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2 Corinthians 1:1-11 - The God of All Comfort · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  Verse 6. In this you grace greatly
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  rejoice, and now for a little while, if need be, you have been
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  grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith,
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  being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be
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  tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the
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  revelation of Jesus Christ. God has a plan for the things
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  that we don't like in our lives. I don't like trials any more
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  than you do. I realize though, that trials
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  are what brings me closer to God.
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  And God knows what you need in your life whenever you need it.
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  We're all proud people, and we have a tendency to be focused on
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  ourselves and not the Lord many times.
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  And so the Lord allows adversity to come into our life to cause
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  us all the sudden to look heavenward.
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  The first thing I do, and I'm sure you do too, is when you're
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  in adversity and trial is you're looking up to God and you're
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  asking him why, then you're asking him, when and how long
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  will this continue and how long do I have to deal with this?
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  That's usually the first kind of conversations you have.
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  And then you're being humbled. You're, you're realizing again
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  how much you need the Lord in your life.
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  We forget how much we need the Lord, all of us.
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  We can get used to living our lives and our own strength very
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  easily. It comes naturally.
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  And the Lord knows, OK, they're getting a little bit too carried
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  away with themselves and their own strength.
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  I'm going to allow something to come into their life to cause
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  them to realize that my strength is made perfect in their
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  weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon them.
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  So I think one of the ways that we can avoid unnecessary trials
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  and conflicts and chastening from the Lord is to stay close
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  to Jesus. You know, if you stay close to
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  the Lord, he many times won't have to bring things into your
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  life to make you realize how much you need to deal with in
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  your heart as far as repenting or getting right with God or
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  getting closer with God or putting him #1 in your life.
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  Again, if you're, if you're doing that every day and you're
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  endeavoring to look to him and yield to Him and surrender to
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  him, I really believe you will have less problems in your life.
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  But most of us don't live that way, super close to the Lord.
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  We, we trust him, we know him, we love him, but we're busy
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  about our lives, right? And so the Lord needs to remind
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  us, hey, I'm gone, I'm here. I want to be involved with your
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  life. I want to work with you, I want
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  to bless you, I want to lead you, I want to guide you.
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  And then all of a sudden, OK, we're in a place where we're
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  teachable again and we realize how much we we need the Lord.
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  The psalmist says in Psalm 1/19, it was good that I was
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  afflicted. Why?
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  That I may learn to walk in your ways.
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  God uses affliction, trials, difficulty, and adversity to
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  bring us closer to himself. Now, Paul, because he was an
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  apostle and he had a lot of spiritual warfare with the enemy
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  that was engaged against him 24/7.
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  He had a lot of things in his life that were what we call
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  spiritual warfare. So there's self-inflicted trials
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  that we experienced because of stupidity and sin and pride and
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  self centeredness or whatever, making wrong decisions.
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  And how did I get into this mess?
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  And then we realized, well, because I did this, this and
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  that, and this is the consequences of these things
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  I'm, I'm being challenged with right now.
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  But when it comes to warfare, the enemy has his target on
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  anybody that's really seriously committed to serving the Lord
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  and following him and, and being used by him.
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  And so it's not something to fear.
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  It's just a reality of, of what happens when you're engaged in
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  in the, in the ministry of the gospel.
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  And there's teachings that the Lord shows us how to get through
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  those things, how to overcome them, how to be victorious in
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  them. But it's always realizing that
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  Christ is our armor bearer and that he is with us all the time.
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  He'll never leave us or forsake us.
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  He told us in the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good
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  cheer of overcome the world. And Paul said that all those who
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  live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution not may
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  suffer persecution, but will suffer persecution.
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  So what what kind of persecution are are we struggling with or
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  what kind of persecution are we suffering?
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  That's that's something I wanted to talk about here this morning
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  a little bit in in in the lieu of this chapter as we go through
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  it. There's some statistics how many
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  Christians are in Iran now Iran's getting as President
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  Trump says the H bombed out of him, right?
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  And so we might say, yeah, go get him, destroy him off the
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  face of not realizing that there is over 1,000,000 Christians
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  living in Iran underground trusting in Jesus Christ.
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  And they're suffering because of this war and because of the
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  totalitarian government, evil Islamic extremist radical
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  government that's causing terrible consequences for the
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  people live in Iran. There's about 200,000 Christians
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  that live in Israel. Now that's really amazing, isn't
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  it? 1,000,000 in Iran and and about
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  200,000 in Israel. OK.
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  And most of the Christians in Israel are Arab Christians.
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  People don't realize that. So to this day, Israel, even
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  though God has a plan for them in the days ahead in the future,
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  they are diametrically opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  Let's just be frank and and real and true about it.
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  Now there's more Jewish people coming to know Christ and that's
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  God's plan as time time moves on.
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  But when you look at war and you look at nations, you have to
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  understand there's people like you and me that are living in
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  these persecuted nations, whether it's Russia, Ukraine,
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  Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, all these countries in the world
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  that have terrible, terrible persecution.
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  The people in Iran, the Christians like you and me,
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  detest the government role of what's happening there, but they
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  don't have the freedom to protest like we would in our
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  country if that happened to us. If they start acting out, they
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  will be immediately martyred and killed for their position.
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  And So what what God does through world powers and leaders
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  is he humbles and topples governments of of ungodly
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  nations. And right now we're in the
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  process of seeing Iran being toppled, and the sooner the
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  better that there's a new government in there, just like
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  in Venezuela right now, and the attack that was recently and
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  made in Africa to stop the persecution of Christians.
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  So I think about the the issue of the places in the world where
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  there's the most persecution. And my brother John Hildebrand
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  sent me something this morning that sort of caused me to think
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  about this chapter in light of what is persecution.
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  You and I are fortunate. We live in a nation right now.
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  We're not really being persecuted at this point in
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  time. There might be pushed back a
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  little bit from the far left in regard to our positions on
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  abortion and marriage and what the Bible teaches about truth,
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  but it's more verbal than physical at this point in time.
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  And it's really important to realize that your vote is very
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  important in regard to the type of country you live in.
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  If you allow your country to be run by a far leftist extremist,
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  then you're going to find that you're going to soon experience
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  perhaps some of these horrors that some of these other nations
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  are experiencing. But the 10 most persecuted
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  nations. This is from Open Door Ministry.
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  North Korea tops the list for decades where Christians face
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  extreme persecution, including execution or labor camps.
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  You want to live in North Korea? How about Somalia?
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  Al Shabaab militants and families target converts from
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  Islam to Christianity. Yemen.
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  Ongoing civil war and extremist groups make Christianity
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  dangerous. Sudan Christians face
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  discrimination and violence amid severe civil conflict Atria The
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  government only recognizes 4 denominations, with others
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  facing unlawful arrests. Syria A surge of violence has
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  returned it to the top ten with the dwindling Christian
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  population. Nigeria has the highest number
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  of Christians killed for their faith with extremists targeting
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  communities particularly in the north.
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  Pakistan Christians face danger through strict blasphemy laws
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  with mob violence. Libya hub for extremist groups
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  that target Christians, migrants and converts.
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  Iran converts from Islam face imprisonment, interrogation and
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  systemic discrimination. This unbelievable what a lot of
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  these places in the world are dealing with the most Christian
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  nations by percentage. And I don't know if you ever
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  think about this. Did you pick your place of
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  birth? God for some reason caused you
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  to be born in the United States of America and we don't realize
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  how privileged we are. I can't believe how many
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  Americans are complaining about living here.
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  They had to take a vacation in Sudan for a while or go live in
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  Iran or something like that. It's, it's just unbelievable
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  the, the unthankfulness and the, the, the people in the streets
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  that are saying death to America and, and they're allowed to do
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  that here. Mike Johnson recently shared his
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  concern about Sharia law. And Sharia law is when the
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  Muslims have control of a particular geographic area and
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  they force you to bow down to their false God, Allah, and they
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  run their places like a prison because if you're not committed
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  to Islam extremism, you are considered an enemy and they
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  will be out to get you to kill you.
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  And in some places in America right now, like especially in
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  some parts of Michigan and some cities you go in and they're
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  predominantly controlled by this kind of mentality.
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  And you got a mayor in New York that is committed Muslim.
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  I'm surprised he spoke out against the attack on the
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  synagogue in Israel recently that where the guy drove the
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  truck through. He said these kind of things
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  shouldn't exist, but that guy's passion is Islam.
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  And and so to have in America, the United States of America,
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  one nation under God with liberty and justice for all in
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  the Constitution, all the things this country was founded upon
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  Judeo-christian values. Excuse me.
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  And we have all these groups coming into our country now that
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  are trying to destroy what was built here for us to live with
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  peace and freedom. These these, these are very,
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  very concerning. The Armenia part of the world,
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  98% Christian Romania, Multa, United States of America,
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  219,000,000 Christians, roughly 63 to 70% of the population,
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  Brazil, Mexico. And there's some parts even in
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  Nigeria where there's a strong Christian influence even though
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  they're being destroyed. And so when Paul was writing
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  this book, he was in a governmental system that was
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  Antichrist. The Roman Empire and the Roman
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  Empire wanted to destroy Christianity, but they couldn't
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  because Jesus, he, he reigns on his throne.
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  All power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.
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  And he's blessing the spread of the gospel, even though it
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  requires martyrdom at times. He's blessing the growth of
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  people in these various nations that have come to faith in Jesus
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  Christ. Some of the strongest churches
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  are in China underground. We hear China, and right away we
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  think they're our enemy, and in many ways they are.
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  But boy, thank God what he's doing in China with the body of
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  Christ, it's powerful. And so God's will can't be
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  thwarted or circumvented by man. Thank God for that, right?
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  So Paul continued to do what he had to do.
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  And in this book of Second Corinthians, not any.
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  Did he talk about his suffering openly?
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  But he talked about his apostleship that people weren't
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  receiving anymore or even accepting, and the churches that
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  he had planted. There was a disrespect for his
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  spiritual authority and the calling and the anointing of God
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  upon his life, but it didn't stop him for doing what he still
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  needed to do. So it says he's an apostle of
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  Jesus Christ by the will of God, not by the will of man.
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  He was raised up by God. Anybody that's raised up by man
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  to be a leader will fail. And most of the time they're not
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  going to be true to the the leader, the true leader, the
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  Lord Jesus Christ. But when God raises up people to
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  follow him and to start churches or to do ministries, and it's
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  obvious that He's in charge and not them, God will use those
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  people, men and women, to be able to impact the the nation in
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  the world and the communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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  And then he says that Timothy's with him as well.
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  Timothy, our brother Timothy was Paul's understudy, his right
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  hand man, and he was also responsible to carry on the work
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  of the ministry in Ephesus when Paul was no longer on the face
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  of the earth. And then it says to the Church
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  of God, which is at Corinth with all the Saints who are in all
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  Achaea. And Achaea was the region of the
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  nation of Greece and, and many, many churches, many, many people
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  were being impacted by the apostle Paul's ministry.
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  And then he uses these words and many of his Gospels 18 times and
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  not of the Gospels of the epistles 18 times.
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  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
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  Christ. The grace of God is the most
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  important thing that you and I need on a daily basis.
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  The grace of God is what enables you to overcome temptation.
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  The grace of God is the power that gives you the ability to
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  suffer through adversity and trials, issues of health,
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  finances, relationships, marriages, kids, whatever.
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  God's grace is sort of like this uplifting power that He bestows
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  upon us to be able to be OK and stable.
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  When you get the diagnosis that you don't want to get,
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  regardless of the diagnosis, that won't circumvent or thwart
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  the power of God's grace to sustain you in the midst of the
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  most difficult times of life. You'll get through them because
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  of God's grace. You won't get through them
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  without God's grace. You'll fail, you'll fall, you'll
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  curse God, and you'll fall away if you don't have the grace of
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  God. We're not made and we're not
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  wired to deal with impossible adversity apart from the grace
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  of God. So Paul always bestowed and
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  prayed that they would be recipients of His grace.
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  And you don't earn the grace of God.
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  The grace of God is a gift. And the grace of God comes even
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  today by you being in His church, worshipping Him in His
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  Word, having your heart open to the truth of His Word, yielding
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  to Him. And God is just pouring grace
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  into your life as you, your recipients of His Word, and as
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  you pray and as you seek his face.
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  And if you have God's grace, you'll have his peace.
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  I've watched families in this church go through tremendous
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  suffering, and I watch the families get through the
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  suffering because of the grace of God.
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  And I see them having the peace of God.
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  They don't like it. It's no fun, it's not enjoyable,
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  but they're calm because God's peace is upon them, because
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  God's grace is in them. And then he says in verse 3,
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  blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
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  Father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us and
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  all our tribulation. Not some tribulation, but all
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  tribulation. God is able to comfort us in all
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  our tribulation. He's defined as a God of all
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  comfort, the comfort do you need to be comforted today?
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  We all need to be comforted, and that comfort comes from this
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  wonderful God we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the
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  power of the Holy Spirit. You're never alone in the midst
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  of the trial. If you look to the comforter,
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  The comforter is defined in John chapter 14 as the Holy Spirit.
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  Before Jesus ascended, He told them it was necessary that He
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  would go up so that the Holy Spirit would come down and not
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  only come down but also dwell in them.
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  And he said in John 1415, If you love me, keep my commandments,
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  and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper,
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  that He may abide with you forever.
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  And some of your translations that will say comforter.
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  The spirit of truth in the world can't receive because it neither
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  sees Him nor knows him. But you know Him, for He dwells
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  with you and will be with you. And I will not leave you
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  orphans, and I will come to you. How many of you today here have
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  experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in the time of trials in
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  your life? Raise your hand, everyone of
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  you, There's not one of us here who has not experienced this
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  comforter. But why is it so often that he's
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  the last one we go to when we're going through a trial?
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  We go through something we don't like and we're calling 30 people
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  asking him, what do? What do we do?
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  How do we get through this? And we have this God the Holy
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  Spirit dwelling in us, the comforter, where we can say to
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  him, show us what we're to do, show us how we're to handle
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  this. Give us a strength in the midst
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  of this season that I can't get through apart from you
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  comforting me. He is the God of all comfort and
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  He's able to comfort those who are in any trouble, any trouble.
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  You might be here today and you're in trouble of some sort.
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  I don't know, but God knows. But He says that this comforter
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  is going to be able to comfort you in the midst of the trouble
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  that you're in right now. But you have to look to him.
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  You have to trust in him. You have to talk to him, ask
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  him. I don't know how many times a
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  day I'm walking around in my life saying, Lord have mercy,
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  help me Jesus, you know you don't have to like my prayer
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  time in the morning, 10 minutes, OK, whatever.
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  No, your prayer times all day long.
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  Lord, give me wisdom in this situation.
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  I don't know what to do about this person that's giving me a
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  problem right now. I don't know what to do about
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  this situation I'm in that I'm not comfortable with or I don't
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  have the wisdom to know how to circumvent the OR navigate this
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  singing work or business or whatever.
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  It's ridiculous how much we rely on our own strength and not the
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  Lord, right? We need to ask God for help.
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  If you're hurting right now, if you're afraid, if you're
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  confused, if you're upset or whatever, say help me, Lord,
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  that's humility. Don't, don't try to handle it
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  yourself and ask your brothers and sisters to pray for you,
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  that they would come alongside of you and help you and pray for
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  you. We have every Sunday is an
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  opportunity to come up and pray. If you need prayer, don't be
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  embarrassed to come up. You don't have to get into the
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  details. You can just say to the person
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  that's asking you what you need prayer for.
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  Just pray for me. I need help.
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  That's all you need to say. And God will use those people
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  behind you and beside you to comfort you as they pray for you
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  and help you. He says that the sufferings of
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  Christ abound in us. This is Paul when we got a lot
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  of suffering going on in us. So our consolation also abounds
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  through Christ. In other words, Paul said I got
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  problems you wouldn't even imagine.
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  He talks about some of them later on when we get into the
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  book, what he went through from people, from church stuff, from,
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  you know, physical beatings, imprisonments.
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  I mean, this guy was constantly, constantly suffering in ways
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  that none of us will ever experience.
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  But he's saying himself that as a sufferings of Christ are in
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  US, along with what might you might be going through are all
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  our consolation, our comfort comes through Christ.
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  Now, if we're afflicted in verse 6, it's for your consolation and
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  salvation which is effective for enduring the same sufferings
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  which we also suffer. So he's saying, like, what I'm
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  going through right now should encourage you in the sense that
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  you're not alone and God's helping me, and I'll show you
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  how he helped me so you'll believe he can help you.
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  Paul never tried to cover up his his problems or his challenges.
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  He didn't complain about him, but he sure wanted people to
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  know that things weren't easy for him.
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  And he talks about the suffering as being similar in some ways to
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  what the people would go through as well.
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  Not to the degree that he went through, but the sufferings were
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  somewhat common. We've all been sick physically.
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  So you know what it's like to suffer from physical illness.
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  We all can identify with that. Some of you have been through
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  cancers or are, are in cancers have come out of cancers, the
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  suffering of, of going through the chemo and the drugs and the,
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  the nauseousness and all that stuff.
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  Boy, I'll tell you, unless you are in that and go through that,
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  you don't know what it's like unless you talk to someone else
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  who's going through it or experiencing it presently.
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  That's why they have the, the support groups that people will
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  see how God has gotten them through some of these very, very
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  difficult seasons of life. And then he says, if we're
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  comforted, it's for your consolation, salvation.
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  So when someone tells a story about what God did for them, how
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  he comforted them, how he got through something and you're on
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  the other end hearing them and you're going through something,
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  you're going to be comforted by what they told you God did for
• 24:31
  them. It'll give you hope and the the
• 24:37
  truth of experiencing comfort has to come from personal
• 24:42
  experience. If you've never been comforted
• 24:46
  by God, I, I can't tell you what it's like.
• 24:50
  I can tell you what I experienced, but I can't tell
• 24:54
  you what it's like until you experience it.
• 24:57
  And once you experience the comfort of God, boy, we have
• 25:00
  some good conversation, don't we?
• 25:02
  We can praise God, we can thank God.
• 25:04
  We can glorify God together. We can rejoice in God together.
• 25:08
  We can, you know, just be excited when we see God has done
• 25:12
  something wonderful to comfort someone who's in a very
• 25:16
  perilous, difficult situation. It makes me feel good.
• 25:20
  Whenever I know that God's taking care of people.
• 25:22
  I can't take care of them like God can.
• 25:24
  I care. I'll do all I can to help
• 25:27
  people, but I'm not God. I can't comfort you like God can
• 25:31
  comfort you. I can tell you that God can
• 25:33
  comfort you, but you have to experience God's comfort
• 25:36
  yourself. And our hope for you is
• 25:41
  steadfast, verse 7, because we know that as you are partakers
• 25:46
  of the suffering, so also you will partake of the consolation.
• 25:51
  And that's the good news. Yeah, you're suffering right now
• 25:55
  and you're partaking of these sufferings.
• 25:57
  You're experiencing them, but God is going to allow you to
• 26:01
  partake of this consolation and this comfort that things are
• 26:05
  going to be OK. They're going to work out.
• 26:09
  You know, Romans 828 says all things work together for good to
• 26:13
  those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
• 26:18
  And I've wrestled with that verse many times with seeing
• 26:23
  what's going on in my own life at times and the lives of people
• 26:26
  I I'm close to tragedies, challenges, needless deaths or
• 26:33
  heartache. I, I don't understand God, why,
• 26:35
  why I cry out like that as David did.
• 26:40
  But then I realized that God knows what he's doing because he
• 26:46
  said about this all things working together for good.
• 26:51
  He said to those he foreknow for new that the consequences of
• 26:58
  these things that he says work out good are to conform us the
• 27:04
  image of Jesus Christ or to make us more like Jesus right, and
• 27:11
  that's what this is all about. This journey, this pilgrimage of
• 27:15
  being a Christian is to become like Jesus.
• 27:17
  It isn't to get more information or be able to quote verses that
• 27:20
  are know where all the books of the Bible are.
• 27:22
  That's all nice, but it's like I know whom I believed in and I'm
• 27:27
  persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
• 27:31
  unto him against that day. Not hope, I wish, maybe.
• 27:35
  No, I am 100% persuaded that God is faithful.
• 27:42
  And until we get to that point, each of us individually, we're
• 27:46
  going to be we're going to be like Jelly 11 problem against
• 27:51
  another complaining, crying out, I need help.
• 27:55
  Why doesn't God help me? Well, probably he's not helping
• 27:57
  you because you haven't asked him to help you.
• 28:02
  He said, Whosoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast out his
• 28:07
  arms are continually open to every one of us, saying, Come
• 28:11
  unto me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
• 28:15
  you rest, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
• 28:20
  Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall
• 28:24
  find rest for your souls. Lord, help us to come to you.
• 28:31
  Help us. Verse 8.
• 28:34
  For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren of our
• 28:38
  trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened
• 28:40
  beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of
• 28:44
  life. Yes, we had the sense of death
• 28:47
  in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God,
• 28:50
  who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a
• 28:54
  death and does deliver us in whom we trust that he will still
• 28:59
  deliver us. Isn't that something?
• 29:03
  He's like totally, 100% transparent?
• 29:06
  Life is a pain right now. It's hard, it's a struggle, it
• 29:10
  hurts, it's scary, it's overwhelming.
• 29:14
  Whatever term you want to use the definition to describe this
• 29:19
  season that Paul's in despairing even of life like I don't know
• 29:25
  if we'll make it. He's saying I don't know if
• 29:27
  we'll we'll be alive tomorrow. But then he's trust was not in
• 29:33
  anything else or anybody else, but trusting in God, that we
• 29:41
  should not trust in ourselves but in God.
• 29:44
  Are you trusting in yourself or are you trusting in God?
• 29:54
  That's the big question, isn't it?
• 29:58
  Hebrews tells us that we're able to come in to the throne room of
• 30:04
  grace at any time of the day. I might call you to ask for
• 30:12
  prayer and phone goes into voicemail.
• 30:16
  I can't talk with you, but I know you'll get the voicemail
• 30:19
  and you will pray or whatever. God doesn't have voicemail.
• 30:24
  He's on the line personally, presently 24/7.
• 30:32
  I'm not going to go into that throne room of grace and there's
• 30:34
  a million people ahead of me, which there is, but it doesn't
• 30:36
  matter. I don't know how He does it.
• 30:38
  He handles every situation simultaneously, individually, in
• 30:43
  in real time, moment by moment. He's not saying, hey, come back
• 30:46
  in a month. There's 2 million people before
• 30:49
  you and there's people that have more problems than you do,
• 30:51
  serious problems. Now it says that we might go
• 30:54
  into that throne of throne of grace with boldness.
• 30:57
  That's like assurance, like I'm here because you told me to come
• 31:00
  to get help, that we might find mercy and grace and help and our
• 31:05
  time of need. Isn't that awesome?
• 31:12
  Mercy and grace and help in our time of need as a worship team
• 31:17
  can come forward. In verse 11, it says you also
• 31:22
  helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by
• 31:26
  many persons on our behalf for the gifts granted to us through
• 31:30
  many. So not many was God involved in
• 31:33
  bringing the comfort, but the people that were close to Paul
• 31:37
  in the churches were also praying and holding him up and
• 31:41
  encouraging him. So God has his part, but he's
• 31:46
  also given you and me a part. So you you know I'm hurting.
• 31:50
  I know you were hurting. Can I pray for you?
• 31:53
  Yeah, absolutely. Pray for me.
• 31:54
  Can I pray for you? Yes, please pray for me.
• 31:57
  The more people. And it isn't like, well, if you
• 31:59
  have 1000 people praying, God will really answer no, you only
• 32:02
  need one really. But he's interceding
• 32:04
  continually. But somehow he uses your prayers
• 32:08
  along with his prayer to bring comfort to others.
• 32:11
  So we're the hands and feet of Jesus to comfort one another.
• 32:14
  Someone's hurting in a way that you maybe know a little bit more
• 32:17
  about than someone else. You go to that person and say,
• 32:20
  hey, I've been where you've been.
• 32:21
  I've been through what you've been through, and this is what
• 32:25
  God will do. Let's pray and you pray and you
• 32:28
  bring that comfort on behalf of others.
• 32:31
  And this is a gift that God's given to you and me to provide
• 32:35
  for other people to, to bring comfort to them as well.
• 32:40
  So whenever I had the title for this message, I sent it out to
• 32:44
  someone who sends you guys something.
• 32:46
  And, and the person said I really needed that.
• 32:50
  Guess what? Me too.
• 32:52
  We all need it, don't we? So now you have the solution.
• 32:56
  Now you have the answer. The application now is to start
• 33:01
  talking to Jesus more about what it is.
• 33:03
  It's giving you a hard time and say, Lord, help me through this.
• 33:07
  Show me how to handle this and he will Amen.
• 33:12
  God bless you guys. Let's take the supper together.
• 33:24
  Lord, we're so thankful again for your word.
• 33:28
  You say the entrance of your word gives light.
• 33:30
  It gives understanding to the simple.
• 33:32
  We're simple folk, Lord, we need, we need simplicity.
• 33:36
  We we need to have this stuff broken down in ways that we can
• 33:40
  apply in our lives. And we're so thankful for Paul
• 33:43
  and his way to communicate truth so that it's accessible to
• 33:47
  everybody. You put it in a lower level and
• 33:50
  we can reach on the shelf and pull it down for ourselves and
• 33:54
  say, Lord, this is what I need right now.
• 33:56
  I need your comfort, Lord, please comfort me.
• 33:59
  I don't understand why I'm in what I'm in right now.
• 34:02
  I don't understand what the doctors talking about.
• 34:05
  I don't understand why the job isn't there.
• 34:08
  I don't understand why the marriage is struggling or why
• 34:10
  the kids are running or Lord, I don't understand any of these
• 34:14
  things. I don't understand why there has
• 34:16
  to be these wars, Lord. But you know about all this
• 34:20
  stuff, Lord, and I pray you would comfort us, comfort me,
• 34:25
  comfort my brothers and sisters and what it is we don't
• 34:28
  understand, and to help us trust You and ask for You to show us
• 34:33
  how to get through it. And we're so thankful, Lord,
• 34:36
  that You will never leave us or forsake us.
• 34:40
  You'll be there for us to supply to us the grace that we need to
• 34:44
  get through whatever it is. It's hard.
• 34:47
  And You'll give us the peace to be settled in the midst of the
• 34:50
  storm. And because of that, Lord, you
• 34:53
  tell us to remember you in the supper, to come into your
• 34:58
  presence, and to experience this holy, your Holy Spirit in US,
• 35:05
  comforting us. And we take this today to
• 35:08
  remember you and for your glory, and also to strengthen us.
• 35:13
  And on the night that Jesus is betrayed, he took the bread in
• 35:16
  his hands, He broke it, and he gave thanks.
• 35:18
  He said, take, eat. This is My body which was given
• 35:21
  for you. Eat this in remembrance of me.
• 35:30
  The same manner in that evening he took the cup.
• 35:37
  He said this cup is a new covenant, My blood which is shed
• 35:40
  for the forgiveness of sins of many.
• 35:43
  Drink this in remembrance of Me. There's often as you eat this
• 35:50
  bread and you drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death
• 35:54
  till he comes again. Amen.
• 35:56
  God bless you guys.