Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Welcome to the Faith Award Baptist Church.
Very good to see you all here for our Sunday morning service.
Find your seats now.
Grab a psalm book and go to hymn number 428.
We'll get started this morning.
Hymn number 428.
428.
It came upon the midnight clear.
Hymn number 428.
Once you find your place,
lift your voice together on that first nail.
428.
Yeah.
Let's go to Hymn number 428.
One, two, three, four.
Hymn number 428.
Once you find your place,
lift your voice on that first
nail, 428.
It came upon the midnight clear
Hymn number 428.
and I wore a song of hope
Hymn number 428.
From angels then
The world is small, the sail is plain,
You hear the angels sing,
Still through the world the skies they come,
With each the wings unfurled,
And still wherever you take look,
For all the living works,
Above its sad and lonely plains,
They bend on hungry wings,
And ever o'er its baffled sound,
The placid angels sing,
And even if life's crushes low,
The storms are ending low,
You soar upon the climbing plain,
With painful spares and soil,
Look now for glad and holding down,
The swift beyond the wind,
The breast beside the weary boat,
And hear the angels sing,
For though the days are ha'ering on,
My thoughts and hearts are full,
And when the ever circling years,
Come round the ancient floor,
When peace shall over all be heard,
Its dangers, splendor, flee,
And the whole world give back the song,
Which now the angels sing.
Amen.
We will go before the Lord and ask for His blessing on the service.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your only begotten Son.
We also thank you Lord for this beautiful weather.
We ask you to bless our voices as we lift them up to you in praise.
Please bless Pastor Anderson in all aspects of his service.
It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Go to hymn number 434, hymn number 434.
Old little town of Bethlehem.
Hymn number 434.
434 will be on that verse now.
Little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.
Number 434, sing it out now.
Old little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie,
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,
The silent stars alight,
Yet in thy dark streets shineth,
The everlasting light.
The hopes and fears of all the years,
Are let in thee tonight,
For Christ is born of memory,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep,
Their watch of wondered love.
O morning stars together,
O flame of holy earth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth,
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given,
So God it parts to human part,
The blessings of his hand.
No clear thing here is coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where deep souls will receive him,
Still the dear Christ enters in,
O holy child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us in praise,
Cast out our sin and enter in,
We mourn in us today,
We hear the Christmas angels,
The great glad tidings fell,
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
All right, at this time, we'll go through our announcements together.
If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
On the inside, we have our service times.
Sunday morning at 1030 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at 6.
Wednesday nights at 7 is our Bible study.
This week will be in 2 Chronicles chapter 31.
Of course, this Wednesday is Christmas Day.
Believe it or not, we do not cancel church for the birth of Christ.
So we will still have our normal church service on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
And let's just face it anyway,
Everything kind of happens on Christmas morning,
and then you have your dinner and everything.
By the time 7 o'clock rolls around,
you're going to be kind of looking for something to do
to kind of stay festive and stay in a Christmas mode,
and church is going to be the perfect thing for you to do
to come down to the house of God
to celebrate.
Below that, we've got our soul-winning times.
We've got salvations and baptisms.
And then across the page, so yesterday,
we had an online soul-winning marathon,
so I'm sure there were a lot of other people participating in other places,
but there were six guys that were in the online soul-winning marathon.
I know some of them were here in the building and so forth
and had 26 salvations in four hours.
So six guys online for four hours, 26 salvations.
Let's give them a hand.
And just to be clear about this,
because this isn't just like some chat room or some typing
or something like that, something silly.
They are literally like face-to-face video calling with people,
so it's really exactly the same as if you were standing at the door
and speaking to someone.
So it's really a legitimate way to win souls.
It's a great way to win souls,
and so we appreciate their hard work with that.
And then keep praying for our expectant ladies.
We've got the list there
that they'll have a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery.
Of course, we had a great time on the back
at the Christmas caroling and the cookie potluck.
We had tons of wonderful cookies,
and I know I binged pretty hard on those things.
Plenty of milk to wash it all down.
And then below that, we've got a wedding coming up
for Isabella and Micaiah,
and that is going to be on Saturday, January the 18th.
Right here at the church building.
We still haven't gotten a time nailed down yet,
but just save the date.
It's going to be January 18th right here.
Everyone at the church is invited.
We'll have cake and punch and enjoy the wedding.
Very exciting for them.
And then also just a quick note.
Please do not allow children
to be unaccompanied at the donation station.
I guess some kids had wreaked some havoc
over there recently, so we just want to make sure
that you don't let your kids just terrorize
over at the donation station over there.
And then also on Friday night,
I got to preach out in Spokane, Washington.
Such a beautiful place.
I always like going to that part of the country.
And mercifully, they said it was like much warmer
than it usually was, so I was like, this is cold,
but at least it was something I could handle.
And so we had a great time with them out there.
Great fellowship and preaching
at the Shur Foundation Baptist Church in Spokane.
And we were talking about also how we got a big
King James conference coming up
in Washington state in May.
So this is going to be in Vancouver, Washington,
which really is just Portland, Oregon.
You know, they don't like it when I say that,
but they don't like it when I call it a Portland suburb,
but that's kind of what it is.
And so Vancouver, Washington,
at Shur Foundation Baptist Church,
we're going to be having a King James conference.
I want to say it's like the, don't quote me on this,
but like the 12th to the 15th of May.
I'm pretty, either it's that or it's pretty close to that.
But anyway, it's around like May 15th, that time period,
and it's going to be Pastor Mejia, Pastor Shelley,
Pastor Thompson, myself, and so that's going to be cool
because I know a lot of people were lamenting the fact
that the Red Hot Preaching Conference,
which usually happens every summer in Sacramento,
the Red Hot Preaching Conference is canceled,
but this could be an alternative for people
who want to travel to a conference, you know,
around that time.
That could be a good one
because it's going to be hard preaching with that lineup.
Amen?
Amen.
All right, let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Come lead us.
All right, sir, in the front of your hymnal
with the two songs, we'll start with
O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel.
Sing it out together.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel.
Yes, Lord, to only exile here
until the Son of God
is born.
Yes, Lord, to only exile here
until the Son of God
appears.
Rejoice, rejoice,
Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou rod of Jesse,
my own consternity.
Condense thy help, I hear, O say,
and give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice, rejoice,
Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou discret, come and cheer
our spirits by thy death and fear.
Disperse thy gloomy cloud of night,
and bless our shadows for all to guide.
Rejoice, rejoice,
Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou key of faith in tongue,
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe the way that leads on our high,
and close the path to misery.
Rejoice, rejoice,
Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, welcome, thou Lord of mine,
good to thy tribes on Sinai's high.
In ancient times this kingdom of God
gave love and majesty and awe.
Rejoice, rejoice,
Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Amen. Flip that sheet over, we'll sing together,
O Holy Night.
O Holy Night,
the stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long may the world
in sin and error find him,
till he appeared and the soul felt his birth.
Unreal of hope,
the weary world rejoices
for yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.
On your knees,
O hear the angel voices,
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born.
O night,
O Holy Night,
O night divine,
led by the light
of faith's serenely gleaming,
with glowing hearts by his cradle we stand.
Over the world,
a star is sweetly gleaming.
Out come the wise men
from all real land.
God gave the kings
laid us in lowly danger
in all our trials,
born to be our friend.
He knows our King,
our weakness is no stranger
beyond your King.
Behold,
him lowly man.
Behold,
your King.
Behold,
him lowly man.
Truly he taught
us love for one another.
His law is law,
and his gospel is peace.
Chains shall be preyed,
but slave is our brother,
and in his name
all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hands of joy,
in grateful chorus raise we
with all our hearts,
we praise his holy name.
Christ is the Lord,
oh praise his name forever.
His power and glory evermore
proclaim,
his power and glory evermore proclaim.
Thanks.
All right, this time we will pass you off of the plates
around as the plates go around.
Let's turn in our Bibles to 2 Corinthians 1.
2 Corinthians 1,
as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter,
beginning in verse number 1,
follow along silently with brother Corbin Brock as he reads.
2 Corinthians 1,
beginning in verse number 1.
2 Corinthians 1,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God,
in Timothy our brother,
under the church of God which is at Corinth,
with all the saints which are in all Ichaea.
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,
who comforted us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
And whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings,
which we also suffer,
or whether we be comforted,
it is for your consolation and salvation.
And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings,
so shall ye be also of the consolation.
For we would not, brethren,
have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia,
that we were pressed out of measure,
above strength,
insomuch that we despaired even of life.
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves,
that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God which raiseth the dead,
who delivered us from so great a death,
and doth deliver,
and whom we trust that He will yet deliver us.
Ye also helping together be by prayer for us,
that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,
thanks may be given by many on your behalf.
For our rejoicing is this,
the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity,
not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God,
we have had our conversation in the world
and more abundantly to you-ward.
For we write none other things unto you
than what ye read or acknowledge,
and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end,
as also ye have acknowledged us in part,
that we are your rejoicing,
even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before,
that ye might have a second benefit,
and to pass by you into Macedonia,
and to come again out of Macedonia unto you,
and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea.
When I therefore was thus minded,
did I use lightness?
Or the things that I purpose,
do I purpose according to the flesh,
that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay?
But as God is true,
our word toward you was not yea and nay.
For the Son of God Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us,
even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus,
was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
For all the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him amen,
unto the glory of God by us.
Now he which established us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God,
who hath also sealed us,
and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul,
that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth,
not for that we have dominion over your faith,
but are helpers of your joy,
for by faith you stand.
Father in heaven, thank you for your son Jesus Christ,
who died to pay for all our sins and then rose from the dead.
I also thank you Father for the earnest of the Holy Spirit
in the hearts of your children that have believed in your son Jesus Christ.
I pray that you please bless Pastor Anderson as he preaches your word.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Men, 2 Corinthians chapter number 1 here,
there's a word that comes up over and over again
in these first several verses,
and that is the word comfort.
Now when we hear the word comfort,
we might think of, you know, some kind of a cushion,
or something that's really soft and comfortable,
or something like that,
but we have to understand the word comfort in the Bible
means something more like to aid,
or encourage, or strengthen, or something like that,
and if you look it up in the dictionary,
you'll see that that is one of the definitions of comfort.
If you stop and just look at the word comfort,
you can see that the English word is built from the root fort,
like a fortress, like Spanish fuerte,
which means strong,
and so it has to do with strengthening and encouraging,
and if you stop and think about it,
even the way we would use this in our modern vernacular
fits in with that.
Let's say someone is bereaved of a loved one,
or someone is going through something painful or difficult,
and we comfort them, right?
We're trying to make them feel better,
but you could also say we're encouraging them,
we're strengthening them, we're supporting them,
we're building them up,
and that's what this word comfort means.
Now the Apostle Paul starts in with this right away
in verse number three where he says,
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort,
who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
So we have the word comfort like four times in one verse right there.
Okay, this is an important concept,
and here's the thing.
A lot of people are always asking this question,
why do bad things happen to good people, right?
And I'm sure that we've all asked this about our own lives
or maybe in the lives of people that we love.
We see them going through terrible things.
We see them going through tribulations,
troubles, trials, afflictions,
and how many times have human beings in the history of mankind
cried out to heaven and said, God, why?
Why is this happening?
Why am I going through this?
Why are they going through this?
Why did you allow this?
And here we see one of the key reasons
why we as servants of God go through hard times
and go through difficult things.
And when I say servants of God,
I don't just mean pastors or deacons
or people that are on staff or something.
I just mean all of us that are serving God,
man, woman, boy, and girl.
Why do we go through some of the painful,
difficult things that we go through?
Well, the Bible tells us that God comforts us in our tribulation.
He does not give us a life free from tribulation.
He doesn't allow us to escape tribulation
or not endure anything difficult or troubling,
but rather he purposely allows us
to go through the trials and tribulations
and then he strengthens us.
He encourages us.
He aids us and supports us to get through that.
Why?
So that we may be able, look at verse four,
to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Here's what I've noticed about people
that have not experienced hardship in their life.
They don't typically have a lot of sympathy
for what other people are going through
in those situations.
You know, for example, if you talk to people
who've never had any financial problems,
they've just always had plenty of money,
they will typically have an attitude
that anyone who isn't doing well financially
must be either lazy or stupid or both.
Right? But that's not true.
A lot of times people that are good people,
smart people, hardworking people,
whatever you want to say about them,
you know, people who are making the right choices
and doing the right things can sometimes
have some really serious financial problems
and be struggling financially and be destitute
or poor or going through these things.
But here's the thing, people who've never struggled
financially, they don't understand that.
Okay? And so here, it can be good
for us to have maybe gone through some financial problems
so that then when we see other people
that are struggling financially, we don't look down on them.
Instead, we can support them, we can encourage them,
we can help them, motivate them, whatever,
because we know that we've been there.
And that's just one example that I've noticed,
but we could say this about anything, right?
Why is it that anyone would go through marriage problems,
family problems, child-rearing problems,
financial problems, problems at their job,
problems at their church, problems with their siblings,
problems with whatever, all the different things
that you could imagine, health problems.
Why? Because then it allows you
to be able to help other people.
Because look, if I've gone through something difficult
and God helped me get through it,
and I went through it the right way,
relying on God for my strength and God for my comfort,
then when someone else comes along with that problem,
I'm gonna be able to help them.
I'm gonna be able to comfort them
with the same comfort that I received from God.
And so if you're wondering,
why do I have to go through this,
here's a great answer, because someday
you're gonna help someone who's gonna go through
the exact same thing that you're going through.
Whatever bad thing you're going through,
that's because down the road you're gonna be able
to help people who've been through that.
And here's the thing, serving God, being in the ministry,
being a soul winner, being a church member,
it's all about people, right?
We spend our lives working with people,
helping people, reaching people, okay?
And in order for us to relate to those people,
we have to go through the experiences that they go through.
And what's funny about this is that if you stop
and think about Jesus Christ himself,
who is God in the flesh, right?
But even though he was in the form of God
and thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
yet he made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found and fashioned as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.
So we have Jesus Christ actually coming
and becoming on this earth a literal,
bona fide human being.
And we talked about this a few weeks ago,
how Jesus wasn't just kind of going through
the motions of being a human being.
He was 100% human, he was an actual literal human being.
And that's just amazing to think that God
could basically come to this earth and be born as a baby
and grow up and live a human life, right?
Tempted at all points, like as we are,
yet without sin.
And therefore we have not a high priest
that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
because he was in all points tempted like as we are
yet without sin.
And so Jesus Christ even went through
a bunch of painful things in his life
so that now he can be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities.
Well guess what?
We have to do the same thing, right?
We're not just gonna live this super easy life
and serve God that way.
No, we have to go through pain and suffering
and trials and tribulations just like Christ did
so that we can then turn around and help other people
through those same difficulties.
And that's really what this chapter is all about.
And so it says in verse four,
he comforteth us in all our tribulation
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Verse five, for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
And here's what he's basically saying.
You know, the more trials we go through,
the more victories we're gonna have
because if we don't have any fights,
then we don't have any victories.
If we don't have any suffering,
then we don't have any recovery, right?
If we don't have any tribulations,
then we don't have any consolations.
And so life is going to be a series of battles
and difficulties and struggles that we can overcome
through Christ which strengtheneth us
rather than just living on easy street,
no conflict.
Well, if there's no conflict, there's also no victory.
There's also no success. There's also no winning.
And there are a lot of people out there
that just are kind of a do-nothing, be-nothing kind of a person
that doesn't want to make any waves,
doesn't really want to do anything big
because they want to just kind of fly under the radar.
And they can kind of be under the devil's radar
and just kind of go through life unscathed, quote, unquote.
But you know what?
They're also not getting to enjoy the victories
of the people who are putting themselves out there,
serving God to the fullest,
pushing themselves, working hard for God,
and then facing the backlash that comes with that.
And you know what?
I hope that you in 2025 decide
that you are going to push yourself in 2025
to serve God and to be maximum for Jesus Christ in 2025.
And you know what?
Maybe you're going to go through some hard things
and painful things, but you know what?
Let's go. Let's do it, right?
If the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so do also the consolations of Christ, right?
And so it's all worth it.
It says in verse 6, whether we be afflicted,
it is for your consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings
which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted,
it's for your consolation and salvation.
Now, here's the great thing about the Christian life
is that we know that whenever we're suffering,
we're not just suffering for nothing.
And guess what?
People that are not saved, people that are not Christians,
they're not serving God, they still suffer.
They still go through health problems,
they still have relationship problems,
they still have money problems,
just like all the rest of us deal with all the time.
They go through that stuff, except ultimately,
since they're not serving Christ,
it ends up being meaningless in the long run.
It's sort of just suffering for the sake of suffering, right?
And then if they even have success,
well, what does a man profited
if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Even the success ends up being meaningless in the end, right?
But here's the thing.
If we be afflicted, as Christian says in verse 6 here,
it's for your consolation and salvation.
See, if we go through persecutions and afflictions and stuff,
it's because we're getting people saved.
So he's like, hey, yeah, I'm going through stuff for you, right?
You're going through stuff for the lost,
not just, well, we're just going through stuff
and we can't find any meaning in it.
Well, you know what?
Those that are out there preaching the gospel,
winning souls to Christ, serving God,
they can always find meaning in their suffering
because it's not just suffering,
it's, well, it's the suffering of Christ abounding in us,
and if we suffer, it's for your sake.
It's for you. It's for the lost.
We're going through persecution
because we're preaching the gospel to the lost,
and then there's a reason for it, and then it has meaning.
So that's why Paul says, whether we be afflicted,
it's for your consolation and salvation.
That makes it worth it.
That's why he tells the Philippians, he said,
you know, I'll gladly be, expand and be spent for you
if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith,
I have joy and rejoice for you all.
He's saying, I'll be poured out for you.
I'll be offered for you.
I will spend and be spent for you, right?
Why? Because he's reaching people with the gospel.
He's strengthening God's people,
and so if we're afflicted, it's for your consolation and salvation,
which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings,
which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted,
it's for your consolation and salvation.
He's saying, look, sometimes we're going to be going through hard things.
It's going to be a low point, and you know what?
At the end of the day, we're suffering for you,
and it helps us be able to encourage you
when you're going through the same thing.
But then he says, other times, things are going great for us,
and the consolation's abounding, and we're being comforted,
and again, then we can pass on that encouragement
and blessing to you as well.
The Christian life's a win-win.
The Christian life is filled with ups and downs,
good times and bad times, but it's a win-win.
You know what it makes me think of?
It makes me think of these experts in the stock market,
which I have no interest in the stock market.
I'm not a financial money economics kind of a guy,
but some of you might still understand this illustration.
You know, there are people out there
that are making money on the way up and on the way down.
You know what I'm saying?
Who knows what I'm talking about, right?
It doesn't matter if it's the bear market
or the bull market, right?
They know how to play the game,
and they know how to make money on the way up,
and they know how to make money on the way down.
If stocks are going up, they're making money.
If stocks are going down, they're making money,
because they're short-selling
and doing all these squirrelly things that they do, right?
And I'm not claiming to be an expert on these things,
but you know, and I know, and you know,
we're not going to bring up a certain, you know, religious group
that might be extra involved in this.
But the point is that there are people
making money on the way up and on the way down,
and you know, I look at this spiritually,
you know, that basically we as Christians,
it's like we're earning rewards on the way up
and on the way down.
You know what I mean?
It's like we are winning whether the market's high,
it's bull or a bear market, we're winning.
We make money on the way up and down
to put in our spiritual account in heaven.
He says, look, whether we're afflicted,
whether we're comforted, either way, we are winning.
It's a blessing.
We're reaching people.
We're helping people.
Because here's the thing.
When God blesses us and everything's going well for us,
I mean, that's obvious.
We're thriving.
Obviously we're winning.
We're thriving.
We're winning souls.
We're doing a bunch of work for God.
When we have total peace,
like when our church is not under attack
and we're just experiencing peace,
well, that's great,
because then we can just focus on the work.
We can just focus and do the work
and we won't be bothered or hindered in any way.
Obviously we love that.
But here's the thing.
Even when we're being persecuted,
afflicted, blocked, you know what?
At the same time, God uses that for his glory as well,
and that's a necessary thing that we need to go through.
So we make money on the way up and on the way down.
If we have a soul-winning marathon in another country
and it's just allowed to happen,
well, then, you know, we have great success.
Or if the government bans us
and kicks me out of the country
and goes around trying to hunt down all our members and everything,
well, you know, we even get even more mileage out of that
because then it's just more people hear about the preaching
and they end up listening to the gospel
and they end up getting saved
when they listen to that preaching.
And so that's what we see here in verse number 6.
Then it says in verse 7,
And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings,
so shall ye be also of the consolation.
And so he's saying, look, this has been my personal experience,
but now I'm looking at you
and seeing the stuff that you're going through,
and I have total confidence
that your suffering will come to an end
and that you will ultimately be blessed by God
and that the consolation is coming, okay?
He's saying, but why?
Because he's saying, look, I've been through it,
and now I can tell you that I have no doubt
that you're going to get through it too.
And, you know, what's interesting is,
I'll talk to people sometimes who are going through hard times,
and a lot of times, man,
they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
They cannot see a way forward.
They cannot see that things are going to get better.
But as a third party, it's easy for me to say,
trust me, I know this is going to be fine, right?
It's easy to say as a third party,
but when you're going through it,
it doesn't feel that way, does it?
It feels like, my life's over, this is it.
You know, this is the end of the road for me.
But of course, you don't know what a day is going to bring forth, okay?
And for those of us that are standing outside as a third party,
we have confidence, our hope is steadfast,
that as your partakers of the sufferings,
so shall you be also of the consolation.
And here's the thing, you know,
when you're going through a really bad time,
that's why it's good to talk to other people that can encourage you.
Because when you're in that tribulation,
you know, sometimes you can't see a way out,
and it just feels never-ending.
It feels like things will never be the same.
And sometimes you need that third party person to come along and tell you,
hey, weeping may endure for the night,
but joy cometh in the morning,
and give you that encouragement.
And that's why when you're going through a bad time,
you don't want to just shut off from people and say,
well, I'm just going to get out of church,
and I'm just going to isolate myself.
No, that's really the time that you should be in church
and get around other people and let other people encourage you.
Because why?
Because they're not as emotional about things.
They can look at your situation and say, hey,
you're going to weather the storm.
You're going to get through this.
You're going to be okay.
Hey, and by the way, I went through something similar or whatever.
Whatever it is.
Okay.
And so that's a beautiful thing about the church, too,
is that because there's hundreds of people in the church,
is that some, you know, virtually somebody's been through everything.
You know?
And even in a smaller church, that's probably true,
just because we as people end up going through the same things
over and over again, you know?
And so in most churches, you're probably going to be able to find people
that have had an analogous experience.
And so he says, our hope of you is steadfast.
You know, maybe you're worried.
Maybe you don't see a way out.
But hey, I'm looking at this thing as somebody who's been there, done that,
and I know you're going to be okay.
Our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as your partakers of the sufferings,
so shall you be also of the consolation.
How do I know that?
He says in verse 8, for we would not, brethren,
have you ignorant of our trouble.
He's saying, well, let me tell you what I've been through.
He says, we would not have you ignorant of our trouble,
which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure
above strength in so much that we despaired even of life.
Now, don't just read over those words,
because those are some pretty strong words there.
He says, we were pressed out of measure.
Okay.
Now, here's the thing.
A lot of times people will say,
God's never going to give you more than what you can handle.
In some ways that is a true statement, right?
Because when he says, when someone says,
God's never going to give you more than you can handle,
what they really mean by that is God's not going to give you more
than you can handle with his support and with his aid,
because he will give you more than you can handle by yourself
without him helping you.
Absolutely.
Like, like he will push you not only to your absolute limit,
he will push you beyond your limit.
Okay.
So that you have to rely on him, so that without him you would fail,
you would be toast.
And so the apostle Paul is saying, we were pressed out of measure.
So we were like, basically if you have like a meter,
out of measure is like if you have a meter like the tribulation scale,
it broke.
You know what I mean?
Like, like if it's like a tribulation thermometer,
it was like, you know,
sort of like happens every summer here to all of our thermometers.
That's, you know, there are no thermometers and fees.
They all shatter.
But the point is that, you know, it broke the meter.
It was off the charts.
We were pressed out of measure above strength, right?
So it's like, this is beyond the strength that we have,
beyond our ability, beyond what we could measure.
We were pushed to our limits and beyond our limit
in so much that we despaired even of life.
What does it mean to despair of life?
It means we don't want to be alive anymore.
It means we were just so done, we're just like, kill me now.
I mean, that is pretty bad when you're despairing of life.
And, you know, when I see this scripture about, you know,
being pressed out of measure and above strength,
it makes me think of weightlifting, okay?
Because anybody who lifts weights knows that there's a thing called
progressive overload, right?
And progressive overload is the reason why the water delivery guy
isn't just a complete beast.
Because you'd expect that the water delivery guy would just be
an absolute unit because of the fact that he is just lifting
these giant heavy bottles all day long.
I mean, bro lifts weights for a living eight hours a day,
you would think, like, this guy's going to be huge.
But yet, he's a normal guy.
I'm not saying he's weak or anything, but he's just pretty much a normal guy.
I mean, when was the last time you looked at the water delivery guy,
and you were just like, whoa, man, this guy's a monster.
He's usually a pretty average dude.
And let me tell you why.
Even though he's lifting more weights than I'm lifting,
more weights than you're lifting,
if you add up all the weight that he's lifting in one day,
it's this incredible amount of weight that he's lifting.
Why is he not just absolutely jacked?
I'll tell you why.
Because he's not having any progressive overload.
He's lifting the exact same amount every day.
So I'm sure that for the first few days or weeks of that job,
he built a bunch of muscle.
You know, as he got used to this new job of lifting so many bottles,
he had to build some muscle.
But here's the thing.
He built that muscle in the first few days or weeks.
And then his body's like, okay, we're good now.
This is what we need to do.
We have the muscle we need.
And so all he's doing is lifting the same amount for the same amount of reps.
And if you did the same thing, if you went to the gym
and lifted the exact same amount every week,
same amount of reps every week, you're not going to get stronger.
You're not going to get bigger.
You're not going to build endurance.
You're not going to build anything.
You're just going to maintain.
That's it.
Okay.
So there's a concept called progressive overload.
Right?
So when you go to the gym to lift weights,
you have to do more than last time.
If you want to get stronger or build muscle or something,
you have to push it a little further every time.
That's why I always meticulously write down every single rep that I do
and I log all that so that I can go back in the gym next time and say,
okay, last time I did five.
This time I need to do six.
Or last time I did this much weight, I need to add ten pounds.
I need to add five.
Because if you're not adding weight or adding reps, you're not growing.
You know?
And so here's the thing about that is that in order for trials and tribulations
to really make us stronger and really bring us to another level spiritually,
they kind of have to be harder than anything we've ever gone through,
if you think about it, or at least different.
Right?
Because even if they're not harder, they have to be different.
Right?
Because even if we went to the gym and didn't push ourselves harder,
if we just did a totally different workout and then another totally different workout,
we keep doing different kinds of workouts, we're going to keep building muscle.
We're going to keep on growing because we're challenging ourselves in new ways.
Right?
And you've got to keep adding weight or adding reps and making it harder.
Otherwise, everything just gets too easy.
Okay?
And so that's why God has to press us above measure and above strength,
and he has to push us beyond our limits so that we can raise our limits.
Right?
So this is our limit.
He pushed us beyond our limit.
That's our new limit now.
Then later, he pushed us beyond that limit.
Now that's our new limit.
And let me tell you something.
You know, I can remember persecutions and things that happened to me back in 2009
and 2010 where at the time, I mean, they were very upsetting.
And I was very upset.
I was very worried and anxious.
And then I went through other things in 2012 and 2013 that were just very stressful,
very difficult, very painful.
But now I look back at those things and I just think, like, those are a joke.
What was I even on about?
That was nothing.
That was child's play.
But then what's funny is then I'll see another preacher go through something similar
that I went through, like, 15 years ago or something,
and I'm thinking to myself, like, oh, man, that's nothing.
But then I have to remember, though, wait a minute.
When I went through it, though, it wasn't nothing to me.
You know, when it's your first time, it isn't nothing.
And then I see people, they're scared, they're struggling, they're having a hard time.
It's like, well, so was I the first 50 times.
You know, that's just kind of the way life works.
And so that's why God will sometimes push us through all that.
Why am I preaching about it this morning?
Because I guarantee you that there are a lot of people going through stuff,
and if you're not going through stuff now, you'll be going through stuff later.
And I want you to remember this sermon that when you are pushed to your absolute limit,
just remember, well, this is how God operates.
He's pushing me to my absolute limit so that he can raise my limit,
so that he can make me stronger, and because someday down the road,
I'm going to be helping somebody who's going through this exact problem.
Somebody else is going to need my help, and I'm going to be able to come to them and say,
hey, I have been there, I've gone through this exact thing, and you're going to get through it.
My hope of you is steadfast. I'm confident in that.
So he says, look, man, when I was in Asia, I was pressured out of measure,
above strength, I was despairing of life, and it wasn't just him because it was we.
So it's not just the apostle Paul who's going through this stuff.
Christians in general are going through this stuff.
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, it says in verse 9,
that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.
So again, if it would have been within our limits, we could have just trusted in ourselves.
But because it was beyond our limits, we had to trust God.
We had the sentence of death so that we could only trust the person who can raise the dead.
Right? Because we might just think, well, death is the end.
But for God, death's not even the end.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
See, with God, there's never an end. It's never over.
We are never defeated. Right? It's never like, oh, you are done.
If you're a Christian, you're never done.
Even death is just translation into the kingdom of God.
It's just going to heaven. Right?
Our life will never be over.
Our challenges that come at us now that may seem like, oh, this is the end of the line for us,
it's never the end of the line for God's people.
Right? Because even if you're dead, God can raise the dead.
It says in verse number 9 at the end, God, which raised the dead, who delivered us, verse 10, from so great a death,
and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.
Like, look, if he delivered us in the past, then we just trust that he's going to deliver us in the future.
Why would it be any different? Right?
And you stop and think about this.
You go through life, and it's like, God's always met your needs.
He met your needs this year, this year, this year, this year, this year.
And then now all of a sudden you're not sure if God's going to meet your needs?
When has he ever not taken care of you?
When has he ever not delivered you?
And this reminds me of David when he's fleeing from Saul,
and God always delivers David out of Saul's hand.
Because David is the Lord's anointed, and God's going to protect David even though Saul's trying to kill him.
But yet, David gets discouraged and says, you know what, someday Saul's going to get me.
But why would you think that Saul's going to get you someday when God's never let him get you so far?
He's never going to get you. God's going to protect you.
But we have this mentality sometimes where we get fatigued of being delivered,
and then we finally just say, well, you know, at this point I just need to take things into my own hands.
Well, hold on a second.
If God always did it in the past, we've got to believe that he's going to keep doing it in the future.
And so if God has seen you through up to this point, well then you've got to trust that he will yet deliver you in the future.
Verse 11 says, Ye also, helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,
thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
And, you know, the thing about 2 Corinthians is that some of the language is a little difficult.
I find this to be one of the most difficult books of the New Testament as far as just parsing some of the language and things.
It's written at kind of a high level, but, you know, if we slow down, it's pretty easy to break this down if we slow down and look at it.
You also helping together by prayer for us, right?
So he's saying, look, you guys are all praying for us.
It's a huge number of people that are praying for us.
And because there are a huge number of people praying for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons,
what that means is that God's going to gift us, he's going to give us blessings and grace and protection and success.
And that gift, every gift comes from God, right?
That gift that comes upon us by the means of many persons, right?
Many different people are praying and because of many people's prayers, we receive the blessings and then thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
So what's he saying? He said, look, lots of people are praying, God protects us, God sees us through the difficulty,
and then tons of people get an answered prayer, tons of people get to rejoice because they're part of the team.
And they all get to rejoice in the consolation because they had a part in it because they were praying, right?
So think about it, you're praying for someone else to get through something difficult, God gets them through it, that's an answered prayer for you.
You get to rejoice now and say, oh, thank you, God, and you can give thanks to God, thank you for taking care of so and so that I was praying for.
And so at the end of the day, God has a plan in all of this, all the bad things that are happening, God has a plan.
You know, whatever bad thing that you go through in your life, there's a plan.
None of your suffering as a Christian is ever meaningless.
And believe me, there's a lot of meaningless suffering in this world.
But not for Christians, not for people that are serving God, not for those that love God, because all things work together for good to them that love God.
Now does the Bible say everything works together for good to everybody on the planet?
No, because a lot of people are doomed.
But all things work together for good to them that love God, and to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And so it says in verse 12, for our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom,
but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to you were.
Now verse 12 is a key component to this whole formula.
In order for you to have this attitude that says, well, none of my suffering is meaningless.
Because, you know, if I'm afflicted, it's for you.
If I'm consoled, it's for you.
And, you know, God is going to deliver us and it's going to be great and God's going to bless us and, you know, we're going through horrible things.
But tons of people are praying and then a whole bunch of people get to answer prayer.
We all rejoice together.
You know, here's the caveat is you got to have a good conscience toward God, you know.
And obviously nobody's perfect or sinless.
But obviously you have to be living for God in order for this to apply.
You know, when you're living in sin, when you're not serving the Lord, when you're out living a life that's just all about yourself.
Well then you can't just grab onto these promises.
And sometimes you'll see people try to do this, right?
You'll see people that barely go to church or don't even go to church at all.
Okay.
Or sometimes you'll see people that aren't even a Christian.
But usually you'll see people that are like, you know, saved but just barely serving God, if at all.
And then it's just, they just, oh man, everything works together for good.
My God shall supply all your need.
All these things shall be added unto you.
You know, ask and you shall receive.
They're kind of just claiming all these promises.
It's like, hold up.
Because there is a prerequisite to those promises.
All things work together for good to those who love God.
Right?
Well, you know, I just know God's directing my paths.
Well, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
You know.
Well, you know, God's going to give, God promised to give us food and clothing.
No, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
And all these things will be added unto you, specifically referring to food, clothing, drink, etc.
And so the point is that you want to exercise yourself to have a good conscience toward God in order to get in on this program.
Okay.
And not just assume that you can just be worldly, backslidden, sinful, out breaking God's commandments and just living a worldly, sinful life.
Just like, you know, the average person is living and you're not serving God.
You can't expect to be in on this kind of blessing.
You know, he says, our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience.
Right?
So our conscience is testifying to us.
He says, hey man, you're right with God, so everything's going to be okay.
It's sort of like Job, right?
I mean, Job was going through horrible stuff and look, his friends thought that he must have done wrong to be in that situation.
But yet, Job knew that he was actually right with God.
He had the testimony of his conscience telling him, hey, I know that I'm right with God.
And so because he had that, that's what, you know, gave him the confidence to push through that trial and ultimately to come forth as gold.
You know, even though everything around him was pointing in the opposite direction.
It says in verse 12, our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience.
You know, our conscience is telling us that this is true.
Our conscience is not pricking us and saying, hey man, this is happening to you because you're a fornicator or you're an adulterer or you're a drunk
or you quit going to church or, you know, you didn't honor your father and mother or you're out coveting and the love of money is what you're into now.
You know, he's saying, no, no, no, the testimony of our conscience assures us and lets us know that in simplicity and godly sincerity, right?
He's saying, look, my conscience tells me that I'm sincere, right?
And here's the thing, you don't always know that about other people, but you know that about yourself, don't you?
I mean, you know whether you really love God or not.
You know whether you're really sincere about serving God or whether you're doing it for the wrong reasons.
You may not know that about other people, but you dead sure know that about yourself, whether you're for real.
And so he says that in the testimony of our conscience, some other person doesn't necessarily have to testify to this.
It's enough for your own conscience to testify to this that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly to you.
And conversation in this context is more like the way that you live your life, right?
It's not just the things that you say, it's also just the way you live.
And then the King James Bible, we use the word this way, it was talking about being conversant, meaning like living in a certain area.
And so it's saying here that our way of life, our conversation in this world was not based on fleshly wisdom.
We're not living according to the way this world tells us to live, right?
We're living the way that the Bible tells us to live.
We're following the Bible, we haven't just gone through life following a carnal program for life.
We've had our conversation in this world by the grace of God, not with fleshly wisdom, and more abundantly to you word.
And you know what? It says in verse 12, that is our rejoicing at the beginning.
He says our rejoicing is this, right? The testimony of our conscience.
And here's the thing, this allows you to have joy in some of the most difficult trials when you know that you're right with God.
I mean how could the apostle Paul and Silas be in the prison singing praises to God at midnight, they're beaten, they're in prison, because it feels good to be right with God, that's why.
It feels good. You can have joy unspeakable and full of glory, but you know what?
The most depressing thing is being backslidden and sinful, especially as a Christian.
Because the unsaved people, they might be able to be happy living a sinful life.
When you're saved, you're not going to be happy living a sinful life.
You're going to have that conscience bothering you, you're grieving the Holy Spirit, and whatever.
But man, there's joy in knowing that you're right with God.
No matter how bad things are, you'd rather be in a horrible situation knowing you're right with God than to be in a beautiful situation knowing that you're not right with God.
Just kind of waiting for the penny to drop and for everything to come crashing down around you.
And so that's our rejoicing testimony of our conscience, right?
And specifically it's that we didn't live a life based on fleshly wisdom.
We, in godliness and simplicity, godly sincerity, by the grace of God, we've had our conversation in this world.
We've lived our life according to the Bible.
And so we feel good about things.
For we write none other things unto you than what ye read or acknowledge or what you read or acknowledge.
And I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end, as also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before that you might have a second benefit and to pass by you into Macedonia, to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of you to be brought on my way toward Judea.
So he's talking about all the plans that he has for travels and missionary journeys and how he wants to come swing by the Corinthians once again.
And he says in verse 17, when I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness or the things that I purpose? Do I purpose according to the flesh that with me there should be yea, yea and nay, nay?
And here's what he's saying. He's saying, look, when we human beings make plans, they don't always happen the way that we expect them to happen, right?
So we might have 2025 all planned out a certain way and then it's just going to go totally differently than the way we want it to go or the way that we planned it, right?
That's how our plans work. That's how human planning is. We as human beings, we make a plan, it may or may not happen. It could be yea, it could be nay. We don't know, right?
But he says that if we purpose according to the flesh, then with us there would be like yea, yea and nay, nay, right? Could go either way.
But it says in verse 18, but as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him, amen unto the glory of God by us. And what he's saying here is that, you know, when God makes a promise, it's just yea.
When God makes a plan, when God has a vision for something, it's just going to happen. That's why he speaks of the things which are not as though they be.
That's why we can read the book of Revelation. We can read all about the end of the world and it's just already done. It's already there, right?
Because when God has a plan, when God has a will, when God is going to carry something out and he promises to do it, you know, it's a for sure. It's a done deal.
Not like we're human beings. They might promise you and then break their promise.
And we've probably all had people make commitments to us, promises to us, they've given us their word about something or they've told us that they're going to do something and then they reneged on that.
Whereas God will never renege. When he has a plan, it's just yea and amen. It's not, well, we'll see how it goes, yea, nay, we don't know. Is God going to come through? We don't really know.
At the end of the day, we know that all the promises of God, it says in verse 20, in him are yea and in him, amen. Unto the glory of God by us.
You see, God, with God on our side, we cannot lose. No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper, right? We know all things work together for good to them that love God.
We know that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We know that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us and though ten thousands of people should set themselves in array against us, we will not fear.
Though the mountains be removed and cast into the sea, we will not be afraid. We will not even care. We're not worried about it because God is on our side and if God be for us, who can be against us? No one.
And it's not like, well, you know, that's kind of true. It's just yea. It's just yes, amen. And we can have that steadfast, confident assurance that God is on our side and will come through for us.
Not like human beings who are constantly letting us down. And let's face it, we've all been let down by people and we will continue to be let down by people.
People that we expected more from. They will let us down or other people will even stab us in the back or do us dirty or betray us in some way. Well, we know Christ went through that. You know, Peter denied him.
Peter, you know, he didn't fight against Jesus or attack Jesus or he wasn't screaming crucify him or something. He wasn't selling out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but you know what he did do?
He fled in Christ's time of need and he denied that he even knew Jesus. Well, guess what? You're going to have friends where when you need them, they're just going to be like, see ya, sucka.
They're the Simon Peters of this world, right? Who are basically just, they're not bad people. They're not wicked people. They don't hate you, but they're just not willing to pay the price for being your friend.
So they're just like, bye, see you later, right? They're ashamed of the chain and so they're going to be people like that. Then they're going to be people who just outright betray you like a Judas Iscariot and just stab you in the back, right?
I mean, look, Jesus went through all this. Jesus was mocked and ridiculed. He had family members mocking and ridiculing him in John chapter seven. Okay.
Jesus had to sleep outside at times. He didn't have any place to stay. He went through all of these difficult things that we go through. He was tempted at all points, like as we are yet without sin.
And so he went through those things. You're going to go through those things. I'm going to go through those things. But at the end of the day, even though we're going to be surrounded by Peters and Judases and these other people, God's never going to let us down.
You know what the Bible says? When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. You know, when everybody lets you down, even your mother and father, if they were to forsake you, God is never going to leave you or forsake you.
You know, and so he's all, other people, it's kind of a yay, nay, you don't know which way it's going to go with people sometimes. Whereas with God, it's always yay and amen.
Now he who established with us, verse 21, with you in Christ, and hath anointed us as God, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
And look, if you ever doubt the doctrine of eternal security, if you ever start to think to yourself, oh, maybe somebody can lose their salvation, just look up all these verses about being sealed by the Holy Ghost.
Because there are a whole bunch of verses about that. And when you look at all of them, and especially Ephesians chapter one, you look at Ephesians chapter one, and you look at stuff like, I mean, just over and over again, the Bible tells us we are sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption.
And we have that earnest of the Holy Spirit until the redemption of the purchased possession. God has already bought us with a price, and we've been bought and paid for, we are saved, we are seated in heavenly places with Christ, we are eternally secure, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are sealed by the Holy Ghost, and we have the earnest or the down payment of the Holy Ghost. You think that Christ made the down payment, and then he's just going to be delinquent on paying the payment?
Now look, maybe you've been delinquent on paying your bills at times, and maybe you've failed to make a monthly payment at times. God never fails a monthly payment.
You don't have to send some loan shark, some credit collector, some debt collector, some bounty hunter after God, you know, because he's not paying the payments on your salvation.
You think he's just some derelict that's getting his furniture repo'd or something? Because he couldn't make the payments down at Rent to Own or whatever?
No, my friend, I'm telling you, he has made the down payment, and he has given us the promise and the assurance, it's yay, it's amen, we're sealed unto the day of redemption, and nothing can change that.
We've got the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul that to spare you, I came not as yet to Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.
For by faith he sent. He's just saying, look, I know you guys are messed up, and you've got a bunch of sin going on, I just didn't want to show up to Corinth too soon, and have to just come down on you like a ton of bricks.
I wanted you to get your house in order before I show up, he's saying. I wanted to spare you the embarrassment of me showing up when you're in disarray down there.
But he's saying, look, I don't have dominion over your faith, I'm not trying to lord over you, but he's saying, I'm a helper of your joy, we're helpers of your joy, by faith you stand.
And so, this whole chapter from start to finish is about comforting the afflicted, right? Comforting the afflicted. Helping them have joy, right?
Because, let's face it, sadness, depression, sorrow, heartache, they can be debilitating. They can be crippling, right?
I just preached about it a week or two ago when I was talking about, you know, the tips for leading a healthy and happy life.
And I was reading that article how there was some huge percentage of people in America who'd been so depressed that they could not function for two weeks or longer, meaning that they couldn't do their job, or they couldn't go to school, or they, you know, they couldn't take their classes, or go to work, or take care of their family, or cook the meals, or clean the house, or whatever.
They were crippled, they were paralyzed, they were debilitated by depression. That's just kind of from a worldly, earthly perspective.
But here's the thing, as Christians, right, we could sometimes, even if we're still going through the motions of our job, and we're still going to work every day, we're still brushing our teeth and taking a shower, and doing what we need to do, you know what?
If we're not having joy in our Christian life, though, that can slow us down from really giving everything in the ministry or in soul winning, right?
I mean, look, if we have the joy of the Lord as our strength, we're going to be able to push ourselves more in our Bible reading, push ourselves in soul winning, push ourselves out on the mission field, push ourselves to do more.
If you're down in the dumps, and look, I've experienced this, where days where I'm in a good mood, I'm just way more productive, both physically and spiritually.
And days that I'm in a bad mood, and I'm sad and upset, it's like, I just don't get things done. I'm just not as productive.
And we want to be productive spiritually, we want to be productive Christians, and so we need to stay encouraged, right?
We need to have a good attitude, we need to rejoice, and so Paul is trying to help their joy because he wants them to keep serving God to the fullest.
And if we can help other people's joy, if we can keep other people encouraged, we're helping them do more for God.
Anytime you encourage a brother or sister in Christ, you know what, you're helping them do more.
Because you can do more when you're rejoicing than when you're in heaviness. You're going to do less.
And so this chapter is about, number one, understanding why am I going through bad things.
Right? Why are we hurting? So that we can help other people who go through the same thing. Okay.
Why do we want to help other people who are going through the same thing to stay encouraged?
Well, obviously we want people to be happy, but not only that, because we want to be helpers of their joy.
Because then we can all, as a team, accomplish more for God. You know, by being happy, healthy, rejoicing people.
Now, here's the thing. Obviously, we are all going to go through seasons of sorrow.
Even Jesus was a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief.
But did he let sorrows and sadness swallow him up and overcome him to the point where he became depressed and unable to do anything? No.
Jesus is always super busy in the Gospels. He stayed encouraged. He kept rejoicing even though he went through sorrows and grief.
And so I hope that if you're going through something, you know, and you know, look, let's face it.
Christmas time can either be a really nice time for people or sometimes it can be a depressing time for people.
Like, you hear about people literally committing suicide around this time of year. Right? I mean, I'm not making this up.
I mean, some people are just super happy. You know, eight and nine year olds right now, they don't know what I'm talking about because they're just like,
how could, you know, Christmas is the best thing ever. They're like, what are you talking about? Yeah. Well, when you're a kid.
Yeah. Life's easy. But here's the thing for adults.
Sometimes Christmas can be super happy, super fun, something you look forward to, or it can be something super depressing.
Right. Different people are going through different things. And here's the thing.
If you're one of those people out there under the sound of my voice where this is a hard time for you, or maybe you're going through difficult times.
Maybe you're experiencing severe health problems right now. Maybe you're super sick or injured or, you know, you're going through health problems.
Maybe you're going through relationship problems. Maybe your finances are just, you know, pressed above measure beyond strength.
You know, you're like, well, that sounds like my bank account right now. Wow.
He really did push me beyond my limit, my credit limit, my little.
I really can connect to what you're saying, Pastor Anderson, about raising the limit. I'm trying to get my credit card to do that right now.
Here's the thing. Whatever you're going through, if you're going through that kind of stuff right now.
Just remember, God is pushing you through something difficult so that you can be stronger.
You say, well, how do you know that this has anything to do with God? Well, let me ask this. How's your conscience?
Because, yeah, if you're out living a wicked, sinful life, then all bets are off.
But if you are serving God right now, if you love the Lord right now, if you're trying to do well, and if you're growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
then my confidence in you is steadfast, knowing that as you're a partaker of the sufferings, you're going to be a partaker of the consolation.
And so if your conscience is good, then realize that what you're going through is going to make you stronger, it's going to make you a better person,
and you're going to end up serving God even more, and someday you're going to help someone who's going through the exact same thing.
And look, if you're not right with God this morning, I plead with you, get right with God, and I promise you one thing, 2025 will be a great year for you if you get right with God.
I'm not saying you're not going to go to prison. I'm not saying you're not going to take a beating in an alley.
I'm not saying you're not going to lose everything you've got, but it's going to be a great year.
Because you know what? We make money on the way up and on the way down. Amen?
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you so much for the consolation, Lord.
And Lord, it's hard to say this, but thank you for the suffering. Thank you for the trials. Thank you for the tribulations.
Because by letting the tribulations abound, you've allowed the consolation to abound.
And for many people's prayers to be answered, and for much thanks to be given on our behalf.
Lord God, we thank you so much for our wonderful church and the fellowship and friends we have that are helpers of our joy.
Help us to be helpers of other people's joy this week and this coming year.
And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Amen. All right, ladies and gentlemen, take your hymnals, please. Go to Hymn 422.
Hymn 422.
Thou didst leave thy throne. Hymn 422.
We'll begin to get on that first verse. Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown.
Hymn 422. Sing it out together now.
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown, when thou gave this to earth for me.
But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room for thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in thy heart for me.
Heaven's arches ring when the angels sing, proclaiming thy royal decree.
But of lowly birth didst thou come to earth and in great humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee.
The foxes compressed and the birds their nests in the shade of the forest dream.
But thy couch was the sod, O thou Son of God, in the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee.
Thou cameest the Lord with the living work that should set thy people free.
But with mocking scorn and with proud absorb, they bore thee to Calvary.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee.
When the heavens shall ring and the angels sing, at thy coming to victory.
Let thy voice call me home, saying, yet there is room, there is room at thy side for thee.
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus, when thou comest and callest for me.
All right, we're dismissed. And also, we do have free food over here.
We normally only have that on Wednesday nights, but we got a bunch of free food yesterday as well.
So be sure to check that out. We are dismissed.
We are dismissed.
Thank you.