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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you turn if you would in your song books so 442 where are you saying we gathered together that's 442 we will sing all three verses at the end of the first that's 442 we gathered together to ask the Lord to bless you He chases and hastens His will to make note the wicked the pressing cease death and from distress sing praises to His name your guest on His own beside us to guide us for God with us is joining coordinating maintaining His kingdom divine the fight we were winning the Lord was at our side the glory divine we all do it solely now we are in battle and pray that they'll still our defender will be let thine congregation the need may the Lord make us pray thank you for one more time for allowing us to gather here we ask that you would bless us this evening with your word bless those that are yet on their way as we would give them safety of our hearts to be open and ready to hear and receive your word this day and that the church might be everybody in Jesus name Amen Alright, the next song we're singing is song number 441 just to the left of your page over there 441 great is thy faithfulness again that's 441 great is thy faithfulness Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father where is no shadow from turning with thee thou changes not the compassion they fail on has thou been the will never be great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed I have provided great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me summer and winter and spring time and harvest summer and stars and horses above join with all men in openness to thy great faithfulness mercy and love great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed I have provided great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me pardon for sin and of peace at your end thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow blessings all mine the ten thousand beside great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed I have provided great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me Amen. Alright. Great singing this evening. I want to welcome you all to Strong Old Baptist Church. We thank you for being here tonight with us on this Wednesday evening. At this time, we will be going through our bulletin, our announcements. If you don't have one of these, just slip your hand up real high and we can make sure that we get one out to you. And if you open up to the first page, you'll notice our service times listed there Sunday morning at ten thirty, Sunday evening at five pm. Wednesday night seven, of course, is our Bible study. Starting a brand new book of the Bible this week tonight. Second book book of second Corinthians. We got the soul winning opportunities listed there as well as the salvation and the baptisms for the month of November. Let's go ahead and count up if there's any salvation to report. Just slip your hand up and we'll get those counted up. Yes, sir. Monday. Alright. Amen. Anybody else have anything to report? Very good. Keep up the good work out there preaching the gospel. We've got the offering totals for the month of November down there at the bottom of the page. Real quickly before we even continue going any further I noticed that they got the lights turned on out in the parking lot which is a great blessing. It's very good that we have that on now. I actually when I talked to them on the phone I was talking about I was asking them getting our lights turned on like our stronghold lights that are out front and they got these turned on but this is even better because there's been there's a lot of random people that walk through our parking lot and while I don't feel like we're in a bad neighborhood we're not, you know, there's definitely some sketchy characters that will traverse through this area so please keep an eye on your family all together or just everybody. Be aware even adults you know going out there in the parking lot especially when it's dark at night be aware of your surroundings always a good idea not to have your face in a phone when you're headed out to an area like that just be aware of what's going on around you. We're going to be enhancing things a little bit I'm going to have a meeting with our ushers and with some other men in the church just in general to make sure we're doing in the evening hours when it gets when it's getting dark outside just doing a couple of checks throughout the service. Not a big deal just making sure that everything is good and safe for everybody that's coming to church and that your vehicles and property will be safe too. We haven't had any problems here thankfully. We haven't had any problems with the church at all going back to the very first service where the Millers had their car broken into unfortunately the very first service over in Lucky Shoals Park at the park there. Never would have thought it happened they got their car broken into but since then nothing has happened and we would like to keep it that way so good to see the lights on but also please be aware of your surroundings and let's see the this week starting on Monday the expansion will begin the construction or the demolition I should say before the construction demolition this wall is coming down right here all the way to that wall going to be opened up a whole lot more space as well as the wall that separates the current mother baby room with the foyer so both of these walls are coming down and there's that other wall that was isolating a little storage area in the mother baby room so we'll have a lot more open space so Sunday evening if you can stick around help out we need to move everything that's close to where the demolition and construction work is going to be done we're going to move that over into the other space and get it out of the way so that the construction workers can just get their job done without doing any damage to our stuff or having to move any of our stuff so that is much appreciated and then anyone that can help especially this weekend if you have time I don't have anything planned any times planned on anyone you know people to join up here but if you'd like to come and help I think the biggest thing that needs to be done is the painting of the doors for the bathrooms as well as the bathrooms themselves then we could get make sure that those are up and usable by the time the construction is done so if anyone would like to volunteer any time we have all the materials here next door and the key is in the lock box I could give you the code anyone who has any time at all to come around and do a little bit of painting we would appreciate that so just let me know if you don't already have the code otherwise hey those of you that have the code for the key come whenever you want you don't have to clear it with me if you want to come and do some work next door be my guest I'd love to have you do that and if you have any uncertainties on what exactly needs to be done or what we want done again just let me know and I'll be happy to show you it's basically the same paint scheme that we have here over there pretty easy to figure out but you could just let me know and I'll be happy to inform you on that let's continue on here now with the regularly scheduled bulletin prayer requests so we have actually a very special addition to our prayer requests of course we always pray for our ladies who are with child at our church and we are adding one more name to that list Mrs. Johnson is being added to our list as a lady with child brand new news so congratulations to the Johnson family very good news this is the reveal so please pray that everything goes well with that pregnancy and of course continue to pray for Mrs. Logan and Mrs. Rogers and everyone else of course on our list last update let's see who has an update continue to pray for Henry he's doing okay but he has that tumor he's a two year old and he's got like an avocado oversized tumor that they're still waiting on results for the biopsy for let's see who else did we have on here how's your mom doing is she just continuing to improve still like the last time we had asked her she was slow improvement but still not gone okay alright we'll keep us up to date on that and does anyone else have any updates on anyone that's on our prayer requests yes why was I thinking that was tomorrow I'm glad it went well was it yesterday it was Monday that's right you told me that I forgot okay well why would it be tomorrow tomorrow is Thanksgiving that would be an odd day to have a surgery I doubt there's many surgeons that are scheduling surgery for Thanksgiving so that went okay she's just recovering now and was a success very good very good so we'll pray for Melissa Belinda's recovery from her surgery and let's continue on here with the announcements gingerbread houses and Christmas caroling is going to be on December 10th Saturday so from 1 until 4 will be the gingerbread house making activity and then the Christmas caroling will begin at 4.30 if you do not want to do the gingerbread house making but you want to do the caroling just make sure you show up around 4 because that's when the instructions will begin on what we're doing what the plan is where we're going how it's going to work and all that so try to get here by 4 if you just want to participate in the caroling and then we will be having food for dinner after the caroling right here so stick around and if you don't do the Christmas caroling that's fine too you can stick around if you want to and enjoy fellowship with some food together on that evening November challenge is a Bible memory challenge memorize 25 verses of your choice in the Bible as long as you haven't already committed them to memory at some point in the past just get that done through this month you get a prize Hebrews chapter 5 we've got a few days left to finish this up hopefully you'll have this done and ready to be quoted anyone complete this already and quote Hebrews chapter 5 so 1 2 3 4 that's alright ha ha ha cool well good job is there anyone else that is planning on having this quoted by Sunday at midnight alright very good and then we have two birthdays today right two birthdays I see a big smile back there two big birthdays so we've got Rain who turns 16 today unbelievable I already told the kids on Saturday I said you know if you came to this church as a child you will always be a child in my eyes I don't care how old you get I'll tell you straight right now that I'm always going to view you as a child but happy birthday to Rain and Jehu is it your birthday today too how old are you Jehu can you show me are you 10 no oh he's getting shy now are you this many alright Jehu turns 4 today so we'll sing a happy birthday to Rain and Jehu as a church happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday Rain and Jehu happy birthday to you alright and the added bonus because you're in church on your birthday you get your choice of ice cream from that big freezer according to parent's approval but yes you get that ice cream to eat whenever they say you can eat that ice cream so we appreciate you being here on your birthday I hope you have a very special day and we've got a couple other birthdays coming up here in two days another couple people who share a birthday Dakota and Jake and then Mrs. Momtayan on the 26th and Mrs. Carter on the 29th and that is everything that we have for the month of November upcoming field trips the next one is at the gingerbread house and Christmas caroling should be a lot of fun then the potluck on Christmas day Christmas day is on a Sunday we're having a potluck in between church service the evening service is going to be moved up to probably about 3pm just to give us enough time to have a good time for fellowship and food in between the church services and then the soul winning will be after the Sunday evening service and then the New Year's Eve fellowship on December 31st that's a Saturday from 2 to 7 we'll be just hanging out playing games enjoying each other's company and should be a good time and hope we can see you out for that that will close out the year for us that closed out the announcements for this evening I don't think I have anything else so I'm going to turn the service back over to brother Jesse and he will lead us in our next song alright the next song we're singing is 263 Verily Verily 263 263 we'll sing all four verses the one the savior that he died for he from the continent he that made me free he that believeth all the sons in heath have never lasting life Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily message ever new He that believeth all the sons in heath have never lasting life Alright everybody in this last verse we want everyone to give a good shout and get to the word that says shout, alright? So let's go. I will not doubt for in the coming he will not pass out he that believeth all the good news hath never lasting life Verily Verily I say unto you Verily Verily message ever new he that believeth all the sons is true have never lasting life Alright, please sing. At this time we will thank our offering to you to support missions Mother John Carter will be passing on her plate unless you as well. And while the offering plates are being passed around turn if you want your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 2 Corinthians chapter 1 we will be reading the entire chapter Again that's 2 Corinthians chapter 1 you can follow along silently as brother Devon reads aloud 2 Corinthians chapter 1 Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother unto the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints which are in all IKEA. 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 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. 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 oppressed out of measure above strength in so much 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 in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us 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 for our rejoicing is this a 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 word for we write none other things unto you than 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 ye 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 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 ye, ye and nay, nay but as God is true our word toward you was not ye and nay for the son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us even by me and Silvanus in Timotheus was not ye and nay but in him was ye for all the promises of God in him are ye and in him amen unto the glory of God by us now he which established us with you in Christ and 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 ye stand brother Micah can you pray for us amen amen amen amen amen alright we're starting off a brand new book of the Bible tonight 2 Corinthians chapter number 1 of course 2 Corinthians meaning there's 1 Corinthians and um just a little really brief overview the church at Corinth is who the apostle Paul here is writing to and uh as many of the epistles of Paul epistles just means letter he's writing letters to these churches in the New Testament and he's giving various instruction to the churches and this instruction is also has been meant to share even though it's directed towards a particular church it's the word of God and was intended to be shared amongst the other churches which it was which is how we end up with the current Bible that we have today with the word of God being completed because the churches were passing around these letters and sharing them but I'm not gonna get into the whole uh backstory of how we got the Bible I just wanted to point out also that even though um all of this of course is valuable for us to know more about God and to get our own teaching from the word of God uh just because it was written in Corinthians doesn't mean we can't apply it to ourselves but there was uh the church at Corinth when you look at the different epistles seem to have a lot of problems comparatively maybe to some of the other churches but they were still loved nonetheless as a church that needed attention and that uh God considered to be a church of God that that they were um you know a valid church and we need to remember that you know not every church is perfect but God's can still use the church to do a lot of great things and still cares for the church and wants the church to grow and um but we will see again other other things going on here in 2 Corinthians that will apply to 1 Corinthians we'll get into that a little bit later um in the next chapter but let's start off here in verse number 1 look down in the Bible the Bible reads Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother unto the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints which are in all Achaea grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ and this is a common introduction in many of the epistles of Paul uh verse 3 says blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort now the next uh I don't know 4, 5, 6 verses are gonna go into consolation and comfort and tribulation here and we're gonna read these verses carefully some of these words these verses are maybe worded a little bit tricky you just gotta read them slow and they're not that difficult to understand but um let's let's just look through this real quick here and this is a very important uh point it's kind of a main theme of this chapter here this opening chapter is um talking about here the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort look at verse number 4 who comforteth 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 this is talking about God saying hey God comforts us in our tribulations and our trials when we have hard times the apostle Paul saying God has comforted us in all of our trials all of our tribulations all of our persecutions so that we are able to trouble then return any trouble so that we can in turn now use our experience and our past to be able to help other people to be comforted when they go through problems and when they're going through their tribulations he says by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God verse 5 says for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ now the Christian life and you know Christians need to be aware that as the Bible says all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution if you are following Christ closely if you are sincerely you know trying to live your life according to the word of God you will go through tribulation and trials and troubles in this life it will happen so the Bible says all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution it's going to come in one form or another now obviously in different societies different cultures where depending on how much the Bible is even accepted that may have varying degrees of tribulation in your life right so if you're in say a predominantly Muslim area you may have a much more intensified persecution for your faith than in what some might consider to be a Christian culture right people aren't trying to put you to death for what you believe here at least not yet I'm sure there's plenty of people out there that would like to see us put to death for what we believe but it's not happening right now but that doesn't mean that you are free from all tribulation all believers everyone who's going to want to live godly and try to live godly and put the word of God into practice in your life you're going to suffer persecution and I say this not to scare people not to get people discouraged or to you know say oh I don't know if I want to do this but to be informed right when you're getting into something you say hey if I'm going to try to live my life godly and I'm going to choose to do this and I'm going to choose to live right expect hard times to come expect tribulations but there's good news in all of this because the Bible teaches us and confirms that God will comfort you and be there for you through all of your tribulations no matter how hard it actually gets God is there for you every step of the way and having God as a comforter is greater than any other comforter in the whole world the Lord will be there for you and we can take this promise and rest on that and rely on that so that you don't have to stress or fret or worry about any tribulation that might be coming in your life especially for your faith because God will be there to comfort you and as people go through this tribulation our job is to also then hopefully be a comfort unto other people who do go through that you know similar tribulation in their life the Bible says in verse 5 therefore as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded 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 is for your consolation and salvation now I'm gonna read this again and we're gonna take out that phrase between the commas there just to get the full understanding because it's like I said it could be a little bit difficult if you don't read it kind of slowly whether we be afflicted is for your consolation and salvation or whether we be comforted it is for your consolation and salvation so notice that that's kind of the big point of what he's saying there was some extra information added in the middle so whether we're being afflicted or whether we're being comforted either way he's saying you know in the good times or bad times it's for you and I think this is a great sermon to have before Thanksgiving this ties in perfectly with what I was preaching on Sunday about being thankful and you know this marks the Christian life our attitude how we ought to be thinking of things and understanding and say hey I know that I may face tribulation I know that I will face tribulation I know that there's gonna be hard times to come if I'm gonna sell out and live my life for God but hey God's gonna be there to comfort us and you know what whether I'm afflicted or whether I'm being comforted it's for someone else's benefit it's for your benefit I'm not worried about myself I'm not worried about the afflictions that I may have to endure you know what I'm gonna do all this and go through this for your benefit for your consolation to offer you consolation to help you during your difficult time and for your salvation it's more needful for you so like the apostle Paul says that you know and in another letter he's saying for me to live is Christ and to die is gain and he's saying that you know it's much better he'd much rather be depart from his body and be present with the Lord than to stay here on this earth because of all the things that you have to face and because of the the physical flesh that you have to deal with and the warfare the spiritual warfare all the battle everything going on hey wouldn't it be great just to enter into God's rest and just let this body pass away and just go and be with the Lord that's a great thought no more struggles and trials and battles you just go but he says you know what but to be here is more needful for you so you're saying I have this great desire to depart and be with the Lord that'd be great but it's much more important to be here for you it's that's being Christ minded thinking of others thinking about their consolation thinking about their suffering thinking about their salvation and how you can help them this is the attitude being presented in 2 Corinthians verse number uh verse number six so so what he's saying here is okay whether it be afflicted or whether it be comforted it's for your consolation and salvation now let's cover that middle part he says it's for your comfort and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer so the consolation the consolation being received from those who are being afflicted is very effectual when it comes from someone else who has gone through the affliction does that make sense so the people who are being afflicted at the time are saying our affliction is going to help comfort you in your affliction when you know someone else has gone through affliction that's a lot more comforting knowing that hey they've been through this before they've dealt with this before they're being afflicted you're not alone in this knowing that you're not alone through tribulations and persecutions is a big deal that is a comfort in itself because one of the hardest things when you think you are all by yourself having to deal with an extremely difficult situation that makes it even more difficult now thank god if everyone else around us fails at being a good comforter fails at offering consolation fails because maybe they're not living godly they haven't suffered any afflictions and you know like you're just stuck all by yourself god is still always there and god will provide the comfort and the strength for you to get through whatever your hard time is verse number seven 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 this is just I mean this is just fact he's saying that we know our hope is steadfast it's sure we know that as your partakers of the sufferings you're also going to be receiving that consolation so don't think that you're not going to get that consolation verse eight for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in asia so now he's going to inform them about some of the things that happened to them he said I don't want you to be ignorant I don't want you to not know what happened to us you need to know that we went through some really difficult times he says we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we despaired even of life he said things got so hard for us that we didn't even think we were going to survive we basically just thought that the end is going to happen because of how bad things had gotten because they had been pressed so hard out of measure above strength we're just they're basically ready to die now he's not saying this again to discourage them but he's saying this to offer up consolation now there is a little bit of hope also keep your place here in second Corinthians chapter one flip back to first Corinthians chapter ten just a few pages backwards in your bible chapter ten and verse thirteen because even as difficult as things may seem to get we still have the hope of knowing that whatever situation God allows you to be in it will never be more than what you can handle the apostle Paul is talking about this time we're saying hey we despaired even of life I mean we basically just thought it was all over we're going to die but here he is writing about it they made it through right so it's everything seemed to be at the point of just total disaster total not going to make it through we're done for right we're doomed and here he is writing about it first Corinthians chapter ten verse thirteen the bible says there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it now that word temptation we often think about temptation just being like you're tempted to sin right but a temptation is a trial a temptation is a testing so yes being tempted to sin is a testing because you're testing you know your ability to walk in the spirit over your fleshly desires that's wanting to cause you to sin so that is definitely a form of testing but that's not the only form of testing sometimes God allows us to go through difficult situations to test our faith to test our uh you know sincerity to see hey are you really going to stick with this but he's not going to allow us to be tempted above that we're able to bear and he says there's always going to be a way out he'll always make a way so that we can bear what it is that we have to go through whatever that temptation is whatever that trial is and just as you go back to second Corinthians chapter one the apostle Paul is saying you know we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we despaired even of life but we had the sentence of death in ourselves he always explains why we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God which raiseth the dead God brought them to this point to despair even of life to show them that they should not trust in themselves but in God which raiseth the dead when everything seems impossible hey you have to have that faith in God because God is able to save God is able to raise from the dead there is no possible way out of the situation you know what God always has a way we need to keep our faith in God and see that this is the point where some people might lose their faith because everything is falling apart everything seems to be going wrong they don't see how anything could ever possibly come good out of whatever situation they might be in and unfortunately a lot of people might try to turn their back on God at that point and just walk away and just be like man I don't know about this stuff forget it I give up that's the time when we need the most faith in God because God is able to raise from the dead I mean we know this that's where your faith is for your salvation right the resurrection God brings people back to life we have that faith that one day our mortal bodies which perish are going to come back that we're going to be reunited with our body one day we have a brand new body with our born again soul and spirit and we are trusting in that resurrection that we will be in and just as much as God is able to bring life from the dead God is able to save out of any situation God is there for you we shouldn't be trusting in ourselves but in God which raises the dead look at verse number 10 who delivered us from so great a death and death deliver in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us and this is another one of those great verses I love this verse this reminds me of John 5 24 because they're using all three verb tenses he says who delivered us from so great a death so it's already happened in the past and death deliver in the present in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us in the future God is the savior He's already saved He's saving and He's going to save right John 5 24 says verily verily I say unto you that he with my word and believeth I am that sent me half everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life he says if you believe you have everlasting life right now right in the present in the now you shall not in the future come into condemnation you will not be condemned you're not going to hell but you've already passed from death unto life it's already done past present future God is the savior past present future all time everlasting it's eternal it's great and God is able to obviously you could look at this many ways as far as the deliverance deliver us from so great a death I think he's literally just talking about that so great a death that he was just describing that we were in you know basically had the sentence of death in ourselves but God delivered him but obviously we all have been delivered from death from the second death if you're saved He's already delivered you from that but we don't have to just think that God is the savior of the soul from hell God can save you in any situation in every situation so we need to keep that trust it's not just for your for your eternal soul not going to hell I mean it's for it's for all points in your life look to the deliverer look to the savior you know most of the psalms where David is praising the Lord and giving God thanks for being his deliverer for being his buckler those are real events that happened in his life like physical events I don't mean real real it's all real but the physical events that happen he's he's seriously like looking to God to see him through various trials tribulations wars that are going on in his life and God is delivering him out of all of those situations God is making it work he's bringing the victory into his life and we need to make sure that we continue to keep our trust in God not in yourself not making sure you have everything all worked out for yourself trust in the Lord in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us verse 11 ye also helping together by prayer for us and that's also important an important fact right there regarding prayer that prayer one is important God hears our prayers and he's saying you are also helping to deliver us by prayer for us God God hears those prayers you know the apostle Peter when he had his great prison break and God freed him from jail you know the church was actively praying for him at the time that God answered their prayer and set Peter free and there are plenty of events and circumstances in the Bible where we can see very clearly that God is changing his mind on doing something because people are praying because people are creating the Lord because people are going to God and asking God to do something that he otherwise wouldn't have done when Joshua said hey son stand now still I don't think the son would have stood still if he didn't ask God to do that for him we know from the book of James that when Elijah asked not to rain on the earth for the space of three and a half years that God listened to him and it didn't rain and then of course it rained again so this is teaching us that our prayers matter it's not just an exercise in spirituality it's effectual it matters so this is why I spend all the time that I do every church service we talk about our prayer list we talk about the people on the prayer list and say hey don't forget to pray for these people please it's not just a sound like we care about people it's actually pray for them because God will hear your prayers and talk to the people in this church because God does hear us and God does look over especially those that are serving him and being faithful to him, God is there and will hear us and we need to be helping in the prayer for those that need deliverance that need the victory in whatever battle they're going through verse 11, 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 for our rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience let that sink in, the testimony of our conscience what testimony does your conscience give you? just think about that, your own conscience you know, right you know what you do you alone know everything about how you live about the choices that you make you know these things no one else does the testimony of your conscience do you have a clear conscience? or do you have a lot of guilt and vexation from your own conscience? our rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity is how we all live, simplicity right? hey, the simplicity and the word of God, it's simple God's commands are not complicated they're not difficult to understand they're very straightforward very black and white right and wrong we just need to put it into practice it's simple but that needs to be combined with godly sincerity right? sincerity means it's not in guile it's not for a show it's not just so other people can think a certain way about you it's because you actually care about the word of God yourself you care about what it says you care about what God says and you care about doing what's right 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 word there's that thought again about being for other people helping other people, living to help other people more abundantly to you word for we write none other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge and I trust you shall acknowledge even to the end as also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoicing even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus and this concept too about the rejoicing, the joy that is brought by other people in the faith other brothers and sisters in the faith we are your rejoicing even as ye are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus and you don't have to turn to 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 19 the Bible says for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming for ye are our glory and joy our rejoicing our happiness is found in other people it is, like I said this ties in perfectly with what I was preaching on if you missed my sermon about being thankful on Sunday go back and listen to it because this is exactly the mindset that I was trying to express hey look other people you should be our rejoicing why is that? Well the apostle Paul is working with these other churches he's writing letters to them he's trying to instruct them in the ways of God he's trying to help them out to live the best life that they could according to the word of God and that is a true help that is what truly helps people let's keep reading here 2nd Corinthians 1 verse 15 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 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 yay yay and and nay nay so this yay yay nay nay we're going to see a few of this it might kind of sound kind of funny you know nay nay it's not anything in pop culture right he's saying that should be yes and no right yes and no so he's equating saying yes well yes and no by kind of speaking out of both sides of his mouth well yeah but no with doing things according to the flesh so this is what people in a fleshly interest they don't want to fully commit to anything and just be able to say yes no doubt yes this is the way it is it's well yeah kind of but no and have all this wiggle room verse 18 says but as God is true our word toward you was not yay and nay it wasn't yes and no for the son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us even by me and Sylvanus and Timotheus was not yay and nay but in him was yay for all the promises of God in him are yay and in him amen unto the glory of God by us all the promises of God are yes there's no doubt there's no wonder it's not well kind of yes or no hey when God makes a promise in him is yes yes no doubt no bad you know well you know it's kind of like look God's promises are sure and true and simple there's simplicity in the word of God we could have confidence in Christ we could have confidence in the word of God there should be no doubt there's no reason to go with this yes and no type of an attitude the yes and no is someone who's a little bit more unstable and not really able to give specifics and not able to give clear cut answers you know I hate people that try to beat around the bush and not just actually say what you believe you should be able to say exactly what you believe you don't have to dance around it and try to paint this picture and try to make it sound real pleasant or sound like something it's not hey if you believe salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and Jesus Christ alone you ought to be able to say that clearly concisely and say that's what I believe if you believe that you can lose your salvation because you get involved in some sin you ought to be able to just come right out and say I believe I can lose my salvation if I do something not try to paint some picture and try to call it to look some other way hey if that's what you believe then just say it I'm so sick of these people who want to say oh no I believe it's by grace but then they talk about all these works that you could do to make you lose your salvation no you don't believe in a faith based salvation you believe in a works based salvation just come out and say it don't make it confusing don't make it difficult don't try to speak out of both sides of your mouth don't be unstable in all of your ways like the Bible says in James chapter 1 James 1 5 the Bible says if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth all men liberally and abraighteth not and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord a double minded man is unstable in all his ways this is the yes and no ask in faith nothing wavering when God gives you a promise you don't need to waver you know what the clear verse is there in James 1 verse 5 if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth all men liberally amen that's clear you don't need to doubt about that is there any reason to doubt no not unless not unless someone is well I mean God might not give me wisdom well look what does the Bible say if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth all men liberally and abraighteth not but let him ask of faith don't be wavering don't be wishy washy on on what the word of God says don't be wishy washy on what you believe don't be wishy washy in teaching what the word of God says just come out with it and that's you know wherever you stand on doctrines in the Bible I'll tell you this much I will be clear with everything that I teach and everything that I believe it to the best of my ability I will be clear in exactly everything that I believe you know why because I'm not trying to please man I care about pleasing God and I care about being as forthright and honest as possible if you don't know something say you don't know something you don't have to play it off you believe something hey if the Bible says it stand on it just be clear verse number 21 2 Corinthians 1 21 now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God who also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts man do I love this verse keep your place here turn to Ephesians chapter 1 the clarity the truth eternal life that could never be taken away that could never be forfeited is so clear in Scripture I love it I'll read 2 Corinthians well you're in Ephesians 1 I'll get there in a second I'm going to reread this now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God God's the one that stablishes us with you in Christ God does stablishes us who hath also sealed us who sealed us God has sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts what's the earnest it's the down payment God has put now what is the point of earnest what is the point of that what's the point of if you want to go buy a house and you have to put down earnest money brother Brian can probably explain this even better than I can ok he's in this business the earnest money means you're serious about buying that house right so you're looking at a house you say you know what I want to buy this house well you know what there's a bunch of other people that want to buy that house probably too right a lot of other people look at it you say well I'm going to put down my earnest money now what does that mean if you choose not to buy that house brother Brian do you get that earnest money back no you don't you forfeit that earnest money that's gone that's what it is what you're doing is you're saying hey I'm putting this chunk of change down because you need to understand that I know that I can't if I back away in this I'm losing all of that so it's showing no I'm really serious about this now with people buying houses do sometimes people lose their earnest money sure they do it happens right but the whole point is that you're expressing I'm putting this much down on this now God giving us the earnest of the spirit that's not like throwing a couple hundred bucks or a couple thousand dollars down on a house okay the earnest of the spirit it's the Holy Spirit of God so this isn't like some small down payment like God just going okay well I kind of like you I'm going to put this earnest down on you for a little bit and you know I might just change my mind and walk away from it look the Father's not turning his back on the Holy Spirit like I'm willing to lose I'm willing to lose the Holy Spirit by putting that earnest in you like that that's just going to go away no it doesn't go away you're sealed with that Holy Spirit what type of seal do you think that is if you could just well I'm just going to break that seal and God's not going to have that seal on me anymore and that earnest money is just going to go away because I could just lost my salvation it's ridiculous Ephesians 1 verse 12 that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ in whom who's that Christ he also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise not just the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit of promise how many promises does God break zero in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began eternal life is a promise it's a promise is it a promise unto all those who repent from their sins and promise to live this best life that they can and you know the promise is that all those that believe all those who put their trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that's the promise that's who it's given to you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise verse 14 which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory God has bought you with a price therefore glorify God in your hearts and in your mind and your bodies your bodies which are Christ God has bought you he's purchased you when you get saved when you trust in Christ as Ephesians 1 says you believe on him you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise that's the earnest of our inheritance you have an inheritance in heaven you fail moth and rust and corrupt that inheritance is there until the day of redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory God comes through and finishes the deal you get saved one time that earnest money gets put down one time and that earnest stays there until the redemption of the purchased possession right praise the Lord for his faithfulness, praise the Lord for saving us once for all forever never going back on his word look if we can't trust God's earnest, God's inheritance God's sealing, what can you trust? God's the one that keeps you the one who he that's begun a good work in you shall perform unto the day of redemption unto the day of Christ right you're a new creature wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers sounds kind of like the joy in rejoicing in the brethren giving thanks to God for you verse 23 let's close out this chapter of 2 Corinthians chapter 1 moreover I call God for a record upon my soul that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth now if you read you know the first epistle to the Corinthians it's kind of a scathing letter there's a lot of things wrong that he's trying to set straight with Corinth and we're going to get into that like I said a little bit more in chapter 2 but he's saying you know to spare you I didn't come yet I haven't come and visited you yet and then he says not for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy for by faith you stand and is the apostle Paul in a position of authority over the church he is the apostle Paul is in a position of authority in delivering the word of God he's an apostle ok there's a specific authority that's given to the apostle Paul just in general over the things of God and over his converts and over these churches that he's planted but the thought and the mindset it's never just like the Bible says too about those who want to be elders those who want to be pastors it's not to lord over the flock the point isn't to just try to be this dictator so it's in love and being a helper again I went over this recently about the bishop being someone who rules in the house of God someone who's in charge and rules but the point isn't to have dominion over your faith right and it is to tell you everything about your faith but rather it says but are the helpers of your joy how are the helpers of your joy when you're always preaching about sin pastor Burzins because when you get the sin out of your life you're going to find a lot more joy it helps I promise it helps getting yourself right with God and getting yourself focused on serving the lord with all of your heart that brings the joy why because when you walk in the spirit the fruit of the spirit is love and joy and peace gentleness goodness long suffering suffering all these things are fruits of the spirit so when we teach on ways that you can walk in the spirit that is being a helper of your joy and for by faith you stand summarizing this first chapter you know the afflictions the tribulations what's going to help you stand your faith faith knowing that hey yay and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution so I know during hard times it's not necessarily because I'm doing something wrong it may be because you're doing something right you know unfortunately a lot of new believers face tribulation and persecution early on in their Christian development in their Christian walk and many of them fall out because they haven't gotten really well established in their faith and that's exactly what Satan wants to do he wants people to stumble and fall and get out of church and sometimes people question and doubt and say well I don't know you know they start going to church but then something real bad happens and they're facing these really bad problems in their life and they'll equate like well maybe this isn't the right church because I you know these bad things are happening no maybe it is the right church and you're just facing tribulation and you know Satan doesn't want you to grow and be strengthened and actually serve God so he's going to cause you to have these other doubts just know when you go through tribulation hey others have been there before you know and I've preached on this many times you say well people I don't know I mean I've got my family saying that I go to a cult yeah join the club you judge for yourself if you think it's a cult but I'll tell you what there's a lot of people who think it is why because we're weird because we're peculiar because we're different because you've got a pastor that yells a lot and isn't afraid to say what he believes so yeah for some people that's shocking because you don't have to be a politician to be a pastor you shouldn't be to be a pastor you've got to just preach the truth leave the politics to the politicians that want to try to please everybody well look I'm not in the business of pleasing everybody I'm in the business of pleasing God you know what that's going to do it's going to cause some people to think that you're crazy or think that I'm crazy it's going to cause some people to think that wow you sound like a cult okay you sound like a cult even though everyone's free to come and go as they please we're a cult yeah I'm looking forward to getting through the rest of 2nd Corinthians I love the way it starts off because the focus is on the comfort the consolation that comes through our tribulations through our trials and the help that we ought to be able to give to other people as well and provide that comfort unto others when no matter who's going through that difficult time being able to be there as a consolation and a blessing let's have a word of prayer dear heavenly father Lord we thank you so much for this great book of the Bible we thank you for your word we thank you for your instruction and the clarity dear Lord we thank you for eternal life we thank you for your promises and that you're faithful and true to everything that you say dear Lord and that you've given us this great free gift of eternal life and you promised it to us dear Lord we thank you for that and it's not based on our own works of righteousness which we have done but according to your mercy you saved us dear Lord we thank you for that and we love you help us to serve you help us to have the strength and the consolation and the comfort through our own trials and tribulations dear Lord and we pray that you would please just help us to stay true and faithful during our own trials Lord we love you it's in Jesus name we pray Amen Alright we're going to sing one last song tonight before we are dismissed brother Jesse will you please lead us Alright for the final song we're going to sing 244 Amazing Grace 244 244 we'll sing all four verses 4 How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious How precious