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Speaker: Well, I've been taking creatine
recently, uh, because I asked AI.

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I said, "What does creatine
do for a 41-year-old guy who

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is, uh, past this prime?"

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And A- AI told me, "Well, in your latter
decades of life, thank you, AI, that

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muscle mass begins to break down in
the body, and creatine can help reverse

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that, or at least keep it at base."

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I was like, "All right, whatever.

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I'll give it a shot."

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Uh, I, I'm not a big supplements guy.

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Uh, my wife has tried to get me on
probiotics, and I, I don't ... I've

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dabbled, but I just don't see
the tangible benefit, so I stop.

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And, and yet creatine is, uh, uh,
maybe it's a placebo effect, but

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it seems to be doing something.

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So I've been doing that
for a couple of weeks now.

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Um, I don't know if you do
creatine, uh, but, uh, whatever.

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Uh, I'm, I'm, I'm taking it.

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Um you don't snort it.

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No.

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Um, but all that to say, I know
eventually my body's gonna break down.

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Uh, and you're like, "Newsflash, uh,
that's obvious to the rest of us."

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Uh, yeah, I know that's gonna happen.

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And you might say, "Well, duh, right?

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Because why?

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Because time is batting a
thousand on physical bodies.

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Uh, no matter who you are, in fact, I
watched a documentary this week of a

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World War II soldier who had fought,
uh, at Bastone and was part of Easy

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Company, was part of the 101st Airborne,
and the, the documentary was done, the

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interview was done back in the 80s,
and he's sitting in this easy chair.

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And you looked at him probably at
that point in his late 60s, and you

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could tell that he wasn't in the same
condition that he was when he fought.

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Uh, and then it fast forwarded to a
picture of him from 2014 where he was

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present at the 70th anniversary of
D-Day, and he was a frail, emaciated

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form of even the self that he was
back in the 80s during that interview.

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Time wins.

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It will.

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And so your physical body, no matter where
you are this morning, if you're towards

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the back end of time or you're on the,
the middle grounds of time or wherever,

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your physical body's gonna break down.

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It just will.

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And, and there's no supplement
that's going to keep that at bay.

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Time bats a thousand when it comes
to breaking our physical bodies down.

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But what about spiritual strength?

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What about spiritual vitality?

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Spiritual wellbeing?

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Uh, we, our church believe that,
that we are made up of, of two

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components, that there's the physical
component and the spiritual component.

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A- and so if we think, okay, physically,
time will decay, deteriorate these bodies.

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That's part of the curse, that's
part of the fall, that's part of the

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brokenness of the world that we're in.

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What about spiritually?

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What about spiritually?

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Is there a way that we can stay
spiritually strong for the long haul?

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You might think of some supplements that
maybe would help your spiritual wellbeing.

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For example, you might think of, uh, time
in the word and prayer and fellowship

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and meditation, memorization of the word.

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Those are all great.

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Those are all great.

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Uh, but if you wanna be able to, to
be sustained for the long haul, if you

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want your faith to stay strong, even
when the storms come and come, they

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will, there has to be more than that.

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You can't just go through
the motions yourself.

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There's gotta be something that's
empowering all of that, and that's

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what we're gonna find out this morning.

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If you want to be spiritually strong
for the duration of your life, no matter

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the trials that you go through, no
matter the opposition that you face,

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Peter's got the secret for you in one
Peter chapter five, verses 10 and 11.

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First Peters chapter
five, verses 10 and 11.

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So take your Bibles and
open up there with me.

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First Peter five: 10.

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Peter writes this.

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He says, "After you've suffered a
little while, the God of all grace

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who called you to his eternal glory
in Christ will himself restore,

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confirm, strengthen and establish you.

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We're gonna camp out here in verse 10
for our first two points this morning,

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but as we get into it, what I want you
to notice right off the bat is what

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Peter writes, after you've suffered for
a little while, for a little while, you

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may be going through suffering right
now that has been so terminal and so

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long that you're sitting there saying,
"Who do you think you are to say that

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my suffering is for a little while?"

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In fact, this is the second time
Peter said this, one Peter one: six,

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"In this, you rejoice though now for
a little while, if necessary, you've

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been grieved by various trials."

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Last week, we looked at the
reality of spiritual warfare,

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that we've got an enemy that's on
the prowl and you're on the menu.

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Uh, but really all of one Peter has
been talking about suffering, hasn't it?

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It's been talking about living
as exiles in the midst of a, a

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world that's hostile towards us.

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It's been even talking about the,
the battle that we have within, that

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we have the passions of the flesh
that wage war against our souls.

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We know suffering.

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Y- you know suffering.

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Some of you know suffering in a
very tangible way this morning.

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Y- you've seen another negative
fertility test, or you're thinking

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the job, my job is, is over, or
you're in the hospital right now.

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Some of us may be
listening to this later on.

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Y- you know suffering, your
marriage is falling apart.

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You, you know suffering, and it doesn't
feel like it's a little while, and so

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who does Peter think he is to say after
you've suffered a little while, or think

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about somebody like Johnny Ericsontada,
decades in a wheelchair, and Peter's

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looking at Johnny saying, "Hey, Johnny,
after you've suffered a little while,

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I'm sorry, but what gives Peter the

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right?"

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Peter, the reality is, could have written
this at any point in human history to any

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group of people, anywhere, at any time.

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He's already writing to
quite a broad audience.

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You've got those exiles in
Pontius and Galatian, Capiticia,

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and Asia, and Bethania, that's
the opening of the letter.

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So you just think those five regions
and you think, okay, there's quite

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a bit of variety and suffering and
length and duration of suffering

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that's taking place in those areas.

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But Peter wrote to them, and he
could have written at any point in

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time, and, and Peter was, we believe,
superintended by the Holy Spirit

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to write this also to us today.

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And the reason is, is because Peter's
perspective on suffering, and the reason

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why Peter said, after you suffered a
little while, really, at the end of

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the day, had very little to do with
the earthly duration of your suffering.

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Peter's not referring to the time
on a calendar that passes by month

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after month or week after week.

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Peter's not interested in having
us stand up and say, "Well,

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here's my resume of suffering.

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I've suffered for five years."

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Only to have somebody else stand up and
say, "Well, I've suffered for seven."

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And somebody else say, "10,"
and somebody else chime in, 50.

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Peter would look at all of them
and say, "Hey, you know what?

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After you suffered for a little
while, and we might think what

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in the world, how can he say that
my suffering is a little while?"

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The answer is because of the perspective
that Peter was embracing in this verse.

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It's a perspective that he's inviting us
to embrace as well because, because he's

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gonna say, "After you suffer for a little
while, the God of all grace who's called

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you to his eternal glory in Christ."

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See, what Peter wants us to do is get
our eyes off of the here and now and

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put our eyes to the then and there.

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He did it at the beginning of
the letter and he's doing it

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again at the end of the letter.

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And that's what, when Peter holds out
eternity for us and says, "Eternity's

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coming, that's what can allow him to say
after you suffered for a little while."

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Peter had the right perspective.

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He had a, a different point of view on
life, and it's a point of view that we

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need to embrace as well this morning.

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It's point number one, it's this,
seek a God's eye view on life.

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Seek a God's eye view on
your life, the suffering that

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you're going through right now.

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When, when we have a, a man's eye
view, then we're living right here

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in the moment, in the time, and we're
just feeling every second tick by on

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the clock, and it feels interminable.

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The suffering feels like,
when is this ever gonna end?

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How can I ever see a
way out of this valley?

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It's darker than it's ever been, and
I don't know how to wake up and even

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take another step tomorrow morning.

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But when we get the God's eye view,
that's when things begin to change.

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If you've ever been to Disneyland,
uh, which in my book is not the

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happiest place on earth, but that's
just my opinion, one man's opinion

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on that, there, there's a ride.

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And it, my favorite ride at Disneyland
is Pirates of the Caribbean, okay?

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And so when, when you're on that ride,
as you're going by, you, you, you see as

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you're approaching something that looks
like a normal pirate, and you see the

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Pirate and, and whatever, it's probably
saying I made it or something like that.

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And then the boat goes by and as
you go by the, the Pirate, all of

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a sudden you realize that, that
the Pirate is no longer a regular

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Pirate, it's a skeleton of a Pirate.

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What changed the angle at
which you were looking at it?

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It's the same thing.

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What differs in your
interpretation is your perspective.

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That's what Peter's wanting us
to do with your, with our lives.

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Peter's wanting us to take
our life and, and look at it

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from a different perspective.

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In other words, not to look at it from
the weeds, but to get the zoomed out

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view of our life and realize just how
temporary this life is in light of

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eternity, which means that our suffering
as well is temporary in light of eternity.

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It is for a little while.

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I want you to think about life
and death here for a minute.

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Death is something that, that the
Bible tells us is the wages of sin.

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It's the penalty for our sin.

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Death is not a good thing.

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It's not something that
we actively pursue.

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It's not something that we welcome.

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When we see things like what's taking
place up in Canada, which is the medical

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assistance and dying program, we look
at that and we condemn that justifiably.

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That is wrong.

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Death is the enemy of life.

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A- and yet, I wanna suggest to you
that death is also a mercy of God.

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And here's how.

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Go back to the Garden of Eden with me.

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Genesis chapter three,
you've got the fall of man.

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Yes?

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Right?

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And so Adam and Ever there and God
said, "Do not eat from the tree

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of the knowledge of good and evil.

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From the day that you
eat of it, you will what?

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You'll die, death."

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Well, here comes the
serpent, you know the story.

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Eve reached out, took the
fruit, gave some to Adam.

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They ate from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.

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Their eyes were opened.

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They were embarrassed.

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Sin entered the world.

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And so God has his
confrontation with them.

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And during the confrontation,
he rolls out the consequences.

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And part of the consequences is that
not only are they going to be under the

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curse of sin, but so is the entire world.

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From the, the sweat of your brow,
you will eat from the, the, the

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fruit of the, the ground, thorns
and thistles it will produce.

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Romans eight, all of creation is
groaning under the weight of sin.

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That then is the world in which mankind
has lived from that point forward.

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And so we live in a world because of
sin and the curse that includes broken

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marriages, that includes cancer, that
includes people harming other people,

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that includes war, that includes famine,
that includes disease, that includes

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sickness, that includes name it, right?

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We live in a world, in other
words, that is marked by

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suffering, and we can't escape it.

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No matter how much money you
have in the world, there's not

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a single person who's ever been
free from suffering in this world.

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God did something else
though in the garden.

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He did this.

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Genesis three, verses 22 through 24.

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"Then the Lord God said, behold,
the man has become like one

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of us, knowing good and evil.

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Now, lest he reach out his hand
and take also of the tree of

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life and eat and live forever.

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Therefore, the Lord God sent him
out from the Garden of Eden to work

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the ground from which he was taken.

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He drove the man out.

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And at the east of the garden of
Eden, he placed a cherubim in a

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flaming sword that turned every way
to guard the way to the tree of life.

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Two of those trees in the garden,
the tree of the knowledge of good

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and evil and the tree of life.

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And God said to Adam and Eve,
"Don't eat from the tree of the

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knowledge of good and evil."

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After they did, God, in order to,
and here's my argument, protect

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them, kick them out of the garden
so that they wouldn't be able

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to eat from the tree of life.

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Because here's what would have happened.

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Had Adam and Eve eaten from the tree
of life, they would have never died

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and always lived in a broken, cursed,
fallen world under the weight of sin.

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They would have spent their whole
life never being able to have

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any hope that the suffering here
in this world is going to end.

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In fact, they would have never been
able to be an atonement for sin because

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nobody would be able to die for sin.

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And, and so all of mankind born all
the way through here today, you would

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simply live this life tired and weary
and exhausted and weeping and sinning

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against each other and, and breaking
one another's hearts and facing things

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00:12:37,450 --> 00:12:40,390
like cancer and sickness and suffering,
except you, you would never have

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the mercy of relief from any of it.

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And so God drove them out from the
garden in order to protect them from

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eating from the tree of life and living
forever under the weight of the curse.

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That is why, for the Christian,
death is a mercy of God.

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In fact, death really is our
ultimate deliverance from suffering.

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So when Peter says, after you've
suffered for a little while, the other

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thing is he doesn't qualify it for you.

250
00:13:11,590 --> 00:13:15,250
He doesn't say, "After you've suffered for
six months, after you've suffered for six

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00:13:15,250 --> 00:13:20,590
years, after you've suffered for 60 years,
he just says, after you've suffered a

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little while, the God of all grace who has
called you to his eternal glory in Christ

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will himself restore you, confirm
you, strengthen you and establish you.

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And, and so your ultimate hope is going
to be when you enter into eternity.

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And so that frames everything
we're talking about here

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in one Peter this morning.

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Your hope in being delivered, i- i- your
hope in God delivering you is not that

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all of a sudden your trial's gonna go
away and life is gonna be fine for you.

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It's not that the, the heartache
and the hurt is not gonna

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just vanish overnight for you.

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It's not that you're gonna wake up
tomorrow morning and, and you're

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00:14:00,820 --> 00:14:04,000
gonna feel better about everything
and you're gonna just be bright

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00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,440
and chipper and everything's fine.

264
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That's not the deliverance
that God is promising.

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In fact, that's far too
cheap a deliverance for us.

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Rather th- the deliverance, the
hope that God holds out to us.

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And this is why Peter says
this for a little while, and

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this is the perspective shift.

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This is the God's eye view
that we need to embrace.

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The hope is that we're gonna
leave here and go to be there.

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And what is there?

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It's his eternal glory.

273
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Eternity is something that's
difficult for us to understand.

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Why?

275
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Because we are finite beings.

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We have a beginning and we have an end.

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But when we as Christians die
in, in that mercy, God is gonna

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00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:44,290
deliver us then into his presence,
into eternal glory in Christ.

279
00:14:44,470 --> 00:14:48,160
And, and that eternity is going to
be a time that's never going to end.

280
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:49,780
There's no passage of time.

281
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,180
There won't be any clocks in heaven
because they're not gonna do you any good.

282
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,690
We have clocks because we are
progressing towards something.

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00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,670
As a world, we are progressing towards
the culmination of salvific redemptive

284
00:15:01,670 --> 00:15:04,310
history when God decides it's, it's time.

285
00:15:04,850 --> 00:15:08,660
As individuals, we're progressing
towards the end of our lives

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00:15:08,660 --> 00:15:09,740
whenever that may come.

287
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,950
But in eternity, there's no destination.

288
00:15:12,980 --> 00:15:14,570
We are at the destination.

289
00:15:14,570 --> 00:15:15,710
The destination is Jesus.

290
00:15:15,710 --> 00:15:18,680
We're gonna be with him without
end for all of eternity.

291
00:15:18,870 --> 00:15:20,420
And, and that's the end of suffering.

292
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:21,980
That's the end of suffering.

293
00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:23,600
Is there, not here.

294
00:15:26,030 --> 00:15:28,550
And so that's why Peter says,
"The God of all grace who has

295
00:15:28,550 --> 00:15:29,960
called you to his eternal glory.

296
00:15:30,110 --> 00:15:32,930
That's why it's a l- uh, only suffering
for a little while because when

297
00:15:32,930 --> 00:15:35,660
you're stepping foot into eternity,
then all of a sudden you're gonna

298
00:15:35,660 --> 00:15:38,990
realize what Peter meant and what
Paul meant when Paul said, This light

299
00:15:39,030 --> 00:15:41,480
momentarily affliction is preparing
for me in eternal weight of glory.

300
00:15:42,140 --> 00:15:43,640
You're gonna go, okay, Paul, I, I get it.

301
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:45,140
It was a light momentary affliction.

302
00:15:45,590 --> 00:15:48,710
That's when you're gonna say, okay,
the, the sufferings of this present

303
00:15:48,710 --> 00:15:51,590
age are not worth comparing to the
glory that's gonna be revealed.

304
00:15:51,590 --> 00:15:52,280
Romans chapter eight.

305
00:15:52,460 --> 00:15:53,630
Okay, Paul, I get it.

306
00:15:53,690 --> 00:15:58,490
The sufferings of this, this time
that right now feel so painful and

307
00:15:58,490 --> 00:16:01,310
that are causing me to weep and that
are causing me to lose sleep and

308
00:16:01,310 --> 00:16:05,030
that are causing me to feel the, the,
the angst and the pit of my stomach.

309
00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:09,890
There's a day coming when God brings
me into his presence and then I'm gonna

310
00:16:09,890 --> 00:16:15,080
say, "That was not worth comparing
to even ask the question, was it

311
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,880
worth it in light of where I am now?"

312
00:16:19,220 --> 00:16:21,620
That where I am now is this place.

313
00:16:22,220 --> 00:16:22,850
Revelation.

314
00:16:23,660 --> 00:16:26,450
Chapter 21, I heard a loud voice
from the throne saying, "Behold, the

315
00:16:26,450 --> 00:16:27,740
dwelling place of God is with man.

316
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,130
He will dwell with them and they
will be as people and God himself

317
00:16:31,130 --> 00:16:35,300
will be with them as their God and
he will wipe away every tear from

318
00:16:35,300 --> 00:16:37,520
their eyes and death shall be no more.

319
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,300
Neither shall there be mourning
nor crying nor pain anymore for

320
00:16:41,300 --> 00:16:43,250
the former things have passed

321
00:16:45,420 --> 00:16:45,840
away."

322
00:16:46,130 --> 00:16:47,870
Do you want that place this morning?

323
00:16:48,710 --> 00:16:49,100
I do.

324
00:16:50,870 --> 00:16:51,590
I wanna be there.

325
00:16:52,790 --> 00:16:55,910
A- a- a- and that's why death
is the mercy for us, y'all.

326
00:16:56,810 --> 00:17:00,290
It's not that we, again, it's not that
we seek death, that is not it at all.

327
00:17:00,890 --> 00:17:05,660
But what we think of death
as, as followers of Jesus is

328
00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:07,579
not the end, but the doorway.

329
00:17:07,579 --> 00:17:08,839
We sing it in one of those songs.

330
00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:13,069
Death is just a doorway into
everlasting life, and that's what it is.

331
00:17:13,910 --> 00:17:15,348
And so for us, death is the hope.

332
00:17:15,348 --> 00:17:19,250
Death is the, the mercy for us that God
provides to say, "Christian, this is

333
00:17:19,250 --> 00:17:21,950
why you can think about the suffering
that you're going through right now

334
00:17:21,950 --> 00:17:28,440
and say, it's only for a little while
because there's something better coming."

335
00:17:28,940 --> 00:17:30,740
Again, Peter has bookended
his letter this way.

336
00:17:30,740 --> 00:17:32,960
I think I mentioned that earlier,
but this is what Peter wrote.

337
00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,630
If you wanna take your Bibles back to one
Peter chapter one, verses three through

338
00:17:35,630 --> 00:17:39,170
nine, one Peters chapter one, verses
three through nine, Peter wrote this.

339
00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,220
He said, "Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

340
00:17:43,460 --> 00:17:47,870
According to his great mercy, he
has caused us to be born again to a

341
00:17:47,870 --> 00:17:51,060
living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to

342
00:17:51,060 --> 00:17:55,320
an inheritance that is imperishable,
undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven

343
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,430
for you who by God's power are being
guarded through faith for a salvation

344
00:17:59,610 --> 00:18:01,830
ready to be revealed in the last time.

345
00:18:02,550 --> 00:18:04,500
In this, you rejoice this salvation.

346
00:18:04,950 --> 00:18:07,320
You rejoice though now for a little while.

347
00:18:08,070 --> 00:18:11,850
If necessary, you've been grieved
by various trials so that the tested

348
00:18:11,850 --> 00:18:15,390
genuineness of your faith, more precious
than goal that perishes, though it

349
00:18:15,390 --> 00:18:20,490
is tested by fire, may be found to
result in praise and glory and honor

350
00:18:20,850 --> 00:18:22,830
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

351
00:18:23,010 --> 00:18:24,900
Though you have not
seen him, you love him.

352
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,520
Though you do not now see him, you
believe in him and rejoice with joy

353
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:34,140
that is inexpressible and filled with
glory, obtaining the outcome of your

354
00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:38,160
faith, the salvation of your souls.

355
00:18:38,310 --> 00:18:43,980
Your future with Christ shapes your
present here with your suffering.

356
00:18:44,790 --> 00:18:48,480
Knowing that's coming is what
allows you here to endure.

357
00:18:50,580 --> 00:18:53,040
And, and, and this point is not
meant to minimize your pain,

358
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:54,120
but to maximize your hope.

359
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,530
The Bible tells us as believers,
weep with those who weep.

360
00:19:00,690 --> 00:19:04,650
Grieve, help ... Encourage the
weak in, in the faint hearted.

361
00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,170
Bear one another's burdens.

362
00:19:07,170 --> 00:19:10,860
And, and so this is not a point that
says, "Hey, I know you're suffering,

363
00:19:10,860 --> 00:19:14,920
but cry your river, build your bridge
and get over it because Jesus."

364
00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:20,220
Now, rather, this is, you are suffering
and it is real and we're gonna come

365
00:19:20,220 --> 00:19:24,000
alongside you and we're gonna weep with
you and, and we're going to comfort one

366
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,660
another, but you do have an abiding hope.

367
00:19:29,970 --> 00:19:33,480
For somebody who would say, "I'm
an atheist, I don't know how you

368
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,640
get out of bed in the morning."

369
00:19:36,093 --> 00:19:37,110
I, I honestly don't.

370
00:19:38,370 --> 00:19:39,330
What is your hope?

371
00:19:42,133 --> 00:19:43,020
To, to do what?

372
00:19:43,020 --> 00:19:43,950
To make more money?

373
00:19:43,950 --> 00:19:46,230
Look at the number of people that have
made all the money in the world and

374
00:19:46,230 --> 00:19:48,660
have sat there and looked into the
camera and interviews and said, "I'm

375
00:19:51,070 --> 00:19:51,760
miserable."

376
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:53,580
T- to, to find love?

377
00:19:55,260 --> 00:19:56,760
Okay, but how long is that gonna last?

378
00:19:59,580 --> 00:20:01,950
A- and then what about the suffering
that you're going through right now?

379
00:20:02,010 --> 00:20:02,790
Why do you keep going?

380
00:20:02,790 --> 00:20:05,040
What, what, what, what
keeps you going right now?

381
00:20:08,100 --> 00:20:12,240
See, if, if, if you've taken God out
of the equation, I don't ... The, the

382
00:20:12,300 --> 00:20:15,930
only logical conclusion after you remove
God from the equation is nihilism.

383
00:20:16,140 --> 00:20:20,340
That's the only honest unbeliever
is a nihilist who says,

384
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:21,420
"What's the point of any of it?

385
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,260
" Everything else is just inventing fairy
tales to try to avoid that conclusion.

386
00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:31,860
Christianity gives you hope that's
real, that there's eternity,

387
00:20:31,890 --> 00:20:32,910
that there's life after death.

388
00:20:32,910 --> 00:20:35,190
Solomon said, God has put eternity
in the heart of every man.

389
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,290
If you want hope to make your suffering
now matter so that you don't have to

390
00:20:40,290 --> 00:20:44,100
just despair, then find it in Jesus.

391
00:20:45,270 --> 00:20:47,010
Come to faith in Jesus.

392
00:20:47,620 --> 00:20:50,380
Know that there's purpose because
there's a hope that's gonna be yours,

393
00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:53,260
that God is gonna bring you into that
eternity where he's gonna wipe away

394
00:20:53,260 --> 00:20:57,250
the tears that you've cried, and it's
all of a sudden gonna be that light

395
00:20:57,250 --> 00:20:59,110
bulb moment where you go, "I, I get it.

396
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,850
Not only is it worth it, it's not even
worth comparing to what I'm seeing

397
00:21:03,850 --> 00:21:06,190
right now in the presence of Jesus.

398
00:21:07,870 --> 00:21:10,270
This is not meant to minimize your
pain, but to maximize your hope.

399
00:21:14,614 --> 00:21:18,760
I, it, I hope I hope I'm
using that word too much.

400
00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:19,570
Whatever.

401
00:21:20,710 --> 00:21:21,760
It's a good word to use too much.

402
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:23,740
I hope that encourages you.

403
00:21:23,830 --> 00:21:24,640
That's good news.

404
00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:29,530
That's such good news, Christian,
that whatever you're going through

405
00:21:29,530 --> 00:21:31,570
right now, you can look at it and
say, "It's only for a little while.

406
00:21:32,740 --> 00:21:33,580
It's only for a little while."

407
00:21:33,700 --> 00:21:40,900
Still, it is a while and you are in
it right now, perhaps, and it hurts.

408
00:21:40,900 --> 00:21:41,800
So what do you do with the pain?

409
00:21:42,250 --> 00:21:42,970
How do you keep going?

410
00:21:44,410 --> 00:21:46,420
What does it look like for you
to acknowledge the pain and yet

411
00:21:46,420 --> 00:21:48,670
acknowledge the, the hope that you
have, but still say, "Okay, but I,

412
00:21:48,670 --> 00:21:50,110
I still have this in front of me.

413
00:21:50,110 --> 00:21:51,640
" That's where Peter goes next.

414
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:52,630
Look at verse 10 again with me.

415
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,920
He says, "The God of all grace who
he has called you to his eternal

416
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:02,230
glory in Christ will himself restore,
confirm, strengthen and establish you.

417
00:22:02,590 --> 00:22:08,920
The God of all grace who has called you to
his eternal glory in Christ will himself."

418
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:10,960
Peter doubles down there.

419
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,140
It, it includes another pronoun
there to emphasize will himself.

420
00:22:14,140 --> 00:22:17,590
He could have just written, "The God
of all grace will restore, confirm,

421
00:22:17,590 --> 00:22:18,670
strengthen and establish you.

422
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,000
" But Peter said, "The God of
all grace will himself do this.

423
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,900
" A- a- and so here's what Peter's
saying here, and the promise that

424
00:22:25,900 --> 00:22:30,040
we have in scripture here is that
God is going to be with you, helping

425
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,660
you, carrying you, strengthening you,
establishing you all the way through

426
00:22:34,660 --> 00:22:35,890
the trials that you face right now.

427
00:22:36,940 --> 00:22:39,100
This is not, "Hey, you're
gonna go to heaven, so white

428
00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:40,510
knuckle it until you get there."

429
00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:43,780
This is, you're gonna go to
heaven and God's gonna see to it

430
00:22:43,780 --> 00:22:44,920
that he's gonna get you there.

431
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:48,220
God's gonna be with
you in the midst of it.

432
00:22:49,150 --> 00:22:51,640
I want you to think about what it
would be like to be overseas and

433
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:52,930
you're kidnapped by a foreign nation.

434
00:22:52,930 --> 00:22:53,920
You're held hostage.

435
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,520
And I want you to think about how
amazing it would be if, if all

436
00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,080
of a sudden the President of the
United States said, "You know what?

437
00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:00,070
We're gonna go get him."

438
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,810
And so he dispatched SEAL Team six, the
elite of the elite, and they come out and

439
00:23:04,810 --> 00:23:08,470
they find where you are and they bust down
the doors and they take out the bad guys.

440
00:23:08,470 --> 00:23:12,310
The bad guys lose, the good guys win,
you're safe and they put you on a,

441
00:23:12,310 --> 00:23:15,640
a, a, a plane and they fly you back
home and they deliver you safe to

442
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,940
the front door to your spouse and to
your family or to your loved ones.

443
00:23:19,180 --> 00:23:21,640
And you're just like, "That was
the coolest thing ever because

444
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,180
look at how, how much my country
defended me and everything else.

445
00:23:25,180 --> 00:23:27,520
And that was so kind to the
president to send SEAL Team six

446
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:28,630
to go get me and bring me home."

447
00:23:28,930 --> 00:23:30,280
Now I want you to think about this.

448
00:23:30,430 --> 00:23:31,720
You're in the same situation.

449
00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:35,050
The President calls SEAL Team six
and says, "I'm going with you.

450
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:38,950
" And the President of the United
States shows up with SEAL Team six

451
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,790
and the President of the United States
participates in, in your deliverance

452
00:23:42,790 --> 00:23:44,050
and then says, "Hey, you know what?

453
00:23:44,380 --> 00:23:47,480
I delivered you from your
predicament, but I'm not done.

454
00:23:47,630 --> 00:23:48,320
I'm staying with you.

455
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,920
In fact, I've got Air Force one
here, you're gonna ride with me.

456
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,970
" And so you get on Air Force One and
you're still in enemy territory right now.

457
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,840
So there's still anti-aircraft fire being
shot and everything else, but you are in

458
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:04,010
the safest plane on the face of the planet
that has all of the evasive tactics.

459
00:24:04,010 --> 00:24:05,300
You know nothing's gonna happen.

460
00:24:05,300 --> 00:24:08,960
You've got the escort of all the, the,
the fighter jets and everything else and

461
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:10,340
they're taking out bad guys the whole way.

462
00:24:10,460 --> 00:24:14,150
And so it's, it's still that there's,
there's some enemy fire going on, but

463
00:24:14,150 --> 00:24:16,490
you know that you're secure, you're
with the president, you're in the

464
00:24:16,490 --> 00:24:18,080
safest plane you've ever been in before.

465
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:19,970
And the president's like, "I've got you.

466
00:24:20,570 --> 00:24:21,230
We're going home."

467
00:24:21,590 --> 00:24:25,190
And you fly back home and then you
land there and the president says,

468
00:24:25,190 --> 00:24:26,510
"Wait, uh, we're not done yet.

469
00:24:26,510 --> 00:24:27,920
I wanna make sure you
get all the way home."

470
00:24:28,610 --> 00:24:32,960
So the president gets his presidential
motorcade and he calls for it and he gets

471
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,920
in the, the car and you get in the car
too and you're going, "Okay, I'm good.

472
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:38,690
I, I've got, he's got me now."

473
00:24:39,020 --> 00:24:43,370
And the president takes you all the way
back to your house, opens the door, gets

474
00:24:43,370 --> 00:24:46,760
out with you, walks you up, knocks on the
door, and hands you back to your family.

475
00:24:48,260 --> 00:24:51,350
That would be something even more
amazing than just Seal Team six

476
00:24:51,350 --> 00:24:52,220
coming and doing it, wouldn't it?

477
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:59,210
He'd be like, "Whoa, who, who am I
that the President of the United States

478
00:24:59,210 --> 00:25:01,790
would care about my wellbeing that
much that he would see me all the way

479
00:25:01,790 --> 00:25:05,880
through to being brought home safely?"

480
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:11,060
The God of this universe, the Lord
of creation, the God of Psalm 19 who

481
00:25:11,060 --> 00:25:15,920
stretches out the heavens over the earth,
whose heavens declare his glory, that

482
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:22,520
God will himself not only deliver you,
but see you all the way safely home so

483
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:23,660
that nothing will ever happen to you.

484
00:25:24,350 --> 00:25:27,800
He's gonna be with you, in other
words, through the trial, through

485
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:29,270
the suffering, through the pain.

486
00:25:30,290 --> 00:25:32,810
He hasn't left you to say, "Good luck.

487
00:25:32,990 --> 00:25:34,010
See you if you get to heaven."

488
00:25:34,580 --> 00:25:38,060
He's saved you, and then he's
promised that he will be with you

489
00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,080
all the way until he brings you
into his eternal glory in Christ.

490
00:25:42,890 --> 00:25:47,570
That promise and the promises of
God that we'll look at, that's such

491
00:25:47,570 --> 00:25:50,690
a comfort to us as we walk right
now through the pain and through

492
00:25:50,690 --> 00:25:51,590
the trial that we're going through.

493
00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:54,830
Point number two this morning is
this, be comforted by God's promises.

494
00:25:55,850 --> 00:25:57,440
Be comforted by God's promises.

495
00:26:00,260 --> 00:26:02,030
Have you guys read
Pilgrim's pro- progress?

496
00:26:03,290 --> 00:26:04,580
If you haven't, I would commend it to you.

497
00:26:04,580 --> 00:26:07,820
In fact, uh, there's Little Pilgrim's
progress, which we've read with our

498
00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:09,230
kids I think two or three times now.

499
00:26:09,230 --> 00:26:11,840
It's just a great, uh,
rendition of it for kids.

500
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,520
You can find that on, on Amazon.

501
00:26:14,180 --> 00:26:16,580
But there's a scene in Pilgrim's
progress where Pilgrim finds

502
00:26:16,580 --> 00:26:21,260
himself in, uh, a castle, and the
castle is called doubting castle.

503
00:26:22,010 --> 00:26:25,130
And there's not just a, a castle
there, but there's a giant,

504
00:26:25,597 --> 00:26:27,620
and the giant is named despair.

505
00:26:28,190 --> 00:26:31,490
And so Pilgrim and his companion
find themselves trapped by the

506
00:26:31,490 --> 00:26:35,930
giant in doubting castle, and the
giant despair has taken them and

507
00:26:35,930 --> 00:26:38,090
locked them deep inside the dungeon.

508
00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:41,510
And while they're there, they
begin to despair of all hope.

509
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:49,290
Until Pilgrim remembers something, he
reaches in his pocket and he pulls out

510
00:26:49,290 --> 00:26:52,110
a key, and the key is called promise.

511
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,830
And with the key promise, he unlocks
the dungeon in the castle of doubt

512
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,300
and escapes from the giant despair
to continue on his way back towards

513
00:27:04,500 --> 00:27:06,090
his destination, the celestial city.

514
00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:10,500
Uh, it's a beautiful picture of
what we're talking about right now.

515
00:27:10,578 --> 00:27:14,760
The, the, the, the trials that you're
going through, the difficulty that

516
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,730
you're facing, the, the problems
where you're going, "I don't know

517
00:27:17,730 --> 00:27:21,320
what my life looks like anymore."

518
00:27:21,630 --> 00:27:24,930
The identity that I had is
now not my identity anymore.

519
00:27:26,130 --> 00:27:31,560
Or when you're looking at the trial and
saying, "I, I don't, I don't know what

520
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,260
to do with what the doctor just told me.

521
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,200
That's something that
happens to someone else.

522
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:38,280
It doesn't happen to me.

523
00:27:39,210 --> 00:27:44,010
And when you find yourself reeling and
the doubts creep in and here comes the

524
00:27:44,010 --> 00:27:51,360
giant despair to, to take you captive,
the key is the promises of God, to go back

525
00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:54,558
to the promises of God and to remember,
just like we're reading out here, that

526
00:27:54,598 --> 00:27:59,520
the God who of, of all grace has called
you into his eternal glory and then what

527
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,240
he goes on to say that he's going to
do these things, he's going to restore

528
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,800
you, confirm you, strengthen you and
establish you in the midst of the trial.

529
00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:12,150
And, and none of this means,
notice, none of this says he's going

530
00:28:12,150 --> 00:28:14,610
to, to make life easy, does it?

531
00:28:16,380 --> 00:28:19,830
In fact, you can read any Bible
verse you want to, and, and you're

532
00:28:19,830 --> 00:28:23,490
not going to find one that says,
"Coming to Jesus makes life easy.

533
00:28:24,420 --> 00:28:25,650
It makes the pain go away.

534
00:28:26,490 --> 00:28:27,270
It makes the suffering

535
00:28:29,540 --> 00:28:29,960
stop."

536
00:28:30,540 --> 00:28:33,330
But you will find a verse like this
that says in the midst of the trial,

537
00:28:34,860 --> 00:28:36,120
in the midst of the heartache.

538
00:28:40,110 --> 00:28:41,970
That's where God is going to do this.

539
00:28:41,970 --> 00:28:42,930
He's going to restore you.

540
00:28:42,930 --> 00:28:44,670
He's going to repair what
suffering has broken.

541
00:28:47,370 --> 00:28:48,420
He's gonna confirm you.

542
00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:52,620
He's gonna make you more able,
more capable to endure, to stand.

543
00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:55,890
He's gonna strengthen you.

544
00:28:56,490 --> 00:28:58,230
He's gonna deepen your resolve.

545
00:28:58,830 --> 00:29:03,030
He's gonna strengthen your
conviction, and he's gonna establish

546
00:29:03,030 --> 00:29:06,570
you on the firm foundation of your
hope in your future with Christ.

547
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,840
That doesn't mean that your
marriage gets restored.

548
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,570
That doesn't mean that
the cancer goes away.

549
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,980
That doesn't mean that you find a job.

550
00:29:21,570 --> 00:29:23,250
That doesn't mean that
your kids get saved,

551
00:29:25,410 --> 00:29:25,740
necessarily.

552
00:29:28,890 --> 00:29:33,900
But it does mean that God has not
abandoned you in the midst of the valley.

553
00:29:35,430 --> 00:29:37,890
You're not alone in the
midst of the valley.

554
00:29:39,390 --> 00:29:41,070
What did King David say in Psalm 23?

555
00:29:41,770 --> 00:29:46,480
"Even though I walked through the valley
of the shadow of death, God's where?

556
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:48,340
With me.

557
00:29:49,270 --> 00:29:49,960
He's with me.

558
00:29:51,580 --> 00:29:52,480
He's leading me.

559
00:29:52,510 --> 00:29:53,680
He's guiding me through it.

560
00:29:54,370 --> 00:29:55,360
He's gonna confirm you.

561
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:56,200
He's gonna strengthen you.

562
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:57,130
He's gonna establish you.

563
00:29:57,130 --> 00:29:59,140
He's, he's for you.

564
00:29:59,590 --> 00:30:03,490
And so When you have the, the
insecurities mount the questions that

565
00:30:03,490 --> 00:30:07,900
come that say, "Am I gonna ever recover
from what this has, has cost me?

566
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:14,140
" Maybe you, you lost a lot of money in
a, a bad investment and now you've got

567
00:30:14,140 --> 00:30:17,140
questions about your future and your
ability to provide for your family.

568
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,940
Am I gonna be able to hold up under
the, the pressure while I waver in my

569
00:30:21,940 --> 00:30:23,470
convictions of what I believe to be true?

570
00:30:23,470 --> 00:30:26,920
Maybe you've got a situation where
you know for you to tow the line

571
00:30:27,130 --> 00:30:30,820
at work and do what your boss is
calling you to do, you can't do that

572
00:30:30,820 --> 00:30:32,320
in clean conscience before the Lord.

573
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,120
So you're gonna have to say no.

574
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,290
And you realize if, if I say
no, chances are I'm out of a job

575
00:30:38,380 --> 00:30:41,440
and my family no longer has an
income to put food on the table.

576
00:30:45,820 --> 00:30:48,370
Will I fall under the temptation
to compromise my faith?

577
00:30:51,910 --> 00:30:55,630
Or, or, or even just the, to, to
question the things that you've

578
00:30:55,630 --> 00:30:57,010
always believed to be true about God.

579
00:30:59,980 --> 00:31:01,030
God is good.

580
00:31:03,460 --> 00:31:06,370
It's easy to believe on the mountain
that's so hard to believe in the valley.

581
00:31:09,970 --> 00:31:14,740
God loves me easy on the
mountain hard in the valley.

582
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,890
God is working all things
together for my good.

583
00:31:23,950 --> 00:31:26,290
So easy to believe when the
promo- promotion comes through.

584
00:31:29,410 --> 00:31:30,790
So much harder to believe when

585
00:31:33,940 --> 00:31:35,080
the relationship falls apart.

586
00:31:38,500 --> 00:31:42,790
And yet, how do you know
you're gonna keep going?

587
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,070
How, how do you know you're
gonna make it through the valley?

588
00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,720
Because it's ultimately, at the end
of the day, Christian, not on you.

589
00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:53,080
God's going to confirm you.

590
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,990
He's going to strengthen you.

591
00:31:56,230 --> 00:31:57,730
He's going to restore you.

592
00:31:57,730 --> 00:31:58,840
He's going to establish you.

593
00:31:59,710 --> 00:32:00,550
God's the actor.

594
00:32:00,580 --> 00:32:02,830
God himself will do these things.

595
00:32:04,390 --> 00:32:05,980
He's the one that's
gonna give you the hope.

596
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,190
He's the one that's gonna preserve your
faith, even in the hardest parts where

597
00:32:09,190 --> 00:32:13,090
you have to say, "I believe, Lord,
help my unbelief right now because the

598
00:32:13,090 --> 00:32:14,680
valley is darker than it's ever been."

599
00:32:15,670 --> 00:32:17,950
He's the one that's gonna give you the
hope and the confidence to be able to

600
00:32:17,950 --> 00:32:23,020
say, "I understand that I may never
come out of this valley on this side

601
00:32:23,050 --> 00:32:27,970
of eternity, but e- if this valley
leads to my death here, the, the light

602
00:32:29,050 --> 00:32:32,200
is gonna be there and it's unending
and that's where my ultimate hope is.

603
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,540
My ultimate hope is eternity with Christ.

604
00:32:37,570 --> 00:32:38,470
It's not here.

605
00:32:38,500 --> 00:32:39,040
It's there.

606
00:32:40,730 --> 00:32:43,640
And the promises of God are the
things that buoy us along the way,

607
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,760
the promises that he's gonna restore,
confirm, strengthen and establish us.

608
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,320
The things that, that, that God is
going to do for us in the midst of it,

609
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,890
here's just a brief survey in the Psalms
that, that God is going to protect you.

610
00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:57,170
In what sense?

611
00:32:57,170 --> 00:32:59,090
Well, well, does that mean
that you'll never die?

612
00:32:59,090 --> 00:33:00,530
No, Christians die all the time.

613
00:33:01,940 --> 00:33:04,790
Does that mean that, that you won't
have something bad happen to you?

614
00:33:05,570 --> 00:33:06,530
No, not at all.

615
00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:07,130
Right?

616
00:33:07,190 --> 00:33:09,980
If we stop down right now and, and
said, "Okay, everybody stand up.

617
00:33:09,980 --> 00:33:11,690
I wanna hear about what you're
going through right now.

618
00:33:11,690 --> 00:33:13,370
What suffering are you
going through right now?"

619
00:33:13,850 --> 00:33:17,000
Uh, we would spend the rest of our time,
the rest of our day talking about what

620
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,110
suffering we're going through right now.

621
00:33:18,410 --> 00:33:21,260
God's protection is not that
you're not gonna ever suffer.

622
00:33:21,380 --> 00:33:23,720
His protection is that you're
gonna get through the suffering.

623
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,750
Even if that means that getting
through it means that he's delivering

624
00:33:26,750 --> 00:33:28,190
you into his presence and eternity.

625
00:33:28,460 --> 00:33:29,750
That's ultimately our deliverance.

626
00:33:29,750 --> 00:33:30,320
That's our hope.

627
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:31,340
That's our protection.

628
00:33:33,140 --> 00:33:34,220
But God's gonna protect that.

629
00:33:34,310 --> 00:33:35,900
Nothing is gonna be able
to take that away from you.

630
00:33:36,980 --> 00:33:38,780
No suffering that you encounter
can take that away from you.

631
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:39,590
He hears you.

632
00:33:40,340 --> 00:33:42,680
When you pray, God hears your prayers.

633
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,470
When you cry out, how long, oh
Lord, just like David did in the

634
00:33:45,470 --> 00:33:48,380
Psalms, God hears your prayers.

635
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:53,930
He's never dull of hearing from you.

636
00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:57,680
As your, his child, you can come
before him and you can ask him and

637
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:02,060
you can pray in faith knowing that
he gives good things to his children.

638
00:34:03,860 --> 00:34:06,590
So him hearing and giving good things
doesn't mean that the pain's gonna all

639
00:34:06,590 --> 00:34:09,469
of a sudden go away because sometimes the
pain is what's making you more like Jesus.

640
00:34:09,710 --> 00:34:11,360
Sometimes the pain is the good thing.

641
00:34:16,070 --> 00:34:16,969
He's with you.

642
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,440
Psalm 23, we talked about that.

643
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:19,159
You're never alone.

644
00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:20,810
You've got the spirit of
God dwelling within you.

645
00:34:21,020 --> 00:34:22,940
The spirit of God is never apart from you.

646
00:34:22,940 --> 00:34:27,290
You have a savior, even in Hebrews
chapter seven that's interceding for you

647
00:34:27,290 --> 00:34:29,210
always, that's praying for you, always.

648
00:34:29,210 --> 00:34:29,810
He's with you.

649
00:34:29,810 --> 00:34:31,790
He's praying for you right
now in the suffering.

650
00:34:33,050 --> 00:34:34,699
He sees your affliction.

651
00:34:35,810 --> 00:34:38,120
God is not unaware of the pain
that you're going through.

652
00:34:39,830 --> 00:34:42,650
He's also not incapable of
bringing you out of the temporal

653
00:34:42,650 --> 00:34:44,210
pain if that should be his will.

654
00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:47,420
And maybe he will.

655
00:34:48,770 --> 00:34:51,739
He certainly will when he delivers
you into his presence though.

656
00:34:54,650 --> 00:34:56,090
He knows your tears.

657
00:34:56,090 --> 00:34:58,610
In fact, the Bible says in that
passage, he keeps them in his bottle.

658
00:34:59,030 --> 00:35:00,620
Why would God bottle up your tears?

659
00:35:01,820 --> 00:35:04,670
Because he's storing them up because
justice is ultimately going to be done.

660
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,660
And those tears are a testimony that they
will, the things that cause those tears,

661
00:35:08,990 --> 00:35:11,030
those wrongs will one day be righted.

662
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,490
Again, before you die, maybe, maybe not.

663
00:35:21,470 --> 00:35:25,160
He shows us mercy and grace, forgives
our sins and heals our broken hearts.

664
00:35:29,870 --> 00:35:32,600
Yo, I'd, I'd love to stand up here
and, and just preach this message

665
00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:33,770
that says, "Hey, you know what?

666
00:35:33,980 --> 00:35:36,290
God's gonna lead you out of
your suffering temporally and

667
00:35:36,290 --> 00:35:38,430
into a time of fruitfulness.

668
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,250
God's gonna lead you
into your best life now.

669
00:35:41,250 --> 00:35:41,970
God's gonna lead you.

670
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:42,900
He's gonna take away.

671
00:35:42,930 --> 00:35:45,300
He's gonna restore the
relationship, the marriage.

672
00:35:45,690 --> 00:35:46,920
He's gonna take away the cancer.

673
00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:50,520
Uh, God's, God's got a
different plan for you.

674
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,410
He, he's gonna provide
the house that you want.

675
00:35:54,300 --> 00:35:58,290
He's gonna make y- you not have to
live paycheck to paycheck anymore.

676
00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:02,040
I, I'd love to stand up here and preach
that to you, except I, I, I'd be doing you

677
00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,060
an injustice, number one, because those
two things are far too cheap to compare

678
00:36:06,060 --> 00:36:08,580
to the ultimate deliverance, the actual
deliverance that God's bringing to you.

679
00:36:10,350 --> 00:36:12,630
And, and, and number two, he,
he may not do any of that.

680
00:36:15,450 --> 00:36:16,920
He may keep you exactly where you are

681
00:36:19,290 --> 00:36:20,670
until he brings you to himself.

682
00:36:22,230 --> 00:36:22,950
That's your hope.

683
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:24,090
Ultimately, Christian.

684
00:36:24,690 --> 00:36:28,680
The greatest promise is that you will be
delivered into his presence and that you

685
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:30,210
will be there and you'll be with him.

686
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,050
And all the wrongs that have been
done will ultimately be righted.

687
00:36:35,010 --> 00:36:38,370
And you will spend an eternity
with the God who has wiped

688
00:36:38,370 --> 00:36:39,600
away every tear from your eyes.

689
00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:44,280
Be comforted by the promises of God.

690
00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:48,480
He's with you wherever you are in
whatever you're enduring right now.

691
00:36:49,650 --> 00:36:53,520
And just because the pain persists
doesn't mean that God is failing,

692
00:36:53,790 --> 00:36:56,130
or has failed you, or has left
you, or has abandoned you.

693
00:36:57,750 --> 00:37:01,830
Sometimes he's sustaining you through
the pain to bring you into his presence.

694
00:37:03,270 --> 00:37:04,170
And that's a good thing.

695
00:37:06,090 --> 00:37:06,870
That's a good thing.

696
00:37:07,950 --> 00:37:08,700
As hard as it is.

697
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:12,900
That's reason enough for us to
respond, as Peter does there in verse

698
00:37:12,900 --> 00:37:17,580
11, look down and he says, To him be
the dominion forever and ever amen.

699
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,060
To him be the dominion
forever and ever, amen.

700
00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,820
The word amen means, yes, let it be so.

701
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:25,110
I agree.

702
00:37:26,310 --> 00:37:29,370
In fact, if, if I preach on the right
things, like, if I preach on politics in

703
00:37:29,370 --> 00:37:31,020
the right way, I get amens from you guys.

704
00:37:31,020 --> 00:37:32,730
I know where I can get
the amens out of you.

705
00:37:33,510 --> 00:37:36,900
If I go off on the gospel hard enough and
start getting, you know, all passionate

706
00:37:36,900 --> 00:37:40,740
and stuff, then, then I, I know I, I,
I'll get a few amens chimed out there.

707
00:37:40,860 --> 00:37:41,100
Why?

708
00:37:41,100 --> 00:37:42,120
Because you agree with it.

709
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:42,900
You're like, yes.

710
00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,070
I, I, I agree.

711
00:37:44,100 --> 00:37:44,670
Amen.

712
00:37:44,670 --> 00:37:46,110
That's why we say it
at the end of prayers.

713
00:37:47,190 --> 00:37:51,660
And so Peter says, "To him, be the
dominion forever and ever amen.

714
00:37:52,620 --> 00:37:53,250
Let it be.

715
00:37:53,250 --> 00:37:53,790
I agree.

716
00:37:55,370 --> 00:37:55,720
Yes."

717
00:37:56,130 --> 00:37:57,000
But what is dominion?

718
00:37:57,450 --> 00:37:58,140
Dominion is this.

719
00:37:58,140 --> 00:38:00,690
Dominion is the exercise
of power and authority.

720
00:38:00,690 --> 00:38:03,330
It's the right to exercise
power and authority.

721
00:38:04,140 --> 00:38:06,300
A king exercises a dominion.

722
00:38:06,810 --> 00:38:08,700
He rules and reigns.

723
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,920
And so Peter, after considering all
of this stuff about how God is going

724
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,220
to deliver us and, and the, the
promises that he's made to us and,

725
00:38:17,550 --> 00:38:20,670
and back in, in point number one, the,
the perspective that we can have on

726
00:38:20,670 --> 00:38:23,490
our life that is suffering only for
a little while, Peter's conclusion

727
00:38:23,490 --> 00:38:24,930
is, "I gotta worship God for this.

728
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,870
This is so good that I
gotta stop and worship God.

729
00:38:28,380 --> 00:38:31,890
And the way he does that is, is
he acknowledges that God is the

730
00:38:31,890 --> 00:38:33,030
one that's ultimately in control.

731
00:38:34,170 --> 00:38:35,100
God's the one who's ruling.

732
00:38:35,105 --> 00:38:35,950
God's the one that's reigning.

733
00:38:35,950 --> 00:38:37,120
God's the one that's on the throne.

734
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:39,580
No matter what's going on
in your life right now.

735
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,080
No matter what you're facing
right now, God is in control.

736
00:38:44,860 --> 00:38:45,640
He's the king.

737
00:38:46,210 --> 00:38:49,480
Point number three, because
of that he's worthy of this.

738
00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:51,970
Worship God, the ruler of all.

739
00:38:53,050 --> 00:38:54,820
Worship him, the ruler of all.

740
00:38:57,240 --> 00:39:00,190
It, it, it's like Peter is,
is unable to contain himself,

741
00:39:00,190 --> 00:39:01,270
kind of like Paul in Ephesians.

742
00:39:01,900 --> 00:39:04,000
Peter's been talking about all this
stuff and he's, it's like he's stopping

743
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,200
down saying, "Can you believe it?

744
00:39:05,980 --> 00:39:07,720
Can you believe how good God is?

745
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:10,870
That he's gonna deliver
us into his presence.

746
00:39:10,870 --> 00:39:11,800
Can you believe it?

747
00:39:11,950 --> 00:39:14,770
That, that our suffering we can look at
and say, yeah, it's only for a little

748
00:39:14,770 --> 00:39:15,820
while because we're gonna be with

749
00:39:19,650 --> 00:39:20,000
him."

750
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,680
Maybe though you've been
struggling to get there

751
00:39:25,810 --> 00:39:30,220
because life right now feels more
out of control than it is in control.

752
00:39:31,900 --> 00:39:33,280
You've been struggling to get there

753
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:39,580
because it, it doesn't feel that way.

754
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:42,940
You guys know the statement, right?

755
00:39:42,940 --> 00:39:44,110
God is good all the time.

756
00:39:44,110 --> 00:39:44,950
What's the next part?

757
00:39:46,270 --> 00:39:47,380
All the time, God is good.

758
00:39:49,510 --> 00:39:50,560
Yes, amen.

759
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:52,870
I appreciate that.

760
00:39:55,690 --> 00:39:59,680
Um, believing that though is
far harder than saying it.

761
00:40:02,590 --> 00:40:10,960
And there's gonna be seasons where to
say that feels pretty, pretty shallow.

762
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:13,780
It's true.

763
00:40:17,170 --> 00:40:20,470
But when your spouse walks out on you,

764
00:40:23,140 --> 00:40:23,770
can you say that

765
00:40:25,868 --> 00:40:28,090
with the same gusto as
you say it in church?

766
00:40:32,500 --> 00:40:35,470
When you are in the hospital room

767
00:40:37,630 --> 00:40:40,090
and let's say you've been put on hospice

768
00:40:43,390 --> 00:40:48,340
or palliative care and the doctors
have told your family, there's

769
00:40:48,340 --> 00:40:52,660
nothing more that we can do, you're
still conscious, so you can hear

770
00:40:52,660 --> 00:40:54,160
your heart rate monitor beeping.

771
00:40:57,730 --> 00:40:58,780
Is God still good?

772
00:41:02,980 --> 00:41:04,780
Or maybe it's your loved
one that's in the bed.

773
00:41:07,540 --> 00:41:08,500
Maybe it's your child.

774
00:41:11,620 --> 00:41:12,550
Is God still good?

775
00:41:15,670 --> 00:41:17,170
Can you still worship him in that moment?

776
00:41:20,890 --> 00:41:23,200
Some of you may know the story
of Corey and Betsy Tenboom.

777
00:41:24,250 --> 00:41:26,260
They were taken to Ravensbrook
concentration camp.

778
00:41:27,940 --> 00:41:30,250
And while they were there, they were
put in some barracks and while in

779
00:41:30,250 --> 00:41:32,920
the barracks, they were reading the
Bible that they had smuggled in.

780
00:41:33,029 --> 00:41:35,870
And in the Bible, uh, the, the
passage that they came to was first

781
00:41:35,870 --> 00:41:39,380
Thessalonians 5:16 through 18,
where it said, "Rejoice always.

782
00:41:39,380 --> 00:41:40,310
Pray without ceasing.

783
00:41:40,310 --> 00:41:43,010
Give thanks in all circumstances
for this is the will of God

784
00:41:43,010 --> 00:41:44,180
and Christ Jesus for you.

785
00:41:45,860 --> 00:41:47,300
Give thanks in all circumstances.

786
00:41:47,300 --> 00:41:48,860
For this is the will of God
and Christ Jesus for you.

787
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,590
" So reading that, these women
got together and they said, "We

788
00:41:51,590 --> 00:41:52,700
have to be able to give thanks.

789
00:41:52,700 --> 00:41:53,930
What should we give thanks for right

790
00:41:56,050 --> 00:41:56,400
now?"

791
00:41:56,750 --> 00:42:01,480
And Corey's sister, Betsy, said, "Well,
I wanna give thanks for the fleas."

792
00:42:01,910 --> 00:42:04,190
Cory looked at Betsy and
said, "Are you crazy?

793
00:42:05,090 --> 00:42:06,650
You wanna give thanks for the fleas?

794
00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,370
Why would you ever give
things for the fleas?

795
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:14,000
If it's not bad enough that we're in the
concentration camp, if it's not bad enough

796
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,820
that, that we don't know about our family,
if it's not bad enough that we might

797
00:42:16,820 --> 00:42:20,690
die in the concentration, why would you
ever want to give thanks for the fleas?

798
00:42:21,230 --> 00:42:22,550
Flea's on top of all that.

799
00:42:22,910 --> 00:42:24,230
This just seems cruel and unusual

800
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:27,320
punishment."

801
00:42:27,770 --> 00:42:30,590
So Corey said, "I'm gonna give thanks
that we've got a Bible with us."

802
00:42:30,950 --> 00:42:33,960
Betsy said, "Okay, I'm gonna
give thanks for the fleas."

803
00:42:34,340 --> 00:42:36,950
A couple weeks passed, they
kept reading the Bible.

804
00:42:36,950 --> 00:42:40,490
In fact, some of the other women in
the barracks came around them and they

805
00:42:40,490 --> 00:42:41,930
were leading them in, in a Bible study.

806
00:42:43,070 --> 00:42:47,540
And Corey began to, to wonder, why are
the guards not doing something about this?

807
00:42:47,540 --> 00:42:49,430
Why are they not raiding
our, our barracks?

808
00:42:49,430 --> 00:42:51,470
Why are they not coming in
turning over mattresses?

809
00:42:51,470 --> 00:42:52,400
Why are they not searching?

810
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,440
Why, what, what is happening here?

811
00:42:56,180 --> 00:43:00,020
And then they overheard some of the guards
saying, "Yeah, we're not going in there.

812
00:43:00,350 --> 00:43:06,120
Have you seen the, the fleas and the
lice that are in all those bunks?"

813
00:43:06,380 --> 00:43:10,820
And then all of a sudden, Corey had
reason to be thankful for the fleas.

814
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:14,870
It was the fleas that initially
she looked at and said, "I

815
00:43:14,870 --> 00:43:16,700
don't ... This is causing me suffering.

816
00:43:16,910 --> 00:43:17,870
It's inconvenient.

817
00:43:17,990 --> 00:43:19,280
I, this is awful.

818
00:43:19,340 --> 00:43:20,150
I can't believe this.

819
00:43:20,150 --> 00:43:21,710
It just feels like God is piling onto

820
00:43:24,190 --> 00:43:24,480
us."

821
00:43:24,830 --> 00:43:27,050
And then with a perspective
shift, she realized, "Oh, man.

822
00:43:28,070 --> 00:43:29,480
I can even worship God for the

823
00:43:33,550 --> 00:43:34,040
fleas."

824
00:43:34,190 --> 00:43:35,330
God is sovereign.

825
00:43:35,420 --> 00:43:37,370
I believe God was
sovereign over those fleas.

826
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:40,220
God's in control.

827
00:43:40,730 --> 00:43:41,840
He's the ruler of everything.

828
00:43:42,290 --> 00:43:45,530
Whatever the fleas are in your
life right now, that you're sitting

829
00:43:45,530 --> 00:43:48,050
there thinking, "Man, God, this
just feels like you're piling on.

830
00:43:48,740 --> 00:43:51,890
I've already got enough on my
plate, and then you add this.

831
00:43:52,190 --> 00:43:55,850
Maybe even those things are the things
that you can stop and worship God for

832
00:43:57,990 --> 00:43:58,480
today."

833
00:43:58,820 --> 00:44:00,620
You may not even know how at this point,

834
00:44:02,630 --> 00:44:05,960
but to say, "God, I, I trust that
you are truly the ruler of all.

835
00:44:06,380 --> 00:44:08,630
To you be the dominion forever and ever.

836
00:44:08,630 --> 00:44:09,020
Amen.

837
00:44:10,250 --> 00:44:11,390
I trust that you're the ruler.

838
00:44:11,390 --> 00:44:14,570
And so even this thing that right
now feels like the, the last straw

839
00:44:14,570 --> 00:44:17,750
that's gonna break my back, I trust
that it's from you, and so I thank

840
00:44:17,750 --> 00:44:19,160
you for it, even though I don't know

841
00:44:23,410 --> 00:44:23,760
why."

842
00:44:24,020 --> 00:44:29,720
Maybe he'll show you at some point
in the next handful of years,

843
00:44:32,190 --> 00:44:34,740
or maybe he'll show you when
he welcomes you into eternity,

844
00:44:36,900 --> 00:44:41,160
and you're able to see, "Oh,
that's why that's good."

845
00:44:41,430 --> 00:44:41,820
Thank you.

846
00:44:47,730 --> 00:44:52,020
The greatest reason we can worship
God, no matter where we find ourselves,

847
00:44:52,230 --> 00:44:53,550
is because of the cross of Christ.

848
00:44:56,340 --> 00:45:01,710
Again, Christians have a leg up on
anyone else in the world when we

849
00:45:01,710 --> 00:45:04,980
face suffering because we have a hope
that this world is not all there is.

850
00:45:08,190 --> 00:45:10,980
And the glue to that, the, the
linchpin to that, that the foundation

851
00:45:10,980 --> 00:45:15,990
of that hope is the cross because
Jesus died on the cross for our sins

852
00:45:16,380 --> 00:45:17,760
so that our sins could be forgiven.

853
00:45:18,870 --> 00:45:23,940
He gave us his full righteousness so
that we would be declared righteous,

854
00:45:24,510 --> 00:45:27,420
and he rose again from the dead so that
one day we will live with him forever.

855
00:45:28,860 --> 00:45:31,140
That's the hope that changes everything.

856
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,940
That's the hope that we have now that,
that God is indeed going to restore,

857
00:45:35,940 --> 00:45:39,030
confirm, strengthen, and establish
us until he ultimately delivers

858
00:45:39,030 --> 00:45:41,310
us into the presence of Christ.

859
00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:45,120
In fact, that's not only our
hope, that's our guarantee of it.

860
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:49,290
You might say, "How can I be so sure that
God's gonna stay with me through it all?

861
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:53,640
And I would say the answer is
because what it cost him to bring

862
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:55,140
you to him in the first place.

863
00:45:56,340 --> 00:45:58,950
Paul put it this way in Romans
eight, "He who did not spare his

864
00:45:58,950 --> 00:46:00,420
own son, but gave him up for us all.

865
00:46:00,450 --> 00:46:05,160
How will he not also with him
graciously give us all things?"

866
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,180
In other words, if he gave us Christ, why
wouldn't he see us through to the end?

867
00:46:11,250 --> 00:46:13,860
This morning, as we get ready to
observe communion together, we're gonna

868
00:46:13,860 --> 00:46:18,240
reflect back on that gift of Christ,
the cross, his death on our behalf.

869
00:46:19,380 --> 00:46:21,540
And as we do, I wanna encourage
you, number one, to, to be

870
00:46:21,540 --> 00:46:23,640
aware of a lack of conversion.

871
00:46:24,810 --> 00:46:27,480
What we're remembering here is
the cross of Christ, and it's for

872
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:30,780
those upon whom the cross of Christ
has had an impact by saving you.

873
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:35,010
So if you're not in Christ this morning,
please let these elements pass by.

874
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,640
Today can be the day of salvation for you.

875
00:46:39,630 --> 00:46:42,210
This is not about excluding you
and saying, "Hey, you're not

876
00:46:42,210 --> 00:46:44,010
welcome or th- you can't have this.

877
00:46:44,010 --> 00:46:46,860
" This is simply saying this is for
those that are followers of Christ,

878
00:46:46,860 --> 00:46:49,560
and it's another invitation to you
this morning to do business with the

879
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:51,030
Lord and become a follower of Jesus.

880
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:56,160
But as it is, if you would,
just let these elements pass by.

881
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:58,470
Second, be aware of a lack of
concentration this morning.

882
00:47:00,810 --> 00:47:03,180
Uh, this is an important
thing that we do here.

883
00:47:03,180 --> 00:47:07,320
There's a lot of things that our mind
could race a- around to as we observe

884
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,470
these elements, but it's good for us
to remember this and to remember the

885
00:47:10,470 --> 00:47:12,120
hope that it gives us in this world.

886
00:47:13,710 --> 00:47:15,360
And then finally, be aware
of a lack of confession.

887
00:47:16,470 --> 00:47:20,460
One of the reasons why we take it all
together after the, everything is, is

888
00:47:20,460 --> 00:47:24,630
that it gives you time to sit with the
elements and to pray before the Lord,

889
00:47:24,630 --> 00:47:27,480
to keep short accounts with the Lord,
to do business with God by confessing

890
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:32,350
sin before him, before we remember
the cross, which is the basis of our

891
00:47:32,350 --> 00:47:33,760
confidence that he will forgive that sin.

892
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:38,350
And so the elements are gonna be
passed, the music's gonna play, and

893
00:47:38,350 --> 00:47:41,410
as they are, uh, you can take the
elements, all come back up and we'll

894
00:47:41,410 --> 00:47:42,854
take them all together in just a moment.

895
00:50:55,717 --> 00:50:57,920
That song that's playing in the
background is the song how deep the

896
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:05,330
Father's Love for us, how vast beyond
all measure that he should give his

897
00:51:05,330 --> 00:51:07,370
only son to make a wretch his treasure.

898
00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:11,360
Again, echoing Paul's sentiments there.

899
00:51:11,630 --> 00:51:14,900
If God did that for you,
he's not gonna leave you.

900
00:51:14,900 --> 00:51:19,310
He, he's not gonna let
a trial destroy you.

901
00:51:22,130 --> 00:51:23,450
He's gonna bring you to himself.

902
00:51:26,510 --> 00:51:30,110
Apostle Paul wrote in one Corinthians
chapter 11, verse 23, "For I received

903
00:51:30,110 --> 00:51:33,500
from the Lord what I also delivered to
you that the Lord Jesus on the night

904
00:51:33,500 --> 00:51:36,380
when he was betrayed took bread and when
he had given thanks, he broke it and

905
00:51:36,380 --> 00:51:38,990
said, This is my body, which is for you.

906
00:51:38,990 --> 00:51:40,460
Do this in remembrance of me.

907
00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:41,000
Let's eat.

908
00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:58,610
And the same way also, he took the
cup after supper saying, This cup

909
00:51:58,850 --> 00:52:00,350
is the new covenant in my blood.

910
00:52:01,010 --> 00:52:03,980
Do this as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me.

911
00:52:11,510 --> 00:52:14,750
For as often as you eat this bread
and drink the cup, you proclaim

912
00:52:14,750 --> 00:52:16,430
the Lord's death until it comes.

913
00:52:16,910 --> 00:52:17,360
Let's pray.

914
00:52:22,130 --> 00:52:26,750
Lord God, you have not promised us
a life of ease as your followers,

915
00:52:27,740 --> 00:52:30,110
but you have promised that
you will bring us to yourself.

916
00:52:31,190 --> 00:52:38,540
You've not promised us great riches
and wealth and luxury here, but you've

917
00:52:38,540 --> 00:52:42,230
promised us a future with you that's gonna
be marked by something so much better,

918
00:52:43,370 --> 00:52:46,670
by being with you, by having no more
sorrow, no more sickness, no more disease,

919
00:52:46,670 --> 00:52:48,050
no more heartache, no more any of that.

920
00:52:49,520 --> 00:52:53,240
And so God, that doesn't mean that this
world won't contain some difficulties.

921
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:54,950
In fact, you've been
honest with us about that.

922
00:52:54,950 --> 00:52:56,840
So much of one Peter has
been talking about that.

923
00:52:56,840 --> 00:53:00,230
Also, the words of Jesus himself
who said the way is narrow and

924
00:53:00,230 --> 00:53:01,730
hard that leads to eternal life.

925
00:53:02,660 --> 00:53:04,040
And so God, we find ourselves there.

926
00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:06,980
We find ourselves at all kinds of
different places in this room, different

927
00:53:06,980 --> 00:53:10,880
levels of suffering, different levels of
heartache, but all of us needing the same

928
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:14,960
message that tells us that there's hope
in an eternity with you through Christ.

929
00:53:16,610 --> 00:53:20,060
And so I pray that we would hold onto
that hope, that you would confirm us, that

930
00:53:20,060 --> 00:53:23,690
you would strengthen us, that you would
restore us, that you would establish us.

931
00:53:24,860 --> 00:53:25,460
Even now.

932
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:27,950
We know that ultimately that's not
gonna be completed until we're with you,

933
00:53:27,950 --> 00:53:32,030
but even now, God, may you hold onto
us as we walk through these valleys.

934
00:53:32,990 --> 00:53:33,620
We love you.

935
00:53:33,770 --> 00:53:34,520
We love Christ.

936
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,110
We thank you for the
hope that we have in him.

937
00:53:36,500 --> 00:53:37,850
And we pray this all in Jesus' name.

938
00:53:38,330 --> 00:53:38,600
Amen.