Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond Our Trials “When Through Fiery Trials . . .” Msg 1317 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Hope Beyond Our Trials “When Through Fiery Trials . . .” Msg 1317 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Suffering under trials is the major theme of Peter's first
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  Speaker 1: letter to Christians. They happened to be Christians scattered abroad
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  Speaker 1: who faced desperate circumstances. And those circumstances were undeserved, they
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  Speaker 1: were unfair, and usually they were unexpected, unpredictable. Occasionally trials
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  Speaker 1: are slight and brief and quickly forgotten. At other times, however,
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  Speaker 1: those trials linger and they lean hard upon us, leaving
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  Speaker 1: us exhausted and sometimes dispirited. Occasionally, they even put us
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  Speaker 1: out of commission, let's face it. These more difficult trials
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  Speaker 1: are the kind Peter refers to when he writes about
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  Speaker 1: the fiery ordeal. That's a phrase that appears in the
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  Speaker 1: fourth chapter of his first letter. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: in 1 Peter 4, 12 to 19, Peter focuses on
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  Speaker 1: this intense form of suffering, how we should react to
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  Speaker 1: fiery trials, what to remember during those fiery trials, and
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  Speaker 1: on whom to rely when those fiery trials continue. Turn
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  Speaker 1: with me in your Bibles, please, to 1 Peter 4.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be reading verses 12 to 19. Beloved, do not
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  Speaker 1: be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes
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  Speaker 1: upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing
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  Speaker 1: were happening to you. But to the degree that you
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  Speaker 1: share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that
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  Speaker 1: also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice
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  Speaker 1: with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: you are blessed. because the Spirit of glory and of
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  Speaker 1: God rests on you. Make sure that none of you
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  Speaker 1: suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or evildoer, or
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  Speaker 1: a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian,
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  Speaker 1: he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify
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  Speaker 1: God in this name. For it is time for judgment
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  Speaker 1: to begin with the household of God. And if it
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  Speaker 1: begins with us first, what will be the outcome for
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  Speaker 1: those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
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  Speaker 1: if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved,
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  Speaker 1: what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
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  Speaker 1: Therefore those also who suffer according to the will of
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  Speaker 1: God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in
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  Speaker 1: doing what is right. 1 Peter First, Peter, maybe you
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  Speaker 1: have forgotten that it's in the book. And so we'll
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  Speaker 1: want to crack our Bibles open to this wonderful letter
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  Speaker 1: and give the Lord a few minutes of time here
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  Speaker 1: to to present to us a number of things that
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  Speaker 1: we need to remember and some of the things we
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  Speaker 1: need to apply. You may have forgotten since we were
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  Speaker 1: together last that the main theme of this great five
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  Speaker 1: chapter letter is suffering. Peter's opening remarks, if you will
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  Speaker 1: take a look, are addressed to those who are aliens
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  Speaker 1: scattered throughout one, two, three, four, five enormous areas that
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  Speaker 1: are mentioned here in the first verse of the letter.
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  Speaker 1: So much of what they were going through was undeserved.
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  Speaker 1: The emperor of the nation or of the empire was
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  Speaker 1: a madman named Nero. And he cared nothing for the
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  Speaker 1: things of God. The Romans had many gods, all of
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  Speaker 1: them little g. And the God of heaven meant nothing
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  Speaker 1: to him. And to take the life of someone in
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  Speaker 1: his way was of no consequence to him. And along
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  Speaker 1: with being insane, he was a murderer and had murdered
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  Speaker 1: his way to the throne and came from a line
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  Speaker 1: of murderers and passed on those traits to the next
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  Speaker 1: emperor and on to another. Dreadful time. It's bad enough
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  Speaker 1: to suffer, but to suffer unfairly and to suffer without
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  Speaker 1: deserving it. I heard a great story the other day.
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  Speaker 1: It's a true story. I wasn't there when it happened,
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  Speaker 1: but I heard that it did happen. A fellow traveled
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  Speaker 1: abroad and several people warned him to watch out for
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  Speaker 1: pickpockets when he got to a particular busy city. And
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  Speaker 1: when he went down to the subway, be very careful
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  Speaker 1: that no one would take his wallet because the subways
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  Speaker 1: would be crowded and the trains are quick and people
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  Speaker 1: will get on and they'll grab something and get on
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  Speaker 1: the train. The doors will shut and they'll be gone.
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  Speaker 1: And He was very careful. One evening, he was dressed
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  Speaker 1: rather casually, had a sport coat on, and he came
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  Speaker 1: to the crush of people down in the subway. And
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  Speaker 1: sure enough, just about the time that the door opened
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  Speaker 1: and some people were pouring on, a fellow bumped up
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  Speaker 1: against him and he thought that was strange. And he
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  Speaker 1: reached into his pocket and he didn't find his wallet.
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  Speaker 1: And he grabbed this fellow and the door began to
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  Speaker 1: close and he grabbed his coat and he began to
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  Speaker 1: pull his coat and the guy was hanging inside the
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  Speaker 1: train and yet he was losing his coat. It was
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  Speaker 1: getting pulled off and finally he got the coat all
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  Speaker 1: the way out and the door closed and the fellow
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  Speaker 1: was still inside looking bewildered and it took off. The
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  Speaker 1: guy thought, I showed him and he looked in the
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  Speaker 1: fellow's coat and he didn't find his wallet. And when
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  Speaker 1: he got home, he found his wallet on the bureau
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  Speaker 1: there at the hotel. Now, the fellow in the train
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  Speaker 1: did not deserve that. He must have wondered as he
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  Speaker 1: was squirting on to the next city, what in the
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  Speaker 1: world was that all about? And here he's lost his coat,
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  Speaker 1: and he didn't deserve that. You may have had some
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  Speaker 1: things happen like that in your life, not nearly as
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  Speaker 1: funny later on, and maybe even some things that were
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  Speaker 1: just downright wrong. done against you. And those become not
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  Speaker 1: simply trials, but what Peter calls fiery ordeals. Let me
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  Speaker 1: give you some rather practical thoughts on trials in general.
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  Speaker 1: Could I do that? And rather than using Peter, let's
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  Speaker 1: choose the letter just before Peter. Easy to find and
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  Speaker 1: written to the same kind of people. Who were James
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  Speaker 1: 1 verse 1 dispersed abroad. Here's another group of people
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  Speaker 1: away from home. Not by their own choice. But forced
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  Speaker 1: to live in another area. Just out of the fear
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  Speaker 1: of their life. And James writes them and right away
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  Speaker 1: right out of the chute. He talks to them about trials.
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  Speaker 1: And he says consider it all joy. my brethren, when
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  Speaker 1: you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
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  Speaker 1: faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result,
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  Speaker 1: that you may be perfect and complete. Those are twin
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  Speaker 1: words for maturity, that you may grow up lacking nothing.
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  Speaker 1: The first just general principle regarding trials would be it
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  Speaker 1: is common for Christians to encounter trials. Don't ever let
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  Speaker 1: anybody tell you and don't you dare tell anybody else
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  Speaker 1: who is considering becoming a Christian that your trials are over.
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  Speaker 1: Just trust Christ and they fly away like birds toward
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  Speaker 1: the heavens. No way. See how he puts it? When
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  Speaker 1: you encounter trials. Not if, but when. It is common
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  Speaker 1: for Christians to encounter trials. If you're having trials, you're
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  Speaker 1: right on stream. If you have just gotten through one,
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  Speaker 1: take heart. There's another one around the corner. If you
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  Speaker 1: have just finished a heavy one, God may send a
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  Speaker 1: lighter one, but you will not ever live a year
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  Speaker 1: of your life, perhaps not even a month of your life,
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  Speaker 1: without some kind of trial. It's very common. I'm going
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  Speaker 1: through some in my life. Cynthia's going through some in
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  Speaker 1: her life. Our staff members and mates are going through
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  Speaker 1: some in their lives. Our board members and their mates
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  Speaker 1: are going through trials in their life. They're no different
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  Speaker 1: from anybody else. And you, up and down the pews
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  Speaker 1: of our churches, we could share trials and never lack
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  Speaker 1: for information. That's one thing that pulls us together. We've
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  Speaker 1: got that in common. Second thing I noticed is is
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  Speaker 1: that trials come in various categories. See how he puts it?
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  Speaker 1: When you encounter various trials. I made a list of
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  Speaker 1: a few. There are physical afflictions. There are emotional troubles.
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  Speaker 1: There are relational trials and tests, getting along with other people.
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  Speaker 1: There are trials at home, trials at work, trials in
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  Speaker 1: the church, trials among fellow members of the body, trials
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  Speaker 1: from the unsaved, trials of a financial nature, trials of
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  Speaker 1: a natural catastrophe, trials and accidents, trials that are slight,
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  Speaker 1: trials that are brutal and life-changing, trials that are very
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  Speaker 1: private that you can share with no one Trials that
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  Speaker 1: are publicly known by most of the people in the
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  Speaker 1: circle of your friends. And even some that you don't
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  Speaker 1: even know. Trials are sometimes upon us because of someone
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  Speaker 1: else's sin. And the waves that his rock creates when
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  Speaker 1: it hits the smooth lake of your life. Begins to
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  Speaker 1: flow over and to get you wet. And you didn't
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  Speaker 1: even ask for it. Perhaps you are a mate of
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  Speaker 1: a husband. who has broken the law, and he has
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  Speaker 1: been caught, captured, and maybe has been incarcerated, having been
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  Speaker 1: proven guilty. And you're suffering the loneliness of your mate's crime.
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  Speaker 1: You have not broken the law, but the trial has
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  Speaker 1: happened to you because your mate did. And we could
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  Speaker 1: continue with those kind of illustrations. Frankly, there are some
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  Speaker 1: trials you absolutely cannot trace the reason. I have had
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  Speaker 1: trials hit me and I've gone through them and finished
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  Speaker 1: with them and it was like a bad tornado that
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  Speaker 1: blew through a community and you didn't know it was coming,
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  Speaker 1: you didn't know where it would hit, you didn't know
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  Speaker 1: when it would be over and you wondered all the way,
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  Speaker 1: why did it hit me and why now? Those are
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  Speaker 1: tough ones to handle. Trials come in various categories. Third,
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  Speaker 1: verse three tells us trials put our faith to the test.
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  Speaker 1: Knowing that the testing of your faith, no matter the source,
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  Speaker 1: no matter the intensity, there's something about suffering that draws
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  Speaker 1: us back to the basics. Invariably, especially during the intense trials,
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  Speaker 1: I go back. to my theological roots. I go back
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  Speaker 1: to what I really believe. I go back to the
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  Speaker 1: basics of prayer and dependence, getting quiet and waiting on God. Invariably,
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  Speaker 1: my life simplifies when it's under trial. Trials put my
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  Speaker 1: faith and put our faith to the test. And fourth,
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  Speaker 1: without trials, there could not be maturity. See how he
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  Speaker 1: concludes verse 3. Verse 4. Let endurance have its perfect result.
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  Speaker 1: That you may be perfect and complete. It means mature.
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  Speaker 1: That you may become a finished product. Please observe. Let
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  Speaker 1: endurance have its result. Isn't that good? In other words.
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  Speaker 1: Let it happen. Most often because of the discomfort or
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  Speaker 1: the pain or whatever it brings to us and because
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  Speaker 1: it is hard to endure, we cut it short or
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  Speaker 1: before long we're resenting it to such an extreme we run,
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  Speaker 1: we escape, we deny. It's the idea of letting it
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  Speaker 1: come to completion. Remember the words of Andre Crouch, I've
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  Speaker 1: learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned To trust in
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  Speaker 1: God through it all, through it all. I've learned to
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  Speaker 1: depend upon his word. If I'd never had a problem,
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  Speaker 1: I'd never know that he could solve them. I'd never
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  Speaker 1: know what faith in God could do. If I never
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  Speaker 1: had a problem, I would never know he could solve them.
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  Speaker 1: And there are a few joys like the joy of
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  Speaker 1: watching God solve a problem. It's wonderful. Now, with those
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  Speaker 1: comments as a basis, my words will be very brief.
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  Speaker 1: turn to 1 Peter 4, and verses 12 through 19
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  Speaker 1: form the little section, the paragraph, we're going to be
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  Speaker 1: thinking about for the next few minutes as we draw
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  Speaker 1: biblical strength for the fiery ordeals. Now, I wish I
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  Speaker 1: could tell you ahead of time what your test is
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  Speaker 1: going to be. Some of you already know because it
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  Speaker 1: hasn't ended, you're still in the midst of it. Others
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  Speaker 1: of you are kind of enjoying a brief reprieve and
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  Speaker 1: nothing really tough is happening. I don't want to be
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  Speaker 1: a prophet of doom. You may go weeks without there
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  Speaker 1: being a real tough time, but you won't go months.
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  Speaker 1: Before too long, you'll have the rug jerked out from
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  Speaker 1: under you and you'll be back trusting in God to
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  Speaker 1: get you through a tough time. So, Let's look at
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  Speaker 1: these verses and let's learn some things from the old man,
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  Speaker 1: the old fisherman who had walked with Christ and and
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  Speaker 1: had failed him and also had pleased him. He had
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  Speaker 1: been a learner. He had been a failure. He had
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  Speaker 1: been an effective man of God. Now, at the ending
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  Speaker 1: of his life, he writes out of wisdom for all
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  Speaker 1: of us to learn. Notice how he starts verse 12
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  Speaker 1: of chapter four, beloved. So this is truth for the beloved.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever I have to say to you tonight has really
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  Speaker 1: very little, if anything, to say to the lost person.
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  Speaker 1: This is Christian truth. So if you know the Savior,
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  Speaker 1: you're walking with the Lord, you're right on stream. This
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  Speaker 1: is information just for you. It's got your name on it.
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  Speaker 1: Think of your name as in place of beloved. Now,
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  Speaker 1: how to react when trials happen? He tells us two
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  Speaker 1: things in verses 12 and 13. Let me see if
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  Speaker 1: you can find it. Verse 12, and then I'll read
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  Speaker 1: verse 13. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery
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  Speaker 1: ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing,
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  Speaker 1: as though some strange thing were happening to you. But
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  Speaker 1: to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of
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  Speaker 1: his glory you may rejoice with exultation. Now, you pick
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  Speaker 1: it out. It doesn't take a Bible scholar to find
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  Speaker 1: the two commands in verses 12 and 13. The first
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  Speaker 1: one's right there in verse 12. Follows the word beloved.
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  Speaker 1: That's right. Don't be surprised. So, if you want to
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  Speaker 1: put it down exactly like the apostle wrote it, but
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  Speaker 1: do not be surprised. Now, it's interesting. That's usually the
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  Speaker 1: opposite reaction. Something happens and what? We say, I just
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  Speaker 1: can't believe that happened to me. And he says right away,
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  Speaker 1: verse 12, don't be surprised. Rather than, I can't believe
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  Speaker 1: this happening. Think of life as a school room. And
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  Speaker 1: I have never seen a school room where there were
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  Speaker 1: not some tests. I have never seen one earn a
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  Speaker 1: degree out of college and say later, you know the
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  Speaker 1: wonderful thing about this college? We never had an exam.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that would be a college to go to,
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't it? No tests. Now, all the way through the schoolroom,
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  Speaker 1: all the way through your educational process, your knowledge is
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  Speaker 1: graded on the basis of examinations. Webster defines a test
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  Speaker 1: as a critical examination, observation, or evaluation. A critical examination, observation,
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  Speaker 1: or evaluation. Now, Let me give you a thought. The
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  Speaker 1: wonderful thing about tests when God sends them into our
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  Speaker 1: school room is that we get to grade our own paper.
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  Speaker 1: You see, God doesn't test us so he can learn
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  Speaker 1: how well we're doing. He tests us so we can
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  Speaker 1: discover how well we're doing. And you can kind of
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  Speaker 1: grade or put the benchmark on your level of maturity.
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  Speaker 1: You're going through a tough time back in 1974. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: you didn't do too well. A similar thing hits you
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  Speaker 1: in 1979. You may have done better. Maybe even a
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  Speaker 1: tougher thing hits you in 1986. You did rather well.
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  Speaker 1: You're improving. The testing of your faith is revealing to
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  Speaker 1: you a level of maturity. You can sort of grade
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  Speaker 1: your own paper. I have a good friend, Dr. Robert Leitner.
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  Speaker 1: Many of you may not know Dr. Leitner. He's on
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  Speaker 1: the faculty at Dallas Seminary. But many years ago, he
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  Speaker 1: went through an awful plane crash. He was preaching at
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  Speaker 1: various points, and he was in a single-engine plane. And
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  Speaker 1: the plane took off, and they had trouble in it.
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  Speaker 1: And for some reason, some of it inexplicable to this day,
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  Speaker 1: the plane flipped, never really had a good takeoff, and flipped,
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  Speaker 1: and it hit. And his body was broken. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: when his wife came to his side at the hospital,
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  Speaker 1: she said, I looked at this mass of flesh and
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  Speaker 1: I didn't even know who he was. He came through
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  Speaker 1: it wonderfully. God healed him. He is today a living
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  Speaker 1: testimony of the grace of God through that fiery ordeal.
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  Speaker 1: He said to me a number of months after the
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  Speaker 1: whole thing was over, I learned things I didn't know
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  Speaker 1: I needed to learn. Don't think it's strange when a
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  Speaker 1: test comes. Because even though you don't know, you need
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  Speaker 1: to learn those things. God knows. And he says, now's
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  Speaker 1: the time. So he's fitting you to have the kind
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  Speaker 1: of character his son has. That requires trials. So the
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  Speaker 1: first reaction is don't be surprised. And the second reaction
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  Speaker 1: is even more amazing. Verse 13. Did you see the command?
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  Speaker 1: Keep on rejoicing. You have got to be kidding. I
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  Speaker 1: hear some of you thinking right now. What are you
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  Speaker 1: kidding me? We're talking trials, right? Right. We're talking fiery ordeals, right? Right.
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  Speaker 1: And you're telling me to keep on rejoicing? Wrong. God
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  Speaker 1: is telling you to keep on rejoicing. I'm just reading
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  Speaker 1: what he wrote. To the degree that you share the
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  Speaker 1: sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. James put it another way.
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  Speaker 1: We just read it. Consider it all joy. Why?
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  Speaker 2: How?
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  Speaker 1: He tells us that too, right here in the verse.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, you can rejoice because you enter into
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  Speaker 1: a closer partnership with Christ when you suffer. To the
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  Speaker 1: degree that you share the sufferings of Christ. Keep on rejoicing.
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  Speaker 1: You will never appreciate the crucifixion like you would. After
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  Speaker 1: a test. You will never appreciate being treated unfairly like
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  Speaker 1: you would. After a test where that has happened. And
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  Speaker 1: then you see Christ in the scene. Paul says that
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  Speaker 1: I may know him. Philippians 3 10. And the power
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  Speaker 1: of his resurrection. And the fellowship of his sufferings. That
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  Speaker 1: I may know the fellowship of his sufferings. You and
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  Speaker 1: I would not know such fellowship were we not put
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  Speaker 1: to the test. Some of you are going through things
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  Speaker 1: right now that are pulling you closer to the Lord
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  Speaker 1: than you've ever been in your life. That ought to
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  Speaker 1: bring rejoicing. You'll be more closely linked to him. You
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  Speaker 1: will understand his thoughts. Some of the mysterious themes that
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  Speaker 1: are threaded through his word will come alive because you
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  Speaker 1: are on the bed of affliction or persecution or misunderstanding.
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  Speaker 1: The fellowship of his suffering. Furthermore, you can rejoice because
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  Speaker 1: you will receive a future reward. so that also at
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  Speaker 1: the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation.
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  Speaker 1: While I preach these words, it happens to be graduation
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  Speaker 1: time around here. And these are the days when honors
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  Speaker 1: are given out and special awards and special ribbons and
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  Speaker 1: special hoods. Are granted to people that have won awards.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know that in the future when we stand
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  Speaker 1: before Christ our Lord. There will be awards. They are
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  Speaker 1: called crowns. Do you know that there is a special crown.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: I take it literally. A crown given to those who
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: endure suffering. Look at James 1 12. We were there
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: a moment ago. It tells you what the crown is.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. Once he
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: has been approved, he will receive the crown of life
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: which the Lord has promised to those who love him.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: There is a crown set aside for those who endure
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: the fiery ordeal. Bob Leitner will have one. And many
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: of you will have one. And many of our loved
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: ones will have earned the crown. You still may not
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: be quite convinced that there really can be rejoicing. You've
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: gone to James. Go a little further quickly now to
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 5 and the last two or three verses
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: of the fifth chapter. And you'll see an example of
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: some men who endured unjust suffering and rejoiced. Acts 5, 40.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Some men had been preaching and they were told by
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the officials to stop it. They had been warned. While
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: on trial, a man named Gamaliel spoke in their defense
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: and said, if it's of God, we can't stop it.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: If it's not of God, it will stop by itself.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: I suggest we let them go. Now notice their response,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: the council. They took his advice, verse 40, and after
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: calling the apostles in, they flogged them. They ordered them
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to speak no more in the name of Jesus Christ.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Then they released them. I take it they were still
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: bleeding when they walked out the door of the court
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: of the courthouse. So they went on their way from
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: the presence of the council rejoicing that they had been
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. The Amplified
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Bible says they were dignified by the indignity. Every day
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: in the temple from house to house, they kept right
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: on teaching and preaching the Jesus as the Christ. Back
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: to 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 4. Few people are
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: more contagious than those going through trials with a pleasant
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: rejoicing attitude. It is absolutely contagious to be around folks
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: like that. Now, so much for how to react. Don't
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: be surprised. Keep on rejoicing. Here are some things to remember.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: 14 through 18. If you are reviled for the name
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: and of God rests upon you. The first thing to remember,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: this is my opportunity to draw upon maximum power. This
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: is my opportunity to draw upon maximum power. See the
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: way he puts it? The spirit of glory and the
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: spirit of God rest upon you. What a privilege. What glory.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Reviled for the name of Christ. Remember, this is your
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: opportunity to draw upon maximum power. Second, verse 15. Verse 14,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I should say. No, it's 15. By no means let
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: any of you suffer as a murderer or thief or
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: evildoer or a troublesome meddler. Remember this, occasionally some suffering
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: is deserved. The first thing to remember is that it
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: is an opportunity to draw upon maximum power. The second
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: thing to remember is that maybe the suffering is deserved.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: Sometime I deserve the treatment I'm getting. And we are
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: told of four examples. If you suffer as a murderer,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: you are caught, you are found guilty, you deserve the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: imprisonment and the loneliness and the brokenness of that consequence.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Occasionally the suffering is deserved and sometimes it's even shameful.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Suffering as a thief Suffering as an evildoer. If a
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: believer is guilty of such acts, that believer ought to suffer.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: And it doesn't right the wrong because the person is
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: a Christian who has done these wrong things. And will
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: you notice in passing that a troublesome meddler is listed
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: right along with murderer, thief and evildoer. Well, that ought
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to get our attention. It's a word for busybody. Isn't
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: that interesting that you will suffer as a busybody? If
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: you are a busybody meddling in other people's affairs where
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: you have no business, you will be the one who
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: suffers ultimately. They won't. You will. Even more than they.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: And you deserve to be in that suffering. So, you
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: with me? This is an opportunity to draw upon maximum power. Second,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: maybe the suffering I'm going through is Deserved. Third, most
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: suffering should in no way cause us to feel ashamed.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Verse 16, if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: not feel ashamed, but in that name, let him glorify God.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know why, but I meet up with folks
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: who feel ashamed if they're going through trials. I've even
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: met some people who found that they needed help from
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: a professional to get through a very tough time, and
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: they felt they needed to apologize for it. There's no
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: reason for shame in If you're going through trial and
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: you need help through it. That if anyone suffers as
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: a Christian, there's no reason to feel shame. But in
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: that name, let him glorify God. It is in many
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: ways a privileged honor to go through suffering because of
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the dear name of the Savior. So most suffering should
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: in no way bring about shame. Some of you need
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: to hear that. I had a friend say to me
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: some time ago that we hear a lot from pulpits
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: about sin. We hear very little about shame. We hear
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: a great deal about sin. We hear very little about
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: self-imposed guilt. Too bad. We need relief from those things.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: They're terrible anchors. Now, fourth, usually suffering is timely relief.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: And needed. Look at verse 17. For it is time
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: for judgment to begin with the household of God. It
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Usually suffering is timely and needed. And if it begins
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: with us first, what will be the outcome of those
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: who do not obey the gospel of God? That's a
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: that is a that is a good word. It's a
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: good reminder. You know, purging is needed. Purging is needed
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: not only individually, usually after the fact, we will look
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: back on the test and we will say, you know,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: we really needed that. Are you know, the benefits that
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: came from that are are incredible and we could maybe
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: name three or four. which we would not have gained
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: had we not gone through the valley. Sometimes God purges
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: a church. It's rolling along rather happily, and things seem
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: to be moving along on sort of a mediocre level.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: There is no sense of zeal or revival or heart
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: for God. It's sort of sit, soak, and sour. You know,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: you're saved, sanctified, galvanized. You're on your way. Just business
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: as usual. And then God comes in a unique way
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: and he works through the church. I could name several
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: right now I've been in touch with who've told me
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: remarkable stories of how God brought a sense of testing
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: to an assembly. And it purged the assembly. A number
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: of people left. But good came as a result of it.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: It was timely. It was needed. Now look at the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: perspective he adds in the condition. If it begins with
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: us first, and that's tough, think of how tough the
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: outcome will be for those who do not obey the
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: gospel of God. And then he quotes from the Proverbs.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: If it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: what will become of the godless man and the sinner?
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: The NIV renders Proverbs 11, 31. If the righteous receive
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: the sinner? You think your testing is tough. Imagine how
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: tough it is for the one going through trials and
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: doesn't have a savior. I'm absolutely at a loss to
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: know how the lost person makes it when the bottom
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: drops out of his or her life. We have no savior.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: No sense of foundation. There are no borders. There are
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: no absolutes. There's no reason. There's a sense of hopelessness.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: Can you imagine being without the Lord and hearing the
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: worst kind of news from your physician? Or from the
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: policeman on the other end of the phone? Or one
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: who knocks on your door and tells you what he's found?
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: You and I as Christians instantly, though we are rocked
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: back on our heels, we immediately turn to the benchmark
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and that's Christ and we lean on him. If you
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: haven't him, look at how it reads. What will be
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: the outcome of those who do not obey the gospel
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: of God? That brings me to the fifth thing to remember. Remember.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: That there is no comparison between what we suffer now.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: And what the unrighteous will suffer later. This is one
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: of the most often overlooked warnings to the lost. If
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: you think it's difficult for the righteous on this earth.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Can you imagine your future without Christ? And the pain
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: you have in front of you? Talk about fiery ordeals.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Talk about a reason to give your life to Christ. Now, obviously,
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: on whom to rely? Verse 19. Therefore, let those who
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: suffer according to the will of God. I love this
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: next word. Entrust. Entrust. It means to make a deposit. Deposit.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Let those who suffer according to the will of God
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: deposit their souls to a faithful creator in doing what
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: is right. Interesting when you make a deposit in the
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: local bank, usually there's a limit and that's about a
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: hundred thousand. Here is an infinite God who has no
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: limits and multiplied millions upon millions upon millions of Christians
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: and can deposit themselves in his care, and he will
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: make every one of them good. He will hold every
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: one of us securely. There will be no one who
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: will come and declare that he is bankrupt of compassion.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: He can't see you through. I'm sorry, we're full up.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: We can't guarantee more. You can entrust your soul to
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: a faithful creator, By the way, the same word used
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: here for entrust is used by Jesus when he translated
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: in his word from the cross, Father, into your hands
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: I deposit my spirit. Even he entrusted himself to the Father.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: Have you done that in the midst of your trial?
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: I understand we have a number of pastors here who
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: are visiting our area. You're on your way to Vegas. Well,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: there's a convention there in Vegas, and you're on your
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: way to your Baptist convention there, and we welcome every
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: one of you. I wonder how many of you, on
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: your way through, have had just enough distance now from
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: your flock to realize just how deep the test has been.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Maybe this is a perfect occasion for you this this
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: these upcoming days to just deposit yourself to his care.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: To just give the burden to him. Your tests are
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: never wasted. God never says, oops, I made a mistake.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't have given you that. I meant that for Frank.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Bob. It's not like that. He has them designed.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: He has our name on them. And they are specifically
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: arranged with our weaknesses and our immaturity in mind. And
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: he bears down and doesn't let up. And we groan
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: and we hurt and we weep and we pray. And
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: we grow and we learn. Speaking of growth through all
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: this heat. Can I give you a couple of things
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: that have worked for me? They are both tied to
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: this 19th verse. Number one. When trials come, remember God
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: is faithful. When trials come, remember God is faithful. He
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: has neither forgotten nor abandoned you. He is faithful. And
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: add there and rest in him. Maybe we were so
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: busy working through the verse, we missed that we are
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: committing our souls to a faithful creator. When the trial comes,
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: remember God is faithful. When the x-ray comes back and
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: it doesn't look good, remember God is faithful. When you
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: read that awful note from your mate that you never
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: dreamed you'd ever have to read, or you hear the
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: worst kind of news about one of your children, and
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: you dreaded ever knowing that would ever happen, remember God
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: is faithful. Rest in him. I think it was Hudson
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Taylor who said at the height of his test, it
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter how great the pressure is. What really matters
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: is where the pressure lies. Whether it comes between me
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: and God, or whether it presses me nearer his heart.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: I am pressed near the heart of my God because
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: he is faithful and he will hold me. He will
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: hug me through it. He won't leave me. Now, that's
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: when the trials come. Now, here's the second. When the
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: trials stay, remind yourself to do what is right. When
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: the trials stay, remind yourself to do what is right.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: See how the verses end? Entrust your souls to a
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: faithful creator in doing what is right. Because when you
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: are tested, you will be tempted to go Go your
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: own way. Fight in your own strength and do what
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: is wrong because it just comes naturally. I mean, it's
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: called being streetwise. You fought your way through life. You
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: can fight your way through this one. Wait, is that right?
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Is that what God wants you to do? Now, on occasion,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: it may be right to fight. It may be essential,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: but rarely necessary. Just do what is right. When trials stay,
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: they linger, and you begin to wear down, the enemy
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: is going to be whispering all kinds of great carnal ideas.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: He'll even give you evidence that other people got away
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: with it. And add to that little statement, and hide
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: in him. When trials come, remember God is faithful and
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: rest in him. When trials stay... Remind yourself to do
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: what is right and hide in.
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: Him.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: I like that word picture. It's biblical. Hiding. The psalmist
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: speaks of a hiding place that became the theme of
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: the story of Corrie ten Boom that many of us
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: saw and wept through her trial in the Nazi concentration camp.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: Brian Jeffrey Leach has written... A song, a haunting melody.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: In a time of sorrow. In a time forlorn. There
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: is a hiding place where hope is born. In a
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: time of danger when our faith is proved. There is
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: a hiding place where we are loved. There is a
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: hiding place, a strong, protective place where God provides the
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: grace to persevere. For nothing can remove us from the
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Father's love, though all may change, yet nothing changes here.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: In a time of sorrow, in a time of grief,
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: there is a hiding place to give relief. In a
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: time of weakness, in a time of fear, there is
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: a hiding place where God is near. For this shall
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: when thou mayest be found surely in the floods of
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: great waters they shall not come nigh unto thee thou
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: art my hiding place thou shalt preserve me from trouble
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance I
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: We claim that our Father, especially for those who find
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: themselves in a dark place, struggling with no light to
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: be seen at the end of the tunnel, caused this
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: place to be their hiding place, for you were near.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Where you are real. And minister in a very special way.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: To those who are your chosen ones. Whom you have tested.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: To prove. Their faith. For Jesus sake. Amen.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. Hope beyond our trials. Went through fiery trials.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: Was copyrighted in 1989. 1990. 1996, 2006, 2009, and 2011.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.