Are we keeping them all the same?
I can't come here, I'm busy!
It's your dad!
He wants to be watching you at this time.
Oh boy.
Are you nervous that this week might be the week?
It's going to hit you like a truck.
Oh yeah, I'm just kidding.
You're like, you can even ask a person.
He's not just caring for us.
It actually, actually happens.
You can say stuff in your mind, but like...
There comes time.
Right?
Do you want to do each one one?
We did one once this time.
One forty-five?
Yeah.
One forty-five?
One forty-five.
Brethren, we have met to worship.
Great song about church.
Song number four hundred and forty-eight.
Brethren, we have met to worship.
Brethren, we have met to worship
and adore the Lord our God.
Tell you to pray with all your power
while we try to reach the Lord.
All is made unless the Spirit
of the Holy One comes down.
Brethren, then holy manna
will be showered all around.
Brethren, see poor sinners round you
slumbering on the brink of war.
Death is coming, hell is burning
can you bear to let them go?
See your fathers and our mothers
and our children seeking down.
Brethren, pray and holy manna
will be showered all around.
Sisters, will you join in?
Help us, Moses' sister.
Aid in him.
Will you help the trembling mourners
who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior.
Tell them that he will be found.
Sisters, pray and holy manna
will be showered all around.
Brethren, then holy manna
will be showered all around.
Let us love our God supremely.
Let us love each other too.
Let us love and pray for sinners
till our God makes all things near.
Then he'll call us home to heaven
Christ will gird himself and serve us
with sweet manna all around.
Amen. Good singing. Let's bow out to a word of prayer.
Dear Father, we just thank you that we be gathered here tonight to hear the preaching of your word.
Bless the service, bless the singing, and fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit
that he could edify the congregation here tonight. We love you and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Next song is going to be song number 145.
It is Well With My Soul.
Now for the chorus, normally it's ladies for the first part and then men for the second.
However, this time we're going to have this left side of this room.
My left, y'all are going to sing the first part, It Is Well.
And then the right side of the room, we'll follow up with that on the chorus.
Song number 145.
All together.
It is well with my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
It is well
With my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
Though Satan should buffet
Though trials should come
Let this best assurance
God show
That Christ has regarded
My helpless estate
And hath shed his own blood
For my soul
It is well
With my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
I sin o'er the place
Of this glorious thought
I sin not in part
But the whole
Is nailed to the cross
With no more praise the Lord
Praise the Lord, O my soul
It is well
With my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
And Lord
The day when my faith
Shall be signed
The clouds may roll back
As a storm
The trump shall resound
And the Lord shall descend
Even so, it is well
It is well
With my soul
It is well
It is well with my soul
Good evening, thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you did not already get a bulletin or you'd like one, please slip up your hand real quick
and we can have an usher come by and get you a bulletin on the front.
We have our Bible memory passage, Exodus chapter 20, verse 24,
and we're getting really close to wrapping this one up.
If you are able to quote the entire passage, you can receive a special prize
as well as any child that's able to quote that passage
on Wednesdays evenings, they can receive an ice cream treat.
On the inside we have our service and soul winning times as well as church stats.
I'm going to get the count for the last few days just so we have that.
Was there anything to report from this past Monday by chance?
Okay, what about Tuesday?
Was there anything from Tuesday?
Okay, what about...
I'm on the wrong days, this is why it's so confusing. Okay, sorry.
What about Thursday? How about Thursday? Was there anything from Thursday?
What about Friday?
Two for Friday. What about Saturday?
We had five
for Saturday and then today I didn't get the count for the van
so I think there was one from the van, right?
Okay, so it looks like
we had six for today. Praise the Lord on that. Also on the right, we have a list
of several expecting ladies. Please keep them all up in your prayers.
We have other prayer requests. If you'd please either email us those
or fill out a communication card so we can be in prayer for you.
Also we have a couple upcoming events. August 8th, Brother Deacon Oliver Gonzalez
from Verity Baptist Church will be coming and preaching for us.
September 11th, we have a soul winning marathon in Shreveport, Louisiana.
And then also we have our conference in October.
That's pretty much all that I had for announcements at this time. Let's go to our
third song for the evening. 441, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
Song 441,
Great Is Thy Faithfulness. We do have a
baptism at the end of the service so definitely stick around for that.
And that's 441, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.
All together on the top.
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand
hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me
Summer and winter
and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature
and manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand
hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me
Pardon for sin
and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to
God. Strength for today
and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings of mine with ten thousand peace
I. Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed
thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me
Amen. Great singing.
While the offering plates are being passed
around, please turn your Bibles to Acts chapter 14.
Acts chapter 14.
And it came to pass in Iconium that they went
both together into the synagogue of the Jews and so spake
that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil affected
against the brethren. Long time therefore abode they speaking
boldly in the Lord which gave testimony under the word of his grace
and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
But the multitude of the city was divided and part held with the Jews
and part with the apostles and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles
and also of the Jews with their rulers to use them despitefully
and to stone them they were aware of it and fled under Laestra
and Derbe cities of Lake Gonia and under the region that
lieth round about and there they preached the gospel.
And there sat a certain man at Laestra impotent in his feet
being a cripple from his mother's womb who never had walked.
The same heard Paul speak who steadfastly beholding him and perceiving
that he had faith to be healed said with a loud voice stand upright
on thy feet and he leaped and walked. And when the people
saw what Paul had done they lifted up their voices saying in the speech of
Laestra the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men and they
called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius because he was the chief
speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter which was before their
city brought oxen and garlands under the gates and would have done sacrifice
with the people which when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of
they rent their clothes and ran in among the people crying out and saying
sirs why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you
and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities under the living God
which made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are therein
who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways nevertheless
he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain
from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and
gladness. And with these saying scarce restrained they the people that they had
not done sacrifice unto them. And there came there certain Jews
from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people and having stoned
Paul drew him out of the city supposing he had been dead. How be it
as the disciples stood round about him he rose up and came into the city
and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe and when they had
preached the gospel to that city and had taught many they returned again to
Leistra and to Iconium and Antioch confirming the
souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we
must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when
they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting
they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed
and after they had passed throughout Pisidia they came to Pamphylia
and when they had preached the word in Perga they went down into
Italia and then sailed to Antioch from whence
they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled
and when they were come and had gathered the church together
they rehearsed all that God had done with them and how he had opened
the door of faith under the gentiles and there they abode long
time with the disciples. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for
Steadfast Baptist Church and all the souls that were wanted this afternoon. I pray, Lord, you would fill Pastor
Shelley with your spirit. Allow him to preach boldly that he may edify us, that we may glorify
you and in Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.
Look at verse number 19 again where the Bible reads. And there came thither certain Jews
from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people
and having stoned Paul drew him out of the city supposing
that he had been dead how be it as the disciples stood round about him
he rose up and came into the city and the next day departed with Barnabas to Derbe
and when they had preached the gospel of that city and had taught many they returned
again to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that
we must through much tribulation enter
into the kingdom of God. And I really want to focus on this phrase
here where the apostle Paul is telling the church that they have to go through
much tribulation. And that's actually the title of the sermon this evening
is much tribulation. Much tribulation. You know the apostle
Paul went through probably the worst persecution apart
from Christ as we found in scripture. He goes through all kinds of horrible beatings
and stonings. In fact, they had thought they had killed him
in verses number 19. It says that they had stoned him, they
drug him out of the city thinking that he had died from the stoning
and somehow by a miracle or whatever God still preserved him
he was still able to get up and to keep going. And so the apostle Paul
is trying to tell the church that this persecution, this tribulation
is not just for me. We, we must go through
much tribulation. And the reality is that this is the constant theme throughout
the New Testament. It's crazy to think that
Christians will not suffer any kind of tribulation or persecution when you read
the New Testament because it's literally on every page it feels
like in the New Testament a constant theme of tribulation, of
persecution. And if we're truly going to be like Christ, you know Christ was
not well received. I don't know if you know this but he was crucified.
It's like people forget the fact that Jesus Christ didn't go around with everybody
all excited and everybody really loved him and he was the most popular
person. The Bible says that they hated him. The Bible says that they killed him.
They crucified him. They despised him. Even though he did nothing wrong
he didn't hurt anyone. All he did was heal people and love people
and preach the truth. Yet they hated him for his love.
And the same is with the apostle Paul. The same is with all the apostles. But let's read a little
bit more in Acts and see what the Bible is actually like. Look what it says in Acts chapter 16
verse number 20. The Bible says,
The Jews do exceedingly trouble our city. So Paul and Silas
later in the book of Acts, they're going out, they're preaching the gospel, they're going from town
to town, they're establishing churches, they're preaching the word of God, and
they ended up healing a lady that was possessed with a spirit of divination as the
Bible describes. And because they had done this, the men that were trying
to use her for financial gain, they got really upset and so they
end up trying to take Paul and Silas to the law and try to get them thrown
in prison, and they're trying to stir people up.
And I notice this is a very consistent theme with Christians.
Christians have this idea that if you're persecuted, it's
only valid if you are like literally preaching the gospel.
Like somehow you cannot be persecuted for any other reason.
But the thing is, is they lied about Jesus. The reason why they killed Jesus
was because he said he was the son of God, not for preaching the gospel. That's the reason they
brought up against Jesus Christ. The reason why John the Baptist lost his head was because
he told Herod that it was not lawful for him to be married
unto his brother's wife. And in this passage,
they are not going to bring up the gospel as to why they're getting them in trouble.
Look what it says in verse number 20 again. Let's read it.
And he brought them to the magistrate, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
and teach customs which are not lawful
for us to receive, neither to observe being Romans.
So in fact, the reason why they got mad at these guys is because of the doctrine
that they were teaching in regards to laws, customs,
rules. And they're saying this somehow violates Roman law,
and that's why they were able to get them arrested. That's why they were getting
them persecuted and thrown into prison. Look what the response
is in verse 22. And the multitude rose up together against them,
and the magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them.
Now, it's not saying the magistrates rent their clothes. It's saying the magistrates
rent Paul and Silas' clothes off. They stripped them,
and they ended up beating them. Why? Because of the accusation
that they were teaching customs that were contrary to Roman law,
and these guys are insurrectionists or something, or they're trying to come in
and bring in Christian doctrine into the laws. And because of that
accusation, that is why they're persecuted. That's why they were thrown in jail.
And the same happens throughout history where Christians are
often persecuted not just for the gospel, literally,
but also for all of the Bible, for any doctrine, for any
belief that's held in the Bible. You know, for not being a liar, for not being
a thief, for not basically hiding the truth. Christians
are going to be persecuted for believing anything that's in the Word of God.
Look what it says in chapter 17, verse 5.
But the Jews which believed not moved with envy,
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered
a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of
Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. Now, this verse
is very interesting. Okay, let's slow down for a second, alright? It's the Jews
that believed not. Now, in the New Testament, we don't really, you know, especially
in today's age, we don't really have a lot of Jews, so-called,
that would fit in this description because the Jews in the New Testament and the Book of Revelation
are really described as the synagogue of Satan. And none of them believe
the Bible. It's not even close. So really, a more modern-day
application of this would be pseudo-Christians. Basically, Christians
so-called that actually don't believe in Christ, they're not really
saved. And just like the Jews are the biggest persecutor of Christians
in the New Testament, fake Christians are always the biggest
persecutors against real Christians in and
throughout history. I mean, if you look at the Protestant Reformation, it's
Catholics killing Protestants, okay? That's Christian versus Christian,
and look, it's always been that way, where Christians, fake Christians
are persecuting real Christians, or God's people,
and the same exists today. But notice what the fake Christians
do. They don't actually persecute them directly. What do they
do? They get certain lewd fellows of the baser sort.
So basically, they find the scum of the scum. They find the
worst people imaginable, and they get them to attack
the Christians for them. They get them to rile everybody up against them,
and look, it's the same today where fake Christians
they go out and they find atheists, witches, pagans,
and fags to attack God's people. And you say, how do you know that?
They're right out here. And they're literally telling me that
Christians are telling them to come out here and to protest us and do this, and look, it's
obviously fake Christians that are doing that. Look, it's not
like we're some inventing the wheel here or doing something new here.
Everything we've ever experienced, everything that we've ever seen,
it's already happened. The Bible says there's nothing that's new. There's
nothing where it may be said, see, this is new. It hath already been of old time,
is what it says in Ecclesiastes chapter number 1. So you're already going to see all the
same elements. What would be weird is us going to church
serving God faithfully, and there's no tribulation. There's
no persecution. Nobody dislikes you. Everybody loves you.
Then you'd be like, well, is this really the Jesus of the Bible? Because everybody didn't like him.
They didn't like Paul. They didn't like the disciples. They killed
them. They persecuted. They hated them. They stoned them. They got the whole city
against them. They riled them up. They lied about them. They slandered against them.
So if you're really serving Christ, that's what you should see.
That's what you should really expect if you're truly serving Christ.
Let's read a little bit more of this. Look at verse number 6.
Also, whom Jason hath received, and these all do contrary
to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king,
one Jesus. So what do they do? They twist the words of the
apostles to try and make them sound like insurrectionists or something,
saying, oh, they're claiming that Jesus is king. Therefore, he's going to usurp
the authority of Caesar, or he's attacking the authority of Caesar. But they
weren't doing that, were they? Obviously they taught that Jesus is king.
Obviously they said he's king of kings. But look, Jesus Christ isn't trying to usurp the authority
of Caesar. He's already above him. He's already way above Caesar
and the Romans. They're trying to twist their doctrine. They're trying to twist
their words to use against them to try and make it seem like they don't believe
in the law of the land, that they're not peaceful people, that they're trying
to cause a problem, whereas they're the ones that are actually causing the uproar.
They're the ones that are actually violent. They're the ones that are actually wanting to assault people
and bringing them out to the rulers and trying to hurt them.
It says in verse 8, and they troubled the people and the rulers of the city
when they had heard these things, and when they had taken security of Jason and the other,
they let them go. So they're basically trying to get Paul and Silas, but because they
couldn't get those guys specifically, it kind of dissipated eventually.
And usually these people are going for the tip of the spear.
They're really trying to go for the leader, and they want to get him
out of the picture. The other people are inconsequential because they feel like
if they can destroy the leader, all the sheep will follow. All the sheep will scatter.
All the other people just dissipate. That's what they're typically after
as the leader. You as the sheep, you don't have to worry as much.
Peter's scared of his own shadow over there, but all they really wanted was Christ.
When they come unto Peter, and they're asking,
Hey, you're with Jesus. He's like, I know not the man. But they weren't really
after Peter. They weren't going to do anything to Peter. He was afraid for no reason.
They just really wanted to get the tip of the spear at that point in time.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3, if you would. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3.
Now, all this is just foundation. I want to have three quick points this evening.
And quick's a relative term, all right? I have three points this evening
about the benefits of much tribulation.
The benefits of much tribulation. And really, you know,
I think sometimes we look at tribulation as a really negative thing.
But the Bible describes tribulation as having a lot of benefits.
And you have to realize, if you truly want to serve God, tribulation
is an aspect of serving God. 2 Timothy chapter 3, look at what it says
in verse number 10. But thou has fully known my doctrine. Manner of life, purpose,
faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch,
at Iconium, at Lystra. What persecutions I endured!
But out of them all, the Lord delivered me.
And, you know, it's interesting. I feel like there's just a lot of emphasis in this phrase.
And he says, what persecutions I endured? Because when we just read, he's talking about the event
where we just read where they literally stoned him and drug him out of the city.
I mean, can it get much worse other than really dying?
I mean, outside of actually dying, I mean, that's about as close as you can get
to being stoned multiple times and shipwrecked and beaten and thrown in prison.
And the Apostle Paul is just saying, man, I really suffered some persecutions,
but you know what? The Lord delivered me out of them all.
And he goes on to say in verse number 12,
yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. Notice the Apostle Paul saying, it's not just me, though.
All. Now the word will in this context is meaning
wants to. Okay? Obviously no one's going to be perfect.
No one's ever going to reach the status of just, I'm godly
in the sense that I do everything right, I do everything perfect.
Basically what the Bible's saying is when you strive to be
like Christ, when you try to follow God's commandments,
when you want to serve God, those attempts at trying to serve God
are going to encounter persecution. There's going to be tribulation
and persecution and affliction that arises for you trying to do the right thing.
You know, when you decide you're not going to lie, there could be persecution
for that in the job, or there could be persecution whenever you're striving
to do that which is right. You know, maybe your employer will give you a hard time for being a Christian
and saying, oh man, you don't want to lie and steal
and cheat and be deceitful. You know, there's a lot of people in the Bible
like Joseph who are persecuted for not sinning.
Essentially, Potiphar's wife wanted him to commit adultery with her
and because he would not commit adultery, he ended up getting thrown in prison.
He ended up getting lied about and slandered. That's a picture of someone wanting
to live godly, wanting to serve God, fearing the Lord, and then being
persecuted for righteousness sake. And I say this to tell you
that even if you're not perfect, even if you're not very godly, just
trying to be godly, you will suffer persecution. That's what the Bible teaches.
That's what the Bible emphasizes. And it warns, verse 13,
that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. So as we approach Christ's return,
as we get further and further into the New Testament, as we get
to the closer part of the end times, wicked people are going to get
worse is what the Bible teaches. And that's just reality. And it says deceiving and being
deceived. Many times, evil, wicked people are sincere
in their evil. They're sincere in their wickedness,
not even realizing that they're evil. Not even realizing that they're wicked.
They're just completely deluded. They think that what they're doing is right.
The Bible tells us that there's some people that will kill you thinking
that they do God's service. Meaning that they're going to literally be Christians trying
to kill other Christians. The first group is fake Christians.
There's going to be fake Christians that kill real Christians
thinking they're doing God a favor. There's a lot of people that hate real godly
people and they think that they're on the right side of things. But the only
way to know if you're on the right side of things is if the Bible says it. Because we
walk by faith. And faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So the only
way you can know if you're right on any issue, any decision, is if you have Bible verses
to support the doctrine and the beliefs that you have.
Go if you would to Romans chapter 5. Now I'm going to give you some benefits to tribulation because
I kind of gave you the bad news. The bad news is if you want to serve God
you're going to have tribulation. If you want to serve God you're going to be persecuted.
If you are a Christian there will be some type of affliction, suffering
for Christ's sake as long as you try to serve Christ.
As long as you try to do that which is right. But there's benefits.
So let's give you some benefits. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also
we have access by faith in this grace where we stand. And rejoice and hope
with the glory of God. And not only so but we glory
in tribulations. Also knowing that tribulation
worketh patience. So as the Bible says you can actually
glory in tribulations. When you suffer
for Christ's sake you can actually say that was a good thing.
You can say that's a great thing. And what's one of the benefits of tribulation?
Patience. Because when you have to go through something difficult
when you have to suffer a little bit or something is a little bit harder
it helps you learn how to be patient through that difficulty.
It helps you draw in some patience and realizing that you know what
even though that was hard for a little while or even though that was difficult for a little bit
I ended up getting over it. I ended up going through it and I
basically succeeded. I had victory and success. So the next time
I go through something difficult I can realize I can get through that too.
You know I liken this to me onto a woman giving birth.
Because if you've never given birth I feel like it's probably
a little bit more difficult thinking about the birthing process.
Because the birthing process is going to be painful. It's just how it is. No matter what.
Even if you take drugs. It's painful before the drugs or even during the drugs
sometimes or the drugs are painful. And after the drugs wear off it's going to be painful.
You know it doesn't really matter. You can't escape the pain of childbirth.
But if you've already given birth. You've already gone through it.
You've already succeeded. It's going to be easier the next time you go through that pain.
That tribulation. That sorrow. Because you realize
hey it's not going to last forever. I've already gone through this.
But the first time you could have this unknown fear of how long is this going to last.
How painful is this really going to get. Because the first pregnancy women
they've heard about how painful it is but they don't know what it's like yet.
Because they've never experienced it. But after having experienced it
you know what you're going to go through. There's not this unknown fear
of what's going on. So in the Christian life when we go through tribulation
when you have people persecuting you for Christ's sake
and you go through a successful season of that. Now you're like okay I know what that's like.
I know how God can deliver me. I know how the Lord can get me through those things.
So it ends up giving you more patience and you're able to endure more tribulation
in the future. This is the key to every area of your life.
And really this isn't just limited to Bible things or the word of God.
In every area of your life going through something difficult will give you patience.
No matter what problems you have. No matter what hardships you go through.
Going through hardships will build character and patience.
Go if you would to 1 Peter chapter 2.
Let me show you another verse here on this. But the more tribulation you have
the more patience you will be able to build.
And the person that's never gone through anything hard. Someone that's never had to struggle.
Someone that's had everything handed to them. They're not patient.
Now what people are like this? Children.
Children, especially if they're really spoiled, they don't have much patience.
They want it now. They cry and they whine.
And they can't really suffer. They can't really wait.
I remember we went to Lowe's the other night and they had these suckers.
My kids love suckers. And I'm getting them all these suckers and I'm wanting to wait
until we get home to eat it. And it's like the two year old is not on that program.
The two year old is like, I want the sucker now.
And he's like screaming and crying for it. Why? Because little children have no patience.
Because they've never gone through anything difficult. They've never had to wait for anything
a lot of times. They just gimme, gimme, gimme.
And so as we get older, as we grow up, the more difficult things we go through, the more struggles
we go through, the more patience we end up getting. And so look at tribulation
as an opportunity to become more patient.
1 Peter chapter 2, look at verse number 20.
The Bible says this, for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults
ye shall take it patiently. But if when ye do well
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
So the Bible's saying, look, if you're patient when you make a mistake, that's not
really a big deal. But if you can be patient whenever you're being persecuted and you did
nothing wrong, that is what's acceptable with God. You know, it's incredible
how patient the Lord Jesus Christ is through all the sufferings
and the evil that He had to go through. And you know, sitting there letting them just
rail on Him and lie about Him and slander Him and
blaspheme and strike Him in the head, and He just patiently endured it.
He just sat there and just allowed them to do that horrible, gruesome
process, drug unto the Romans, lied and slandered more,
drug unto Herod, lied and slandered more. He got beaten, He got
whipped, He had to carry His cross for a portion of time, then being
nailed on the cross. Then after all of that, I mean, that's a long period of time.
And we're talking about several hours of just the worst
lying and slander and pain and suffering. Then He's still on the cross and they're looking
and wagging their heads at Him and railing on Him, saying,
you know, if thou be the Son of God, you know, He's basically saying, like, come down and we'll believe
in you. He saved others Himself He cannot
save. You know, mocking Him, ridiculing Him, when
He could just think a thought and they would all be struck with lightning.
I mean, He could just think a thought and the earth would open up a hole and they'd go straight down into
hell if He wanted to. Yet, He just took it patiently. And that's our
example is Christ being able to bear that horrible
evil event that went unto Him that we deserved. And
if He can go through that, I think I can go through a little bit of just lying slander.
If someone says, you're a doo-doo head, you know.
You know, lying and slandering about me, it's not even real.
Oh, you're just a meanie. Okay. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter
6. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. You're a Bible thumper.
And it's funny to me that the worst insults
that people will throw at you are the things they're guilty of.
Okay. And we never reciprocate with the
opposite. You know, we'll tell people, like, well, you're destined to hell. You hate God.
You know, or you're a fag or something. And then this is what they'll say.
Oh, no, you're going to hell. No, you're a fag or whatever.
And they're like, I bet you're secretly a homo, Pastor Shelley.
And it's like, just think about the opposite of that. Think if they were attacking
me, and I'm like, I bet you're secretly a Christian.
I bet you secretly read the Bible, don't you? You probably really do
love Jesus. You know, it's like, we don't say that.
They have to say the same thing back at us because they realize it's the only real insult.
Except for they say that to you, and you say, oh, is there something wrong with being a homo?
And you're like, oh, no, no, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm not saying there's anything bad about it.
It's not a derogatory thing at all, but that's what you are, you know.
You can see right through it.
Just the same reason that anybody and everybody that blasphemes, they only use the name of Christ.
You know why? Because that's the only name that has power. They're not sitting there saying
Muhammad, you know. They're not sitting up there saying Zeus.
You know, they don't care. The same reason they don't protest at the
mosque. Why not protest? I mean, Sharia law.
It's not really nicer than the Bible in some areas, you know.
Why is it that they all gather together to hate the word of God?
Because it's the truth. That's why. It's not me.
It's not my personality. You know, I'm not saying that I'm a great person
or anything like that, but they don't even know me. So it's not my personality or about me.
It's the fact that they hate this book that I'm holding in my hand called the King James Bible.
If you want to serve God when you love the Lord Jesus Christ, people will hate you.
But they don't hate you. They hate Christ. They hate God.
It's a misplaced anger. Second Corinthians chapter six, look at verse one.
The Bible says, We then as workers together with them
beseech you always also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have
heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation I have suckered thee. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation, giving no offense in anything
that the ministry be not blamed, but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers
of God in much patience and afflictions
and necessities and distresses and stripes and imprisonments and
tumults and labors and watchings and fastings. I don't
remember this section in Joel Osteen's book, Your Best Life Now.
Verse six, By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness,
by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth,
by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand on the left,
by honor and dishonor, by evil report
and good report, as deceivers yet true,
as unknown and yet well known, as dying and behold
we live, as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful
yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
He says, hey, you want to know what we're like? They call you a deceiver, but we're the true.
And you say, how do you know you're the truth? Because this is the truth.
They say, oh, you're a cult. You don't even know what a cult is.
This is the truth, yet they want to lie
and give evil report and unknown. Look, as much
as you think that we're known, we're not. I hand out invites all day long
and no one has any idea who we are. But you know what? The devil knows who we are.
That's why he sent in his minions. The Lord Jesus Christ knows who you are,
because if you're a saved child of God, God knows you.
And our goal is to try and know Him. Our goal is to read the Word of God and to study and to pray
and to know God better, but He already knows who you are. He's known you before the
foundation of the world. You are foreordained to be a child of God.
He foreknew you according to the election of grace, is what the Bible
says. Meaning, before anything ever existed, God knew everything about
you. And He loved you. And right now, He knows how many hairs are
numbered on your head. So don't say, oh, I'm unknown. No, God knows who you are.
And God cares about us. And God is a loving Father.
And even if we're chastened, well, we're not killed. And even if we're poor,
yet we're making many rich. What kind of richness? The riches of Christ,
which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the only real riches there are.
Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. But notice you get
much patience. He said in here in much patience and afflictions and necessities.
You know, when you go through things that are difficult, you can learn how to be
patient. Now, 2 Thessalonians, look at
chapter number 1.
And 2 Thessalonians is a really interesting passage of Scripture. You know, it's a great short
little epistle here. And it's all about the return of Christ
and how He's going to return. And here's the thing. The reason why a lot of
Christians are kind of disillusioned on tribulation is because they have this idea
that we're going to somehow be raptured out before the tribulation.
It's called the pre-tribulation rapture. But the Bible makes it clear that we're
not going to be raptured before the tribulation. Matthew 24 says that
Christ is going to come immediately after the tribulation. And in
2 Thessalonians chapter number 2, it says this in verse number 1,
For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance into you. I'm sorry, let me get
there. 2 Timothy chapter 2, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken
in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us,
as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means.
For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
So the Bible says two major things that have to happen before the return of Christ. A great falling away,
and then the antichrist being revealed. At the moment
of the antichrist being revealed is when he stands in the holy place in the temple of God
declaring himself that he is God because he's received a deadly wound, he's been
raised from the dead so-called, and he's going to cause everyone
small or great to receive a mark in their hand or their forehead.
And the Bible says there's going to be great tribulation in those days. It's going to be a short period
of time where Christians are the most persecuted that's ever happened in all
of history, and that's when Christ will return to save the elect
so that not all flesh is killed, is what the Bible very clearly teaches.
But we're not there yet, and you can't say,
oh, it's about to happen, the day of Christ is at hand. I've heard so many preachers
that get up and say, Christ could come here before I finish this sentence.
And it's like, well, the Bible's saying the opposite. The Bible's saying the day of Christ is not at hand.
And as someone's saying that, you have to see a few things happen
before that. A great falling away, which you could argue
that's happening. I could see that. But the Antichrist hasn't really been revealed yet.
So we're not quite all the way there. We see a great apostasy.
But look at chapter 1, and look at verse 3.
The Bible says this, we are bound to thank God always for you, brethren as is
meet, because that your faith grow exceedingly in the charity of every one of you,
all toward each other aboundeth, so that we ourselves glory in you
and the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions
and tribulations that ye endure, which is a manifest
token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy
of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer, seeing it as the righteous thing with God
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.
So notice that the people that are persecuting us and giving us trouble or giving us problems,
God thinks it's a good thing, and he will
recompense them. Eventually, he will. It's a token unto them that they're going to be
destroyed. It's a picture of the fact that they will be destroyed.
They will be thrown into hell. He's going to take vengeance on them.
And you know what? We have patience and faith in our persecution and tribulation.
So through much tribulation, you can get much patience. Go to 2 Corinthians 1.
2 Corinthians 1. And really,
there's probably too much to preach on this topic, because there's just so much Bible.
It's really just a constant theme. And it makes sense that the Apostle Paul, since he wrote
basically all of the epistles, that he's going to be constantly bringing up tribulation.
Look at his ministry. You know, his ministry is constant tribulation,
so then he's telling all these churches about the tribulations that they're going to endure and face
and have to go through. Now, here's a second benefit. It's not just patience.
But look at verse number 3. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1,
verse number 3, Blessed be God, even the Father of the 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.
The second benefit of going through tribulation is that you
have the ability to comfort others who go through the same tribulation.
And this is just kind of like empathy in general.
And if you go through something hard, it's easier for you to help someone that goes through
the same problem. You know, you have some kind of a physical ailment, you go through some
kind of a problem, you lose a child, you lose a loved one, you have some kind of an issue.
It's easier to empathize or to comfort those
who go through the exact same problems, the same issues. And so the Bible's saying here
that the Apostle Paul, being comforted by God's word
through all the tribulation he went through and all the sufferings he went through, he now has
the ability and the capability of comforting others when they go through
the same tribulation, when they go through the same afflictions and the same
problems. So the more tribulation you go through, the more suffering
that you experience in your life, it gives you a greater ability
to comfort those who go through the same problems, who go through
the same issues. So we see a lot of benefits here to tribulation. It gets you patience.
Hey, it gives you a lot of comfort. Go to 1 Thessalonians
3, and I know we're skipping around a little bit, but
I'm going to show you another passage where it brings up this concept.
And this is a good thing. It's a good thing that we can comfort one another and we can help one
another. It's hard to empathize with people when you have no idea what
it's like to walk in their shoes or to go through the pain
and the suffering that they go through. It's way more difficult
for me to understand what it's like for my wife to go through birth
than a woman has gone through birth. It's a lot more difficult for me to understand
what it's like to not be able to walk
than someone that doesn't have legs or something like that. Or it's a lot easier
for someone that's lost their parents to empathize with someone that's lost
their parents to death or something like that. Or someone that's gone through a miscarriage
it's going to be easier for them to comfort someone who's gone through a miscarriage.
And so when we're persecuted for righteousness sake, for God's sake
when we have evil people attacking us it's going to be easier for us
to then comfort those when they go through that, when they have problems, when they're being persecuted
and going through evil. So by our church being
persecuted we can help other churches when they're persecuted.
We can comfort them and encourage them and exhort them and share
stories. Look what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 1
Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left
at Athens alone, and sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer
in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning
your faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves
know that we are appointed thereunto.
For verily, when we are with you, we told you before that you
that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass
and ye know." So notice again he's saying, I've already told you this, you're
going to suffer tribulation. And he says we're appointed unto tribulation.
We're appointed unto persecution. We're appointed unto affliction. And he sent unto
them, Timotheus, to what? To comfort them concerning the faith.
And specifically they would not be moved by these afflictions.
Now if you're not moved, what would be another way
of saying that? Unmovable? What would be another way of saying unmovable?
How about steadfast? Being steadfast
and saying, hey, when affliction, persecutions, and tribulations come upon you,
you know you need to be steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Saying, hey, don't stop serving God. Expect
the affliction. Expect the persecution. And whenever someone
else goes through difficulty, we want to come alongside them and comfort them
and say we were already expecting that. We were already anticipating
that, and this is a token that you're doing the right thing.
Because if you're not suffering any persecution, any tribulation, here's my question.
Are you really serving God? That's a question
you have to ask yourself. And I'm not saying that
it's impossible to serve God and not suffer affliction. But I'm saying if you go your whole
life never suffering any kind of persecution or tribulation, here's my question. Are you
really living godly in Christ Jesus? Are you really serving the Lord Jesus Christ?
Because he said, yea, in all that will of Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
He's saying we're appointed thereunto. He's saying we should
suffer tribulation. Now look what he says in verse 7.
Therefore, brethren, we are comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith.
He's also saying this. When I see other people go through
tribulation and succeed, continuing to serve God, being faithful,
it encourages me and comforts me to also be
faithful. You know, it's difficult if you are being persecuted
if everybody that you know around you quits.
If other people are stopping serving the Lord and quitting and not doing that
which is right and not serving God anymore, it can be a discouragement.
And so what's a comfort though is people continuing to serve God,
continuing to be steadfast, continuing to be faithful. And so that's why it's important
when you're going through something difficult to be there, to be
pleasant, to help assist a brother and to help the
feeble-minded, to help the weaker brother, to encourage one another
and to exhort one another and to comfort one another through our tribulation.
You know the Bible says, go to Hebrews 11 for a moment, the Bible says,
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
It's easy to serve God when it's easy.
It's easy to serve God when there's no enemy. You know, it would basically be like,
playing basketball by yourself, it's easy to score points.
It's like, man, no one blocks my shot. You know, every time I go for a layup
it's just right in. You know, it's more difficult when someone's guarding you.
You know, it's more difficult when you're being guarded by a lot of people or you have a lot of people
that are better than you. You know, that shows how strong you are.
You know, it's not a lot of strength to win the game when you're playing against no one.
Hey, I ran the hundred yards down the football field and scored a touchdown.
How many guards did you basically evade? Zero. I was playing by myself.
It's like, that's not impressive. Hey, I won chess the other day.
Who'd you play against? No one. It's like, that's not impressive.
You know, what's impressive is to actually have some kind of an adversary, have someone
testing you a little bit. That shows how strong you really are.
And you know, our church, I kind of wonder sometimes, is our church
got a name steadfast just because it has a beautiful sign, or are we actually steadfast?
And you say, well, how do you know? When you go through persecution.
When you go through tribulation. When you go through afflictions.
And then you're still serving God. That makes you steadfast.
Hey, it's easy to serve God when it's easy. You're steadfast when it's hard.
You're steadfast when you go through difficulty. And when you do that, you get patience.
And you have the ability to comfort those when they also go through difficulty.
Here's my third and last point. Much tribulation will give you much patience,
much comfort, and much reward. Much reward.
Look at Hebrews, chapter number 11, and let's look at verse number 6 here.
Now Hebrews 11 is a famous passage. It's about the
hall of faith, as it were. It says in verse number 6,
But without faith it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
God wants you to serve him by faith.
Faith is not sight. Faith is believing the promises of God.
Even if sight doesn't line up with the promise.
When they walked up to the Red Sea, sight wasn't going to tell them how they were going to get across.
It was faith. When they came to the parting of the Jordan, it wasn't sight that was going to tell them
how they were going to cross. They had to walk up to the shores of Jordan and step their
feet into the banks of Jordan, and then the water parted.
When it came to Daniel praying to God and knowing that he was going to be
thrown in the lion's den, by sight, you don't know how you're getting out of there,
but guess what? By faith, he was rescued from the lion's den.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown in the fiery furnace by sight,
in fact, as they're going up on their way, the men that are
trying to put them in, they're falling in and dying right before them.
By sight, there's no escape. But you know what? By faith, Jesus Christ stood there with
them, and there was no hurt. Their clothes
didn't even have the smell of smoke at all.
No sin, nothing. That's a picture of Christ taking the suffering for us, too.
But what we have to realize is we have to have faith in what God promises us,
even in the flesh, it doesn't look that great. Even in the flesh,
you can't really see it with your own eyes. Look at verse 26.
It's talking about Moses.
You know, Moses, in the flesh, had no reason to forsake Egypt.
Egypt is the most powerful nation. It's got all the wealth.
He's Pharaoh's son, even if he's adopted. I mean, he's still basically at the top
of the top, about as much as you can possibly be.
But he forsook all that to suffer affliction with the children of God. Why?
For the reward that he would have through faith.
By sight, there's no evidence of any kind of reward, any kind of benefit.
In fact, his own people rejected him anyways.
As a picture of what would happen to Christ, how Christ came into his own
and his own received him not.
Moses came into his own and his own received him not. They cast him out.
And he had to come back and then rescue and deliver them.
And the same comes with us in the fact that, you know, we may not see the
deliverance in the flesh. We have to see the deliverance through faith.
Look at verse 33.
Now, let's talk about all Christians.
Let's talk about, you know, just basically in general people that suffered.
It says, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions. That is Daniel.
Quenched the violence of fire, there's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Scaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness were made strong.
Waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
There's David against Goliath, turning the armies against him.
But it has some other people.
Women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured.
Not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Notice through much tribulation, much reward.
Now, that's a different mentality than most of us have.
Can you imagine being literally tortured and saying, they're saying,
just say mercy, just renounce Christ, and we'll make the pain go away.
And saying, I'm not renouncing Christ.
I'm not, I'm going to be steadfast.
Why? So they get a better resurrection.
A better reward. Much reward through tribulation.
He says in verse 36, others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings.
Yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned,
they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword,
they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise,
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Look, obviously some Christians were really victorious in their physical life.
You know, we see great stories of victory.
But a lot of other people were not having a physical victory.
They went through horrible suffering, horrible pain, horrible torment,
yet they get a big reward for such tribulation.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4.
I just have a few more places I want to show you this evening.
2 Timothy chapter number 4.
And look at verse number 7. The Bible says this.
I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing.
So notice anybody who serves God to the end,
they get this same crown that the apostle Paul was striving for,
the crown of righteousness.
What a great honor it would be to be in heaven and to have a crown of righteousness.
But no, you're not going to get the crown of being a backslidden coward.
They don't hand out those crowns.
But they do hand out the crown for righteousness.
And you say, well, what do I have to do? Fight unto the end.
Be steadfast unto the end.
Go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5.
Look, we could look at tribulation as a negative thing,
but here's the reality according to the Bible.
It's only a blessing.
And it's really hard to see that in the physical.
It's really hard to believe that or understand that in the physical
because we want to have peace.
You know, I am for peace.
When I speak, they are for war.
And I'd love to just live peaceably among all men.
I'd love to have no problems, no strife.
I don't desire to fight with anybody.
And the reality is we don't desire a physical fight with anybody.
Our church never has, never will.
We fight a spiritual battle by preaching the truth
and hoping that people will come to the light.
We fight against lies.
We fight against deception by preaching the Word of God.
But the tribulation we receive for righteousness' sake,
the Bible says, is a blessing.
The Bible says in Matthew chapter 5, look at verse number 10,
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
You know, the people that are going to be ruling in heaven
are the people that were persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Verse 11, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
You know, they start calling you a pedophile.
They start calling you evil.
They start calling you a cult.
They call you a false prophet.
They say, oh, you're a cult follower.
Hey, that's just rewards.
Blessed are ye.
You're blessed when people say that.
You know what you're not blessed?
When people flatter you and say, oh, you're so loving, when you're not.
You're so kind and gracious, and you're such a good person,
and you're such a wonderful person, but they don't mean it,
and there's no reward.
The reward is when you're not a wicked, evil, reprobate,
and people are calling you that.
That's the real blessing.
Now, you say, well, what's the right emotion?
Well, look at what it says in verse 12.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven,
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
You say, oh, they love Jesus.
No.
All the prophets before me, they persecuted, they hated, they reviled,
they hate the man of God, they hate him that rebuketh in the gate.
They don't like the man of God.
They don't like the woman of God.
They don't like the child of God.
They hate Christians.
The world hates us.
Don't think that the world will love you.
Why try to win over the world you can't?
And if you love God, if you love Christ, they will hate you.
Look what it says in Matthew chapter 24.
Flip over and look at Matthew 24.
We're supposed to let our light shine,
that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.
And what's that light?
I don't have any light.
My only light is this word of God.
It's the Bible.
It's the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now Matthew 24, look what it says in verse number 9.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Verse 10.
And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another
and shall hate one another.
Look, unfortunately, the Bible teaches that we have to go through tribulation.
But I'm giving you the benefit here.
The benefits are what?
You can be a very patient person because of it.
You can have great comfort because of it.
And you're going to have much reward because of it.
But it is a reality.
So if you went to Revelation for a moment, go to Revelation.
I'll just read for you from 1 Peter.
But in 1 Peter chapter number 4, the Bible says,
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you.
But rejoice, and as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings,
that when his glory shall be revealed,
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
If ye were approached for the name of Christ,
happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.
On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
The Bible says, Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.
You should not be ashamed for being a Christian.
You should not be ashamed for loving the Bible.
You should not be ashamed for believing all of God's laws,
any of God's words.
You should be ashamed for being ungodly.
You should be ashamed for being like the world.
You should be ashamed for loving the world.
You should be ashamed for doing that which is shameful,
which is breaking God's commandments.
That's why it said, But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.
Hey, it's not glory to suffer for doing wrong,
but it is glory to suffer for Christ's sake, for his name's sake.
Now, look at Revelation chapter number 1 and look at verse number 9.
Revelation chapter number 1, look at verse number 9.
I, John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation.
I just like that.
We get to be companions with John.
And isn't John one of the greatest people in the Bible?
I mean, I just love John.
I love the gospel of John.
I love 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation.
These are some of the greatest books in the Bible.
And he's saying, hey, I just want to remind you, I'm your companion.
And if you could think of a soul wanting partner, wouldn't you want John?
I mean, this guy's just saying, hey, I'm your companion.
But notice he didn't say, I'm your companion and blessings.
I'm your companion and great things.
I'm your companion in tribulation.
Why?
He was exiled to an island by himself.
John, John's like the nicest guy ever.
And think about it.
Of all the epistles, what's probably the nicest of epistles?
Isn't John?
I mean, I don't know.
He tells us a lot about the Jews in that one.
But apart from that, I mean, it's a pretty nice epistle.
He's a pretty kind guy.
He's a pretty nice guy.
He's a beloved disciple, yet nobody likes him.
They hated him.
They exiled him.
They wanted nothing to do with John.
Hey, if they want nothing to do with John, then I hope they want nothing to do with me, either.
Look at chapter 2 and verse 8.
And unto the angel of the church and Smyrna write,
These things say the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty,
but thou art rich.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Hey, what is that?
Much reward.
What does much tribulation give you?
It gives you much patience.
It gives you much comfort.
It gives you much reward.
Go to Mark 8, last place of your turn.
We sometimes look at tribulation as a negative thing,
but it's actually a blessing.
It actually makes you as a better person.
It gives you more rewards and makes you have more character,
and it helps you to help others when they go through evil,
when they go through bad things.
And what's the temptation when suffering tribulation?
The temptation is to feel ashamed.
Whenever Peter, and I would have brought him up,
when Peter is being questioned,
you know, do you know Christ?
He felt ashamed for knowing Christ.
The other disciples felt shame for knowing Christ.
They were all scattered.
They all left him.
And, you know, it's not anything new today.
Look at Mark chapter 8, look at verse 38.
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me,
and of my words,
and this adulterous and sinful generation,
of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Look, you can only be ashamed of one of two sides.
Hey, you can either be ashamed of the world,
the sinful and adulterous generation,
or you can be ashamed of Christ and of his words.
But I don't want to be ashamed of Christ's words.
And when we are afraid of believing anything in the Bible,
we're basically saying, I know not the man.
It's like, hey, is Leviticus in your Bible?
Oh, I don't know about that.
That's old testament.
That's so old.
Why would we want to know it's in Leviticus?
It's like, oh yeah, what about Romans 1?
Uh, I don't know.
What about Jude?
Uh, I don't know.
I know not the man.
Have you ever heard of Jude?
I don't know. I don't know him.
What are we afraid of? What are we ashamed of?
Are you ashamed of what the Bible says?
Are you ashamed of the words of Christ?
There's a lot of Baptists today that are ashamed of what's in the Bible.
They're ashamed of the words of Christ.
They don't want to take a stand for what the Bible says.
And you know, sometimes they also do this by proxy.
Hey, do you go to Step Past Baptist Church?
What?
I never heard of that place.
Look at this.
They spelled it wrong.
Who would name a church that?
Are you really ashamed?
You know, there's a temptation to say, like, I'm ashamed of Step Past.
But you know what?
I guarantee the people up in heaven, they wouldn't look down at Faithful Word Baptist Church and be ashamed to say they go to Faithful Word Baptist Church.
Or Verity Baptist Church.
Or First Works Baptist Church.
Don't let the world shame you into believing in Christ.
Don't let the world...
You know, Peter wept bitterly for being ashamed of Christ.
And you know what? You should be ashamed of yourself if you're afraid of anything that this book says.
Now look, you can disagree with me on things I say.
If you don't like me or don't like what I say, that's fine.
But if what I'm saying is what the Bible says, and you're ashamed of that, then Christ is going to be ashamed of you.
And we should not look at tribulation as some kind of an evil thing or a horrible thing.
Look at it as a blessing.
Look at it as an opportunity to grow in the Lord and to get more rewards.
And to say, you know what? I do know Christ.
Hey, I do know Leviticus.
Hey, I do know Romans chapter number 1.
Hey, I do know Jude.
Hey, I love all of the Bible.
I'm not ashamed of any commandment, any law, anything that Christ said or did.
I love it all.
I love the King James Bible.
I love being a Baptist.
And you know what? I love Steadfast Baptist Church.
And I love the people that go to Steadfast Baptist Church.
And I don't care what railing accusation comes against me, because you know what?
Nuts to them. The world's going to hate me.
And you know what? Christ loves me because I'm one of His children.
And He loves you if you're one of His children, too.
And you shouldn't be ashamed of any of God's children.
I don't care who they are. I like Lot.
Okay?
And you know what? I know that Lot likes our church.
He knows what it's like.
He was there.
He's wanting other people to say, hey, remember my wife.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Father, so much for this word of encouragement that you give us.
Thank you for going through all the evil that you did so that you could comfort us,
knowing that we'll never suffer like you did.
We'll never bear the sins of the whole world upon ourselves.
We'll never be forsaken of God.
We'll never have to go down into hell for three days and three nights.
We'll never have to bear the weight of every single evil person.
We'll never know what it's like to be God in the flesh
and for people to call you a blasphemer.
The horrible sufferings you went through.
I pray that we be motivated, though, through the sufferings that you went through,
the sufferings we see through your disciples and apostles,
to be comforted and have patience
and to realize there's a great reward waiting for us on the other side of heaven
and that we would, through faith, suffer for Christ's name.
We wouldn't be ashamed of Christ and His words.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
With that, let's sing one more song.
And don't forget, we do have a baptism right after the service.
Go ahead and take out your hymnal to song number 374.
Sin the Light, song number 374.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
There are souls to rescue, there are souls to save.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the children's Lord.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the children's Lord.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
We have heard the Macedonian call today.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
And the golden offering at the cross we lay.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
Let us pray that grace be everywhere about.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
And a Christ-like spirit everywhere be found.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
Let us not grow weary in the work of the
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Let us gather jewels for a crown above.
Sin the Light, sin the Light.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, the blood of the Son.
Sin the Light, the blessed gospel,
the blood of the Son, forevermore.
Amen.
While we're waiting, let's sing one more song.
How about, let's go to the front of the hymnal there.
Actually, if you have that white handout,
let's sing Psalm 150.
If you have a white handout, if you don't have one,
you can try and share with your neighbor
or pull out your King James Bible
to Psalm 150.
Psalm 150.
Praise ye Lord, praise God in his sanction.
Praise him with the tournaments of his power.
Praise him through his mighty acts.
Praise him according to his acts of greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet.
Praise him with the salt of he and I.
Praise him with a instrument of dance.
Praise him with certain instruments.
Ever there is a praise in your mind.
The Lord will have symbols praise him among
the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything man and man praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God the Father.
Praise God the Son.
Praise God the Holy Ghost.
Praise God with thee, O Son.
We have Miss Faith Miller coming for baptism this evening.
Faith, have you trusted Christ as your Savior?
Yes.
Then I baptize you in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost,
buried in the likeness of his death,
raised to walk in newness of life.
Congratulations.
Thank you all so much for coming.
Please congratulate Miss Faith,
and you are dismissed.
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