God is the Answer...[1 Peter 5:6-11]

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Pastor Mike preaches God is the Answer...[1 Peter 5:6-11]

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What do you do when you receive bad news? How do you respond when you get news that really?
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challenges everything you think of Someone calls you and says sorry.
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I there's no longer position for you at the job Yet you have a little one at home and a wife at home and a mortgage
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The doctor says I'm sorry the baby has died you have a miscarriage What do you do when you get a notification that your spouse has passed?
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The test comes back medical test, and it's not positive news. It's negative news. What do you do?
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We all live in a fallen world. We all live in a world with trials all around us
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So we want to make sure we can respond rightly and well And I just want you to know ultimately the answer to all these questions is found in the
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God -given Who made you the God has redeemed you and the God who preserves you?
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If you'll take your Bibles and turn to first Peter chapter 5 for our passage today Lord willing we'll be in Luke Next week.
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I want to address this issue about trials how inevitable they are Inescapable and how we can please the
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Lord in the midst of trials Working through very difficult issues in a godly way so that we might honor the
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Lord who sought us and bought us with his redeeming love Jesus warned his disciples.
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He said you'll have tribulation in this world John 16 Paul said he's troubled on every side with trials
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They're just a way of life But the key the ultimate key is making sure you remember who
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God is I Thought I was going to prepare this message this week For you because this has been a very difficult year for Bethlehem Bible Church with spouses dying and Daughters with heart problems and and layoffs and all kinds of other issues
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But then of course what the Lord so often does does he not if you've taught the Bible at all You begin thinking
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I'm going to teach this for other people I want to encourage them and and and fortify their faith in the
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Lord And then all of a sudden you have to go through a trial too So then you have to live it before you preach it.
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How fair is that? and So this message has ministered to me all week because it's the eternal
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Word of God this message I'm positive not because it has anything to do with me But because of the text and the
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Spirit of God it will minister to you It will serve a template as a template for you when the phone rings
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And it's bad news when the test comes back And it's bad news when something's going on in your life, or there's bad news, and you say what's the ultimate solution?
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Oh certainly there could be medical things done and other things But the ultimate solution is remembering who the
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Lord is There's an Old Testament prophet who said Thus says the
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Lord let not a wise man boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might Let not the man rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this that he understands and knows
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Me that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness justice and righteousness on earth for I delight in these things
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God is the answer is the title of the message today, and it really answers every single question
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Lord what about this? Why how can I honor you in this trial our passage today is first Peter chapter 5 verses 6 through 11
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Now when you first read this you're probably going to think oh There's some responses there for me in the midst of suffering and trials now those are true
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But I want as I read this I want you to take a look and Be observant to see if you can see anything about God in this
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God tells us what to do that certainly But as I read it I want you to focus in on and See and be aware of the fact that it's not just telling us what to do although That's fine.
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God can do that anytime he wants But there's a nature and the character of God in the midst of all this and that's the key to this passage first Peter 5 verse 6
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Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God So that at the proper time he may exalt you
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Casting all your anxieties on him Because he cares for you
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Be sober -minded be watchful your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour
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Resist him firm in your faith Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood
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Throughout the world and After you have suffered a little while the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore confirm
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Strengthen and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever
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Did you notice did you see the mighty hand of God? Did you see he cares for you?
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Did you see he's the God of all grace and that's going to be the key for our message today Understanding who
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God is and responding to him rightly when we're in a trial Now the book of first Peter is a book about suffering
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It's not necessarily suffering with health conditions unless you think Rightly, so that the church is being so persecuted by Satan and his minions
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That they're getting persecuted unto death And there are suffering church, and they're scattered and they are on the run their elect exiles chapter 1 says and Peter wants to make sure that they stand firm in the faith
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Peter learning about the Lord Jesus day by day for those three years wants to now make sure that you understand the proper role of suffering and Unlike people on TV and unlike many of us even if we think wrongly the key is not
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Glory first and then the cross It's suffering first, and then the cross it was that way for Jesus, and it is for us.
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There's the cross before the crown Now if you go back to chapter 1
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It makes sense to watch Peter praise God especially after Peter so often
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Had foot in the mouth itis. I think that's what it's called technically I Started working on Latin on my
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Duolingo, and so I might have to throw a Latin word out here or there Peter who would say to Jesus Let's not let's not you're not going to die now and Jesus has to say get behind me
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Satan Peter who denies Jesus how many times certainly more than once and now
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Peter on this side of the resurrection and now the Spirit Empowered and illuminating him to write inspiring him rather it says in verse 3
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It's all starts off with praise in the midst of all the suffering in the midst of the persecution in the midst of exile all
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Across these places in chapter 1 verse 1 he says blessed be the God and Father of our
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Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy. He's caused us to be born again to a living.
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Hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead They don't have much on earth now.
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They're scattered. They're persecuted to an inheritance that is Imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded
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Through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you suffering
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Christians rejoice Now for a little while if necessary and it is because that's
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God's plan You have been grieved by various trials So that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes through it
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Was tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ Though you have not seen him
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Just like us you love him though You do not see him now you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory
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Obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls and Peter just marches through chapter 1 about who
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Jesus is chapter 2 how he's a the suffering servant and a great example in suffering Chapter 3 husbands and wives and how they deal with one another chapter 4 don't be surprised when you're in a trial
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Jesus suffered we suffer and we come to the end of the book and tucked here in verses 6 through 11.
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I hope It's this this passage will be like a pillow for your weary head that you can just rest your soul
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The other day I saw online somebody tested. I think 10 different pillows which one was the best
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This is the best one right here Maybe you like my pillow. Maybe you like our pillow.
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Maybe you like all these other brands This is the best pillow you will find yourself running back to this passage a lot because it's so God -centered
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So helpful and because we all go through trials very very simple outline today
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Since God is mighty Be humbled since God cares
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Cast and since God is gracious suffer well Three God -centered ways to respond to any trial including up to death
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Since God is mighty be humble since God cares cast and since God is gracious submit to the suffering in that trial
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How should you respond to any trial dear Christian here? It comes number one since God is mighty
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Humble yourselves This is the right response in a trial verse 6 humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God's who at the proper time he may
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Exalt you God is in control. God is sovereign He's providentially orchestrated everything and he wants you to just humble yourself in the trial
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Instead of fighting against the trial instead of kicking against the goads and bucking God's system, which would be fruitless
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Thinking somehow maybe functionally God's fallen from his throne It's it's an acceptance.
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It doesn't mean you can't find cures It doesn't mean you can't try to do things to get a new job It doesn't mean that it means while you're in the trial and you're suffering through it
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You have to cease striving and know he's God Psalm 46 You're in the fiery trial and you know
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This is God's will because God has a sovereign will and whatever happens is God's will he's sovereign over everything including the trial and so what
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Peter is saying is Instead of saying with a self -reliant defiant heart God.
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I would run this universe differently I wouldn't have that health problem. I wouldn't have that job layoff. I wouldn't have this that or the other
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I would do it differently That's pride and the opposite of pride is I'm just gonna humble myself.
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I'm just gonna accept. This is God's will I don't have to figure it all out I don't need to know why you can tell at least with first Peter the recipients they're going through all this they're trusting in Jesus He's the
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God man. They've entrusted themselves their souls to a faithful creator. Who's doing what's right, and they're getting persecuted for it and so Peter says humble yourselves
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When Jonathan Edwards the great theologian and Princeton died unexpectedly He thought he would have a smallpox vaccination and lead the congregation in that and many others he died from that and his wife wrote tell me you think this is kicking against God's goads or Humbling herself under the mighty hand of God She wrote what shall
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I say a Holy and good. God has covered us with a dark cloud. Oh That we may kiss the rod and lay our hands on our mouths
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The Lord has done it, but my God lives and he has my heart What a sweet godly response to trials and it's interesting because he could deliver you
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What's the text going to say under the mighty hand of God? When you see mighty hand of God, I don't want you to think of five fingers in a hand
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God doesn't have a hand God is spirit Jesus of course incarnate had hands, but here we're thinking about God.
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He's invisible He has no body. How could he have a hand? This is just language for us to recognize this anthropomorphic language language
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That we use of humans Can you think of a time in the Old Testament where Israel was in a bind and by the mighty hand of God?
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He rescues them of They're in Egypt and they're slaves and over and over the
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Texans in Exodus that he rescued them He delivered them with a mighty hand This is the hand of deliverance the same
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God that puts you in the circumstance of difficulty can rescue you He's in charge.
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He he understands. He's powerful to deliver his people. He's powerful to judge their enemies This is the providential control of God And this is what helps us submit to God's plan because he's powerful enough to sustain us through he's powerful enough
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He could have kept us out of it. He's powerful enough. He put us in it and he can get us out of it We humbly accept our circumstances
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For we know that for those who love God all things work together for what? Good for those who are called according to his purpose
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This is how James could say count it all joy my brothers when you meet various trials Knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness
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This is how Paul could write in Romans. Not only that we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance
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And by the way, if God has a mighty hand to rescue you should be thinking that means he's not aloof
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That means he's not far off. That means he's not in some other zip code doing something else. He's present.
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He's there I'm the Lord. I'm with you always even to the end Jesus says
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The power of God Mary knew it he has done mighty deeds with his arm.
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I Love Isaiah 40 behold the Lord comes with might and his arm rules for him.
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His reward is with him He will tend his flock like a shepherd When you see a trial come into your life
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I want you to filter it through or or look through like the screen door of yes
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But it's mighty hand of God. He's put me here. He can keep me here and he can take me out anytime.
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He'd like I'm not under God's thumb. I'm under his mighty providential hand and I don't want to kick against the goads and I don't want to Pridefully Ask God, what are you doing?
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Being impatient with him God's sovereign he does whatever he pleases. He's in the heavens
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And by the way, it won't last forever. Do you see in verse 6 that he may exalt you at the proper
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Now there's a little lie in evangelicalism. Here's the lie that God won't give you more than you can handle
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I think that's a lie. Maybe I shouldn't say lie, but I just kind of went into radio mode for a second Of course no temptation is overtaking you that just such as common a man as God is faithful He won't give you more to it for a temptation so that you'll sin
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But sometimes he gives you more than you can handle because you can't handle everything and and he shows us
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Yes, in fact, we can't our shoulders aren't big enough And we're under his watchful care his mighty hand but there's still the trials are real the test results are real the death and the family's real and God sometimes severely test us
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He does know our limits that's certainly true And he gets our attention this way and here's something that we can have a great promise with he may exalt you at the proper
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Time. I love the passages in the Psalms. Wait for the
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Lord be strong. Let your heart take courage. Just wait for the Lord Rest in the
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Lord and wait patiently for him. And now Lord, what do I do but wait? Yet those who wait for the
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Lord will gain new strength. They'll mount up with wings like Eagles We think waiting is
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I'm at Hannaford and I'm waiting in front of someone I went yesterday.
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I Figured if Kim's coming back to town. I better stock up on the fridge and Quit clean everything and all that and there was a nice lady in front of me
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And I I already thought I might not get along with her because she's got about 90 things of cat food
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But I thought I'm a Christian man Anyway, and then she gets all the stuff done
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The person said would you like help? You know with the car to unload the stuff the carriage outside and she's walking away and the checkers saying sorry
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It didn't go through I'm like they're gonna have to re -ring all this stuff up. I mean, that's what
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I'm thinking about. I'm Lord, I'm gonna count it all joy or something. That's stupid These people were on the run.
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They're getting persecuted suffering dying And they're waiting on the Lord, you know the element of weight that I don't
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Have in my own mind and Hannaford Is the Hebrew word for weight and that is eagerly anticipate?
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I'm anticipating God's going to do something. You know, that's what waiting means waiting on the Lord It doesn't mean let go and let
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God I'm not gonna do anything and I'm just gonna float down the river on the inner tube It's with that anticipation.
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I know he's going to do something. He's faithful to me He's never let me down great as I faithfulness and and I I'm submissive to his will
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I'm not gonna buck the system as it were and I know God's powerful and he's gonna exalt me at the right time
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I'm anticipating that he's promised it and when you have hope that goes a long way Pastor Steve gave me a quote from Spurgeon yesterday.
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We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and Write our blessings in sand
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Charles Spurgeon It's the other way around he will exalt you one day now
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Certainly that trial you have can go all the way till you go to glory. That's true, but it still doesn't last forever
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If you're in a trial right now
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God is gonna keep you there and work on you until he's done working on you and then he'll exalt you
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Spurgeon also said had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you find yourself laid off sick child
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All the other things in life that you can think of as trials Had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you find yourself
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Divine love would have placed you there Now that's easier said than done
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But it's true. It's true What about you? Are you going through a trial?
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What's your response been Well Sometimes our responses aren't good
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But then we say Lord grant me repentance because I want to start thinking rightly I want to humble myself in this trial
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You know my wife and I want children we can't have them now You know I'm single and I want to have a wife or a husband right now
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And I just can't find that godly person God has a mighty hand He's there presently you humble himself to your plan and at the right time.
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He's going to exalt you He's mighty enough to sustain you he's mighty enough to get you in the trial through the trial and out of the trial
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Yes, but I don't understand all you need to know here in this passage particularly is God is powerful
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And in chapter 4 3 2 1 here's who Jesus is and how he's redeemed you he's reconciled you to the father
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He loved you if we read in Revelation chapter 1 today. He loves us Remember William Cooper God moves in mysterious way his wonders to perform
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He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm deep in unfathomable minds of never -failing skill
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He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will Ye fearful saints take courage the crowds the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head
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Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace Behind a frying frowning providence.
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He hides a smiling what? faith the just shall live by Faith his timing is
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But that's not all Verse 7 goes on to talk about God cares for us
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How do you respond to a trial rightly one since God's humble since excuse me since God is mighty?
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We humble ourselves since God is caring We cast we cast our cares
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One of the things I'm wanting you to see and I'll just make it explicit now is that we never should take the law of God a command of God an imperative of God and Detach it from the person of God I've got all these commandments.
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I have to keep and all these laws I have to do and all these rules and just like rules abstractly no no they're
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Tied in to who God is and so when God the Father gives you a rule or a
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Command be humbled He's doing it because he'll get exalted and it's good for you The law and the lawgiver always go together and here he wants us to cast our cares on him because he cares
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Isn't this wonderful verse 7? casting Just a few of your anxieties on him.
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I'm sorry casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you Here's some different translations looser translations
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Give all your worries to him because he cares for you Give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about what happens to you
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You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him for you are his personal concern.
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I Mean we used to be enemies and now what the Lord Jesus has done has made us friends and not only friends adopted his sons
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And daughters into the kingdom and now we say the Lord's shoulders are big enough as it were
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I'm just gonna give him all my troubles all my worries all my cares It's technically tied in with the verse before it
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Humble yourselves by casting pride says I keep all my things to myself. I'm just that kind of person.
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I'm autonomous I'm self -dependent. I don't need all those things. The real way to humble yourself is to cast and not say
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I'll do it my way The word cast means when you take a garment and you throw it over an animal so Jesus can ride it
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Dear Christian you were never meant To carry your worries and cares
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You can't do it. I can't do it Casting all your cares because the father cares for you
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You've trusted the father with your eternal soul, can't you trust him with the cares? Psalm 68 blessed be the
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Lord who daily bears our burden the God who is our salvation. I Know it is improper from this pulpit to quote movies and movie themes some churches
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That's their whole summer this week is the biblical themes in Barbie and next week It's a biblical themes in Indiana Jones when we do that here.
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It's time to get a match out for this building Biblical themes in Barbie, I mean,
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I just look at those people to do that and think you know, that's a wolf who does that But I will quote a movie.
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I Won't tell you what movie it is because I just don't want to but you know what it is You can't handle the truth
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You are all pagans you watch it all the time Netflix You can't handle the anxiety
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You can't handle the worry and neither can I? By the way when we think we can
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I'll tell you what happens tension headaches insomnia Ulcers restricting saliva tooth decay fatigue difficult concentrating irritable
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NUS muscle tension Etc. You can't handle it. We can't we're not made to do it.
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We're supposed to cast our cares Proverbs 1225 anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it clad
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Here's your good word cast your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you all your anxiety
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Not a little bit all of it Jesus himself was in the stern asleep on the cushion and they woke him and said to him teacher
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Don't you care that we're perishing and being aroused? He rebuked the wind and said to the sea hush be still the wind died down and it became perfectly calm
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Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith? big burdens you cast little burdens you cast the word cares simply means something that's divided and So you think two things about it?
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You've got a concern and it divides you so instead of trusting the Lord of their hearts and not leaning on our own understanding
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It's making us think about these other things and we're kind of all tabbing back and forth Interestingly the word for worry in English comes from the word to strangle
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To strangle because what does worry do it strangles you? Remember the old Presbyterian pastor
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Jay Adams some of you know him. He would always get up and preach without a tie Like what do you you know in my circles you preach with a tie because then you're godly
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And he said why do women live to be 80 on average in men 70 answer slow strangulation ties
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You know what I'm talking about It's 3 in the morning, and it's like you're strangling yourself with worries
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They just compound themselves and Peter wants to remind you that in the midst of all your worries
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God exists God cares As worry chokes out the life of faith thinking about who
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God is helps us There's a lady named Elisha Hoffman. She wrote a song called.
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I must tell Jesus. I must tell
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Jesus all my trials I cannot bear these burdens alone in my distress.
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He kindly will help me he ever loves and cares for his own I must tell Jesus. I must tell
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Jesus. I cannot bear my burdens alone. I must tell Jesus I must tell
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Jesus Jesus can help me Jesus alone, so I asked you the question
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Have you told Jesus? It's not too late Someone said worries like a rocking chair it will give you something to do, but you don't get anywhere
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Another man said worry is an indication that we think God cannot look after us Someone wrote worry never robs tomorrow at sorrow
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It's only saps today of its strength and with conviction this man said worry is practical atheism and an affront to God To be direct worry is sin
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Anxiety is sin be anxious for Nothing So when
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I am anxious and worry, and I do ain't become anxious and worry I have to say Lord that's sinful because I'm trying to carry the burden and I'm supposed to cast it on you
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Would you please forgive me and what does the Lord do of course I forgive you because if you confess your sins
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He's faithful and just to forgive Literally he cares for you means it matters to him about you
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The God of the universe cares about you and me how could that be I? Mean there are millions of people billions of people when
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I used to go to football games When Nebraska used to be good there'd be like 75 ,000 people at Memorial Stadium, and I look around I'm thinking
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God knows every one of these people's thoughts he knows every one of these people not in a saving sense, but he knows them but How can he do that?
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He knows all his people and he he knows his flock and the sheep hear his voice
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And if he's given us his son Will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
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Don't be anxious for your life What you shall eat or what you shall drink or your body is what you should put on It is not life more than food in the body more than clothing
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Look at the birds of the air They don't sow neither do they reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them
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Bethlehem Bible Church, are you not worth much more than they? Which one of you can be anxious being anxious can add a single cubit to his lifespan
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And why are you anxious about clothing observe the lilies of the field they do not toil nor do they spin yet?
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I say to you Jesus said even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe themselves like one of these
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Do not be anxious and what should we eat? What do we drink? How should we clothe ourselves? What about the test results?
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What about this issue? What about that issue? What about my job and we go on and on verse 32 of Matthew 6 for all these things that Gentiles eagerly seek
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For your heavenly father knows that you need these things But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you
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Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself each day has enough trouble of its own
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The just shall live by worry May it never be the just shall live by faith
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Your confidence your Christian my confidence should be in the fact that Jesus actually does care.
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He genuinely cares for his people He's not remote. He's not unattached
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So if you're holding on to a care, why don't you cast it even right now say Lord Please forgive me for holding on to this.
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I just I just laid at your feet Say well, you know what if I if I thought
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Jesus was more compassionate, maybe I'd laid at his feet Soon afterwards
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Jesus went to a town called Nain and his disciples and a great crowd went with him as He drew near to the gate of the town
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Behold a man who had died was being carried out the only son of his mother She was a widow and when the
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Lord saw her he had compassion on her and said to her do not weep then he came up and touched the beer and Like the casket thing and the bear stood still and he said young man
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I say to you arise and the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother.
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I Read that and I think God cares Well, he was still speaking there came from the rulers house someone who said your daughter's dead why trouble the teacher any further
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But overhearing that they said this Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue do not fear only
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Believe he allowed no one to follow except Peter James and John They came to the house of the ruler and Jesus saw commotion people weeping wailing loudly when he entered he said to them
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Why are you making such a commotion? The child's not dead, but sleeping and they laughed at him but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and Those were with him and went in where the child was taking her by the hand said little girl.
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I say to you arise and Immediately the girl got up and began walking for she was 12 years old and they were immediately overcome with amazement
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And he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat
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Isn't the Lord Jesus compassionate you see it in Scriptures You've seen it in your own life. And if he's that compassionate and you give the cares to him, he'll take them
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We're supposed to cast our cares on him Come to me all who weary in the hair heavy laden
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Jesus said with compassion and caring I'll give you rest I'm gentle and lowly in heart
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My yoke is easy. My burden is light. He cares for you We're in a situation and we think you know what?
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I'm gonna humble myself. Scott. God has me here for a reason Mighty hand of God. I'll be exalted at another time. And also
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I'm not gonna just hoard up all my worries I'm gonna have to say Lord forgive me and I'm gonna give you those worries lastly
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Not only is God mighty so humble yourselves. Not only is God caring so cast your troubles on him, but since God is gracious Suffer well, since God is gracious suffer.
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Well Verses 8 to 10 will be our section for this
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Description of God of all grace that we see in verse 10 Let me read this to you and I want you to be thinking about persecution and How Satan hates what
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Jesus loves Jesus dies for the church builds the church Satan is trying to attack the church persecute the church and what's going on here is
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Peter is certainly Recognizing that what's behind the persecution of the church is Satan Most likely using people of course, but Satan is causing the church to suffer.
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He wants to stomp it out and So they're getting persecution They're getting persecuted rather and it says here verse 8
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Be sober -minded be watchful your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour
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Resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same kind of suffering Are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world
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After you've suffered a little while The God of all grace the mighty hand of God the
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God who cares and now the God of all grace Who's called you to his eternal glory in Christ?
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Will himself with grace restore with himself with grace confirm with grace strengthen and with grace establish you
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Satan can do a lot of things We can't necessarily tell if it's Satan or not If it's a fallen world or not if it's us getting ourselves into trouble or not
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But you can see the effects could you not see the effects of Satan's persecution when it comes to Job?
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Right Job losing his ten children Job losing his riches
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Job having all the blisters and sores all over his body That was all due to Satan certainly he could only
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Satan can only do what God has let him do But he still can do things Satan is alive. He's real And since he's alive and he's real don't sleep on the job.
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That's what it says in the Greek Well close be sober -minded be watchful
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Walk circumspectly don't walk around like there's no such thing as Satan don't walk around like everything's
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Satan You know I've got sinus problems. That must be Satan. We have to kind of walk the fine line We have to be sober and think rightly we have to be watchful
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To think about these things properly Satan exists But what our advocate exists to and Satan goes and says can you believe a band
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Roth is is suffering wrongly? Can you believe a band Roth is having anxiety over things can you believe that he's not humbly himself under your mighty hand
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God Then we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous, right? We have to think through these things as we walk in this life
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I'm not gonna go crazy casting out demons sending them to Fitchburg or anywhere else How many from Fitchburg again?
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We always have a few sorry Okay, Gardner farther Soberness includes not blaming everything on the devil, but soberness includes
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There is a devil who's doing things behind the scenes and in this context persecuting the church
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It's not the Holy Spirit persecuting the church is Satan so Peter just wants them to make sure that they're paying attention
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I'm sure resonating in Peters ear was Jesus when Jesus said just be on the alert and pray
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Watch and they fall asleep. He knows how important it is Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants disguised themselves as servants of righteousness.
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You have to be careful and Maybe this is the most important thing that I can say for us today regarding this passage the word devil
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Satan it means slander Slander Now we're not getting we're not suffering for the cause of righteousness here in America yet.
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I'm sure it's coming But we have to remember to think soberly and righteously and watchfully
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So that we don't fall prey to Satan's slanders If God really loved you, he wouldn't put you in that situation
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How can God be good and let that happen to your child? How can God be and the answers go along and along and along they go it means slander
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Satan So I have to walk carefully. So we're not blaming God. May we never blame God for anything
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God never has to be asked for forgiveness. I Mean he never has to ask for forgiveness
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And to get our attention you think of something strong and powerful that you better run from he calls the adversary verse 8 like a lion
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Powerful strong This is not some kind of tiny little animal. This is a lion and it's interesting because the word they're
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Prowling means walking back and forth like a teacher would peripatetically walking back and forth
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He just kind of you know, you see him at the zoo and the animal in the zoo. It just walks back and forth
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It's like it's looking for that little spot to kind of get out and get you in the old days, you could get up pretty close to fences of zoos, but Not any longer
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Kim. I remember her telling me the story her brother was It had his pacifier and was taunting one of the monkeys in the zoo in California And if I remember the story, right the monkey grabbed the pacifier put it in his mouth and started sucking real hard and Steve Duncan Kim's brother kept shouting monkeys got my fire monkeys got my fire monkeys got my fire
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The word roaring is the word for roar. It's an onomatopoetic word. It means it sounds like it's roaring
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It's loud We have to think rightly Just make sure we think rightly about God And what does that say it's so interesting that it says that God's a
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God of grace Oh Once in a while, I I've not thought rightly and I have kind of blamed
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God and I've asked him why like he owes me an explanation And I as a
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Christian even do that and I want you to know God as a God of grace Doesn't say that in verse 10 and after you've suffered a little while the
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God of all grace who's called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you what a name of God the
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God of all grace Psalm 86 God you are merciful and gracious Micah 7 who's a
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God like you who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious acts All grace to save all grace to sanctify all grace to glorify
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Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 12 my grace is sufficient for you. Jesus said to Paul for power is perfected in weakness
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Trials put us in our place and the God of grace sustains us did not
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Jonathan Newton who who wrote amazing grace Say tis grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will what?
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He'll lead me home He's got me all the way to the end if I could lose my salvation I would but he's got me
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Your Christian suffering is not going to last forever and the suffering you have on earth compared to heaven
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Listen what 2nd Corinthians says for momentary light affliction is producing for us in a eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison
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While we look not at the things that are seen but the things which are not seen For the things which are seen are temperable temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal
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I look at this and I think This is the way to suffer well This is how
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Jesus suffered well, and he was ultimately of course exalted and grace
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Do you see those four little great things that grace does there it restores? That means your joints are out of whack and you go to the chiropractor and they
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Manipulate your neck and they crack it and put it back into place. That's what this is used of spiritually to confirm
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That means so you can put your feet on a rock and we're weak and we don't respond rightly to trials
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But God puts our feet on a rock by confirming this Strengthening giving us grace to strengthen so we can do it and then establishment
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It's got the word like with the roots roots that go deep Grace grace marvelous grace and then he ends it like he started it in verse 6 talking about the mighty power of God God is mighty be humble.
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God's carrying cast God's gracious suffer. Well now to him be the Dominion forever and ever.
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Amen He's got the power this is like Jude the doxology
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Glory majesty Dominion authority before all time now and forever So dear
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Christian, you're going through a trial God's the answer
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God is the one that you need to be thinking about and for all week long. I've been thinking myself God is mighty
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Well, we were Young parents we teach our children all kinds of songs and it's funny how even kids songs now minister to me
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What a mighty God we serve What a mighty God we serve Angels bow before him heaven and earth adore him.
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What a mighty God we serve God is mighty. He can do whatever he wants So I'll be humbled
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God cares the Lord Jesus cares for me. I Mean if there's one person in the universe that you would want to care for you, who would it be?
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That person would be the Lord Jesus and he does and also I know he's a
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God of grace If you're not going through a trial
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Maybe you can encourage people that are and point them back to who God is If you're an unbeliever here,
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I want you to know there's no sin that you've ever done That's so bad that God's grace in Christ can't forgive you because Jesus Christ comes to save sinners a woman with a sinful past in John 7
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Jesus saves thief on the cross who's essentially a murderer and insurrectionist
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Jesus saves a Samaritan woman caught in adultery after adultery after adultery Jesus saves
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Paul persecuting the church imprisoning Christians and killing them Jesus saves Jesus sounds like he's a savior of sinners and you need to trust in him today dear unbeliever believer even the best
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Christians fail Even the strongest Christians are weak at times.
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It doesn't mean you're not a Christian. It means You're struggling and there was a theologian and I have a systematic theology is about that big maybe 800 pages
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By name me by a man named Robert Dabney Presbyterian he was a minister a chaplain and he was chief of staff to General Stonewall Jackson He was a seminary professor
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I mean if anybody's gonna walk through life humbling himself into the mighty hand of God Casting his cares on him because he cares for you and suffering properly
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Because the God is the God of all grace wouldn't it be Dabney? he started to get older and he was worried about his death that What if he won't die honorably, what if he won't die in Christ Jesus?
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What if he won't hold on to the faith when he's old and sick and tired will he make it to the end?
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His friend wrote this dear friend Let me advise you Now as you have often advised me if you were about to cross a deep chasm and there were a bridge over it
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Would you stand there looking in at yourself wondering if you trusted enough in bridges to be able to cross?
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or would you not rather go and examine the beams and the timbers of the bridge and the quality of its construction and Determine whether the bridge was trustworthy and then pass over it in confidence
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Dear friend our faith is in Christ Spend yourself focusing on him and his sufficiency rather than on yourself now with me, please father in heaven.
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I Thank you for these dear people in your providence
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What some would call a frowning Providence our church has gone through a lot lately But you've been faithful and already out of some of the very difficult circumstances.
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I've heard testimonies About how these ones who have kissed the rod give public testimony about your goodness and kindness even though they're suffering
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Would you strengthen them? Would you confirm them? Would you restore them because you're a God of all grace?
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And father if anyone's here holding on to worry holding on to anxiety
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Would you help them to cast I? Think about the Lord Jesus Who humbled himself to the point of death he became obedient to point of death even death on the cross by humbling himself to God's?
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plan Thank you for such a great Savior that we have would you work in our lives?
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So that heaven will sound Even more glorious as we say