Being Lifted by God's Greatness, Pt. 1 (08/28/2022)

Morning everybody. How are y 'all doing? It's good to be back doing this again. This is a lot of fun. We're going to be just picking up right where we left off about seven months ago. The last time I was up here it was January and I started a study I was doing already at that time where I was essentially just trying to kind of piece together the idea of having peace like the ability for us as believers to have peace even in the toughest times.

So I started a study that I was calling peace and tribulation and so I did the first part of that again back in January and you know that was great. Filled the spot for that day and then here we are today so I'm just gonna again pick up where we left off but don't worry because I will do a little bit of review there just to get us all back on track including myself and then we'll move on to the next section of that study but I'm gonna go ahead and pray really quick first.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for this wonderful day that you've blessed us with. Thanks for bringing us all together once again and just the time that we get to have this time every week to fellowship with each other, strengthen each other, and just edify each other.

It's such a wonderful special time for all of us. I could certainly speak for myself and just ask you to be with all of us today. I ask you to please allow this lesson to be edifying for everybody and again just to be with us throughout the day.

We ask all these things in your name. Amen. Alrighty so again I'm gonna do just a quick, well I say quick, I'm gonna do a recap of what we covered back in January and the first couple of sections or I'll just start with the first section that we covered was essentially okay so like we experience hard times and there can be kind of a kind of a sequence to what we go through when those times start coming up and often you know the first thing that can take place is depending on the level of tribulation we're talking about when I use the word tribulation I'm using it pretty broadly it could be anything that is just it's kind of throwing a wrench in things if you will I mean it could be anything from getting a flat tire on the side of the highway on any given day to the toughest times you can imagine, toughest times imaginable, toughest things that you could go through as an individual or as a family as a church family whatever it may be and oftentimes the the first thing that you can that you would encounter when going through anything a little bit tough is the mourning aspect of tribulation the lamenting if you will and so the first section that we looked at last time was examples of Old Testament saints the patriarch patriarchs of our faith lamenting through the tough times that they went through and so you know again it all kind of the premise of the whole study is the fact that it can be possible to have peace even in those tough times but it's it's still a very dynamic thing to go through there's a lot of different things to be experienced there and it normally starts again with kind of the mourning aspect of what you're going through and again it can depend on the severity of the thing but it's still a very natural thing.

We see a lot of examples especially in the Old Testament as we looked at last time of saints that were going through various forms of tribulation usually pretty severe and they're lamenting or mourning during that time and displaying is and we'll review a little bit of this but we looked at it in a lot of detail come back in January where they were displaying just very very transparent emotions even discourse directly with the Lord just not really holding anything back in terms of how they were feeling about what they were going through.

So we have that we have a lot of examples of it we'll look at a couple of them in a minute. But we also as we also covered last time we also have this higher standard especially for all of us in this specific age in the church age on this side of the cross and we have a higher standard that we have before us.

It is okay to lament or to mourn when we're going through really tough times uh as we kind of uh yeah as we kind of you know discussed and concluded last time it is okay uh and it is okay to take our sorrows to the Lord when we have them.

But we also have again on this side of the cross a very specific Christian you know mandate if you will um to be joyful in everything that occurs. And of course Philippians 4 .4 is the first place the mind goes when you are thinking about that thinking about the fact that we do have this unique ability that you know maybe the Old Testament saints had to some degree uh certainly the world around us does not have and that is kind of a superpower in terms of being able to have peace to be joyful even when the worst things imaginable are happening around us.

So it's okay to lament but thankfully that doesn't have to be the end game. As we kind of concluded last time we do have that higher standard to shoot for um as Christians in the Old Testament I'm sorry in the New Testament as we see many examples of we are promised persecution as followers of Christ that is innate uh to our position in him.

We are going to have persecution. There's a lot of passages Galatians 4 .29 1st Thessalonians 3 .3. We looked at all these last time 1st Peter 4 but we're promised that persecution. We're promised tribulation.

And uh you know we're all aware that we can have a really tough life. That or how tough I should say that that life can be. Not that we have a tough life but how tough uh it can be. Um so we know all that and all of again all of that is is promised in the New Testament.

I mean the apostles um went through the brunt of it. Um and yet as as we'll see uh as we've seen already but we'll see again later they were they remain joyful. Uh we're commanded to live life joyfully again.

Philippians 4 .4 is just is just the go-to place for that. It's a very dynamic thing to try to navigate the tribulation. Um you know maintaining that peace maintaining any amount of joyfulness through every season of life it's not an easy task.

And it's not necessarily supposed to be an easy task either though. It's supposed to be something that draws us near to the Lord. Uh there's a purpose and everything. And this will be a big part of today's lesson.

Um is there's obviously a reason for it. We may not understand the reason for it but one thing that is pretty certain is that by the end of it or hopefully even through it throughout the tribulation we may be going through is our relationship with the Lord is going to be getting stronger.

I mean if that was the only information we had that in and of itself gives us enough reason to be joyful even in the tough times. It can be hard because of our human nature but it is an amazing thing.

And uh and so that's something that'll happen is uh we'll go through it but we'll get closer to him now last time to kind of set the tone for that first section talking about kind of the the lamentations aspect of tribulation the mourning aspect of it.

We started just uh you don't have to go here because I'm just going to hit a couple of verses in these spots before we get into today's lesson. But we started with Ecclesiastes um 3 1 it's it starts with to everything.

There is a season there's a time for every purpose under the heaven and then down in verse 4 specifically I mean it gives a whole list of of just contrasts you know time to be born time to die time to plant time to pluck all of these different contrasts.

And then you get down to verse 4 and it says there's a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance. So we know that again part of the whole design of this this whole um you know dynamic season that you know we would refer to as a season of tribulation.

Perhaps there's a lot of moving parts to it and oftentimes it begins with a time to mourn. Um then what we did was we moved on to the lamentations jeremiah. So we went to the book of lamentations which is a really really awesome uh book and obviously it makes sense to go there uh on that kind of subtopic of lamenting in the tough times.

The context of the whole book of lamentations was judah at that time that it was being written it was being attacked and driven in judah's uh being driven into the babylonian exile. Now obviously jeremiah had a lot of things to be upset about to to be mournful about and obviously that would be a kind of a textbook example of a time of tribulation.

I mean that again the people of judah are being driven into exile a lot of them are dying. And it's through that lens that of jeremiah writing and lamentations that we start seeing what it can look like to be in a time of mourning that's caused by tribulation.

We're actually given an example of you know i don't know if you could say of how to mourn. I don't think we need to know how to mourn. It's kind of a of a thing the a natural part of humanity uh is a is a reaction to the tough things going on.

But we're certainly giving an example of what it looked like for an old testament saint to mourn. And we looked extensively at lamentations uh three i'm gonna hit just a couple of verses really quick it starts.

This is jeremiah the prophet jeremiah we're talking about. And in lamentations three which is really interesting chapter right in the middle of that little book it starts with i am the man that have seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

So he immediately sets the tone by pointing out his understanding that what's happening is from the lord might not understand the reason just yet. And later on in that same chapter he kind of starts pointing out that he he does understand.

But in this moment he again he's just letting the emotions fly. He's just letting that time of mourning begin. In verse 12 it says he hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

That's lamentations 3 12 and 13. So at that point in that chapter starting around verse 12 it's really interesting because jeremiah he starts shifting a little bit kind of the focus a bit and away from just the tribulation of judah.

And he really starts singling himself out and his own afflictions is just a person within that larger group of people that's going through really really tough tribulations. He starts singling himself out his own afflictions and the kind of uh metaphor that he's using here he's it's he says it's he's feeling as if god was pouring out all of his vengeance on him alone as if it wasn't for the collective people that were sinning against him and doing many evils against him.

He feels as if though he's being singled out by god himself. And that jeremiah felt as if he was just being uh used as god's target practice that all of his wrath that was happening around him all of the judgment was being unleashed on jeremiah himself.

He had bent his bow and set me as the mark for his arrow. So he's sitting there feeling like god is just shooting his arrows of wrath directly at jeremiah who was other otherwise a faithful prophet and had gone.

He had sacrificed his whole life uh to be a prophet of the lord. And now this is what he's feeling. Um he had a close relationship with the lord and yet he still felt like all of the lord's wrath that was actually being poured out on the collective people of judah for their sins.

As later jeremiah kind of realizes and starts pointing out he felt like he was nothing more than target practice for the lord. In verse 17 of that same chapter he says and now has removed my soul far off from peace.

There's some contrast to our topic here. So the topic is talking about this concept that we at present time can have peace in tribulation. Jeremiah is telling us that because of his tribulation peace is a far off.

He doesn't have peace at all. He says i forget prosperity. And i said in verse 18 my strength and my hope is perished from the lord. Now what's really interesting. Obviously again this is an old testament example and we were looking at these these old testament examples of the times of mourning because they're very explicit and they give us again a great idea of of the human nature component of going through tribulation.

One thing that jeremiah will eventually get to is that the affliction that he was experiencing all of the wrath that he was experiencing the the mourning that he was experiencing um everything was happening because of god's sovereignty.

He points this out himself in the same chapter that he's saying all these other things again we looked at all the first 18 verses of this chapter last time um and i don't have time to go through all of them again.

But he goes through all of this very explicit you know uh descriptions metaphors of the devastation he was feeling as an individual. Um but then later in that same chapter in verses 37 to 38 he points out that he understands it's because of god's sovereignty not out nothing that was happening to him was outside of the bounds of the lord's will.

And obviously that him pointing that out is super important but it's super important in this entire study for us to keep that in mind as well and we'll we'll kind of look at that in detail as we get into today's material here in just a minute now.

Then we moved on to jobe and this is important because we're going to be looking at jobe again today. But jobe obviously left us with a pretty uh detailed um very colorful lamentation himself in jobe chapter 3.

Jobe chapter 3 1 after everything had happened to him after he had spent the seven days in silence with his friends because he was so devastated um he began. He opens his mouth for the first time after the second round of attacks from the devil occurred or happened to him uh and chapter 3 opens with him saying after this jobe opened his mouth and cursed his day.

And that's essentially talking about the the day of his birth you know him wishing that he had never been born as you go as you start reading through the verses from verses about 1 all the way through 19 of jobe 3 he basically lays out what he wished had happened to him in a number of different again kind of colorful ways he'd wished that he had never been conceived first of all.

And he specifically talks about uh the night that he was conceived and wishing that it hadn't happened that had that that had not been fulfilled. He then because that did happen. He then shifts to the day of his birth where he then describes his wish to have just been stillborn so he was conceived but now I wish I had just died as an infant but that didn't happen.

So then he moves on um and he you know talks about how he could have just been gone to the grave with the kings and counselors of the earth he would have been far better off than where he is now rather than experiencing the troubles.

Then he wished that his mother because he wasn't stillborn had just not nursed him had just not given him the sustenance and the care that he needed as a baby so that he would have died and again in infancy.

Um and he described how death would have been his collective resting place for uh well it how death is the collective resting place for all the people who had gone before him and that they are no longer experiencing their trouble and that he wishes he had just been with them.

So he continues on throughout chapter 3 and gives again a very a very explicit lamentation. And then in verse 25 and this is a verse that bothers me because it's me all the time especially being a dad it's it's actually it's a really tough verse job 325 for the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is coming to me.

So fear of stuff that hadn't even happened to him yet played a big part in his attitude when all this stuff started playing out I catch myself in that that fearful place all the time. So I try to work on that.

Um so we got to remember that the point of this whole topic is discovering how even when you're going through the toughest times you can imagine having that peace is possible. But it's also to discover that dynamic of combining the feelings the emotions that we experience in tough times they're giving there they are.

The times are given to us by the lord and we can experience them. We can experience a time of warning as we go through those. But the standard set before us by the apostles later on are our ultimate standard that we're shooting for.

So then this is still review by the way. So then we moved on to the second section which was living up to a higher standard. So we talked about the times of mourning and lamenting and the fact that it's okay in detail we looked at all those passages there we looked at some psalms that were david was mourning.

We looked at all of lamentations. Well the first 18 verses of lamentations 3 all of lament uh job 3. So then we moved on to the second section which was living up to a higher standard. So the whole point of the first section was to show us examples of mourning lamenting uh sharing our feelings with the lord even when they were very strong feelings as we saw with jeremiah joe david again they were not holding back what they were they were feeling.

They were not worried in that moment of what the lord or the people reading later were going to think um about they were feeling. And it's really interesting to consider that those lamentations were written under the inspiration of the holy spirit.

So those were there for us to read about and learn and and learn that it's a very natural thing to do to go through those times of mourning. But um it's important to understand that while that's okay to experience times of mourning like jeremiah did joe david many others um and again it was all uh it was all under the inspiration of the holy spirit as well.

We have to ask are those the only examples we have on how to deal with the tough times. Uh or uh the toughest times we can imagine. It's perfectly fine to have those feelings to share them with the lord.

Times of despair times of tribulation. Um but uh again it's not quite the end game for us there. The first place the mind immediately goes to when it comes to that higher standard like i mentioned at the top is paul.

He's chained to a prison wall for crying out loud. And then he pens this. You know one of the most well-known passages ever philippians 4 4 through 7 he says rejoice in the lord all way. And again i say rejoice let your moderation be known unto all men.

Your self-control be known unto all men the lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing. Don't be anxious. Don't have anxiety. I'm look at me. I'm chained to a prison wall and i'm doing just fine. Don't be anxious but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto god.

So obviously going through the tough times for us present day it would also be pretty natural for us to lay our requests out there and just ask the lord to be with us. Give us the strength to get through us.

Maybe if it be as will take the tribulation away. That is really putting it uh you know uh putting a damper on our lives or whatever it may be. Let her request be known made known unto god. And then verse seven of course is the key and it's the exact it's it's the big contrast between what jeremiah was saying in that this tribulation has taken my peace from me.

In verse seven of philippians four. In the peace of god which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ jesus. So i mean that right. There sums up that whole section the higher standard that we can shoot for in the fact that we have the ability to shoot for it is just an amazing thing.

I mean paul was a great example of having joy and a peace of mind in the tough times. Um for sure he gave us that higher standard in many of his uh letters. Another he gave us another example in acts uh 1625 he says the verse says.

And at midnight paul and silas prayed and sang praises unto god and the prisoners heard them again. They're in prison and they're singing praises unto god. In second corinthians 6 10 paul says as sorrowful yet always rejoicing as poor yet making many rich is having nothing and yet possessing all things.

His attitude was always that abundance attitude that brother myron talks about so often even when he's in prison. Um and then we ended last time with first peter chapter 4 and this is pretty awesome if y 'all want to go there it's just a couple of verses but it's it's really great stuff.

First peter 4 starting in 12. First peter 4 12 it says um it says beloved. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. So peter is kind of like setting us straight and he's like you know i understand this is how i i kind of picture it uh reading between the lines i understand that you're going through a tough time and that you're mourning and that's fine but don't get to the point where you think you ask the question why.

And that you think it's strange concerning this fiery trial that you're going through now. Of course in this context he's talking specifically about the trials that we'll face just because we're followers of jesus.

So that's kind of a specific thing but it's it's actually kind of broad the more that i think about it but think about it think of it not strange concerning the fiery trial and then verse 13. But rejoice in as much as you are partakers of christ sufferings that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Now this is kind of crazy brother paul because you you did kind of a an intro to first peter in sunday school day which was awesome. By the way the last time i did this lesson which was again january 9th brother bill was finishing first peter.

The reason i remember that is because i stole some of his notes here. Um he had done. He was doing first peter for that same the same day that i had this just really quick passage to finish this section.

So he was obviously talking about this verse. We just read he's talking about and he was talking about the tribulations that we go through the fiery trials that we'll go through. And brother bill kind of laid out just some bullet points on how to think of it um putting the emotions aside and just thinking about it as a person that a person of faith that is aware that there has to be a reason for it happening.

And he said the first thing when you're going through times like this is you have to accept it because we understand that um there is a reason for it even though we might not have all the information for why it's happening to us just yet we need to accept it and realize the lord is bringing us through this for a greater purpose that we don't yet understand.

The second thing when you accept it and you have to do i imagine you'd have to do this in order because it makes the other things a little bit tough if you don't accept it. But if you accept that it's happening for a reason then you can rejoice in it as paul did chain of the prison wall rejoice in the in the fiery trials you're going through the tribulations you're going through.

Number three is evaluate the reason why it's happening. And then brother bill went into some some examples and we're actually going to do some of that later today as well. Of you know could these trials be happening.

Maybe because i am straying away from the word a little too much. I'm not walking hand in hand with the lord enough and i'm falling prey to the world around me. And therefore that influence is affecting me in causing these tribulations.

Maybe that's not what's happening. Maybe what's happening is simple the simple fact that we will have persecution because we're a follower of jesus in which case that is an honor to endure those tribulations.

So evaluate the reason why it may be happening. Because that can of course affect your prayer life surrounding the situation as well. And then the last one which of course is the most important with it is entrusted to god and just again let him help you navigate what you're going through.

Um and so those were brother bill's points on that same passage we just read in first peter which he talked about on that same day. So we're given you know a lot of very potent reminders that joyfulness and peace and tribulation is possible by our standing position in what we have in jesus.

And uh he finished peter finishes chapter four uh by saying wherefore let them that suffer. This is the key part again according to the will of god. So this is after he said thank it not strange that you're going through these fiery trials.

He ends it by saying wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of god commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as into a faithful creator it's huge. So we concluded uh that lesson last time by again we're giving these awesome examples of the saints in the old testament what it's like to mourn during perilous times.

We are we through that we can understand it is okay for us to do the same. Uh we can even in in those examples as well. It's not just about the mourning not just about the lamentations but we also can see an intimacy that those men of the faith had with the lord.

It allowed them that allowed them to share their emotions and to consider why these things may have been happening to them in faith. And it can reassure us that you know we can share our our moments similar moments that we go through with the lord ourselves as well even when we hit the tough points.

Um and essentially just our mere humanity starts to play a role in those things. That is the time of mourning. But and thankfully so we're also presented with that new higher standard when it comes to being capable of handling those scenarios it is possible to remain joyful even and even experience peace within those times of tribulation because of our position in christ.

So that was a super quick version believe it or not of what we talked about last time just to give you all some context because again it has been seven months if there's ever a good justification for doing some review i'd say it's a seven month lapse in time in between lessons.

So with that being said we'll jump into today's material. I think we're okay on time we'll see all right. So the following section of this study again we're the whole overarching study. We have some sub points but the whole overarching overarching study is peace in tribulation.

How that's possible. So the following section we're going to be doing this study is going to be totally focused on how having true peace is even possible. But more importantly than that not only understanding how it's possible but how we can kind of quote tap into the peace uh at our lowest points.

So you know we now know it's okay to mourn. We also know we have this greater higher standard to shoot for. So how can we give ourselves a little bit of help what is the what are some things that the bible can give us in terms of helping us get there and actually reaching that higher standard.

That's what today's sub point is all about today's section. So peace during tribulation i mean oddly enough. Uh we can we can hear that and we can think okay. Yeah sure. And again it's because of our position in christ that we can do the rest of the world though it's it's an oxymoron.

I mean they peace and tribulation do not go together. It's a it's a it's a paradox that cannot be accomplished for the rest of the world. It can only be accomplished with the supernatural indwelling of the holy spirit the faith trust and knowledge and relationship that comes with that indwelling.

That's the only reason it's possible. And that's why we can hear that phrase and not think it sounds crazy. It's not an oxymoron for us for believers for followers of the lord. We already know based on our last section all the review we just did that we're given that higher standard to live up to when it comes to facing our trials a time of mourning is more than appropriate.

But it doesn't have to be the end game. As i said a couple of times to the tribulations we may face. We looked at philippians 4 4 verse peter 4 12. Those are some great passages that talk about that higher standard.

So now let's give ourselves kind of a foundation from which we can rise from those lowest points of tribulation and experience again a supernatural god-given peace. Not necessarily when the tribulation is over but even during the tribulation.

So this section is called being lifted by god's greatness and and the whole focus is on god's greatness alone. And we'll and you'll see why that comes into play when it in terms of our individual tribulations that we may face.

So we're going to start this section in the most obvious place similarly to that first section it was about mourning. So we went to lamentations in this section which is about god's greatness. We're going to be going to job.

Uh we're going to be going back to job job 38 if y 'all want to go ahead and turn there. Um we looked at an important portion of job in the first section of this study that we just reviewed a minute ago when job gives his lamentation following the tribulation he was experiencing.

That was job 3. What's interesting about the book of job is it's book ended by that tribulation. I'm sorry that uh lamentation about the tribulation that job is going through that's how it starts. And the latter end of the book the other book end if you will um is obviously god's response to what job was going through the things that were said all in the middle of the book.

And of course god pointing out his greatness and his power. So very contrasting. Uh a very contrasting beginning and end of the book. For sure the way that god's discourse with job starts gets straight to one of the main points that makes it difficult for us or any human when we go through our present day trials um is to understand why they're going through uh or to understand why they're going through it in the first place.

The opening verse of 38 or the opening couple of verses rather it says then the lord answered job out of the whirlwind and said who is that that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge. So again right off the bat we're given a main point in terms of trying to understand why are we going through this in the first place.

Well the lord kind of clears it up right off the bat. Who is it that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge. One of the first things to try to get in perspective when we find ourselves going through a time that seems so tough that we're not even going to be able to get through it.

It's a battle. We're not going to be able to win. Um how are we going to be able to bear this burden if you will. And and of course it always comes back to the question why in the first place am i going through this.

One of the first things to get in perspective um it may be a confusing time of tribulation is to remember that in that moment more often than not if not every time we don't yet have all the information.

Pretty important component to trying to understand why it might be happening to you is gathering the information. But oftentimes we jump to conclusions or maybe not conclusions but rather just immediately go to why me why is this happening to me.

And yet you don't even have all the information yet we don't yet have all the knowledge needed to fully understand the situation we're in. And in job's case not only was it true for him he didn't have all the information he didn't have all the knowledge.

But it was true of the council as we learn in verse two that he was receiving from his friends. Who is it that darkeneth council by words without knowledge they're trying to give you like they're trying to help you figure out the reason behind what's happening to you.

And they don't even have the knowledge to begin to help you in this area let alone you having the knowledge yourself. Job. This is how the lord starts it. And then before he begins the long passage passage passage that we're about to read that starts just amplifying the greatness of god.

He says in verse three. Gird up now thy loin is like a man for i will demand of thee and answer thou me. So it's worth noting here before stepping into this the the rest of the of the passage in 38 it's it's worth noting and it's one of the main points of this particular section of the study is that god's answers to job are far from what job was expecting or even asking for.

Because in earlier chapters of the book we saw that job was wanting answers. He was wanting the almighty to step in and tell him what was going on. And the lord does that eventually but not quite in the way that job was expecting or perhaps even wanting.

Um job wanted to know why he was being unjustly attacked in so many ways he wanted god himself to address why he is in god. What we're doing was doing these things to job. Instead what happens is god asks job a bunch of questions.

God doesn't explain the evil that was surrounding job. He doesn't answer the why as to why me and why why are these evil things happening to me. He doesn't even address the evil that was surrounding job.

What he does is he takes his focus job's focus totally off of that off of the evil and puts job's focus on him as in god. And then after doing so we're in the midst of doing so he rebukes job a little bit for being presumptuous enough to question god's ways in the first place.

And of course we know and when we're going through these times that his ways are not our own anyway. I mean that's isaiah 55 8 9 we we cross-reference that one pretty often his ways are not our ways his thoughts are not our thoughts.