Temptations and Trials Luke 22 Vs 31-38

We have Bible study that Pastor Elgin is leading. It's going to be taking place this coming

Wednesday, October 2nd at 530. Feel free to join. It's online and in person, so feel free to join.

And then lastly, we have a praise and worship night on the 31st of October.

If you guys are interested, at 6 o 'clock p .m. it'll be here in the fellowship hall, just songs and worship that Pastor Elgin and Lauren will be leading that night.

So instead of celebrating or participating in that worldly holiday, we could sing praises to God instead.

And that'll do it as far as announcements. Dear Lord, thank you for this day you've given us. Thank you for allowing us to be here and fellowship with other like -minded believers in your name,

Lord. As we head into worship and sermon, prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we are ready to hear the word of God and to praise your name,

Lord, before you. In your name we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. And this morning, we're gonna, our first song is

He Will Hold Me Fast. I think the title kind of explains, it's self -evident of what it is, but I wanted to read a few verses,

John 10, 27 through 30, and it's, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my

Father's hand. I and my Father are one. And for me, that's, those are incredibly reassuring words, especially in the times that we live.

There's a lot of tumult in the world, but when you're in the center of fellowshipping with our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, it's absolute security. You don't need to worry about all that other stuff.

So let's stand together as we begin our service with He Will Hold Me Fast. When the tempter would prevail,

He will hold me fast. Through life's fearful pail,

He must hold me fast. He will hold,

He will, my Savior, loves me so.

He will hold me fast. Next song is

Great Is Thy Faithfulness, an old hymn that many of you know. And God is faithful.

He's trustworthy. So let's sing that together. Great is thy faithfulness,

O God, Jesus, love thy compassion.

Great is thy grace,

O Lord, as I see thee. Today's scripture reading will come out of the book of John, chapter 21, verses 15 through 17.

That is the book of John, chapter 21, verse 15.

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, the son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs.

He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes,

Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time,

Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep.

This is the word of the Lord. Let's stand together as we sing just as I am.

I wanted to read the last verse in that as you rise.

Just as I am, I come as I am. Praise God, just as I am. I come broken to be mended.

I come wounded to be healed. I come desperate to be rescued. I come empty to be filled.

I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the lamb. And I'm welcomed with open arms.

Praise God. So let's sing just as I am. As I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one to thee, whose each spine to be mended.

I come with you. I come desperate to be rescued.

I come empty to be filled. I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the lamb.

And I'm welcomed with open arms. Praise God, just as I am. I come broken to be mended. I come wounded to be healed. I come desperate to be rescued. I come empty to be filled. I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the lamb. And I'm welcomed with open arms. Praise God, just as I am. And waiting not to rid my soul of one to thee, whose each spine to be mended. I come wounded to be healed. I come desperate to be rescued. I come empty to be filled. I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the lamb. And I'm welcomed with open arms. Praise God, just as I am. I come broken to be mended. I come wounded to be healed. I come empty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the lamb.

This is a song we learned last week for the first time. Many of you, many of us have sung it for the first time.

Smitten, stricken, and afflicted. And it's reflecting about our

Savior, what He went through on His journey to the cross, and what He did to save us. Stricken, smitten, and afflicted.

See Him dying on the tree. Tis the

Christ by men rejected. Yes, my soul, tis

He, tis He. He's the long -expected prophet,

David's son, yet David's Lord. By His Son, God now has spoken.

He's the true and faithful Word. Tell me, you who hear

Him, was there ever grief like His?

Friends in fear, His hosts disowning, foes insulting,

His distress? Many hands were raised to wound

Him. None would interpose to save.

But the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that justice gave.

You who think of sin but lightly, now suppose the feeble fear.

Do you view its nature rightly? Here is guilt they estimate.

With the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load.

He's the Word, the Lord's anointed Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost.

Christ, the rock of our salvation, is the name of which we boast.

Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt.

None shall ever be confounded. And the

Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.

But he said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. And He said,

I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day, before you will deny three times that you know

Me. And He said to them, When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?

They said, Nothing. Then He said to them, But now, he who has a money bag, let them take it, and likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

For I say to you, that this which is written must be accomplished in Me.

And he was numbered with the transgressors. For the things concerning Me have an end.

So they said, Lord, look, here are two swords. And He said to them, It is enough.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are grateful that we get to hear from you this morning.

Help us to experience your presence. Help us to delight in your presence.

And help us to take in your word. And help us see the value in your word, more so than gold or silver.

And help us to be filled with your word. And Father, help us to be grateful of what

Jesus went through for our sin, that He would suffer the wrath that we deserved, so that we may live.

And thank you that we worship the risen King. In His name we pray. Amen. So this passage is the last discussion passage at the

Passover dinner. It is right before His betrayal. And this is what

Jesus wanted His disciples to know before He suffered on the cross for their sake.

And the theme of this passage has to do with temptations and trials.

The first half is the certainty of Peter, who will face

Satan's temptation to deny Jesus three times. And then the next one is the disciples' necessity to prepare for what is coming with the reality of serving the crucified

Messiah. Now, temptations and trials are not a popular topic in our culture.

And also it's not a popular topic in the Church's culture, because oftentimes the world's culture seeps into the

Church's culture. In fact, one would say that our culture idolizes comfort, right?

You deserve to be comfortable, right? That seems like the ad that you hear, whether you hear from a pharmaceutical company to a vacation spot.

Comfort, right? Living your life in the most comfortable way possible, right?

You deserve to feel good. In fact, we live in a country where if someone makes you not feel good by the words they say, it's suddenly a hate speech, right?

In certain countries, that's criminal. But that's just a natural fruit of idolizing comfort.

You have just gone against my God, which is my comfort. We have horrible allergies to hardship and suffering, and that includes temptations and trials.

Those are just too unnatural, and this idea is even prevalent in the Church, unfortunately.

You will meet a lot of young people who grew up in the Church, but have left Christ because of some trial.

And they may have been legitimate trials. I do not want to minimize people's trauma and trials that they go through.

Trials are hard. They can be violent, they can be unjust, and they can be just outright wicked.

And this is not to say that trials are new to the Church. In fact, trials and suffering have been part of the

Church's DNA since its founding. Yet, modern

Christians are often disappointed when they face hardship because of their allegiance to Christ.

Ironically, the only person we cannot blame is Christ himself, because Jesus never promised a trouble -free life.

When you trust him. Jesus has never promised you a best life now.

That is what Joel Osteen sells you for his book. Jesus has never promised you a most comfortable life now.

In fact, when you take a look at Jesus' life, comfort is probably the last thing you would see.

And he bids his disciples to follow him. Today's discussion will show that Jesus has warned his disciples to prepare to be rejected just as he will be rejected.

The main point of today's text is, how must we face testing when we follow the suffering

Messiah? How must we face testing when we follow the suffering Messiah? First, when

Satan attempts to destroy us, our only hope is Jesus' redemptive intercession.

When Satan attempts to destroy us, our only hope is Jesus' redemptive intercession.

Intercession, for those of us who are unfamiliar with this term, is someone praying or requesting on behalf of another.

Someone who comes in between you and God and intercedes, prays for you.

And in our case, Jesus will be the only intercessor. So the discussion here actually becomes more serious as Jesus' betrayal and death draw near.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

What is odd is, rather than focusing on his own fate, Jesus tenderly cares for his own flock.

Simon, Simon, this repeated name shows that Jesus is serious. His tone is serious.

Listen up, Simon. I'm not here to joke around. Simon, Simon. Jesus omnisciently knows what

Simon Peter will face. In this cosmic battle, Simon Peter's life is at risk.

Sifting is an agricultural metaphor. Sifting Peter as wheat is actually rather graphic if you ever sifted for grains.

There's a container or a tool with small holes, but it breaks apart the grains that are being sifted so that the grains remain and the chaff go away.

But you can see what happens to the grains. They are torn in pieces.

Right? So if we want to take this modern view of it, just if Peter is like wheat, then

Satan sifting means Satan will take Peter apart. He will tear

Peter apart. Just as the wheat heads fall off when sifted,

Satan intends to tear Peter apart, totally destroy him.

And remember, this is Peter, Peter, Simon, Peter. He's the outgoing, the most vocal apostle.

He will say all the right answers first, but he will also yell out the wrong answers too.

If anyone falls and it's noticeable, it would be Peter's fall. Now we need to understand the nature of this cosmic battle.

First, Jesus knows how this battle will end. At no point is

Jesus ever caught off guard by Satan's plan. Right? Jesus doesn't say,

I just got the news, Simon. This is serious. We don't know what plan we have, but he's about to get you.

That's not what Jesus said. Second, Satan has to make requests to God.

What this means is Satan is not equal to God.

Satan is lesser. He's the weaker opponent. Jesus not only is aware of Satan's plan, but he is also sovereign over even

Satan. What this means is Satan cannot possibly beat

Jesus. He has 0%. Now, how does

Jesus respond? But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail.

And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. There are two parts to Jesus' response.

The first is that Jesus prayed for Peter, and this is crucial. The God of this universe personally prayed for one of his flock.

Simon Peter's case was not handed off to some other attorney or an archangel.

Although he could have. This was not

Jesus' response. Don't worry, Peter. I know just the right guy who could handle your case. I'm obviously preoccupied with saving the universe.

After all, he's going to be dying on the cross. There are some greater things in mind than just one person's soul.

Yet here we see the king himself interceded on behalf of Peter's faith. God himself intervened prior to the most important and crucial and even excruciating event in history.

The crucifixion and the resurrection. What this tells us is to Jesus, Peter's faith was worth pausing to pray for even when he himself was headed to the cross.

The question is, how much do we prioritize our brothers and sisters' faith in their time of trial when we are not facing the cross?

The prayer looks at the big picture. This is not that Peter would live a perfect life without sinning, right?

That's not what not fail means. It actually means that ultimately Peter's faith will endure until the end.

Although Peter's faith may drop temporarily, that's not the end.

That's not how Peter's life will end. His faith will get back up to strengthen his brothers.

His faith will rebound. It will bounce back. It will return.

Ultimately, Satan's plan fails because Jesus prays for Peter.

Now, what's, what may be expected is that instead of trusting Jesus's prayer,

Peter decides to trust in himself. Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and death.

Here, Peter is aware that Jesus is about to face death. This is not just some hypothetical, it may happen in the future discussion.

Peter knows what Jesus knows. After all, Jesus had said it over and over again.

Peter knows it is a serious event that's coming, that Jesus is risking his life.

Second, Peter, however, would rather lean on his own strength. Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

I'm ready. I'm ready to face whatever you're facing. Third, under the reality and intensity of the true trial at hand,

Peter's strength will indeed fail. And knowing what will happen,

Jesus predicts exactly that. I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me.

Jesus's prediction directly challenges Peter's confidence. Peter's denial will not be some time in distant future, but rather,

Jesus says, it's gonna be this very night. After all, roosters crow when it is still dark before the dawn approaches.

Not only will Peter deny Jesus once, but it will happen three times. Jesus is aware of both the general and specific parts of the events that will ensue.

What that means is there's no detail of history or future in which

Jesus misses. There's no moment that Jesus just skims over.

His meticulous care covers all of history. And when we consider this, when

Satan attacks Christians, it's important to remember none other than the king himself prays for us.

Not Mary, not angels. If you belong to Christ, the king himself will intercede.

A couple of things this tells us about Jesus.

First, Jesus is not repulsed by our weakness.

Human kings, human governors, human presidents will choose one of their strongest followers to be in their cabinet.

It's the courageous and the bold ones, when the campaign seemed like failing, who will become the secretary of state, the press secretary.

And in fact, I don't know how often they are willing to intercede for their cabinet members when they have weak moments.

Rather, they would ask for their resignation the moment there is a downward trend.

However, King Jesus sees our weakness and he is not disgusted by it, but rather he is in fact activated to pray.

Our moment of weakness doesn't drive away

Christ, but our moments of weakness are what precisely drove him to pray for our faith.

After all, he is omniscient, he knows what's going to happen in the future. And this has to give us confidence, not in our own strength, but in our

Savior's strength. Not in our own prayers, but in our Savior's prayers. If Jesus himself prayed for us, what could possibly separate us from the love of God?

And this passage is even more crucial considering the fact that he was about to be crucified and face the wrath of God for our sake.

His prayer request consisted of his disciples, that Peter would bounce back from his moment of cowardice and doubt and strengthen the others.

He prayed to his father that even Peter's temporary moment of failure would be used to strengthen the church.

If Jesus took care to pray for Peter before his very death, how much more is he willing and does he pray even in our frailest moments when he has risen and reigning from above?

And when we take a look at Peter's response, we ought to see it as a negative example. This text tells us

Peter's response is not the response to follow. Instead of trusting in our own strength, we must trust in our

Savior. And this is also true even after we fail. After all, we would be lying if Peter is the only

Christian to ever have failed Christ, to deny Christ, to have a moment of cowardice, to say the wrong thing, to not speak up, to sin when we knowingly knew not to.

The temptation is that we look to ourselves with self -hatred after we fall.

How could we deny Christ like that? How could I sin against the innocent Lord once again?

As if our strength were ever sufficient to resist Satan and our sinful desires, we go back to our strength to rely on the redemption of our souls.

We're leaning on our own strength rather than the faithfulness of our Savior. And when we dwell in the feeling of guilt and condemnation after sinning, we're still walking the same path.

We're still choosing to rely on our own righteousness rather than Christ's accomplishment on the cross, right?

When we go back to Jesus and say, we'll do better this time, that's relying on ourselves.

Not only that, consider the beautiful promise of Hebrews 7 .25.

Wherefore, Jesus is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto

God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Wherefore, Jesus is able to save completely anyone who comes to God through him because he lives to make intercession for them.

This is spectacular. The reason why none of us is condemned at any time, the moment we sin, the reason why we don't experience the fire of hell that burns eternally the moment we sin against God is because Jesus lives.

And he doesn't just live for himself. The reason that his resurrection is so glorious is because he is living and as a living

Lord, as the living king of everything, he makes intercession.

He prays for you. In one sense, that's what he lives for.

And not just once, none other than Jesus, the son of God, God, the son, prays for you, not just once, but continually.

Because we don't just sin once, we sin continually. Because he lives forever to intercede for you, you will not plunge down into the fire of hell any moment, but that you are lifted up by Christ and his intercession.

And whether we sin or before we're sinning, when we're tempted, or after we've fallen into temptation, the only thing we must trust in is

Jesus' words, not our strength. The words that come out of his mouth, the promises of full restoration, and the prayers that he prays on our behalf.

And here are a few verses from the classic hymn that really illustrates this well, right?

Before the throne of God above. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea.

A great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me. Skipping a verse.

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward

I look and see him there, who made an end to all my sin.

Don't lean on yourself when you are tried. Don't lean on yourself after you've fallen.

Don't look to yourself after you sin. Look up to Christ who pleads for you.

Now, how does Christ's suffering change the nature of ministry? When we identify with the suffering

Messiah, we must prepare ourselves to be rejected by this world. When we identify with the suffering

Messiah, we must prepare ourselves to be rejected by this world. From Peter, Jesus addresses the rest of the disciples.

When I say you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything? This is his reference to Luke 9 3 when

Jesus first commissioned the 12 apostles to go out. To heal people through miracles and also to proclaim the kingdom of God that has come.

And they were back then specifically commanded to not take all the stuff that they need for the mission, but minimally travel.

Solely rely on God. And to this question, they replied, they lacked nothing.

And as the crucifixion is approaching, Jesus gives them a new command.

But now he who has a money bag, let him take it. And likewise a knapsack. And he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.

The money bag was the purse that carried whatever money that you have so that you actually can buy for food.

And other necessities that you may encounter during your travel, your mission trip.

A knapsack would allow them to carry more stuff for their ministry, extra garments, right?

Extra sandals. And what stands out here is the command to obtain a sword.

Culturally, Christians tend to be more peaceful and the least resistant, right? Let me tell you, the

French Revolution, really the bloodiest revolution other than the communist revolution that followed.

That wasn't done by the Christians, right? They were secularists.

They rejected God. They were atheists. What about the communist revolution?

Communists are by definition atheists. Christians don't revolt.

They haven't, right? So when you take a look at that, it's a puzzling thing to interpret, like obtain a sword.

Of course, that would have been their weapon for self -defense, right?

First, I do want to go over that the command to obtain a sword cannot be symbolic. And the reason is because it wouldn't work for money bag and knapsack, right?

There is not a symbolic money bag or knapsack that Jesus is commanding them to take.

Jesus obviously is telling them they need to prepare even in advance before they go out for the gospel.

Because they'll need those things. So it wouldn't make sense to read just the sword symbolically.

Also, we cannot be allegorizing historical narratives because then the sword can mean anything you want it to mean.

Right? If you allegorize historical narratives, you can say it can mean anything and everything.

There's no control. And that's called eisegesis. Second, the sword cannot mean the means of overthrowing the authority like Rome and the religious leaders.

After all, when Peter slices off a religious leader's servant's ear in the very close passage,

Jesus rebukes him and heals the ear, right? If Jesus meant the sword to be used to fight against the authorities who are trying to arrest

Jesus, Jesus clearly did not show that. And it took me a while.

So what does it mean to purchase a sword? I had to discuss with my mentor,

Pastor Warren, about this through text on a Friday night. So I'm stuck. It can't be symbolic because that's not what the text is saying.

But obviously, I'm not going to preach out here to you to say, go buy yourself a

Glock and meet me by the Capitol. Because that's obviously not what

Jesus meant with how we see the sword used. So consider the context of Jesus's discussion.

He's about to suffer and die. He will be scorned and mocked, and he will be hated and publicly humiliated.

After the crucifixion, anyone who has heard about Jesus will have a shocking image of mind.

If they have not already trusted him, they would have been quite repulsed or confused by him.

Right? That is quite different from the context of Luke 9, where people did not know what

Jesus came to do. What that means is after the crucifixion, and his ascension, really, when he departs, that will change how the disciples are viewed and treated.

The followers of the suffering Messiah will not be readily welcomed, but heavily and skeptically questioned.

The world will reject Jesus's disciples just as they rejected him. When Jesus was performing miracles around Luke 9, people loved him.

Crowds followed him. But before the crucifixion, after the crucifixion, you'll see the disciples will be kicked out of synagogues.

In fact, it would be the crowd that yells, I crucify him, crucify him. Right? There is a whole change in the context before the crucifixion and after.

This means the sword is for their protection. The disciples traveled on foot.

They walked a lot. They had to go far. They walked through wilderness.

And back then, there were bandits on the road. And in order to continue preaching the gospel in the unsafe and Christ -opposing world, that has even become more pronounced after the crucifixion and the resurrection, the disciples had to prepare themselves for any circumstances, which also meant defending themselves.

After all, if they get killed on the road, then the gospel doesn't go out.

Can you imagine if the 11 apostles who are strengthened and the 12th one who comes, if they just all get killed by the bandits before the gospel goes out?

The gospel wouldn't have spread. It's one thing to be martyred after proclaiming the gospel, which can bring a lot to faith.

And you know what? The 11 of the 12 would be martyred for the gospel. It's another to be killed in cold blood on the journey to preach the gospel without having preached it.

Jesus calls them to prepare. Not for their own comfort sake, but rather so that the gospel may be preached.

Right? There is a goal. The goal here is not so you may feel powerful and influential, but rather there will be opposition.

Be prepared to face them. Or you better go out. You got to go out. And why are their circumstance changed?

Well, first for 37. For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in me.

And he was numbered with the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end.

Jesus tells them what will change when he is crucified, resurrected and ascended. And he quotes

Isaiah 53 12. He was numbered with the transgressors. He was counted as one of the transgressors, sinners, criminals.

And if you know of Isaiah, well, Isaiah 53 is one of the clearest passages that shows the

Messiah's suffering. Now, in ancient Judaism, it was not at all clear that the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 would have to be the

Messiah. After all, consider the early passages of Isaiah regarding the

David King. He will rule with the spirit of the

Lord. Right? He his reign will know no end. Vastly expansive and eternal.

That's the that's what Isaiah speaks of the Davidic Messiah, the Christ. But we get to chapter 53 and there is this servant figure.

Who is dying for someone else's sin. Right. He will be pierced for other sin and this that so that the servants wounds by the servants wounds that they may be healed.

The servant takes the place of the sinners and the sinners will be forgiven by God.

This is the clear picture of the substitution substitutionary atonement.

Someone else dies on your behalf. And for the

Jews, they always question, who is this guy? Because their mind in their mind, the

Davidic Messiah is the conquering king. So who is this servant?

Is this another guy? Is this the prophet? Is this collective Israel? But even in ancient

Judaism, they knew it had to be some guy who dies for their sin.

Now, in order for this to all occur, this innocent servant will be treated with the lawless criminals.

Although never committing any sin, he will be treated like a sinner. And when

Jesus comes, he connects the two dots together. The suffering servant who dies to save his people is precisely the promised

Messiah who has come to save. He conquers and saves not by the might of his sword.

But through the sacrificial blood spilled for his people.

The Messiah delivers his people just as promised in the earlier Isaiah chapters, but unexpectedly through his own death.

Now that revelation actually shook Judaism in the first century. That's what split the

Jews from Christians. They couldn't fathom that's the

Messiah. That's why they got kicked out of synagogues when they started preaching.

Yes, and that Messiah, the Messiah who's come to save you, deliver you from all forms of oppression, especially sin.

That's Jesus. He died on the cross for you. He was crucified.

And then they said, get out of here or we'll kill you. Get out of the synagogues.

Yet. That was God's ordained way to save his people.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah 53 precisely through his death. His deliverance comes only when he is delivered to die.

And with that in mind, his disciples will no longer be warmly welcomed by all. They will be persecuted and rejected just as many have rejected

Christ. And this is the change in circumstance that warrants the change in command for ministry.

The disciples must be prepared to face challenges coming ahead. And with that said, the disciples find two swords and Jesus says that's enough.

And this command to prepare is important for a couple of reasons. One, despite the upcoming trials and rejections,

Jesus' disciples must still engage the world. As much as I love

Amish foods and their lifestyle, that is not the command.

To seclude yourselves in a community where no one disagrees with you and live completely different and away from the world.

Not having a phone is not a command from Jesus. Never engaging unbelievers is not a command from Jesus.

And this also goes with Catholic monasteries. What do these monks do? They go up in the mountains and they just read scripture all day.

Great, but they don't encounter the world, right?

Jesus did not command thus, right? Just live up in the mountain hidden until I come back, okay?

The world's going to be really hard. You'll be safe though with your own little community.

Second, Jesus did not send his disciples unprepared. Now just hope that these strangers will treat you well and provide you with all that you need.

That's not what he said. No, this world has rejected me and it will reject you too.

Prepare for some rough times ahead. Don't be naive, right?

Don't go into the world thinking you'll be welcomed after sharing the gospel.

Sharing that you are a sinner and you need to be saved or you will experience eternal condemnation.

Don't naively think that people will say, please have dinner with us now and tell me more, right?

In fact, Braden told me yesterday, he shared with his neighbor that you're a sinner and if you live like this, you'll be experiencing hell.

There's a huge chance he might not hear back from his neighbor again. But that's the thing,

Jesus prepares us for this world that has rejected him and will reject us too.

The world still needs to hear that God became man and died to save the world and he rose from the dead.

And it will be rough to identify with this humiliated, rejected Messiah. And Jesus says, prepare yourselves.

Now, Christians can be easily discouraged by trials and rejections.

Living faithfully is actually never a smooth ride. There are obstacles to faithful ministry.

And when I say ministry, I'm not saying vocational ministry, right? Yes, I see missionaries and you know, you hear from missionaries, they have experienced some really hard events.

Or pastors, for some reason, it seems like every pastor's wife has some sort of health problem all the time, right?

That's no accident. I'm talking about just any time you're living faithfully to represent

Christ well. Any one of you who trusts Christ, that's what you'll face.

You'll face obstacles. And especially new believers need to hear this. Christianity is not a walk in the park because the world has rejected

Christ. And you're proclaiming to the world, this is my King. Imagine how the world will respond to that.

And this is Jesus's exhortation to his followers to prepare to be rejected because he also was rejected.

Christians need to be prepared to face trials and obstacles because we serve the suffering servant,

Messiah. Who also was publicly rejected and humiliated. And the question we have to ask is how could his own servants expect to be any better than when their masters have suffered thus?

And when you follow Christ, prepare for social ostracization.

Your friends and family may look at you oddly. You may get fewer invitations.

Yet continue to proclaim the gospel even if it means you lose yet another friend.

Prepare for that because Jesus told us that's what we need to prepare for.

There are obstacles ahead to living faithfully. And for us, it's not the lack of bread, but rather it's the lack of friends.

Prepare for that. And when you follow

Christ, prepare for government crackdowns. Our nation has often protected religious freedom and worship for centuries.

That's actually not the norm in history. Nor the world. We have brothers and sisters around the world who risk their lives just to proclaim

Christ. And who risk their lives to gather in worship physically. And who will be persecuted by their own government if they were to minister.

Many faithful Chinese churches have gone underground because they have refused to marry communism and Christianity together.

To have the picture of Mao and the cross right next to each other.

Because that would actually defile Christ. And they have to gather underground.

They have to gather secretly. They can't publicly advertise.

On a billboard. Meet at 9am for our worship service. They'd get killed.

And we're not too far behind in our nation. In which the government will attempt to censor what is preached and practiced.

Churches may lose their tax exemption status depending on what they believe and teach.

Churches may even be fined for preaching the true gospel. Which is offensive to the world that is perishing.

Yet when you truly identify with Christ, the suffering servant, we must prepare ourselves for some rough days ahead.

I know people bank on the rapture. But many people have been banking on the rapture for centuries if not millennia.

There's no guarantee that the rapture would happen just right before America starts to suffer.

It seems like we're always one election away. Yet when you truly identify with Christ, you will be with Christ.

Even through the hardship. And if we lose the tax exemption status and we have to sell the building to go underground.

So help us God. Make sure you have the church directory to know which living room we're meeting in.

Churches in America must have this discussion sooner rather than later. Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard and lose a

Sunday of worship. What to do when the government attempts to censor what is taught.

What to do when the government ceases to protect religious freedom. A very famous hymn, a very simple hymn,

I think portrays this well. I have decided to follow Jesus. It's repetitive.

It's simple. Even I can memorize the lyrics. But here it is.

I have decided to follow Jesus. The world behind me, the cross before me.

The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back. No turning back.

That's the summary of the discussion here. Through the temptations, through the trials that are about to come because you identify with the suffering

Messiah. Will you be prepared? Will you be prepared until he does come back?

Let us pray. Father, we're grateful that we follow the suffering

Messiah who died on our behalf. That he would suffer the wrath that we deserve so that we may be free and forgiven and adopted into your family.

Just by believing. Not by living good lives. Not by earning it.

But just by believing, trusting in Jesus. Help us to trust in him today.

Knowing that he prays for us even now. We pray for all those who couldn't make it today.

We also pray for Jack. That you would heal him. And that the recovery would be smooth.

And his mind would be filled with the gospel truth. In Jesus name.

Thank you, Hildren, for that message. We just thank the Lord that no matter what trials are in our future.

That we just keep our eyes on him and he'll guide us through it. Today we're going to be singing

When We Walk With The Lord as we close. So go ahead and stand please. Trust and obey.

To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet. We will sit at his feet.

Or walk by his side in the way. What he says we will do.

Where he sends we will go. Never fear only.

Trust and obey. Trust and obey.

To be happy in Jesus. But to trust and obey.

Thank you all for singing with us and hope you have a blessed week. You are now dismissed.