Let's all stand and sing an opening
hymn, number 10. Oh God, our help in ages past,
number 10. O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home. Under the shadow of thy throne,
still may we dwell secure. Sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure. Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame, From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away. They fly, forgotten as a dream,
ties at the opening day. O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come. Be thou our guide while life
shall last and our eternal home. Thank you. I would like to read Psalm 90.
Psalm 90, the prayer of Moses. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought
forth, wherever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man
to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men, for a thousand
years in thy sight, or but as yesterday, when it is past, and
as a watch in the night. Thou carryest them away as with
a flood. They are as asleep in the morning. They are like grass, which groweth
up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up, and in the evening
it is cut down and withereth. For we are consumed by thine
anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath, we spend our years
as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore
years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore
years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, yet is their
strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly
away. who knoweth the power of thine
anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Return, O Lord, how long, and let it repent thee concerning
thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according
to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein
we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their Children and let the beauty of
the Lord our God be upon us and established out the work of our
hands upon us. Yay, the work of our hands established
out it. Our heavenly merciful father,
we thank you for allowing us to assemble together this evening
And from week to week, Lord, allows us to open these doors
and to assemble together. What a great blessing it is,
Lord. You continue to have great mercy upon us. For Lord, we have
forfeited all our rights with our fall in paradise and with
our continual sin. But yet, Lord, you have taken
reasons out of yourself and you have called us out of nature's
darkness. and you have given unto us that
great gift of true saving faith that we may rest and hope in
the Lord Jesus Christ for our full and free salvation. Father,
we thank you for saving sinners. And Lord, will you remember us
in the unknown future as we assemble together? All things are perfectly
in your hands. And remember again this evening,
Brother Eric, where he hopes to stand before us again, Lord,
Be with him, pour out your grace and spirit upon him, Lord. Give
him the words to speak that we may have rest for our souls and
that we may be fed by our only comfort, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, remember him as he is alone. So often studying from
thy word, Lord, that he may never be alone, but that your spirit
may be with him and that you may encourage him and strengthen
him. and be with also Sister Michelle with her work and her
labor. Continue to be with them, Lord,
and strengthen them, encourage them, and be with all of us,
Lord. You know each difficulty, and
Lord, remember Brother Scott and those that are struggling.
We think of Brother Ronnie, who has had surgery today. Lord,
remember him in mercy. Be with Claudia as she helps
him. Give him strength, Lord, that he may once again return
to this assembly to worship and glorify your name. Father, remember
us in mercy. Be with our loved ones. You know
all things perfectly, Lord, and nothing is too difficult or too
wonderful for you. Father, that we may hope in you
for all things necessary for our souls and for our bodies.
For Jesus' sake alone, amen. Our second hymn will be 385. Take the world, but give me Jesus.
385. Take the world, but give me Jesus,
all its joys are but a name. But His love abideth ever, through
eternal years the same. O the height and depth of mercy,
O the length and breadth of love, O the fullness of redemption,
pledge of endless life above. Take the world, but give me Jesus,
sweetest comfort of my soul. With my Saviour watching over
me, I can sing, though billows roll. O the heights and depths
of mercy, O the length and breadth of love, O the fullness of redemption,
pledge of endless life above. Take the world, but give me Jesus,
let me view his constant smile. Then throughout my pilgrim journey,
light will cheer me all the while. O the height and depth of mercy,
O the length and breadth of love, O the fullness of redemption,
pledge of endless life above. Take the world, but give me Jesus,
in His cross my trust shall be. clearer, brighter vision, face
to face, my Lord, I see. Oh, the height and depth of mercy. Oh, the length and breadth of
love. Oh, the fullness of redemption,
pledge of endless life above. Thank you. Thanks, Brother Joe, I appreciated
the hymns and your prayer very much. Our text is in John chapter 15. John 15. Last week we began a
study that looked at six witnesses that our Lord gives to his disciples. in testifying to them and giving
them a witness that they are indeed his disciples. And we
know that a disciple is one who follows the Lord Jesus Christ.
The disciple follows the teachings of his Lord and he looks to his
Lord for his instruction, for his care, for his teaching, for
his provision. And in this context, by disciple,
what our Lord means is that we are his friends. He means friends. Looking there at John 15, verse
15, he said, henceforth, I call you not servants. For the servant
knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends.
For all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you." You know, sometimes when someone doesn't think that
you can handle something, they keep it hidden from you. They
keep it secret from you. A Lord will do that with their
servants. It's not their business to know
what's going on. It doesn't concern them. It only
concerns their Lord. And so their Lord doesn't tell
them the things that he's doing. But our Lord has told us all
things. That we may know and be comforted
by him. That we may have an understanding
of why this world is the way this world is. Why we are the
way we are. Why there's difficulties, trials,
troubles, and sorrows. Our Lord tells us why these things
are so. Because of our sin. Because of
our God and the glory of our God. Because of this wicked world.
This fallen and sin. But a friend, a friend tells
you. A friend lets you know that. And he's saying, I've told you
all things, all things that you need to know, I've made them
plain to you and declared them to you. Now, it might seem like
a light thing to some that God would call us friends, but you
think about that, that God should call you a friend and that we
may call him a friend. And that's a blessed thing to
have a friend. It's a comfort to me and I think
it's a comfort to you to know that God calls us friends. And
that means a lot when we're going through times of difficulty.
When we go through setbacks and disappointments, it's good to
have a friend. It's good to be able to talk
to someone and to share your heart and what's on your mind. And it's good for someone to
listen and to be there for you. I think the first person who
was ever called the friend of God in the scriptures is Abraham. Abraham was called the friend
of God. Look over at 2 Chronicles. Let's see this. 2 Chronicles
chapter 10. Here's a recording of Israel's
history here in 2 Chronicles 10 and verse 7. The Israelites say, Art not thou
our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land
before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham,
thy friend forever? thy friend forever. James, James
was writing of this in, are you in 2nd Chronicles 10? Okay, verse,
all right. And James writes of this in chapter
two, verse 23. He said, in the scriptures, and
the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed
God. And it was imputed unto him for
righteousness. And he was called the friend
of God. The friend of God. And so Abraham
is called the friend of God. Was it not in Second Chronicles?
Okay, I'll look it up later. I apologize for that. He was
called the friend of God, and he's called the friend of God
forever. God counted Abraham a friend. A friend trusts their friend.
A friend stands by their friend. And our God counts us friends.
And so when Christ calls his disciples friends, he's calling
them children of God. He's calling them heirs of promise,
even as Abraham was an heir of promise. God gave him promise
that he would receive an inheritance, and he believed God. He trusted
God. By faith, he believed what God
said to him, and he looked for an eternal inheritance. He looked
for an inheritance, a city whose builder-maker is God, not made
with hands, but is God. And in Galatians 3.29 Paul says,
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, Abraham the
friend of God, and heirs according to the promise. God gives you
promise that your sins are forgiven, that he has put away your sin,
that he has put away your ruin, your death, your fall. He's taken
care of everything for you. You're his people and he's promised
to give you life eternal and you believe him. You believe
him just as Abraham believed God. You're an heir of the promise
as well. And so all who believe the promise
of Christ, all who believe that God has indeed put away our sins,
we trust God. We believe that promise of God.
We're heirs of the promise. And you shall never be ashamed. And your sins are forgiven. Believe God who gave you his
word. in the Lord Jesus Christ, committing
all things to him, providing everything that you need in his
son, Jesus Christ, our mediator. So you that believe God's promise
to you in Christ, you also are heirs according to the promise,
and like Abraham, you are the friend of God. And if you've
ever experienced that time of difficulty, a time that's contrary
to you, times of darkness, times of uncertainty, times of loss,
times of sorrow, it's good to have a friend. It's important
to have one who you love but who loves you and stands by you
and stands with you. Now in this passage, our Lord
gives us, his disciples, six witnesses that confirm to us
who believe that we are his friends and heirs according to the promise.
And tonight I want to look with you at the second promise. That's
where we're going to spend our time, in the second promise.
But in doing that, let me give you a brief reminder from our
last message. The first witness that our Lord
gives us is that we love one another. You that love your God,
you love your brethren. We saw that in verse 17. The first witness there, he says
that you, excuse me, love one another. And he tells us that
this is a witness in John 13, verse 35. John 13, 35. He said,
by this, shall all men know that ye are
my disciples, if ye have love one to another." So the love
that you have for your brethren is a witness. It's a witness
that you are the disciples of Jesus Christ, that you are a
follower of him, that you hear his words, that you believe that
he is indeed the Christ whom God has sent. And not only is
it a witness to the world, that you're the disciples of Christ. But it's a witness to us who
are believers as well. He said, all men will know. The
world will know, you're gonna know, your brethren will know
that you're my disciples if you have love one for another. And that's all men. Now look at 1 John, let's go
to 1 John, chapter four, 1 John four. 1 John 4 verse 20 and 21, If a
man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. He is lying to you. He is not
telling you the truth. He claims to love God, but hates
his brother. He is a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? And this commandment have we
from him, that he who loveth God, love his brother also. And so it's wrong for us to claim
to love God and yet hate our brother, and yet hate our brother.
We love our brethren. And so this love for your brethren,
it's the first witness to you that you are the friends of God. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. And when
you lay down your life for your friends, that involves suffering.
That's bearing long with your brethren. That's bearing long
with your friends. That's loving them in good times
and in bad times. That's loving them through the
easy times and the difficult times. And the sufferings that
we bear for our brethren is indeed one of great love. And it should always be seen
in the light of how our Savior suffered for us. We think, well,
He's the Son of God. He could bear that. And we forget
that He came as a man. He came in this flesh. He feels,
He felt pain in this flesh. He felt sorrow. being rejected,
being hated, and he felt the pricks of the spears and the
sword. He felt those things that went
into him, that spear of the soldier that pierced his side. Well,
that he didn't, he was dead at that time, but he felt the nails,
he felt that pain, he felt the whippings and the spitting and
all that that he bore in himself. He suffered that for you, his
brethren. for you his friends, for you
his people. He suffered that sorrow that
we by him should live and have life eternal. He suffered that.
And so when we bear suffering due to a friend, we're bearing
that even as our Lord bore suffering for us. He suffered that in himself
for us that we might have life. He didn't deliver himself, he
suffered it. He took it, he bore it in himself
and suffered it. and so his sufferings brought
great blessings for us and that's true of us when we bear long
with our brethren and we labor together and love one another
and suffer through things together there is blessings in that there's
blessings because there's a body and the Lord has a people there's
a body there and so that is a blessing for us that we may come and hear
the Word of God and be fed and fellowship one with another.
And so the first witness there is love for your brethren but
the second witness is given to us from the world. The second
witness is one of hatred and it's the It's one of hatred that
the world has for you who are the friends of God. It's a witness
of hatred against you for you who are the friends of God. True friendship is seen when
a friend stands by their friend even in difficult times. Have
you ever done that where you stand by somebody even when it's
hard to stand by them? And people look at you and say,
how can you be their friend? How can you stand with them?
But that's what a true friend does. A true friend says, it
doesn't matter if they're right or wrong. They're your friend,
and you love them, and you stand by them, even in those times
of difficulty that they're going through. And it can oftentimes
come at a cost to you for standing with a friend. because people
will despise you for standing with them. And that same witness
that we see there, that same truth that we've experienced
when standing with a friend through difficult times is true of our
friendship with the Lord. It's true in that friendship.
We stand with God even when it costs us, don't we? We stand
with the Lord, believing Him, confessing His name even when
it's a cost to us in the eyes of this world. You know, the
disciples, they followed Christ. They stood by Christ through
his ministry until the end when it was appointed that they would
all be offended and flee from the shepherd that he might be
smitten. And he prayed that these would be let go. And that's how
they were let go. They abandoned him, but all through
that ministry, they did stand with him and it did cost them
very much with their families. Certainly we see it in Christ's
family who thought he was out of his mind and didn't believe
that he was the Christ. And so, and Peter said, we've
left off. We've left everything behind
to follow you, Lord. And so we see that those who
are who love their Lord, those who do count Him a friend and
count His friendship precious, they will stand with the Lord
even in difficult times. And sometimes the Lord puts your
pastor through trials that you endure with him regardless whether
you think he's right or wrong. But the Lord says, I'm going
to stand there. I'm going to stand with my pastor and go through
that trial with him. And the Lord purposes and means
it for our good as much as it's for my own good. Because as you
go through trials and difficulties and setbacks, It does cause you
to fall on, it causes me to fall on my face before the Lord and
to cry out to Him. To cry out to Him. And I like
how Paul said it in 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 12 and 13. In that chapter he speaks of
the trials that we go through and the trials that ministers
go through. And he says, so then death worketh in us but life
in you. It's for your good. If we become
nothing, If we become despised and nothing, it's for your good. It profits you. How so? We having the same spirit of
faith, according as it's written, I believed and therefore have
I spoken. We also believe and therefore
speak. And so whatever the trial, whatever
the difficulty, whether it's persecution, whether it's suffering,
whether it's an affliction, whatever it is, The Lord keeping us looking
to Christ, believing Him in faith, following Him, trusting Him,
it works to your profit because we believe God and out of that,
out of that faith, in that trial, we speak. We speak. And often
times it ministers to your needs. Someone's need who is also going
through a trial. We comfort those wherewith the
comforted we have been comforted by God. We speak of those things
out of that experience, from that patience, which leads to
experience, and we declare the glory of God to you, believing,
having that faith tried by fire, and declaring our hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that he is faithful who promised. knowing
that he who promises us life, who's faithful in all his promises,
who promised us life, shall indeed bring that life, just as he promised. He's given it already and we
shall see it. Our hope shall become sight. We shall know in
that day when the Lord returns. And so, these difficulties is
what makes the love of brethren so pronounced. and so evident
to us how precious the love of brethren is and why it's so true
that brethren don't hate brethren because in that backdrop we see
the world hates brethren. I don't love, I don't hate brethren.
The world hates brethren. That's their fruit. That's the
fruit of the world. That's the fruit of this flesh
is to hate brethren. And so we want nothing to do
with how the world treats brethren. We don't want to despise brethren,
we love brethren, and we bear with them, and we suffer with
brethren because the Lord has shown us how precious friendship
is, how precious that brotherhood is in the Lord. And so he says
now in John 15 verses 18 through 19, if the world hate you, he's saying
you can take comfort in this, if the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you're not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you." And he's saying, because I've chosen you, because
I chose you and would be gracious to you and show you compassion
and mercy, they despise you. We see that first with Cain,
don't we? When Cain killed his brother
Abel, his own flesh and blood. Cain killed his brother because
God had respect unto Abel's sacrifice, but he refused the works of Cain's
hands. Cain trusted in what he brought.
And God despised it. God refused it. And so he took
it out on Cain, whom the Lord loves. And so our Lord is warning
us. He's saying, though I've made
you a people of love, a people who love sinners, who love others,
who love your brethren and suffer for your brethren and lay down
your lives for your brethren, understand that the world is
not going to love you. You may be a loving person, but
this world is not going to love you. I know this because we see
our Savior. We see the Lord. None loved like
our Lord. None spoke the truth in love
like our Lord did, saying the very things that the people had
to hear. And we know something of what
he said because we see his word. Even when Nicodemus came to him,
all puffed up in his knowledge of religion and talking very
confidently to the Lord. We know that you're a man from
God. And Christ said the truth to
him. He said, Nicodemus, ye must be born again. All your religion
is vain. You don't know anything. You
don't have any understanding, Nicodemus. You must be born again. You need the Spirit of God to
give you life. You need life from the Son. And so he spoke the truth, and
none showed love more to sinners than the Lord Jesus Christ. You
know that everyone who came to Him in the Scriptures, everyone
who asked Him for mercy, found mercy. Everyone who needed Him
and came to Him asking for help, asking for mercy, asking for
deliverance, they found it. There were ten lepers who said,
Lord, heal us. And He healed them. And we know
that only one returned, a Samaritan, and thanked him and worshipped
him for healing them. Yet he healed all 10 of them.
But more than that, we see how he helped that Syrophoenician
mother whose daughter had a devil, and he cast the devil out of
her. He healed every blind person who asked and cried out to him
for sight. He gave them sight. He healed
that man that was let down through Peter's thatched roof. disturbing
the sermon, disturbing the ministry that was going on there, and
yet he stopped and healed that man. He healed that Jewish ruler's
daughter, who even died. She was sick at the time, but
she died, and he healed her, a Jewish ruler of the synagogue,
and a Gentile centurion whose servant was sick. He healed that
servant, because they came and they asked him, Lord, heal them. Lord, help me. Lord, I need your
help. That man whose son had a demon
and would cast himself into the fire and burn him. I mean, think
of how heartbreaking that is for you as a parent to see your
child suffer and to see his own son get thrown into the fire
and burned and hurt and crying and wailing. And he asked the
Lord, help me. And the Lord helped him. The
Lord healed him, cast out that demon. The Lord loved everyone. He loved everyone who needed
his help and came to him seeking mercy. And that's what the Lord
does for you in our need, in our sorrow, in our difficulties,
in our afflictions, even when we bring them on ourselves. Even
when we're responsible, the Lord loves his people. He stands by
his people and calls you friends and doesn't leave you and doesn't
depart from you. And so in spite of all that love
that he showed them, the world hated Christ. He's seen in their
rejection of him. Go to John chapter one. John
chapter one, verse 10 and 11. This is John's overall summary
of God manifest in the flesh. He said he was in the world,
and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. And then, turn
over to John chapter 5, verse 16. Here we see that they refused
him, and then they persecuted him. They persecuted him. John
5, 16, And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought
to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.
That's a good work. He did there, but we don't like
the timing. We don't like when he did it He should never have
done it that way. He shouldn't have done that way
So they persecuted him and then we see their hatred in their
willingness to kill him John 7 verse 1 After these things Jesus walked
in Galilee Galilee being outside of Jewry being up far up north
there For he would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought
to kill him All right, go to John 8, 59. Here we see their hatred and
their continued attempts to kill him. They didn't simmer down,
they didn't cool off. It says, then they took up stones
to chastise him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple,
going through the midst of them, and so passed by. And then finally,
turn over to Mark 15. Mark 15, in verse 12 through 14, Mark 15 verse 12, And Pilate
answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that
I shall do unto him whom ye call the king of the Jews? And they
cried out again, Crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, Why,
what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly,
Crucify him. He, our Savior, the Lamb of God,
went to the cross, suffering for His friends, suffering that
sorrow, suffering that hatred and rejection of what we are
in this flesh, of natural man, in Adam, the rebellion and the
hatred, the enmity against the true and living God. He suffered
that for you, His people, who were also part of that hatred
and enmity against God, who also lived our way in the world. It's
not because we're so good and have been so perfect. We're vile,
wretched creatures too. We're sinners. We're sinners
who've despised the blessings of God. But our Savior suffered
that for you, his friends. And he went to the cross. I mean,
you see the wickedness, Pilate found no fault in him. So why'd
you kill him, Pilate? Why'd you crucify him, Pilate?
If you found no fault in him, why did you turn him over to
the will of the people, the desire of the people? Why didn't you
let him go, Pilate? And yet he had him crucified
just like the people wanted. And so the world tells you, the
Lord tells us, if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you. So that we're not alarmed, we're
not offended. Our Lord, as a friend, tells
us all things that you would know. This world hates me, but
it hated my Lord first. If you were just a servant, he
wouldn't have told you. It's just your duty to follow
it. It's your duty to go through it. But he tells you as a friend,
he says, I'm letting you know. Be comforted in this. I was hated
too. and they hate you, and it's a witness to you that you're
my disciple, that you're my friend, and I count you a friend. And
so our Lord added in verse 19, if you were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because you're not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. And so you're Christ's, you're
our Lord's creation, you're a new creature, born again of him,
that's why the world hates you. you're a new creature if any
man be in Christ he's a new creature old things are passed away behold
all things are become new and so the old creation of this world
doesn't recognize you you're not like them you're different
from them the Lord has made it so you have his spirit in you
so that they see you and count you just as you count yourselves
now a stranger and a pilgrim in a strange land This isn't
your home. This isn't where you're from. This isn't your inheritance.
This isn't where you're settling down for the rest of eternal
days. You're a stranger in the pilgrim.
And who else was a stranger in the pilgrim? Abraham. Abraham
was. When Lot and he had a fallen
out, or their shepherds were keeping watch over the flocks
there, Abraham said, you go whichever way you want to go. You take
first pick. If you go to the left, I'll go
to the right. If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. And Lot
chose to go towards Sodom. He pitched his tent towards Sodom
and got nearer and nearer and then took up roots right inside
the city, whereas Abraham never put down any permanent roots.
He never drove his tent stakes deep into the ground. He left
them nice and shallow to pull out and pick up and move whenever
he needed to. And the Jews lived in the wilderness
for a long time in tents. And so we think about that. When
we're moved out of our comfort, our Lord's reminding us we're
strangers and pilgrims, strangers and pilgrims. Don't put your
roots down too deep because we're outcasts of the world. The world
doesn't receive us. The world doesn't recognize us.
because we are our gods, we are the Lord's people, we're his
people. And so, this world casts out the Lord's people, they don't
want them. They don't want us any more than
the inhabitants of Canaan wanted the people of Israel to settle
down there on their land. They'd rather see the Lord's
people just go, go away forever, we don't want you. We don't want
you here. And that's because we're a reflection
of the light of our God. or a reflection of His light,
how He deals with us and teaches us. And what they see of that
in us, they don't like it. What they see of Him in us, they
don't like. That's how I should word it.
So it's because the Spirit of God is in you, it's because you
are the Lord's that you shall grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he continues to witness
to us, to teach us, to keep us, to hold us, to reveal his Son
in us more and more, giving us a heart and a desire for that
knowledge of him. that resurrection power to be
raised up in us like Paul cried out. I want to know him and the
power of his resurrection. I don't want to be in love with
this world which despises my God. I do want to know the Lord
and I want to grow in him and see him more and more clearly
even if it costs me more dearly of the things of this world.
but I need His grace. I need His grace and His mercy
to do that and His spirit. And with one another, we grow
in the Lord. He teaches us all that. He gives
that to us. Turn over to 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter
4. He gives us a sight of this in
the first four verses. 1 Peter 4, verses 1 through 4. He said, for as much then as
Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, because he suffered
for us in the flesh, the world hated him and he suffered and
will hate you, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.
For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. And what we learn is we're wasting
our time trying to conform to the world and please the world
and continue to make concessions to this world to be like the
world and to fit in. It's just a waste of time because
they'll never be satisfied because any sign of God any light from
the Lord that's witnessed in you shines on their darkness. And they are never satisfied.
They want to just go further and further into darkness. And so what the Lord does is
He shows you that so that instead you seek Him. And you say, Lord,
not my will be done. Your will be done. And so that
desire for the Lord grows in us as we experience that patience
through suffering, through trials, through difficulties, when we
get a taste, a sight, a reminder of what this world is and what
they think of the true and living God. And the more we see that,
the more we see their hatred, if Christ be in you, and he is
in you, that believe on him and trust him and have no righteousness
of your own, you'll see that more and more and say, Lord,
turn my eyes upon you, turn my eyes upon my savior, keep me
looking toward him. And he says, verse two, Peter
there, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in
the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life
may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when
we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings,
banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Paul said, if there's no resurrection,
let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. And that's what the pagans
said and believed. Wherein they think it strange
that ye run not with them to the same excess of rite, speaking
evil of you. And so the Lord shows us that,
and turns our hearts to him, and in the new man to desire
him more and more. That's where we're turned, this
flesh is ever wicked. This flesh is just as vile and
corrupt and foolish and willfully ignorant and would do all those
things happily, but the Lord in the new man speaks to us and
turns us from those foolish ways. It says that we're transformed
by the renewing of our mind that we may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God, and that according to
the measure of faith which the Lord gives us. So every one of
us has a measure of faith. And so in that regard, we're
not looking at our brethren and saying they should be better
here or they should be improved in this. That's not what the
Lord gives us faith for. The Lord gives us faith to hear
our Lord speak to us and what he's saying to us, what we need. What do I need to do, Lord? How
will you use me, Lord? Not my will, but thy will, Lord,
for me. That's how the Lord teaches us.
We're not looking and saying, well, I know how you should live.
No. Lord, what would you have me to do? And so the Lord teaches
us personally as our Lord and Savior, and we hear Him. Because
not every one of us has the same measure of faith. Not every one
of us is in that same spot. But to whatever point He's shown
you the truth, walk in that light. And be faithful to your Lord
to do what He shows you to do. And be faithful there. And be
kind and loving and patient and long-suffering with your own
brethren. And so if you're one of the Lord's
adopted children, you will suffer in this world. And so our Lord
tells us to seek him for his grace, to seek him. If this world
loves you, why does this world love you? Lord, why does the
world love me so much? Doesn't seem right. And if you
love the world, Lord, why do I love the world so much? When
you say in your word that the Lord, that this world will hate
you. So we seek him for it by his
grace that we might be conformed to Christ. So the love you have
for brethren is a witness given to you. The hatred of this world
is a witness that you are the Lord's. And he's showing us that.
And there's more witnesses that we'll see as we go through this,
but I'll leave it there, brethren. I pray the Lord bless that word
to your hearts. Amen. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your mercy, for your grace, and for your kindness
to your people, your patience, your long-suffering with us.
Lord, that you call us friends and bear long with us. We're
reminded of how you suffered for us, bearing our sins in your
own body, even when we were enemies against you in our minds. in
our thoughts and in our words and deeds. But Lord, you're faithful,
and you did that work faithfully, which your father sent you to
do, to deliver us from our sins, to put them away forever, to
give us an inheritance in you, and to give us life in you, and
that true knowledge of you, Lord. Thank you. Father, we thank you
for your mercy and grace. We thank you for brethren. We
thank you for one another. We thank you for the love and
the fellowship that we have here in the gospel, in our Savior,
having no other hope of righteousness but him. Help us, Lord, to be
faithful to you and to walk in that spirit, in that knowledge
of faith which you've given to us, to be faithful to you in
it, Lord, and that we would serve one another and love one another
as you command us in your word. And Lord, that we would just
be faithful, not looking for trouble, not looking for the
world to hate us, but being faithful to you. For you tell us that
the world will hate us because you have chosen us. And they
hated you before it hated us. Lord, help us to hear your word,
to know and to trust and to lean upon you in times of difficulty. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Our closing hymn will be 354, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
354. What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything
to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear Oh, because we do not carry Everything
to God in prayer Have we trials and temptations Is there trouble
anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness,
take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden,
combered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge,
Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do Thy friends despise, forsake
Thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms he'll take and shield
thee, Thou wilt find a solace there. Thank you.