at verse
18 and 19. What then? Notwithstanding every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And
I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that
this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There will be times of refreshing.
You that are patient, you that believe your Lord and trust Him,
who cry out, Abba, Father, by the spirit of adoption which
is put into your hearts and the life which is given to you, there
will be times of refreshing. He promises that. He gives His
people his blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in closing,
I want to come back to 2 Corinthians. Let's stop at chapter 5, and
then we'll go into 4 and 5. We began our message quoting
Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 15. Speaking of our Lord, he said,
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth
live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose
again. And then we were looking at how
our God in his wisdom has seen fit to give us trials, sufferings,
things which accomplish the death of this flesh that the life of
Christ may be manifest in us. He's appointed these things for
our good to produce not the fruit of the flesh, but to bring out
those things which praise and glorify God, our Savior. He's
accomplishing that in us. Now, how do we mortify the flesh? Right, because Paul speaks of
that in Romans 8, when he says, mortify, that if you by the spirit
mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. How do we mortify
the deeds of the flesh? I don't know how we do that,
because we don't do that. We don't do that. But, by the
Spirit, we are turned to be patient, to wait on the Lord, to believe
the Lord, to trust Him, to have faith in Him, to love those who
would sin against us, to be kind and gentle, to be tenderhearted
to them. to walk in the Spirit, which
He's given unto us, to not respond in the flesh when difficulties
come. So look at 2 Corinthians 4. Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verse
8. Paul says, we're troubled on
every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Why do these things happen? Why
do things seem to go the other way? I don't know, but we trust
the Lord. We're persecuted, but not forsaken.
Cast down, but our God has not destroyed us. Always bearing
about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Our God does this,
where we die in His flesh that the fruits of His Spirit are
made evident by His grace and power. For we which live are
always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. He's allowed
these trials, given these trials, appointed these trials for this
very purpose. So then death worketh in us,
but life in you so that God uses these trials and these sufferings
and difficulties to teach us in the heart and being taught
in the heart You're taught in the heart. You're taught by the
Spirit so that you're blessed and comforted by His Word as
He's teaching us. And as He comforts me, for example,
in the Word, you're able to be comforted by that. And you're
able to hear, my God is wonderful. He's caring for all things. He's
providing everything. Nothing's outside of His control
or beyond His reach. He's purposed this and given
this for our good. And they're always an occasion
of a fresh supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ to you who suffer. He comes and comforts you. And
so we see that Christ has suffered, the Son of God, when He came
in the flesh, laying down His life. to put away the sins of
His people, to obtain our forgiveness, to obtain the gift of the Spirit
for us, to give to us life in Himself, to know Him, to be restored,
to be reconciled to our God, being redeemed by His blood. And He came in the flesh, and
He was betrayed by a friend, and He was rejected by His own
countrymen, who took him and put him on a tree to put him
to death, but God was in it. And through that, God worked
the salvation of all the children of God. So man means a lot of
things for evil, but God means it for your good, for your good
and for your comfort, even our redemption. And so we see it
in Christ's suffering, how he wrought all our lives, and we
see it in The Church, we see it in the Apostles and the early
Church, who came and they suffered and they laid down their lives,
they gave their lives and suffered for the Gospel's sake. Why? That
the truth of the Gospel should remain with you, even to this
day. You have the truth of the Gospel
because men and women were made willing to suffer, to die for
Christ and that the life of Christ should be made evident in them. And so, in closing, I'll just
read Hebrews 12. You can turn there. Hebrews 12,
starting in verse one. Wherefore seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Don't be discouraged by the things
which you suffer. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God. In other words, you too
are going to inherit eternal glory in your Savior soon enough. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. For ye have not resisted unto
blood striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? Do you suffer? It's for your
good. Then believe him in the midst
of all your trials, and pray for a supply of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ to be sent unto you and to your brethren, because
our God does everything for our good. And so I pray that he comfort
your hearts with that. Amen. All right, brethren, let's
pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and your power, for your glory. Lord,
we see your wisdom in all things, how that even through sufferings
and trials, you do strip us of this flesh, of the dead things
of this flesh, turning us from trusting and relying on the ways
of this flesh to look to our God and Savior to learn patience,
to have that faith which you've given to us revealed in us, to
see your works and your power, your glory proven again and again
in the Lord Jesus Christ worked in your people. Lord, we know
that suffering is hard and it is difficult. Trials are hard
to endure. And sometimes, oftentimes, we
are perplexed and troubled. But Lord, we see in your word
how that you use suffering, how that you've given suffering to
all your people, and you bring all your children through this
way, Lord, this way in which there is affliction and adversity
and tribulation and sorrows, but it all works together for
our good. and it all works to the glory,
power, honor, and praise of our Savior. Lord, we pray for our
brethren who suffer. We pray for those who would turn
to the flesh, that instead we would always, Lord, help us to
always bear those fruits of your Spirit, because every one of
us needs your grace and your power, because we do not have
that strength or ability in this flesh. but it's all of you. And
so we look to you, Lord, asking you for it. It's in Christ's
name we pray and give thanks. Amen. Our closing hymn will be 386,
All for Jesus, 386. ? All for Jesus, all for Jesus
? All my beings ransomed past All my thoughts and words and
doings, all my days and all my hours. All for Jesus, all for
Jesus, all my days and all my hours. All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
all my days and all my hours. Let my hands perform His bidding. Let my feet run in His ways. Let my eyes see Jesus only. Let my lips speak forth His praise. All for Jesus, all for Jesus. Let my lips speak forth His praise. All for Jesus, all for Jesus. Let my lips speak forth His praise. Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I've lost sight of all besides. So enchain my spirit's vision,
looking at the crucified. All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
looking at the crucified. All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
looking at the crucified. Oh, what wonder how amazing Jesus,
glorious King of Kings, Deigns to call me His beloved, lets
me rest beneath His wings. All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
resting now beneath His wings. All for Jesus, all for Jesus,
resting now beneath His wings. Thank you.