1 Peter 4

let's turn in our bibles to first peter chapter four as we continue our journey through the whole bible closing down on the new testament before too much longer in verse 18 of chapter 3 peter tells us that christ has once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to god being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the spirit and then he says the like figure where unto even baptism doth also now save not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward god by the resurrection of jesus christ so he had suffered once for sin being put to death in the flesh but raised again the resurrection of jesus christ who has gone into heaven is on the right hand of god angels and authorities and powers are made subject unto him for as much then as christ hath suffered that is he suffered for our sins he suffered death for us in the flesh so arm yourselves likewise with the same mind that is of the mind of being dead to sin for he goes on to say he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin the mind of christ who suffered for sin gave himself for sin let this mind be in you paul said which was also in christ jesus who humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore god has also highly exalted him given him a name so that arm yourself in your minds to the idea and to the concept that i am dead to sin god has ordained that sin should no longer rule in my body let's turn back to romans chapter 6 where paul deals with this very same subject of being dead to sin what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that is we who have been born again that the grace of god may abound god forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ were baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man the old nature the life governed by sin is crucified with him that the body of sin might be categorized thrown down destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin now if we be dead with christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that christ being raised from the dead diet no more death hath no more dominion over him for in that he died he died unto sin once but in that he lives he lives unto god likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto god through jesus our lord now that's basically what peter is giving to us in an abbreviated form this whole idea and concept that my old nature the life that i once lived after the flesh a life that was ruled and governed by my flesh is dead thus it no longer has power over me i now have a new life it is the life in christ and this life in christ has freed me from the power that the flesh once held over me and thus the idea is i am living in the risen christ and thus no more does see i have ceased from sin because i am dead unto that old life an old nature now i don't think i need to tell you that that is the basic premise that is being worked out i'm no fool i'm not going to stand here before you tonight and say well i've arrived at sinless perfection folks i don't sin anymore but sin doesn't have power over me as it once did and as the spirit of god is dealing in my life with issues that are still there that are displeasing to god those aspects of the flesh life where my old flesh my old nature is prone to rise and to sort of rear its ugly head and i see it and i hate it and i say god i don't want to be this way i don't want to think like that and then i reckon that to be dead i said lord that's a part of the old life it doesn't have power over me anymore i don't have to be like that and i accept lord that new life in christ and his strength and his help and his victory and how glorious it is to experience that newness of life now i don't know it may be that tonight god has just done a new work in my life because he does work in my life daily and i expect that but when i was on my way to church this evening as i was coming down macarthur boulevard there was a car that pulled out of ralph's there near mcdonald's right directly in my path it was just there i thought this is it and i swerved and there was a car waiting to make a left turn and it was a very close call now the old chuck would have wanted to whip around and teach that person a little bit about driving now the beautiful thing is that i didn't control that urge that generally rises i i wasn't i didn't have the cap tight to say but i won't blow you know the fascinating thing to me is that there wasn't the pressure within i just said well thank you lord i miss them you know and i'm sure they were more frightened than i was but it could be that god's doing a new work in my life and i i pray so i've been praying on that one for a long time and if that is the signal of a new work of god i'm thrilled uh the fact that i tell you about it i might be tested again just so he can prove that he's done it but but how wonderful it is to watch the lord work in your life to see him do for you what you've been trying to do for yourself and not able to the issues where you've been struggling so long the where you've practically given up and then to see the lord come in and do this special work it was it was a real thrill for me tonight i just came to church and sat here rejoicing and the fact that my response it wasn't my response i know that i know how i responded to things like that up until this point in life and so it could be that god is working in me and if so praise the lord i rejoice in it but god wants to work in all of our lives but he doesn't take away the old nature completely and fully and immediately death by crucifixion is a slow painful death you linger a long time and yet i am crucified with christ death no longer has dominion over me and having suffered then we cease from sin that is suffering with christ crucified with christ suffering with him we have ceased from sin having its power and dominion over us that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men but to the will of god thank god the rest of my life i don't have to live in the flesh living as a slave to the desires of my flesh my body appetites and body drives no longer rule over me they're still there but they no longer rule over me but govern now by the spirit of god paul writing to the ephesians said and you has he made alive who were dead in your trespasses and sins who in times past you walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the heir that even now works in the children of disobedience among whom you all one time had your manner of living as you were controlled by the desires of the flesh and the desires of your mind and you were by nature the children of wrath even as others but god who is rich in his mercy and his grace where he's loved us has brought us this new life in jesus so reckoning myself to be dead with christ crucified with him i've ceased from sin and no longer need i live governed by my flesh and my desires but i live by the will of god crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i but christ liveth in me and the life that i now live paul said i live by the faith of the son of god for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles we once lived that way we lived like the heathen when we walked and peter just tells us where the flesh led us governed by our flesh and by our fleshly desires we walked in lasciviousness or sexual impurity after our lust in the excesses of wine imparting banquetings and abominable idolatry wherein those that you once partied with think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excessive riot and they start speaking evil of you you're no fun anymore you don't get drunk and act like a fool you know you're not carousing around you're not interested in partying and they speak evil of you because you no longer run to the same excesses with them that you once did you're no longer a party animal and and they can't understand why the change in you they can't understand the joy that you now have being freed from the bondage of the flesh the flesh is one of the worst tyrants in the world when you give into the flesh and you start living after the lusts of the flesh it is never satisfied it wants to draw you deeper and deeper into its control over you but thank god we have been freed from the power of the life of the flesh having been crucified dead unto the flesh paul said the mind of the flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is life and peace and joy who shall give an account to him that is ready to judge the alive and the dead jesus spoke of the day of judgment that is coming coming to judge those that are alive and those who have died death and hell will give up the dead which are in them and christians will stand before the judgment seat of christ the sinners will stand before the judgment seat of god the judgment seat of christ is as the judges in the olympics the purpose is to receive the rewards according to how we have run the race whereas the judgment seat of god is just that a judgment of condemnation to receive the sentencing for the life of sin and for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that were dead or that are dead that they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to god in the spirit that's why we preach to the gospel to those who are dead in their trespasses and sins the purpose is to bring them new life life in jesus christ a life of freedom from the power that sin has exercised in its control over them and so the glorious gospel of jesus preached to those who are dead in trespasses and sins that they might know the wonders and the glory of being alive unto god in the spirit peter goes on to say but the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober and watch unto prayer the early church believed that the lord was coming back very soon they were anticipating his return at any time and thus there was always the call to soberness living a sober life because the lord's return is so close can happen at any time paul writing to the romans said knowing the time it is now high time to awake out of our sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed let us therefore put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light and throughout the new testament there were the warnings of the return of the lord and living a life that is an expectancy of the return of the master at any time and jesus taught them to live with that kind of expectancy this morning we made reference to that one parable that jesus gave concerning the servants and the steward who the lord had gone away and left him in charge of his things and the lord returned and he said blessed is that servant who when the lord does return finds him so doing the work of god and it is important for us to live as though the lord may come tomorrow because he is going to come at any moment and there will not be a forewarning and we don't want to have a lot of things left undone and so it is important for us to live each day as though this were the last day that we might be here for we have no assurance that it won't be blessed is that servant who when the lord comes shall find him so doing when the lord returns i don't really want a lot of unfinished business i want the accounts all cleared up i want to be ready to meet him at any time and they had this kind of expectancy and the church had this the early church had this expectancy of the lord's return and i do believe that it was by deliberate design that god wanted the church always to live in the expectancy of his any moment coming because it does give a certain urgency to the task before us it helps us from procrastination putting things off let's get to it let's get things done if we have a major project let's go for it because we don't know when the lord is going to return how much time we've got there's an urgency to getting the gospel out into all the world and thus it gives us that sense of urgency in our work for him the second effect of believing that the lord is going to come at any time is a purifying effect within our lives john said in speaking of the lord's return beloved now are we the sons of god it doesn't yet appear what we're going to be but we know when he appears we're going to be like him for we shall see him as he is he that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure so this hope of the lord's return is a purifying hope because we want to be walking in holiness and purity when our master comes for us so the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober watch unto prayer be alert be ready be watching and above all things everything else at the top of the list have fervent love among yourselves now this word love is the word agape our new testament word which speaks of divine spiritual love it isn't the word eros don't misinterpret this word uh have fervent love that is godly love divine love which goes much further than any other kind of love among yourselves for love shall cover the multitude of sins you know it's interesting when you really love someone how little you see of their faults or maybe that should be rephrased how little their faults bother you you probably see more but your willingness to overlook the flaws the faults because of your love love bears all things it believes all things it hopes all things when you're lacking in love for someone it's amazing how much their faults irritate you and that's why we're to have this fervent love for each other because this kind of love overlooks it covers a multitude of sins use hospitality one toward another without grudging several years ago in our second pastorate which was in tucson arizona we had many men who were attending our church who were in the service they were stationed there at davis mautham air base we had one fellow a sergeant who was an interesting person and he and his wife uh were very faithful in attendance oh i really don't know how to describe them but well uh maybe just by an incident you can sort of catch the picture they were constantly fighting and one night she tried to lock him out of the house and so he came through the window broke the window the screen came on through and gave her a shiner like you can't believe and she came and this huge shiner just i mean i just all puffed clothes and huge swelling and started telling me of all of the abuse that she had received from him verbal and physical and i being just a young pastor said well maybe you should consider leaving him and she said but i love the guy well then go ahead live with him you know what i mean but they invited us over for sunday dinner after church and so they had a very delicious pot roast and they asked if we would like seconds so i thought i was being polite and i said oh yes that's great so they gave seconds and as i was eating the seconds he said used to be that a roast like this would last us all week but i see this one's not going to you know so he was showing hospitality but he was grudging now peter says be hospitable but don't be grudging about it as every man has received the gift now interestingly enough hospitality is one of the gifts there are people who just have the gift of hospitality my dad and mom were that way they had the gift of hospitality whenever we had an evangelist in town they always had him over for dinner they had the gift of hospitality and there are many people that just have this gift of hospitality and it is a gift of god so as every man has received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of god god has made us the stewards of his manifold grace god has been very gracious to us very forgiving very kind and i am to be a steward god has entrusted me with this wonderful grace i'm a steward and a steward is one who is in charge and oversees the resources of another and so i'm to oversee the resources of god's grace and to show god's grace to others in the gifts that god gives to me using them to minister unto others and so whatever gift that god has given unto us and he's given to all of us certain gifts everyone in the body of christ is a minister of jesus christ the word minister means servant we've all been called to serve our lord jesus christ we say lord and that's exactly what it means he is the lord or the master over our lives we've been called to serve him now we are not all called to serve him in the same capacity there are many areas of service and many different gifts that god gives to us to enable us to fulfill our service unto him and so with some there is that gift of hospitality there is the gift of showing mercy there is the gift of giving and people are blessed with different kinds of gifts but they are all to be used for the benefit of the whole body of christ as we serve one another through the gifts that god has given to us so one of the gifts of course is that of speaking the word of god so he that speaketh let him speak as the oracles of god and the oracle logia was a uh in the greek was a um oracle was actually one who the greeks thought was the voice of god speaking through humans and so they had these people who are like the new age channelers and they would go into sort of a trance and this strange voice would come out of them that the greeks interpreted as the voice of god and whenever they were going to purchase a house or sell something or make an important decision they would go to the oracles and they would pay huge sums for the oracle to speak to them to give them the words of the gods for the guidance and the direction for their lives when we were in greece we visited the site of the oracle of delphi and we saw the place where the oracle sat and we saw the ruins of the temple and the amphitheater and all there at delphi where hundreds of people would come to receive guidance and direction from the gods through this supposed oracle that was there and this voice would speak to them it was sort of a shielded and they would come and they'd ask their question and this voice would come out supposedly directing them much like uh i think the the tv psychics today you know where you call in and and the psychics supposed to guide you in your love life or whatever and and i saw where they hire people off the streets to be psychics to answer the phones and uh they give you a training to you know how to answer people and how to lead them on and make them think that you have insight for them but such was the oracle in those days now it was supposedly or thought to be the word of god coming through an individual so if you speak speak as an oracle of god that is speak the word of god to people what i have to say is of little merit or value the best way i can help you is to tell you what god's word has to say it's interesting to me that in our program to every man and answer so often the questions are questions for which there is not a biblical answer and people are wanting your opinion on a subject but my opinion is no better than anybody else's opinion it's only that just an opinion of man my opinion is worthless what we need is god's word to guide us and that's why we seek to give to you the word of god and stick to the word of god as close as possible where god speaks i want to speak where god is silent i am wise if i keep silent and just share and so if you speak speak as an oracle of god if you minister and that is the using the word in the sense of serve as all of us are ministers all of us are servants let him do it as of the ability that god gives to you which of course means that in whatever area that god has given me talent i serve him with that area of my giftedness according as god has gifted us so we serve with the ability that god gives that god in all things may be glorified through jesus christ now it is fascinating to me how that god has gifted different people with different types of gifts and i can appreciate the gifts that god has bestowed upon different people i love to watch people who are gifted i love to listen to gifted musicians i love to watch a gifted artist as they paint i love to see people who are gifted and skilled in the various crafts and all and and i watch with amazement what they're able to do on new year's eve i i was fascinated with this potter and and the shaping of that vessel and all and and to see the gift that this man had and and watch him as he exercised that gift not everyone has the same gift some people can draw a dog that looks like a dog and some people when they draw a dog you wonder what is that and people are just gifted in these various things and so i am to use the gifts of god recognizing that this isn't me this isn't something that i have because i studied and but this is just something that god has given me a natural aptitude toward this and if i am especially gifted it's because god has given me that ability and that gifting and thus i do it for the glory of god i seek to bring glory to god through the exercise of my gift and as paul said what do you have but what you have received and if you have received it then why do you boast as though you didn't receive it there are many people who do not acknowledge god they have tremendous gifts and they use these gifts for their own enrichment and that is a prostituting of the gifts of god the highest capacity of man is that of being an instrument through which god works his divine works in the lives of people god wants to use your life as an instrument he has given you certain abilities in certain capacities to be used for him now there is always a danger in the exercise of the gifts that god gives to you that men get their eyes upon the instrument rather than upon god who is using the instrument and men so often want to lay upon you the accolades tell you how marvelous you are and how wonderful you are know how you did so much for them in reality you know that it wasn't you it was god working through you and the danger is taking glory that belongs to god unto yourself you remember when paul and barnabas were in lystra and there was a lame man about 40 years old and as paul was preaching paul saw and discerned by the spirit that this lame man lying there was receiving the word and had faith to be healed and paul turned to him and said brother jesus christ makes you whole stand up walk and the man stood up and walked for the first time in his life about 40 years old and the response of the people was the gods have come down these men are gods that taller one barnabas that must be jupiter and that shorter little run that must be mercury and they ran down to the temple of jupiter and they got the priest they said hey man your god is here he's in the street he's coming to lystra and the priest came down the street dragging an ox he was going to offer a sacrifice to paul and barnabas and they and they stopped them and they said no no we are men just like you you know god has called us to tell men to turn away from these vain things and to serve the true and the living god but the response of the people was to put the glory and the accolades upon paul because they saw the work of god and the gift of god through paul's life and so when god has gifted you and you begin to use that gift there will always be those who will want to exalt you rather than to exalt god you must not allow that to happen you must not take bowels for god but you must always immediately point people away from yourself and unto the lord so we minister with the ability that god gives that god in all things may be glorified through the work of jesus christ in our life to god be the glory great things he has done to whom that is jesus christ be praise and dominion forever and ever amen now he changes gears and he goes to another subject a subject that isn't always very popular beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing has happened unto you it's interesting but our first reaction in response to a real heavy trial is that man of all the people in the world i don't think anybody's ever had anything like this you know some strange thing is happening to me we just don't understand why god's people have to suffer that's a real enigma unto us because we believe that god is love we believe that god loves us supremely if god loves me so much why would he allow me to suffer that doesn't seem consistent with love if i love someone i want to save them from suffering i want to keep them from suffering and that is how we so often spoil our kids rotten is that we want to protect them from the consequences of wrong actions and in our protection not letting them experience and know that certain things bring certain consequences they only go further and deeper into their state of rebellion when i was pastoring in tucson many years ago received a call one night from one of the young men in the church pastor chuck i need your help i said well what what is it he said i'm down here in jail and i need fifty dollars to bail me out what are you in jail for oh there was a pie truck and we the door was not locked and so we got in and started eating some of the pies and the police came and you know and i need fifty dollars bail so kay said well what are you going to do chuck i said well we can't let him spend the night in jail i mean that's a horrible place you know we'll we'll you know scrape up the money and somehow we'll you know go down and get him out and so we went down and we bailed him out and of course he was tearful and oh thank you i'll never do that again and so forth we bailed him out he didn't experience the real consequences of his activity so not much after that i got this call again voice with tears pastor chuck need your help [Music] hundred dollars bail this time and this went on as the family and those continued to bail him out the offenses became more serious until he and he got into the thing of stealing cars but it was joyriding oh well you know after all kid you know joyriding and on so he was sentenced actually we moved from tucson over to california and he moved over too and so he was living in riverside we were in corona and he was you know stealing cars and i and he got caught in one of these uh traps where all the cars where he tried to turn around the police pulled him over and he had he had several stolen jackets that he had taken out of the cars that he had stolen he'd take him for joyrides but then he'd take stuff and so he was sent to blythe for six months and there he learned his mistakes they told him the other prisoners hey man you're crazy for stealing you know 16 different cars that he got caught for he said all you need to do is just steal one car and steal the license plates off of another car and put the license plates on and you know they don't trace it as before the computers so i get this call pastor chuck helped me you know and he's actually when he got out of blythe he came over to our house in a stolen car to visit us and case said where did you get that car oh sister smith you don't think i know you know how could you think that of me you know and within a week or so he was caught in this car but he had driven it to tucson to bring his sister over so now it was a federal offense and he was sent to a federal penitentiary in oklahoma because it was taking stolen prosperity across the state line hopefully he learned his lesson i didn't receive any more calls anyhow i don't know where he is now but uh by coddling by keeping them from experiencing the consequences by keeping them from suffering we think that we are helping but oftentimes we are hurting them and harming them because they are not learning the consequences of wrong actions god loves us and whom the lord loves he chastens and where others might be able to get by with things god won't let you get by with it because you're his child and that is not to say and certainly i don't want to infer and i definitely do not believe it that suffering is the consequence of some sin in our lives that was the mistake that job's friends made when they saw the suffering of job the bible just tells us concerning suffering that it is god's way of purifying our lives consider it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing has happened to you but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of christ's sufferings that when his glory be revealed you may be glad also with exceeding joy so when we suffer and it is possible that we will suffer for righteousness sake the world hates the righteousness of jesus christ it is a condemning thing to them and there are many believers today who are suffering tremendously for their faith in jesus christ and for their commitment to jesus christ and peter is writing just as the great persecution under nero has begun in rome and it will spread throughout the roman empire and so they are sort of almost words prophetic of the suffering that the church was going to experience under imperial rome under this madman known as nero so don't consider it strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you but rejoice your partakers of christ's suffering and when his glory shall be revealed you will be glad also with exceeding joy paul said we know that the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed for the light affliction which is but for a moment worketh an exceeding eternal weight of glory so we look at suffering as as part of the refining process of god in our lives out of them out from the mind and the darkness out of the damp and the mold out from the fiery furnace cometh each grain of gold crushed into atoms and leveled down to the humblest dust with never a heart to pity with never a hand to trust molten and hammered and beaten seemeth it near to be done o for such fiery trial what hath the poor goal done oh for mercy to leave it down in the dampen the mold if this is the glory of living then better to be drost than gold under the press and the roller into the jaws of the mint stamped with an emblem of freedom with never a flaw or a dent o what joy the refining out of the damp and the mold and stamped with the glorious image of the beautiful coin of gold and so god puts us through the refining process and sometimes we feel like we've been hammered on and beaten down and all but god is going to imprint on us his image that image and that likeness and that's part of the process of bringing me into the image of jesus christ if you be reproached from the name of christ happy are ye jesus said oh how happy is the man who is persecuted for righteousness sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven peter is picking up on the words of jesus from the sermon on the mount for the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you on their part he is evil spoken of those that are persecuting or uh bringing persecution upon you but on your part he's glorified but let none of you suffer as a murderer as a thief there's no blessing or joy in that or as an evil doer or as a gossiper and it's interesting look what he puts gossip in the list with murders thieves evil doers and gossipers that's not a list that you want your name associated with yet if any man suffer as a christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorify god on this behalf for the time has come when the judgment must begin at the house of god and if it begins at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of god the purifying process is judgment begins at the house of god god wants to purify his church and and thus he begins his work here but if the judgment begins here where do you suppose i mean here we are seeking to live a good life a righteous life do the right thing and god begins that work of refining right here what will be the end of the ungodly those that obey not the gospel and if the righteous scarcely be saved one day a rich young ruler came running up to jesus fell on his knees and he said good master what good thing must i do to be saved and jesus said we'll keep the law he said which ones and jesus quoted to him from the second table of the law the duties that god requires of us towards each other thou shalt not steal commit adultery and lie and things of this nature he said lord i've done all of these from my youth up what lack i yet jesus said well if you would be perfect go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor and come and follow me and you'll have great treasure in heaven we read that he went away sad because he had great riches and jesus turning to his disciples said how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven and then he sort of modified it he said how difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven the disciples were amazed and peter expressed their dismay when he asked lord who then can be saved i mean you're talking about something impossible a camel going through who can be saved and jesus said with men it's impossible man cannot save himself this guy was looking for some good work man cannot save himself all of the good works in the world won't save you but jesus said with man it is impossible but with god all things are possible the possibility of your being saved takes a miracle of god you can't do it yourself with man it's impossible but with god all things are possible if the righteous scarcely be saved it's only through jesus christ that any of us can hope for salvation then where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear we barely make it in where are they going to appear wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of god commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator if i am suffering according to the will of god my attitude is to commit myself unto god he's faithful he is a faithful creator he has allowed this to come into my life for a divine purpose that i may not understand it is not necessary that i do understand but it is necessary that i just say well lord if this is what you have for me if this is part of your plan for my life here i am work out your plan in me and i commit the situation i commit the issues unto the lord he is a faithful creator he is watching over me nothing happens but what he allows it to happen and if he's allowing it to happen he has a good reason to allow it to happen and so i commit myself unto him as a faithful creator god is not promised skies always blue flowers strewn pathways all our lives through god has not promised some without rain joy without sorrow peace without pain god has not promised we shall not know toil and temptation trouble and woe he has not told us that we shall not bear many a burden in many a care god hath not promised smooth roads and wide swift easy travel needing no guide never a mountain rocky and steep never a river turbid and deep but god has promised strength for the day rest for the laborer light for the way grace for the trials help from above unfailing sympathy undying love he'll be with us no matter what we go through he is there i just commit myself unto him lord my life is in your hands you take care of it father we thank you for the fact that we can serve you and know that you are watching over us and know that you love us supremely and therefore nothing happens in our lives outside of your will because you are watching over we don't understand and we don't know father why this particular trial why this problem why the agony and suffering that we feel within the pain the lord we know that we are yours and we know that you're a faithful creator a loving god and we commit our lives and these issues unto you and we look to you lord to be with us and to work through these things your perfect work in our lives bringing us into conformity to the image of jesus and as you stamp his image upon us thank you lord for the processes by which you conform us into your will have thine own way lord have thine own way you're the potter we're the clay mold us shape us lord after your will in jesus name we pray amen shall we stand the pastors are down here in the front to minister to you tonight the spirit of god's been speaking to your heart maybe you're going through some suffering some trial and difficult time and you're at one of those places where you just don't know and understand you'd like to have some prayer you need some strength they're here to minister to you through the gifts that god has given to them as we shared earlier god gives us gifts that we might through them minister to one another for we are the stewards of the manifold grace of god so you may come and be ministered to tonight whatever your need might be whether it be a physical need healing in your body spiritual need you need and you feel the need to draw closer to the lord you're having a struggle with some issues that you're going through and you just need some help and someone to pray with you to help you to just put it all in the lord's hands you've been taking it back and you're carrying this heavy load and it's just weighing you down come and receive the ministry of god's spirit through these men have thine own way lord have thine own way thou art the potter i am the claim mold me and make me after thy will while i am waiting yielded and still have thine own way lord have thine own way hold or my being [Music] absolute sway filled with thy spirit till all shall see christ only always living in me god bless you

Channel: Pastor Chuck Smith

Views: 6,904

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Id: eIyRCBqVUTU

Length: 68min 21sec (4101 seconds)

Published: Fri May 28 2021