Keep Your Eyes on the Goal — Anton Bosch

Welcome to members of Sun Valley Community Church and our friends from other parts of the world who are joining with us again this morning on YouTube and on Facebook. We really miss being together. Today is the ninth week that we are dark that we have not been able to gather together.

And we still don't know how long it's still going to be. It's still probably going to be weeks. Probably months before we can get together. But we're very grateful for the technology so that we're able to communicate by means of technology at The very least.

So let's open in prayer. Father we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus, and we pray that you would be present in this meeting this this Today that where we are recording but Lord also that you would be present in each house and each place where people are watching and Listening to this message.

We pray Lord that by your spirit. You would teach us and by your spirit you would Deal with our wills and give us grace Lord to be doers of your word and not just hearers only. And so I do pray for your presence Lord wherever This video is being watched and whenever it's being watched and I pray above all for your help in delivering this message today.

I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. So we're going to read from the Old Testament from Isaiah chapter 50 and verses 4 Through 9 this is one of the prophetic passages or messianic passages in the Old Testament.

Christ Sets His Face Toward the Cross

Speaking about the Lord Jesus and as we read through this you'll see how the Lord Jesus appears or is spoken of particularly in the crucifixion in this passage, so Isaiah chapter 50 and reading from verse 4.

The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned. That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened my ear and I was not rebellious nor did I turn away.

I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting for the Lord. God will help me. Therefore I will not be disgraced.

Therefore I have set my face like a flint and I know that I will not be ashamed. He is near who? Justifies me who will contend with me. Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me.

Surely the Lord God will help me. Who is he who will condemn me? Indeed, they will all grow old like a garment. The moth will eat them up. And so my text is from verses 6 and 7 this morning and clearly this speaks about the Lord Jesus at the whipping post and then As they judged him and brought him to trial and then ultimately to the cross.

And he says I gave my back to those who struck me and and that speaks of his willing submission To what they did to him in order to do and fulfill the will of God and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard.

I did not hide my face from shame and from spitting and then he says for the Lord. God will help me. Therefore I will not be disgraced therefore I have set my face like a flint and I know that I will not be ashamed and I want to speak about the middle part of that verse.

Therefore I have set my face like a flint. I have set my face like a flint and I suppose that if you're not familiar with the scriptures or particularly with the Old Testament. This may seem like a strange verse to speak about.

What he is speaking about is that the Lord Jesus had adamantly set his eyes on the goal For which God had brought him to the earth and obviously the purpose of it all was for him to die on the cross. I think that we understand that yet Some people seem to feel that was for him to live as a man for him to preach those wonderful sermons like the Sermon on the Mount to Perform miracles and all of those things but those things were incidental to the purpose for which he came the purpose for which he came was so that he would die on the cross in our place and Shed his blood that it we might be Cleansed and that we might be born again and come into a relationship with God.

And so what he is saying then is that he has set his face. He has said his purpose on God's purpose. He is going to do the will of God no matter what. Flint is a very very hard stone and while most of the desert around Jerusalem and Israel Is sandstone there are little ridges of Flint and Flint is is one of the hardest stones outside of diamonds and those kinds of things and when you strike flint with a With an iron it makes sparks and of course from that we used to get Lighters cigarette lighters and before that even little boxes where people had a piece of flint and a piece of iron and they would strike them together and And and make a spark and then begin to to make a fire and so he has set his heart his face Determined to do the will of God unswerving.

Nothing was going to break that nothing was going to change that He was going to go to the cross no matter what and then of course if this is picked up in the New Testament if we go to Luke chapter 9 and Verse 51 and this is just before the before the cross and it says it came to pass.

That's Luke 9 51 now it came to pass when the time had come for him to be received up that he steadfastly Set his face to go to Jerusalem. So it's not using the word He said his face is a flint but again the same determination.

He is now going to the cross now. This was not just in the last weeks of Jesus's life the whole of Jesus's life from the day He was became aware and we don't know how that awareness developed but what we do know is that when he was 12 years of age he began to have an Understanding of the will and the purpose of his father.

And so from the day he became aware that he was going to be Crucified that he would have to die that atoning death for us on the cross of Calvary. From that day he had set his face towards that purpose of God.

He was not going to be deterred. He was not going to be turned to the left or to the right. He was going to do the will of God no matter what so here is in the last weeks of his life. And he is now on his journey to Jerusalem to be crucified.

And so he says then that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. So everything he was doing on this journey was incidental to the purpose and the purpose was to get to Jerusalem. He had to get there a week before the time in order to fulfill the prophecies that he might be Examined for a week and then be be sacrificed.

And so he's passing through Samaria and verse 52 said and he sent messengers before his face and as they went They entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him so he's looking for somewhere to overnight as he as he's journeying along and he sent some of his disciples and They come to the village of the Samaritans.

I remember Jesus had a good relationship with the Samaritans. Even though most of the Jews didn't and so he intended to stay there that night. You remember there was that woman of Samaria who? Got saved as a result and I'm just using that language liberally as a result of Jesus meeting her at the well and And then because of her testimony and because of his preaching after that many people in the city got saved or became believers then and so He sends his disciples or some of his disciples and he says well, you know Prepare a place for me for us so that we can spend the night and then the next day probably they would move on to Jerusalem, but then it says they the Samaritans did not receive him.

Because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem and so they Were upset because he wasn't willing to spend time with him. Why are you going to Jerusalem? Of course there were some politics in here because they would have their own Passover separate from the Passover in Jerusalem and They would hope that he would be there for their Passover rather than the Jews Passover in Jerusalem.

That was all part of that but Jesus is determined and not even his friends and these are Predominantly his friends in Samaria. They are he that not even they will dissuade him from doing the will of God.

He says I'm going to Jerusalem and I'm going to fulfill the will of God. No matter what if we go on a few more chapters in Luke into chapter 12. And and I'm just jumping in the middle of again a whole sequence of events.

But Jesus says I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till it is accomplished. Now remember that Jesus is not talking about water baptism here. He had been baptized by John three years before.

So this is not water baptism. This is not baptism of the Spirit because When he came out of the water at John's baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. So what baptism is he talking about?

He's talking about suffering. He's talking about the cross and he is saying I have to go through and remember this word of baptism means to be immersed. To be placed under to be dunked and so he understands that what is waiting for him.

Is that he is going to be immersed in suffering the most terrible suffering that we cannot even begin to understand as they as they would beat him and as they would pluck the beard from his face as they would spit upon him as we've read in Isaiah and then ultimately crucify him on the cross.

And of course the physical suffering was one thing but the the spiritual suffering the emotional suffering as he takes the sin of the world upon himself and as the father turns his face away from Him we can't even begin to imagine what all of that was and he says I'm going to be immersed in This suffering.

I'm going to be immersed in all of those things that are going to happen to me during that time. And he says I am distressed until it is accomplished now. I don't believe he is saying that that he is that he is disturbed about what is waiting for him.

Obviously, he wasn't looking forward to that in a In a masochistic way in in the sense that there was some kind of perverse pleasure in in suffering. Obviously, that's not true but what he is distressed about is that there is there is this job that has to be done and He needs to get it done and he says I'm perturbed.

I'm disturbed. I'm Distressed because it needs to get done and I need to get there. And so again, he has set his face as a flint to Jerusalem. He's going to do the will of God no matter what now. The problem is that in in doing the will of God.

The Devil’s Attempts to Divert Jesus From His Mission

There are many things that come against us and against him and I'm going to look briefly at Paul as well. Today that seek to hinder us from doing the will of God and of course remember that there was a There was an agenda from hell itself to prevent Jesus from dying at the cross.

If Jesus didn't die on the cross, well, then there would be no hope there would be no salvation. There would be no atonement. There would be no church. It would all be for nothing and the devil knew that it didn't matter how many miracles Jesus Performed how many sermons he preached if he didn't get to die that atoning death on the cross.

Then he would fail in his in his mission. I know some people say what he could not have failed. Well in a sense, he could not have failed but was the devil going to Not try. Yeah, the devil tried and he tried in many ways and I want us to look at just four and there are There are others but I want to look at just four things that the the devil used to try and stop Jesus from getting to the cross and You'll see that he uses the same things for Paul and therefore he will use the same things for us.

And so we have a goal. Jesus had a goal and his goal was the cross. Paul's goal was different. Our goal is very much more similar to that of Paul, but the opposition to us achieving that purpose is the same.

Whether it's Jesus or whether it's Paul or whether it is us. Some of them are of more significance to Jesus than to us. The first one doesn't maybe doesn't apply to us that much but it certainly did to Jesus and to Paul and that it was a Early death that if Jesus could be killed and remember that he's it wasn't just about him dying, but it was about him dying on the cross and Atoning death in our place if Jesus just died.

From some kind of disease or in some accident. Well, that would not atone for our sins. He would just have died, but he he had to die at the cross. And so from the very beginning you remember that Herod Set about killing all the babies in an effort to find or in that process to catch find Jesus and to kill Jesus in that process a number of times in Jesus's ministry.

There were attempts on his life. I remember there was one occasion when he was when he was preaching in the synagogue and then they drove him out to a hill and they determined to throw him over and He just quietly went away and disappeared from them and so there were a number of attempts on the life of the Lord Jesus and Obviously if he could be killed then the will of God could not be accomplished.

I think that there may be Christians today who are very concerned about about dying about dying because of the covert 19 virus and the kinds of things that are happening in our world today. Well, I take comfort that Jesus could not have died before the cross.

He could not have died because the will of God had not been accomplished that there is some divine Protection on him and on Paul and on us until we have fulfilled the will of God until we have done what God has Determined for us to do now.

It doesn't mean that that we don't fail and that we cannot not achieve the goal. Obviously we can do that. That's a very real possibility. But if we're in the will of God and we're doing what God has called us to do He will not allow anything to happen to us until the work is done and I take great comfort in that as I get older knowing not knowing when I'm when I will die and when The Lord will take me but I do have tremendous comfort in the fact that nothing will happen to me until The Lord's time has come and so even at the at the whipping post.

I believe that the devil Had a last attempt at trying to kill Jesus. Many men died as they were beaten by the Romans and remember This is not 49 stripes as his men oftentimes portrayed. The 49 stripes was a a Jewish Limitation the law in the Old Testament said not more than 50 stripes.

And so in case they miscounted they limited it to 49. Jesus was not limited to 49. The Romans beat him until they had had enough and Many men died at the whipping post and I'm sure the devil would have selected the biggest strongest soldier he could have found and.

And the beating was absolutely merciless. And if the devil could have caused him to die at that point it would have happened. But Jesus survives he gets through that and then obviously he is he is crucified.

Jesus’ Temptations, Discouragements, and Diversions

There are the temptations and remember that the temptations of the Lord Jesus were yes at one level. Personal the temptation to turn stones into bread for him to for him to eat. But those temptations were far more than personal those temptations had to do with a goal.

The goal was that Jesus had come to die an atoning death in order to gain the world. And so the devil offers him alternatives to the cross turning stones into bread the alternative of building his kingdom on bread and Right now there's a world power that is going around handing out food to everyone in Africa handing out masks handing out aid to every nation in Africa every third world nation and of course the purpose is to gain and to build a Kingdom and so the devil knew that people would follow Jesus if he made Turned stones into bread.

I mean you they wouldn't have to ever work again. They wouldn't have to worry about food again. Jesus would just turn stones into bread cast yourself down from the from the pinnacle of the temple. And of course there was a temptation to build his kingdom on the spectacular.

And many preachers today are trying to build their kingdoms on the miraculous and the spectacular and Jesus says no. That's not the way I'm going to build the kingdom. I'm going to build the kingdom by the atoning death on the cross of Calvary and then of course there was the The temptation to to fall down before Satan and to ought to kneel down before him and to and to worship him and the devil says I'll give you the kingdoms and Seems that the devil had the power to to give the kingdoms to Jesus that they were in his in his control.

And and of course again, the the temptation is to say well, you know, the ends justify the means I've come to get the world. I've come to get the the souls of men. So why do I have to go that way maybe I can do it this way.

But Jesus says no, I am I'm going to do it God's way. I'm going to the cross no matter what so he is tempted to bypass the cross. He is Discouraged and there are a number of times when you see Jesus being discouraged that what was going on.

You remember Lazarus's tomb as Jesus weeps because of the unbelief of those who were his believers. Those who were he's disciples and they they just don't believe in the resurrection including Mary and Martha who were of his most intimate friends.

Jesus is discouraged and weeps because of the of the unbelief of people that he has spent so much time ministering in and yet he he continues and He perseveres to the cross and then of course there are diversions.

Some Other distraction we talk about Rabbit trails running after rabbits over here and over there instead of chasing what we should be chasing and and so. There is that temptation. There's the temptation for Jesus to get involved in the miracles.

And you remember that he performs miracles and then they say well, you know, just stay here and perform miracles for us. And he says no, that's not what I've come to do. And you remember that even Peter when Jesus reveals the cross to Peter when he asked Peter or he asked the disciples who do.

Men say I am who do you say I am? Peter says you're the Christ and Jesus says well flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father in heaven and then he begins to reveal the cross up to then the disciples didn't understand the cross didn't understand That Jesus would suffer and die.

But he now begins to reveal the cross and the moment he speaks about the cross Peter said don't do it Lord Far be it from you. So his own friends are there to dissuade him from doing the will of God and Jesus says to Peter those infamous words almost I suppose get behind me Satan Jesus is not interested in the advice of his friends.

He's going to do the will of God No matter what and of course finally he dies on the cross and in John chapter 19 verse 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said it is finished and bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

He had done the job. He had paid the price. I remember this word it is finished. Meaning the price is paid. It's over. He's not saying I am finished. No, the job is finished the price has been paid the job of atoning for our sins the job of Reconciling man to God had been done and the job was finished and now he finally dies now the end comes.

Paul Presses Toward the Goal

Now if we have a look at Paul, we're going to see and I won't spend so much time on Paul but we'll see similar a Pattern in in Paul's life and I'm going to go just to two scriptures for Paul. The first is in Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 to 14 and in Philippians Paul Really tells us he is his drive his motive.

Jesus said his face to was Jerusalem. He said his face as a flint. He was going to be undeterred and do the will of God now Paul says not that I have already attained or am already perfected. He says I haven't achieved The purpose or the goal but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also has laid hold of me.

So so Paul is saying Jesus grabbed hold of me. He arrested me remember on the road to Damascus and He arrested Paul. He he grabbed hold of Paul for a purpose and He saved Paul for a purpose and he saves us for a purpose.

He doesn't just save us for the sake of saving us. But he has a purpose for us and I'm going to talk about just one aspect or one Part of that goal that he has for us. But Paul says that God that the Lord Jesus has grabbed hold of me and he says now that he has grabbed hold of me I need to grab hold of that goal of for which he has saved me and I need to do That which God has called me to do and then verse 13 brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended to have grabbed hold of to have achieved.

But one thing I do for getting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Now in this context Paul is talking about his past achievements, he's talking about his achievements as a Jew his birth and his education and he's he's Rising to prominence amongst the Jewish teachers and he says I count those things rubbish.

He says I forget about those things those things don't matter at this time. This is fairly late in Paul's ministry. He could have been looking back at his At his achievements in the in the ministry the churches.

He had planted the many people who had been born again as a role as a result of his testimony. The many times he had defended the faith. He could look at those things and say well, you know, we've done.

We've done a good job. He says that doesn't matter that's past. It's what's lies ahead that matters and you know. Sometimes I think that we can so easily get stuck in the past. We get stuck in disappointments and the failures of the past and that prevents us from moving forward.

But sometimes we rest on the laurels of our past achievements and what we have done in the past. No, it's forget what's behind. There is something ahead of us and we need to move towards that goal and that purpose.

And so he says I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Now here's the here's the question what is the goal what is the prize. And I believe that the goal and the prize for Paul is the same as for us.

It's easy to look at Paul and to say well for Paul. It was the ministry. But Paul understood that it was not about the ministry primary the ministry was secondary. What it was about was him become being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We're going to see that verse in a moment in Romans chapter 8 verse 29. That really is the purpose. Paul says I'm looking to that day when I will be like Jesus. That is the goal and so he says I forget about what's behind.

I grab hold of that goal that I might become like the Lord Jesus. I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God In Christ Jesus, and then he comes to the end of his life and we looked at 2nd Timothy we just touched on 2nd Timothy last week and in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 and verses 7 and 8.

He says and remember I said last week. This is right at the end. This is Weeks probably maybe even days before his execution and he says I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

And so here he's talking about his ministry and he's talking about his Christian life and and obviously Paul speaks about this fight. He speaks about the struggle against not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against demon forces.

He says I have I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and he says I have kept the faith that's the that's the goal really in one aspect one aspect of the goal is for us to Finish the race and to keep the faith.

And then he says in verse 8 Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. Which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but to all those Who love he's appearing.

Now if I go back to verse 7, I want you to see two important things here. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and The Greek word for finished here is the same Greek word that is used now.

Remember when Jesus died on the cross he he cried out tetelestai in in his dialect, but The Greek translation if you look at John in the Greek the Greek translation uses the same word for finished as Paul uses for finished here and the word simply means complete or Done and Paul says I have finished the race.

I have done what I need to do. I made it to the goal and He says I have kept the faith now. Paul had the same Hindrances the same things to try and keep him back and remember that there were attempts on Paul's life particularly near the end.

But even during his ministry remember one time they stoned him and dragged him out on the ash heap and threw him out of the city Left him there for dead. Um, but the next day he I believe he rose from the dead.

I don't I. We can't be sure the scripture doesn't say that he was dead. But it seems that he pretty well much was and yet miraculously he's able to get up the next day and he continues His ministry so there are attempts on Paul's life and then obviously you remember from the day that he enters into Jerusalem from the The Jews begin to conspire against him.

They lure him into a trap and the Romans rescue him and he appeals to Caesar and even then there are further Attempts on his life all the way along until eventually he gets to Rome and eventually until he finishes the race.

So the same the same attempts on his life are being done in the same way as Jesus Was protected until he had finished the work in the same way Paul was protected and obviously as I've said we will be protected in the same way Paul was tempted.

He doesn't talk much about those temptations and remember that temptations are different for different people. But Paul speaks about the temptation of pride and and he definitely had a Struggle in that area.

I don't believe there's a single Christian or a single preacher who doesn't have a a Struggle or a temptation of pride. I guess some don't have a temptation because they've given in to the temptation.

They don't even fight it anymore and they just go with building their own ego and their own Reputation or whatever but Paul says that the Lord gave me a thorn in the flesh for what purpose to keep me humble and so Paul understands the struggle of pride and that's why he speaks in Philippians about the fact that he forgets what's behind because.

Because it's so easy to become prideful over what God has done in us and through us and for us in the past Paul says no forget about those things. It's the job that lies ahead. I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith. Now, let's the the next thing is discouragement. And of course Paul has the same the same problem with discouragement. And you remember that he he speaks about the trials that he had experienced.

He'd been shipwrecked. He'd been without food. He'd been beaten with rods. He'd been beaten in different ways. But he says beside all of these things all of these these physical Assaults that I have had upon my my body and he says because he says you in my body I carry the marks of my testimony the marks of of my obedience to the Lord.

But he says those things are nothing he says in comparison to that which comes upon me daily. The care of the churches the care of the churches and when you look at Paul's Relationship with the Corinthians and how he struggles over their disobedience over their following of false teachers.

You can see the discouragement at one Paul one point Paul just gives up almost and he leaves the city. Because he understands that he is not getting anywhere at what at another's time he was waiting for a report from Corinth and He was supposed to be preaching and he gives up preaching for a few days.

Because he is so disturbed about what's going on. These things were discouraging. These things were were difficult and hard for Paul and yet he perseveres through all of them that he might be able to fulfill the will of God.

Were there the diversions for Paul? Yes, there were many Diversions many Attempts to get him into something that he shouldn't have been involved in to get involved in Judaism to set up some kind of Central office in Jerusalem and become one of the great apostles in Jerusalem and Paul says no I I'm not interested in those things.

I have a mission and my mission is to preach to the Gentiles and so he does the will of God he has not diverted from his purpose a few times during his ministry he He is tempted to go into areas that God had not called him and he had quickly understands.

No, that's not where I'm supposed to be. I need to get back to where God wants to be and so he doesn't he doesn't turn to the left or to the right and ultimately when he is faced with going to Jerusalem and Paul has an understanding because remember there were some prophecies and Obviously had some kind of revelation from God that he would go to Jerusalem and ultimately from there.

He would go to Rome and so his friends come very much like Peter did with Jesus his friends come and one of those men was a man called Agabus and He takes Paul's belt and he ties his hands with Paul's belt and he says Paul This is what's going to happen to you.

If you go to Jerusalem, they're going to they're going to capture you and that's going to be the end. But Paul says what are you doing with making it difficult for me? I have to do the will of God. And remember that part of his journey back to Jerusalem the final time he goes past Ephesus and he calls the elders of the church in Ephesus and he says to them look, you know I'm going to Jerusalem and you're never going to see me again.

This is the end of the road for me as far as you are concerned and they they plead with him. They beg with him. They're weeping and they're saying Paul just don't leave us and Paul is undeterred deterred.

He's going to do the will of God and he pursues the will of God right up to the end. Now if we look at ourselves. What is the goal and obviously we can look at different things and we can say well, you know maybe my goal is to become a preacher or my goal is to become a A good good at my job or to be a.

Becoming Conformed to the Image of Christ

No, we we have one common goal and there may be sub goals. There may be sub purposes in our lives, but there is one common goal and I've already told you what that is. Romans 8 verse 29. For whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.

That he might be the firstborn among many brethren now. There are all sorts of complications here about the foreknowing and predestined. We're not going to get into that obviously, but the point here is that those who he has saved.

Let's just use that language because I believe that that's what it's saying that those who are saved. He is predestined. He is determined. He has called us to be conformed to the image of his son to become like Jesus.

And remember that verse 28 the previous verses the worst that verse that everybody knows that God works all things to the good to them. That love him another called according to his purpose. What is his purpose?

His purpose is that we become like Jesus. That is the goal. And for me it it came as a great revelation. Actually, not that long ago because I believed that my purpose in life was to be a preacher. I believed that God had called me even before I was born again when I was 16.

Even before that I knew that God had called me and I and this was my destiny. This was my purpose this is what I live for is to preach and to and to teach the Word of God and. Then one day I realized no, that's not what it's all about.

What it's about is me becoming like Jesus. The purpose of everything is not preaching the purpose of everything is God. Shaping me into the image of his son and The the thing that we're going through right now that the whole world and that Christians across the world are going through right now.

Has one purpose, you know, and we can we can worry about all of the conspiracy theories. We can worry whether is this the devil? Is this the end times? You know, where does this come from? What is the purpose?

Yes, there is a purpose and for the Christian. The purpose is that he is shaping us to become more like Jesus the nine weeks that we've gone through and the however many weeks that we still have before we can meet as all part of the process of Making us to become like the Lord Jesus.

That is his purpose. That is the primary purpose in everything that we touch everything that we do everything that affects us is for this one purpose. That we might become like the Lord Jesus Christ. He has predestined us he's determined he's set that goal before us that we might become like the Lord Jesus.

Resisting Spiritual Attacks and Distractions

But just like with Paul and with Jesus there are those same things. That seek to take us away from the goal that seek to get us distracted there is. Could be an attempt on our life and I don't think that that could be.

Would necessarily be physical if you're in a missionary on the mission field. Then that could be physical but for most of us it is spiritual. The devil is trying. Remember he goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may be he may devour.

That the thief comes to rob to kill and to destroy. The purpose of the devil or his purpose his goal is to destroy the work of God to destroy you and me. But we are protected as Long as we're working towards that goal as much as the devil could not kill Jesus before he made it to the cross or Paul.