Beloved of God (When Trials Come)

we're gonna do something that we've never done before in 30 years of this being a home Bible study and that is I normally I've always been I say always maybe one counted on one hand always been healthy enough to study and to come unto Sunday and I got sick on Friday morning and just massive weirdness in the head dizziness and all that stuff and congestion and everything I thought before I'd go to Israel I get the flu but I've had I've had no opportunity but to just lay down and so I'm up on my feet today but you know the Bible says for us to teach and to present the Word of God and be ready in season and out of season and so this is one of those mornings for me where I feel out of season but ready but ready and so I don't know what we're gonna do this morning except go with what we know and that is if you had turn to first Peter chapter 4 normally regularly-scheduled we would have been in verses 12 to 19 today but if you just go to verse 12 of 1st Peter chapter 4 and by your grace and by your forgiveness in advance we'll pick this up when we get back from Israel in full but today and by the way let me say this I'm a big stinker about our staff when our staff is sick I refuse for them to work I make them go home yeah I actually we have some really heroes here and they'll come sick they're throwing up and they're walking around and they're touching doorknobs and exactly and so I make them go home I throw them out in the name of Jesus huh and so you might say well why don't you do the same thing I normally would not have been here today but because I'm going to be gone in Israel I feel very obligated about missing I don't like missing too much pulpit time on Sunday so yeah I know I know but then if I stay home and then there's the next few weeks of guest speakers and then people write me letters and say did you die what but no but we're gonna do this if you don't mind we're gonna look unrehearsed unscheduled by God's grace we're gonna go with what we know today and if you look at chapter four verse 12 just there it says beloved do not think it's strange or a strange thing some of your translations say beloved do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you and if we were going to have a Bible study today as normal that verse right there brings together the previous challenge and announcements that Peter had been given to the flock of God there and that in the midst of all of their life being lived that they were in the age of soft in a sense persecution with persecution to come and it was about July 19th in the year 64 when Rome began to burn and it's not only religious historians that say so Roman secular historians say so that the burning of Rome was actually instigated and engineered by Nero himself he is losing popularity and he was a fanatic about building and so he decided to have wasted an area of Rome near the Colosseum and had it burned in fact many people responded because their homes were burning their businesses were burning and they tried to put out the fire themselves only to have Roman centurions and soldiers keep them back from putting out the flames in fact it was reported that Roman guards were starting fires at the order of Nero but when that happened in 64 in the summer of 64 as it began to flip on Nero the nation the Empire began to become very upset and to hold him accountable Nero blamed it on the Christian and that began a period of 200 years of persecution well it's very interesting what Peter is saying to the church is he's announcing to them not to think of a strange thing regarding the fiery trial and it's a great word usage concerning the fiery trial that is to come and so we know that in Peters writing of this Peter writes this book at a time few months after the burning of Rome late in 64 this is only a few years away from Peter's death Peter is going to be killed about two years from the writing of this epistle by virtue of the persecution that's coming and what takes place is this tremendous attack against faith against the Christian and Rome cannot have it Rome cannot have IVs listen these ones of the way is what it was called the Christian Rome said we cannot have these atheists in our midst did you know that Rome called the Christian atheist because it was the first religion first faith-based group to come along that did not believe in the pantheon of gods all previous faiths and religions other than Judaism was polytheistic Rome was polytheistic they believed in hundreds not more gods and then Christianity comes along and because Christianity believed in the one true God Rome labeled Christians as being a theistic one God worshippers and that was an abomination to the Empire and defended the Caesars and so this attack came from all sides all kinds of passions were set on fire not just structures to go against the Christian and then over the course of time and flow throughout church history of the last 2,000 years persecution has come and gone and we have to be very honest you if you look over church histories time you guys a persecution uh is always on the radar but it's it's much throughout history but they're not the last 2,000 years it's not been what you feel like it has been in other words it's not has been Pro it hasn't been as prolific as it feels Christianity by and large has been pretty well protected in a sense and all of the cultures that it's gone to not to say there hasn't been persecution but there hasn't been 2,000 years of radical violent persecution there are times and the 200 years after Peters writing was one of the worst times ever and you know that for example a gruesome time was was under the reign of Adolf Hitler we often think that he killed six million Jews and six million Jews only did you know that Hitler eradicated over one and a half million homosexuals at the same time he was killing six million Jews and did you know that he can killed millions of Christians at that same time but that's not often reported but when we think about Christian persecution it's interesting to me that Peter opens up this segment of the of the book by saying beloved and and that's where I just kind of want to go off on today us just having table talk this morning can we just be together can we even open up the atmosphere in the sense that if you have a question and you want to raise your hand we'll get a microphone to you let's just pretend we're in a sunday-school class right now let's make it a sunday-school class today along these lines if you if you don't mind Jack if you're talking about persecution hardship and difficulty then how is it that Peter begins by speaking to us beloved the word beloved is of favored one cared for it means to be one that is taken in close to the chest close to the breast of love and care two dear precious pastoral term Peter says to them beloved and then he goes on and he proceeds on to tell them that you're gonna have a rough time in life Christian you need to be reminded of this that in our lives we're going to have rough times now number one first of all it's just the trouble that comes in life and you may have one of these questions today more specifically but if we're Christians now and God loves us and we're going to heaven why do we suffer for that matter if you have a question like this it's totally justifiable if God is a God of love then why is this so much evil in the world where is this God that you preach about that cares when I look around I don't see that or if we live in an age as we do and as we very well may see a season of persecution rising against the believers in the world and in the West and in America where we'll listen the question is where will God be in that moment or where is God in that moment what's the answer to these questions Peter says beloved there's no contradiction here beloved of God a fiery trial is going to come your way favored one of God life in your world is going to get difficult we need to reconcile this there's not one of us that are exempt from what's coming and and I want to be honest with you today I want to allow you to the opportunity to interact right now it is vital that we get this answers the only church it was almost a given to them they understood this and wherever persecution exists in the world today I just looking over at Ron the church in China they're not surprised by persecution the church in Vietnam they're not surprised by attacks did you know that that listen the hosts of believers in North Korea they're not surprised by being arrested and tortured today 21st century they're not surprised the vast believers in Persia today Iran they know for their faith they are going to be persecuted they have to be careful how they walk every day and what they say unto whom they say it we think of our friends in Turkey today Turkey has turned dramatically hostile toward the gospel in the last four months Turkey Christians are being expelled from Turkey as I speak they are not surprised if in California the tide changes and Christianity is brought into question attacked ridiculed marginalized those are words those are scenarios that are kind of removed from you but what if at work are in your community what if somebody singles you out what if somebody says for example Todd are you one of those Bible believing Christians that and the world will begin to define to them what a Bible believing Christian is are you one of those and they put you on your heels your emotions are going to rise your emotions are going to kick in as normal when somebody attacks you and says something about your Christian commitment or your faith in Jesus and if you don't have the answer listen you get insecure very quick you get you get defensive very quick you don't know what to do and no matter how you come out of the connection or the encounter you walk away and if you don't have the answer my friend and if you don't understand that we are going to be brought to this place that God has foretold for us we're gonna walk away from it and we're going to be very wounded in our witness and in our faith and we're gonna feel less loved and we're gonna be somehow feeling that we have been possibly rejected in the kingdom maybe maybe I don't know this thing is all for me and maybe I maybe I've made the wrong decision and yet the Bible tells us don't consider it a strange thing when a fiery trial comes upon you so I think the first question would be what's a fiery trial you've heard this said before you need to be reminded of this that a temptation is not a fiery trial Peter talks about a fiery trial he's talking about something that is engineered by God means God knows God knows in your life right now today what is it in your life that's going on right now today that is challenging your walk I'm not talking temptation temptation comes from Satan and this world and our flesh God never tempts you please hear this if you don't get anything else out of today know this God will not and cannot tempt you with sin so number two if my situation jack that I'm going through is not a temptation from the enemy then are you saying it is from God and I'm saying it is 100% from God let me qualify it this way if today you are battling something from one end to the spectrum such as a situation with health could be cancer could be sickness of some sorts whatever no this God did not send you the sickness but God knew the sickness would visit not only you but everyone in this world saint and sinner alike we're all swimming in this same pool are you with me and you need to know that Oh pastor I got I have leukemia I just found out I thought God loved me oh my dear Christian your logic is skewed I understand your passion but you need to understand his theology what you just sensed by your feeling and in your statement is not truth you may have leukemia but you must not doubt God's love for you it's not connected his love for you is the same if you are dying today or if you have the healthiest happiest day of your life today it doesn't change it's transcendent well it's not that pastor in my life it's this situation where this relationship with somebody in the sand so God didn't cause it my friends that break up in that relationship God didn't cause it but God will use it in your life you are either dealing with at any given time a temptation from the world the flesh of Satan or a trial that's engineered by God for your life listen listen one temptation is to destroy your faith trial is to increase your faith one if yielded to temptation drives you away from God one if yielded to trial draws you closer to God listen one allures you with pleasures for a moment the other one honestly brings you into a place of pain and difficulty Challenge you say wait Jack did you get that right yes temptation says here you go you want relief here you go right now you want us some ecstasy right now you won't have some gratification right now it's a quick sugar fix right that leads to terrible regret the other one could possibly be a short-term lived or a long-term lived time of pain sorrow and suffering as you walk with Jesus and it turns out to be the greatest thing for your faith existence for now and eternity and I don't understand it but that's what the Bible teaches it's very personal whenever you're hurting whenever you're hit like that it's personal and it's supposed to be Peter says don't consider it a strange thing the word in the Greek is don't be surprised you shouldn't be surprised I find it interesting today because you and I live in an age like I said a moment ago I thought God loved me you and I live in an age where we've been lied to friends we have been lied to because the the church in the Middle East doesn't struggle what with what we struggle with here now the church in Asia doesn't struggle with what you and I are struggling with we're the only ones in the Western world regarding our faith in Jesus Christ that when the bottom drops out we say God where are you we've been lied to the prosperity doctrine church and now what's the the healthy wealthy you know the thing just claim it claim it brother claim your claim your health claim it just claim it declare it to be so that's nowhere in the New Testament he nursed and that she was no what I heard well you're watching the wrong TV program that right now you reading the wrong books people become disillusioned people become fractured in their faith I don't understand how our suffering now brings honor and glory to God and in the end dear friend it will matter an eternity I don't get that but it's gonna be look by faith I just totally received them I don't get it but you know what God that's what your word says it's good enough for me would you do that today would you do that today would you God were to say to you you can have the next fifty years of incredible wealth fame and fortune no problems and die the death of loneliness and of separation from God now please don't get me wrong I'm not saying if you're wealthy and healthy and all that stuff that God doesn't love you I'm not saying that I'm saying if you had a choice today as an individual to choose a generational blessing now for your lifetime or if God were to offer you salvation and Jesus Christ for all time and eternity but it's gonna cost you by because of his namesake it's gonna cost you rejection people are gonna hate you you're gonna lose that well-paying job and God might say to you because because I need you to be my witness at USC or at Mayo or at MD Anderson I'm gonna allow this I'm not gonna cost it but I'm gonna allow this sickness in your life remember what happened to job God allowed the sickness but Satan brought it and I love it God Satan brought it to job God allowed it and then God used God used the sickness and job to punch Satan in the nose it's awesome what if God were to say to you do you trust me enough to let me do whatever I want to do in your life so that it ends well not only with you but it will end well for you in all time an eternity do you do you know that I love you this much Jack or Fred or whoever you are which one would you choose which one would it be and so God is announcing to us I have a plan and Peter echoes that truth and he says don't consider the strange thing that fiery trial which is to befall you as though some strange thing has happened to you change the way you think about suffering and so I'm gonna say something personal prime the pump and you're gonna ask a question can you do that would you guys do that this you can make some history here today we've never done this under Sunday so so I'll prime the pump I remember years ago years years and years ago it was a we had just completed a it was a home Bible study and we had an Easter service I was at your house mark and Mary it was a Sunday afternoon and we were just kind of talking about the day and how wonderful Sun Easter morning was and I had this I had this a little bit now this is TMI you had TMI means but I had this little thing in my tummy and I had to go the bathroom and I went to the bathroom at their house and couldn't stop did everything I could to stop got up left walked across the street to where I live and just kept going it wouldn't stop and that went on for a while uncontrollable comedian on the freeway you can imagine when this hit I had about 30 to 60 seconds to find a bathroom uncontrollable pain and then of course then you go to the hospital doctors all this stuff and turns out that I was I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and you are at its mercy and so that was a medication for about ten years and it's pretty brutal and long story short it's an incurable disease but I don't know how long it's been now st. Jude's Hospital they do their thing and they they said you know what you have no you have no longer have any signs of Crohn's whatsoever you yours your intestines and cysts they've been completely there come they're fine in fact we don't need to see you for ten years now God just didn't God God took the incurable and he cured it and in soap you know I praise the Lord for that but here's the point the point is it was Philippians chapter three verse 10 that I'll never forget this is brutal for you to hear but I remember sitting on a very familiar place in my home for months and months and months nine ten months that is the toilet looking out the window and God spoke to my heart and he said that Jack my grace is going to be sufficient for you and I will make my power available to you through your weakness are you willing and I remember having an instant victory many many years ago when I just said Lord yeah I'm willing whatever you want to do on this one it's yours and this whole thing recently with the insomnia stuff that the Lord is slowly pulling me out of it was a wonderful thing to come to that moment when it's it's just bigger than you and you and and I'd loved it because I mean I didn't love it it's terrible but when the doctors say are you on are you depressed you haven't slept in weeks are you depressed what do you mean depressed I I mean you know depressed what do you mean have you lost hope no no and they kind of beat around the bush and then they go um have you had like what have you had suicidal thoughts no look through it all I mean did I want to die not suicidal II was I ready for the Lord to take me home oh yeah you bet I just wanted to sleep I figured the first couple first 24 hours of heaven would be sleep for me looks like I remember just honestly saying Lord it's okay now it's okay for me I it's okay I'm ready to go with you let me tell you something that's 53 it's great freedom and I don't know what what it was all about I don't know to this moment but I can tell you right now it's been a victory so mr. pastor Royce over here is anyone over this way well I'd know probably enough questions ask a question in your own life something anything but don't be shy I know we've never done this on a Sunday morning is there something going on in your life and that perhaps God's Word can answer that situation for you maybe you feel or sense or maybe you're asking for someone else and even a testimony upfront Roy you're gonna Roy you're gonna get your um your fitbit's tallied up today good morning my husband and I we never attend for service but this morning is definitely a divine appointment for me mm-hmm I think I know that God went ahead and tested us and me personally two weeks ago and and I realized how much little faith I have and I've been struggling for the last two weeks with my friend believers and I said what I I let the Lord down I know exactly where he wanted me to go I know the path that he had for me and what's gonna happen now and I've been asking everybody and you just answered what I needed to hear this morning and it's it's God is there all the time know through good through bad and it's I just needed to hear about faith and how he's always there and even through the struggles that we we feel that we feel that maybe he's not there maybe he's not listening maybe he doesn't see what I see but just this morning you're talking about about believing in him and having faith it's just it's what I needed to hear this morning can I ask you what your name is yeah Katya Katya father we pray for Katya right now she articulates what every one of us in this room are either coping with or will cope with or have cope with and so father we pray for cut you in this revelation to her precious heart Lord even this morning how you arranged this that's exactly what we're talking about you are the sovereign God who goes before Katya you're always before us you're always prescient in our life and what's going on and so Lord we pray that you'd strengthen her faith and Lord reminder also written for all of us we understand her emotion about feeling like we let you down feeling like we disappointed you and yet thankfully that is nowhere in theology we cannot let you down we cannot disappoint you you know that we are dust and that we are frail and that's what your grace is all about we let ourselves down we let others down but Lord you are such the other father you are the other father the infinite perfect all-knowing all compassionate all merciful father who expects nothing from us but daily daily dependence upon you and Lord in our failures we are only thrust more violently upon your mercy and we praise you for that amen anyone else questions anything Marcelle your you don't need a microphone you you can ask you can state it fright from there okay you do need a microphone because people need to hear this you talked about earlier about these folks in communist countries these Christians that are simply not surprised by the problems are coming away and you know what I realized in my life and maybe you want to talk a little bit about that because this kind of catches us by surprise and I think that's where the core the issue is that's exactly drawn from this verse you know what I realized in my life I realized that I read the Bible I say Lord I agree with you 100% I love your word yes I love this verse and I love that verse and yes your will for me is splendid and you know on the other hand to kind of kind of subconsciously what I'm doing I'm creating my own plan for my life and I say well my expectancy is I'm gonna do this today and I'm gonna do this tomorrow and my daughter will have this and my wife will be just like that and she'll be this this wonderfully a healthy person and she won't have any problems and next week I'm gonna do this and and I'm making plans and I don't realize and I don't allow God in my mind to say wait a minute are you making your own plans really do you mmm considering the Word of God would you really allow in your life got to interrupt hmm and based on the surprised or the no surprise for these folks that say okay we know we expect trouble is gonna come our way but do you want to talk a little bit about us maybe introducing not into our minds as a regular thing yes that's awesome you think about how if if he says we ought not to be surprised by this these things think it not a strange thing how if I have my plans then I have a tendency to go about the fulfillment of my plans isn't that kind of normally that's human of us right well have my plan well the whole nature of a plan is for you to get involved in your plan whatever it might be so we go about can I use this violent word it's a violent word and that is because I have a plan I'm gonna manipulate things for my plan could be time could be resources and I don't mean that necessarily in a negative way but manipulate where I'm in control I'm doing this thing I'm gonna I'm gonna save here so we can do this or I'm going to get more time out of this thing so like whatever it is and then God interrupts and it throws me back on my heels and then I realized like more so is just saying is wait a minute God why am i are you supporting my plan with what you just said it caused me to think a moment ago wait a minute with what Marcel is saying we should reverse that God has his plan and he from mercy and love manipulates the world seen right around me regarding his plan and I interrupt his plan I'm the one that steps in and it's in those moments when I've got to be the one to pull back and be reminded wait wait wait wait Peters right I shouldn't think at a strange thing it's reversed yeah it's reverse because God has his plans and I'm to flow with that but I wind up interrupting God in his plans tragically in reality sometimes we have more of our plan in effect and God tries to interrupt us and we might even say to him can you go can you sit back there God until I'm done with this and I believe then James is the one who says we ought not to make plans about next year right or tomorrow we should say if the Lord wills we don't say that enough in our culture yeah I'll see you tomorrow if the Lord wills right yeah you guys want to go on vacation you want to do this thing let's go up if the Lord wills so yeah good observation anybody else this is fun now the hands are popping up I like it right here darling darling can I ask you a question before how is it that I see you every Sunday and then I'll see you in Canada yeah it's sitting in the how does this how what's your connection in Canada how does it work I have to know this hope for day conference there you go yeah this was so right on today pastor Jack thank you so much it's good to be reminded that the devil tempts us to sin but God in His love and mercy walks with us we've had a situation in our family just these last weeks where our 16 year old granddaughter at Children's Hospital Los Angeles for 17 days on a feeding tube and not being able to find what she loves the Lord her parents love the Lord and yet it's hard to see that and to experience that God is there but through the many years I mean I was in college almost 60 years ago and I found this verse one morning reading a little bird I am shut-in from the fields of air but in my cage I sit and sing to him who placed me there well pleased a prisoner to be because my god it pleased at thee and that has followed with me through so many things and today was good good what a great word so good boy I just look around there's some hands wherever you yeah hi Pastor Joe I came today from Burbank I've been praying all night because I wanted answers I have a 27 year old I send her off to college did you say a 27 or so 27 27 off to college she came back a prodigal we don't you know Kate I'm struggling with that I've been a long long trial my question is how do I continue to reach out I've kind of left her be let her reach out to me I've left it up to God but wow I struggle I want to reach out but I keep getting rejected by her yes a hint ah yes did you guys hear her question did you all hear that I didn't get your first name Sonya Sonya you just articulated what so many parents are confessing or reporting across the nation certainly in this church where they have sent their kids off to college to lose them it's epidemic and so her question is well let me ask you son yet does your daughter know the way of salvation can she tell you does she know that Jesus died on the cross for her sins that Jesus rose again from the dead does she know the gospel she was raised Catholic I think she knows God I don't know if she's accepted him sir Savior so here's here's what we would want to make sure and this goes Sanja for you right now to make sure and for all of us who find ourselves in a similar situation and I got to tell you this is a very appropriate question for an appropriate day as this as a parent we will do anything for our child it's a divinely implanted love that God has put there for us to experience a hint of his love for us as silly as skewed as little as it is it's a hint of his love for us okay so what can we do number one I asked you the most important thing first and if you're not sure get a hold of her today even if it's by email or text and you give it you give her the gospel you give her John chapter 3 verses 1 to 20 1 John chapter 3 verses 1 to 21 you could just send her you could just send her that copy of that portion of Scripture why because if we have a prodigal child the number one thing we've got to give them the answer as to where to where to recover where to get back where to where to go - quickly first in other words it's the lifejacket you're throwing the life ring what do you call those things that you know the life preserver you're throwing the life preserver first then you start shouting from the boat you throw it and then you say grab but you don't say you see it I have this I have that I'm gonna throw it to you soon did you hear me repeat back to me what I just said if it's desperate you throw them the life jacket preserver and then you yell get it it's right there in front of you get it okay parents do that first make sure your kid knows the way of salvation you might say today my kid knows the way of salvation my kid used to be involved in ministry and my kid used to be an evangelist and now their way word from God from in college second thing is the hardest thing of all is shut up about it I'm sorry to tell you just stop talking about it to them stop there's someone that's much more efficient at it Sonja than you are and I would just go I would literally go like this I would go like this when I have the opportunity to pray for her I would I would drive I would walk I'd fall asleep and wake up praying for her it's the greatest power in the world because listen once you announce the way of salvation they're not going to get it by repeating it to them the veil of deceptions got to be lifted from their eyes and that is a spiritual battle that can only be broken by prayer and I believe by fasting in prayer and it goes up against the demonic forces that has taken the preaching of the professor or the preaching of her coasted peers in school this is happening across the world right now it's not your daughter's own story the godless school systems of the world are preaching in their pulpits there is no God and your parents were wrong and there and she heard that and the pressure was too much for her and so for comfort for protection at this time anyway if she is a believer at this time she's family she's failing but God in His mercy will reach out to her but just to be safe we all want to make sure our kids know the gospel you need to make sure she hears it send it to her but then by all means go to work in prayer asking God to attack the enemy's stronghold upon her mind and upon her thinking to bring godly people into her life and I'm a big fan of what CS Lewis introduced the concept of the thinking of severe mercy I'm the big fan of severe mercy say what is that God who knows all things knows exactly what your child needs to have happen for her to turn around invite him invite him like this Lord I pray for the salvation of for the recovery for the coming back of my daughter or my son god I lay him down at your altar and I ask you Father because you are all loving you want him her saved more than I do then I'm asking you God that you would just break through to them and I trust you I know you enough to use your mercy in the extreme that means you're just inviting God as you intercede I don't understand intercession I just know it works I don't know why God asked asked us to call out and then he'll move sometimes he moves sovereignly but he's he's allowed us to intercede so God do what you must in your severe mercy so what does it mean it means if a papercut gets her attention then it's a papercut if it's if it's her walking to class and she stubs her toe under on a brick it gets her attention if it's the airbag exploding on the car in her face it gets her attention God will not go one unnecessary step beyond are you with me if it takes like the lamb remember what Jesus did he talked about taking out a lamb going after that one out of a hundred the one goes astray and it's a very sweet story doesn't the Shepherd leave the flock and go for the 90 they go leave the ninety-nine and go for the one and well the back story is you know the back story the Shepherd's left the 99 to go get the one that kept strain and this is God's Word to you and your daughter God will put up with it for a while the Shepherd will go get the lamb but then there comes a time when the Shepherd will employ severe mercy he does it in all of our lives if we persist the key is not to persist and he'll go get the lamb one more time but this is the last time he gets the lamb because he employs severe mercy he takes the little lamb finds it over there at Joe's Bar and Grille taken up with all the goats and takes it outside and takes two nice big rocks and sets them on the ground takes his staff his rod I should say stretches out that cute little back leg and whacks that sucker right in half and breaks that leg and deliberately leaves it dangling will not let it set if Shepherd will carry that lamb on his back for three weeks that Shepherd will carry that lamb in the back of his neck for three weeks that's where you see the cute little painting and the lamb almost looks like it's smiling and the painting I don't think they're smiling the lamb must be thinking why on earth is this happening to me I can't believe this boy isn't this a little over the top Jesus what's the deal here well number one because of the because Satan was trying to kill that your little lamb got in a severe mercy finally acted because he knew that she wouldn't turn so he allowed her to trip over the planter stub the toe paper cut or break the leg are you with me and in her convalescence and her pain suffering and sorrow she cries out to everybody but nobody's there that's one thing really good for you and bad for her in her culture right now the truth is in that culture nobody really cares for each other I need I mean I know that sounds brutal let me tell you in the kind that called it seen it is the epitome of dog-eat-dog if you can't give me pleasure I have no business with you and if she becomes a draw on her sorority they'll give up on her good she won't have anybody good she might even try calling you and it doesn't get through to you the call drops God in severe mercy she says oh God where are you and the Lord says there you are my little lamb she may limp the rest of her life but that convalescent time draws her closer to Jesus she's got to be on his shoulders smelling his sweat hearing his voice that's why Christians who have been dealt by God severe mercy once they have strayed and they come back they don't wander again they have been persuaded that what they have committed to him is going to be kept by him and him alone so don't lose hope on your daughter her problem is she's young that's a dangerous place your responsibility is to give her the gospel today you just send her a text and you just say sweetie I've been praying for you today please read this and I won't bother you again and then get a couple of friends you only need a couple and go to prayer right go to prayer and don't you panic when her life gets really miserable if you hear from her that her world is collapsing you can say thank you Jesus for what for working you are you are evaporating her world right out from underneath her so that only you and you alone right will be her strength I have a quick question pastor Jack sometimes our pace as a culture Christians or non-christians alike leads us to the trials that we face whether it's by quick decision making maybe it's related to health issues aren't even relationship problems how has followers of Christ can we practically slow down our pace and be still knowing your schedule I laugh you and I can laugh together on that his question comes from the fact that first of all our fast pace here it starts with the temptation we are tempted to enter into our pace we're tempted to take on so much we're tempted to not say no to this opportunity we're tempted to this and that just know this I don't understand you and I do not understand everything but for the question about the pace that we live in the dangerous thing for you and I is so much of what we're involved in is all really good stuff and yet we are living our pace outside of our means in other words if it was money we would be bankrupt are we not bankrupt of time something's wrong Austin asked that question he's one of the great precious leaders and what you guys are going to be hearing about soon that this church will be hearing about soon regarding men he he has he has schooling he has a family he has a demanding career so how do we manage our pace I don't know except this I cannot handle any pace at all effectively unless I give God more time the moment I am tempted by evil to cut God out of my day because I'm busy did you hear me Church I'm so busy oh my goodness Lord I'll catch you later tonight I've got stuff to do when the temptation should be rejected and the embracing of faith would say Lord I've got so much to do today tell me how do I arrange it let's talk about it Jesus and oh by the way remove from my scheduling today things that are not from you that's where I would begin because he brought up a topic that is robbing us of our family it's robbing us of ministry think of it we live in a very very dangerous culture and we get pulled down not by the bad things too many good things and we need to prioritize that's a tough one are you doing I'm doing good I frantically wrote this as you were speaking no this is my first time speaking in front of this many people so forgive me for my nervousness I'll have Crohn's pada since I was 15 well tell me your first name Vincent Vincent yeah Lord and Jesus name according to your will heal Vincent of Crohn's if it be your will today to be gone we praise you in advance for that if not Lord your grace will get him through may he lean on you like never before in Jesus name Amen thank you I've had a since I was 15 I'm 34 now had about eight operations have medical instruments and me helping me cope with the condition first time in 15 first time since I was 15 in December I went in for colonoscopy I've had countless colonoscopies and it's the first time that my disease has ever been inactive and really why do you believe God Hills so that's right um so I'll preface I'll preface my question quickly with this I know that God is perfect and righteous and holy I know that he is not the author of confusion that he is light and in him no darkness dwells God is not evil nor can you be tempted by it and although I sometimes struggle with this topic and some others in the Bible I always consider myself wrong whenever I question the Bible because I know I'm finite and God is infinite in his thoughts or in his thoughts and ways are far above mine now regarding the sovereignty of God and if he is all-knowing all-powerful and if nothing had can happen until it passes through God first if he is the funnel by which all things come is it not fair to say that it is the will of God that badly that bad things happen people going to hell is a terrible thing and Paul said in Ephesians 1 for that he chose us in him from the firm before the foundations of the world and Jesus said in John 15:16 that we did not choose him but he chose us and Paul said to the church at Thessalonica that God from the beginning chose us for salvation through sanctification by the spirit now my question is why did God choose some and not others yeah it's a great question the scripture nowhere does the scripture say that he chooses some and chooses the they're exclusively on the base of predestination that might come to a shot to some people when the Bible says that he chose us that is it that is true he chose us but he also says that he's not willing that any should perish and watch this God in His infinite sovereignty and in his prerogative made the human being unique from all other things of his creation and in that salvation the Bible tells us Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world and so when we talk about did God choose some people to burn and some people to be blessed if you focus on the word predestination it appears so it appears that some people no matter what they choose are gonna go to heaven even if they don't want God and there's going to be some people who go to hell no matter what even if they want to God but that's not consistent with the whole of Scripture number one the Faculty of choice throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation God introduces us to the faculty that we have choice and we talked a lot about the word predestination but very very very few times do we stop and read where that word appears in the context of every time it does appear there's always a word that precedes it and it's the word for knowledge based upon God's foreknowledge he predestined those it means that God knew something about the beginning the midpoint in the end of all things before they ever were so God makes his revelation known to us in our lives or not in our lives based upon his foreknowledge in other words when the gospel goes out there are those who pick and those who reject isn't their God and this foreknowledge knew who would say yes and who would say no because God and his gave the human the right of choice choice this way for those who respond to the gospel it's because the Lord has drawn you and you respond to his offer and when you enter Heaven you will have to give God praise alone for his wonderful merciful extension and invitation of life to you do you get that to the person that's in hell today they can't blame God for being in hell because they would have rejected we know from Scripture the offer of salvation who do they have to blame not the government not their mother themselves interesting we know this from Luke's Gospel chapter 16 so God who knows all things in advance for example as much as it pains me to say it if if the Super Bowl had not yet been played you know the one that just happened where the Rams lost to the Patriots if you knew in advance that the Rams would lose to the Patriots would you bet on the Rams to win of course not you would bet on the Patriots well so to speak God knows the Rams game and the patreon in advance and so when it comes to sickness war disease violence in the whole scope of things based upon the foreknowledge of God God knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him did God make Adam and Eve disobeyed no but he knew that they would disobey Him and what blows my mind based upon his foreknowledge he went through the deal anyway he went through with it that should be the great question is he went through with it anyway I wouldn't have I would have flushed Adam and Eve down the toilet and started over No isn't it no think about if you would have known in advance did you know that God knew in advance that because of Adam and Eve's rebellion against him which they were responsible for he would continue on with it and redeem the whole kit and caboodle and think it's a good idea you say how can this be a good idea why didn't he just erase those two people okay now listen I'm going into territory here in a moment that's either insane or deep no seriously Adam and Eve sinned dumpin start over look we know it's a possibility because he got threatened a few times the children of Israel to do the same thing in the wilderness I don't think he was gonna follow through a bit but I would have flushed Adam and Eve God says oh no no no Jack I I couldn't do that I even when I was shaping them and making them I knew that I was gonna in my sovereignty I was gonna engineer within them and my as they are an extension of my own likeness I put within them and all of their descendants after them sovereignty over their own to pick and choose they'll be responsible for their decision-making this will have true love and relationship and experience because I don't make robots only man does that I see how this is going to go before I ever shape the earth and so Adam and Eve meant enough to me jack that out of the tens of billions of people ever born ever died ever in pain and sorrow the redemptive process is so effective in the end through my son Jesus that all of the millennia of suffering of this godless broken humanity will someday be remarkably beneficial and either and Adam and Eve will be able to be saved out of it it's from that thinking alone that we say this familiar thing if you were the only one in the world God would have died for you still that's not a cute sentiment it is paramount to the nature of God Adam and Eve he would have redeemed them if they only would have had one baby after that or he would have redeemed them just them alone he asked a very profound question awesome question shall not the Lord of all the earth do right says the scripture and in the end he says I will even take the wrath of man to praise my name it's going to work out in the end somehow in the end boy this this guy is too far away you'll never make it in time by the end of the service but can you shout your question is that a man or a woman I can't tell cuz the sun's about light the Sun in context of first Peter the verse that we just read I have thoroughly enjoyed you know hearing you share some of your experiences where you heard a little teeny voice of God and you acted on it and you and you were blessed through that experience well I was hoping that maybe you can share openly with us this question and you know don't feel compelled to share anything you want to keep private but I was hoping if you can share with us maybe the one time that comes to your mind when your faith have actually been tested oh my goodness sure and how you were able to emerge victorious from that test oh wow thank you for that question where do I begin like you like all of us value self self value in the sense of I've never been a fan of this thing called self esteem I'll tell you why paramount to your question is this growing up I never growing up I was a mistake I was convinced of it I was told I was I was treated as one and so believe it or not my greatest faith test was when I first heard the gospel this is a very strange testimony because when I heard the gospel and I heard that God loved me I became very angry because many of us equate our relationship to our Heavenly Father by the only means we understand and that is our relationship to earthly father's and it's wrong by the way but it you do so immediately at my spiritual birth I have to say a lot of people accept Christ and they rejoice and they click their heels and they're so happy I got saved that night and I became miserable for three years for a lot of reasons number one I was told now that there's a God who has all the answers and I had a lot of questions and one of them was where were you in the previous 19 years of my life where were you when I was nine years old and I stuttered so bad that a gang of hoodlums held me down on the schoolyard and six of them just took turns peeing on me and making fun of my stuttering where were you God and there are other things where were you God and so my faith was challenged when it was born you ever seen the little turtles born on the seashore sea turtles and they're making their way to the beach and the seagulls are picking them off and the crabs are picking them off that's exactly how my birth was as a Christian I knew I got saved but I immediately now that there is a God of a heaven I had a lot of questions and so I went down I was really really a mess after I got saved never shared this publicly but during those years of being a stutterer I would hide in prayer meetings silently a covered chapel Costa Mesa I felt a close affinity to Don Stewart and his wife Jeannie cuz Jeannie's dead dr. Phil Anderson was only about 15 of us on a Saturday night prayer meeting we're on our knees praying and Phil Anderson got up and he walked over and he put his hands on my head and there are others there in the room it's very hard and he says son the Lord is gonna call this young man under the ministry the Lord is going to heal your tongue now he didn't know I stuttered I went to the prayer meeting I never prayed out loud he didn't know he said that this young man's gonna become a pastor of a church what God will do through him will be printed and broadcast and it will go around the world you guys this is 1981 he went on to say that there would be thousands and thousands of people that would attended the church I went home that night and stuttered that out to Lisa and we concluded that the old man Phil Anderson was nuts so believe it or not and only God knows this none of you have to approve of it it's irrelevant even with such a statement as that over the years when God healed me of stuttering and then the Bible study started happening and all along the way those of you who are with us in the beginning I kept trying to give this church back to Pastor Chuck because I didn't believe I was called to Pastor a church I believed I was called to work in biomedical engineering for Baxter Healthcare I loved it and it wasn't until much faster than prayer and very difficult struggle with God that I wound up given up that was a huge faith test so those are just two things in my life but like you like all of you there are many more stories where God and his patience just wears you out he's relentless you know he won't stop and I love that about him he won't give up you know that happened in New Zealand and there weren't believers but how do how would we as believers peopled adminstered non-believers that they're going through something that I'm sure really believers have been going through how would we minister them Roy said regarding New Zealand and the massacre that took place there how do we how do we cope with that how do we how do we move with that how do we deal with that among non-believers and this is a perfect example sadly sadly and look it's like everything in life listen number one when something tragic happens to your life that's not a temptation that's a fiery trial engineered God didn't send it but God will use it so watch this in a fallen world he situations to build your faith and to honor him you see how in the world can that possibly be true regarding what happened in New Zealand Lord let's be honest it's not getting reported in the news in New Zealand tragically a mosque was shut up no one's talking about the 480 people killed in Nigeria Christians killed in Nigeria no one's talking about them it's not even on the news this case who cares it's Christians as a matter of Christians day the point is this tell the non-believers when they say where was your God in New Zealand so he was there and he's ministering there right now what happened in New Zealand is the perfect example of a world living without God in their hearts listen friends don't let the world blame your God regarding the evil God from the beginning said don't go down that route but man was bent on going down that route the evil you can't have evil without good remember that no I don't believe in God because there's evil that's a stupid stupid stupid statement you can't have evil unless there's good so you've got to ask where does the good come from out of these tragedies good is already being ministered to we just don't happen to be there but wherever there's a catastrophe God's people are deployed immediately and whenever evil happens and catastrophe happens use that not to silence you use it to preach the hope and the truth because God didn't engineer the evil question pasta I was doing a study this morning in Galatians from Nigeria regarding the question is Galatians 6 3 says bear one another's body in this you fulfill the law of Christ so I'm sorry say the scripture reference again strip your references Galatians Galatians 3 six-six - yeah you say curry each other's part and this way you fulfill the laws of Christ yes why Christians not obeying this law great question I would say first of all one of the great sins that we have allowed to rob us of this command it's a command by the way dr. Tony Dale you know that's one of the themed purses of their whole ministry this Galatians 6:2 they have it printed up on their materials to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ this is Christianity but we live in a part of the world that we we as Christians we allow ourselves to be distracted by busyness somebody might say in this room all of this perhaps might say that's a wonderful verse we could all preach our hearts and teach on it the problem is we ain't got the time to do it now is that true no it's not true we have the time to do it but we choose not to do it because it's not a priority so he said his exhortation is exactly right why do we not do this the Holy Spirit's asking us that question why are we not doing this you have to get outside of your life bubble and actually care about other people it's hard to do if we criticize people it's hard to do if we are our only cells that we're thinking about to bear one another's burdens is to actually find out what's troubling someone else's life you guys seriously if we really start to do this in our in this church in this service then the last 30 years would only be preparation for an amazing outpouring work of God if you and I started to say I tell you what can you give me one of your burdens we're doing it right now medically with this Samaritans ministries strangers are hearing someone sick and they send a note of love and encouragement with the check why can't we do that with food why can't we do it with with the most important thing the most costly thing why can't we do it with an actual expression of just of love to take someone to lunch did you say you know what I don't know you I don't know the background you but I notice you attend church and I want to greet you in Jesus name you see when persecution happens were forced to bear one another's burdens let's be honest we're too comfortable we're too comfortable to care in many cases hey there so the past decade has been a bit rough for us as a family because I have not been able to get gainful employment for over a decade and it's not out of lack of trying the countless hundreds of applications that sort of thing and rejection projects that I've started that have basically turned to dust and there's good news in what I'm going to tell you but it's still very frustrating what I have done is I'm trying to see God in everything I do so the first time in my life I am reading Scripture every day and I am praying every day and I'm having some victory hi I have been tremendously depressed to the point where I wanted I just wanted to die I don't want to die anymore one of the funny things is is that about a decade ago I used to be a worship leader and because I was hurt in ministry I set the guitar down and I got basically mad at God and it was a pride issue though so lately reading the scriptures the parable of the man burying his talents as well as first Timothy I think its first Timothy about do not neglect the gifts so those have been great scriptures for me and so I picked up the guitar I wrote music recorded it and the depression has lifted and that's been exciting and late lately [Music] lately I have had a tremendous desire by the way that song it was God spoke to me and it was a song of encouragement and it wasn't me that wrote it so it was really amazing how he spoke directly to me I have a desire now to start a ministry that is an encouragement ministry I have been a public speaker my entire life and I've tried to do television shows that sort of thing and so I have a concept for a show that I would like to do a video or a spoken thing it's called victories in Christ and what would it would be as interviewing people who have had victories I'm not sure and I guess what my question is when God puts something on your heart and I'm getting to be an old guy and I don't know where to spend my time and because it seems that all of this time and effort and things that I have poured into projects what I'm I guess I'm struggling with is is this something that I really should go after and really put my mind to and how do you know and what are the practical things that you might say one should do to try to start a ministry I don't really know where to go from yeah you're asking and well that will end with this because it has to be a little bit of a lengthy answer because and this goes further look I say this goes for all of us I shouldn't have said that I could only give you this reporters opinion from the Word of God for me I'm not saying that I'm giving you a private interpretation I'm telling you this is how God worked for me now we're all wired differently I just in answering you I find it almost you I think you've given yourself your own answer the answer you have been dry and you have been in this wilderness and if you if you heard and you listened to what he was saying there was this time in his life when he was bruised in ministry hurt ministries so when we're hurt in ministry by the way let's be honest I'll tell you right now you want to go through boot camp you want to get ready for life get it get involved in ministry which serve people you're going to serve somebody they're gonna throw it right back in your face that's good I'm dead no no no I'm dead serious you're gonna listen you're gonna you're gonna it's like a marriage it's like a relationship it's like something that matters you're gonna put yourself into it and they're not gonna they're not going to say thanks or they're not gonna notice listen you're not doing it for anybody else you're doing it for him now watch when we and it's very common when somebody criticizes our our throwing ourselves into something especially in spiritual matters when it's rejected it's deeply painful and instead of turning to the person and realizing ok god I got to love this bozo that just hurt my feelings instead of doing that what we do is we say God what's the deal I thought this was your show you I can't believe you let me down you see the fiery trial rather than we dealing with it right the enemy takes control of the moment and listen the the sadness the depression the hardship it breaks your heart stagnation it's just destroys and now look he said I began seeking the Lord again he said I began reading and praying dry God says draw near to me and I will draw near to you and this is what he's doing now listen to his own voice he's pumping the reality and truth back into himself it's not his truth that's God's truth you're this he just got done preaching to himself it's beautiful he said what the psalmist said David looked down and as she looked down the side Aysen why so cast down on my soul hope thou in God and he recovered he went from I didn't want to live anymore to seeking God and praying to now in his excitement and fresh air in his lungs vision he's talking about vision now it doesn't have to take would you say a decade doesn't have to take a decade but here's the beautiful thing don't think for a moment all men at West wasted a decade you waste nothing with God the God who says I can restore to you what the moth and the caker worm and the rust has eaten he can do that in a nanosecond of time we may drag our heels for a decade God turns around and fixes things in an instant when we turn back to him okay and so here's the final answer which is not a happy answer it's a brutal answer it's the only answer I know whenever God and my life is giving ministry vision to me he told me 30 plus years ago Jack don't talk to people about it don't talk to people asking what they think about it Galatians chapter 1 God gave me I was struggling struggling struggling God what's the deal you know tell us tell people to tell me and then I'll know and I'm reading Galatians chapter 1 and there God says in Galatians chapter 1 to the Apostle Paul that when God called Paul into the ministry he didn't confer with flesh and blood but he immediately went into the wilderness and sought the Lord and the Lord spoke to him and called him that's the way every single one of us want to be called the Christian ministry not by your mom not by your husband not by your wife because if they can talk you into it somebody Kentucky out of it if God tells you to do it then no devil no angel no human Kentucky out of it you will die on that hill because God called you to it that's the answer that's your next step is to say Lord you're stirring up my life you're restoring me what you want to do with me you do it come excuse the French come hell or high water come demon or Saints don't let anyone take me off this course God burn it into me like Jeremiah caused it to catch fire in my bosom so that it cannot be extinct and you'll be able to stand all the way through to the end if it cost you your life you'll still stand you'll still stand oh let's stand I want to leave what I want to leave with this picture it's late it's really late church Polycarp according to church history Polycarp was a man who was discipled by John you know John the Gospel of John Paul II carp I think was 86 years old 88 years old when the emperor of Rome said we've got to shut that guy down the whole stinking empires becoming a Christian becoming Christians and so they told to make an example out of Polycarp they said we're gonna give you an opportunity to recant of your faith in Jesus just say Caesars Lord and he said I respect Caesar but Jesus is Lord and they said no no you don't get it you need to announce that Caesars Lord and you'll live and Paul the carp said he's 486 years he's never refused me I cannot refuse him and they said well that's it we're gonna tie you to the stake in front of all the Christians here in Smyrna and we're gonna burn you to death and he said I tell you what you don't have to tie me to the stake you can go ahead and burn me to death listen to this but you're not to tie me up I'm not going anywhere I won't run he told them I'm not gonna run from the flames because you know they tie you up because the tendency is to run from the flames they say oh you don't have to tie me up they got all the Christians together and he stood there and they put sticks around him and then let they let this ablaze on fire the flames began to lick his body Polycarp began to praise the Lord in his suffering as the other Christians looked on and saw who came out of his suffering so emboldened them that they wound up dying for their faith in Jesus - but only after first Roman soldiers and Senate members began to put their faith in Jesus - you see this world can only harm our bodies it cannot take our soul or a spirit are you willing today to truly receive the fact that you are the beloved of God because God says so he loves you that's his doing you stand with him and he'll ever leave you forsake you he'll never abandon he can't he's bound by his word that he said to you no matter where you go no matter where you run no matter what happens he cannot deny himself he will stay true to you father we thank you for the cross of Christ that made it all possible to us the resurrection of Jesus from the dead guaranteeing our forgiveness and Lord teach us the true victory that comes in Christ Jesus that no weapon formed against us will prosper that neither death nor life nor principality of power nor things in the past nor things present or things of the future no no created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord then in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us that whosoever would call upon the name of the Lord would not perish but have everlasting life thank you that we are the beloved of God the children of the Most High okay thanks for watching real life youtube channel and if this message has been a blessing to you then just click the subscribe button cuz we'd love to keep you up to date on what we're teaching on and what's coming next and if you'd like to help us increase our reach in getting out these messages to a greater audience then you can help support us by becoming a partner by simply clicking on the link in the description box below so listen we want to thank you for helping us get word of God out to the ends of the earth

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 282,946

Keywords: pastor jack hibbs, god, jesus, jesus christ, tribulation, trials and tribulation, trials, faith, christian, christianity, sanctification, salvation, suffering, bible, holy spirit, spirit, calvary chapel

Id: 0tTxYoQYknw

Length: 89min 49sec (5389 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 20 2019