WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:00.740 Good morning. 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:03.000 My name is Lincoln Husby. 00:00:03.540 --> 00:00:06.780 I am from the state of Michigan. 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:14.760 And despite what Nathaniel thinks, there is more to Michigan than the state of Detroit, and 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:20.920 like every true Michigander, they will take out their hand and tell you where you are, where they're from. 00:00:21.020 --> 00:00:26.660 And I'm from Grand Rapids, and I love it there and I love it here. 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:28.320 I love being in Utah. 00:00:28.340 --> 00:00:34.290 I love being able to look out and see the mountains and be able to experience that. 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:41.160 And I am very excited to share what God's been placing on my heart this week. 00:00:42.220 --> 00:00:48.780 Also, I am the youth director here, so I hang out with your kids. 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:49.650 It's a lot of fun. 00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:57.100 We had a Park Day this week and we had a bunch of fun playing Mario Kart Balloon Battle and all sorts of 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:57.400 things. 00:00:57.400 --> 00:00:57.900 It was a good time. 00:00:58.860 --> 00:01:03.410 But before we go in, I would just go into the text and go into what we're studying today. 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:06.060 I would just like to pray once more. 00:01:07.720 --> 00:01:10.240 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:13.860 Thank you that we can be here and learn from you. 00:01:13.940 --> 00:01:16.800 Thank you so much for placing this on my heart. 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:24.080 And I pray that you would be moving through me and through the people here, that they would learn more about 00:01:24.360 --> 00:01:31.820 you and that they would come to know that you are always with them, even in the most dire 00:01:31.820 --> 00:01:36.970 of circumstances when we are at the end of our selves. 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:39.340 Amen. 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:48.800 Question Who here by Raise of hands has ever seen a movie based around submarines? 00:01:50.860 --> 00:01:51.380 None of you. 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:52.180 Oh, we got. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:52.820 We got a couple. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:57.200 Yeah, well, maybe this illustration won't work as well as I thought it would. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:05.220 Well, anyways, in every submarine movie that I've ever seen, it's kind of a common cliche that 00:02:05.220 --> 00:02:09.740 happens whether you 571 Hunt for Red October, etcetera. 00:02:10.220 --> 00:02:17.800 There is a moment in the movie when either the engines die or because the enemy is 00:02:17.920 --> 00:02:25.260 hunting the sub, they start wandering and sinking to this depth called 00:02:25.260 --> 00:02:32.380 crush depth, this collapse depth where the submarine is at a point where it 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:36.050 can't go any deeper, because if it does, it will implode. 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:44.580 And while this scene comes, as it always does in a submarine movie, the 00:02:44.700 --> 00:02:51.700 tension is thick, the music stops and everyone is completely silent in the 00:02:51.700 --> 00:02:58.700 submarine and you start seeing the beads of sweat dripping down the crew's face 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:05.080 and you start hearing the creaks of water trying to find their way into the submarine. 00:03:05.980 --> 00:03:10.800 And that submarine is under an immense weight, immense pressure. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:18.100 And at some point, that submarine will no longer be able to handle the weight of 00:03:18.100 --> 00:03:25.560 the water on the outside, and it will be crushed and all those inside will be drowned. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:35.860 And as the water, the creeks of water become more frequent, as the sweat starts coming down more 00:03:35.860 --> 00:03:39.540 and more, you start thinking that this is it for them. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:44.600 There's no way that they are escaping this alive. 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:50.620 Question, Who here has ever felt like that submarine? 00:03:53.120 --> 00:04:00.160 Who here has ever found themselves under immense pressure, so much pressure that they thought they 00:04:00.160 --> 00:04:03.560 were going to collapse, that they were going to be crushed. 00:04:06.440 --> 00:04:13.660 Today we are going to be in the second missionary journey of Paul, and 00:04:13.660 --> 00:04:20.899 I believe he is at this exact moment, this crush depth moment of where he 00:04:20.899 --> 00:04:28.440 finds himself under immense pressure, terrified and physically and emotionally 00:04:28.440 --> 00:04:29.400 shattered. 00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:37.320 So if you want to flip your Bibles open to Acts Chapter 18. 00:04:39.400 --> 00:04:40.710 Five through six. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:48.640 We find this in Paul goes to the city of Corinth and he's preaching in the synagogue because that's what he does. 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:49.480 He's Jewish. 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:56.760 So he goes to the synagogue and he explains using the Jewish scriptures of who Jesus is, 00:04:56.880 --> 00:05:00.580 that he's Messiah, that the Messiah had to come, die and rise again. 00:05:03.400 --> 00:05:06.360 And Acts 18, 5 to 6 says. 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:14.920 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word solemnly testifying 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:18.580 to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 00:05:19.340 --> 00:05:26.740 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be on your own 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:27.240 heads. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.660 I am clean. 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:32.670 From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:40.000 Now this. 00:05:41.880 --> 00:05:45.160 Surprises me. 00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:46.420 And. 00:05:48.580 --> 00:05:48.920 Sorry. 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:52.080 Just making sure that I'm at the right spot. 00:05:52.460 --> 00:05:53.780 Now, this surprises me. 00:05:53.780 --> 00:05:55.400 This these verses surprise me. 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:59.000 This isn't what I think Paul is going to do. 00:05:59.700 --> 00:06:06.860 You know, he shakes off his clothes, the dust, because he's like, I don't even want to be having the same dirt 00:06:06.860 --> 00:06:08.200 on my clothes as you. 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:12.900 I don't want to be breathing the same air as you blaspheme, my Lord and savior. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.600 And I've done all that I can for you. 00:06:18.260 --> 00:06:21.460 I am leaving and I'm going to the Gentiles. 00:06:23.440 --> 00:06:30.720 And Paul is at this breaking point, not because of just what happened in Corinth, and it's not because 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.400 he's thin skinned. 00:06:32.820 --> 00:06:35.160 It's what happened before Corinth. 00:06:36.900 --> 00:06:42.720 It's what happened, too, with the circumstance circumstances that led up to this moment. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:52.440 Paul said, set out on his second missionary journey to visit and strengthen the churches that he founded with Barnabas 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:55.080 on his first missionary journey. 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:58.120 And even before they set out. 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:06.000 Paul and Barnabas disagree so strongly that they don't even go with each other because they can't 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.680 come to agreement on whether or not taking John Mark with them. 00:07:10.700 --> 00:07:17.880 And because of that, Paul leaves with Silas and goes up to Asia Minor, which is modern day 00:07:17.880 --> 00:07:24.460 Turkey, where most of the churches, all of the churches that Paul founded on his first missionary journey were. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:33.880 And as he's going through Asia minor, the Holy Spirit is keeping him from staying at these churches that 00:07:33.880 --> 00:07:34.620 he started. 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:39.540 The Holy Spirit's keeping him from encouraging and being with them. 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.860 And the Holy Spirit leads them to the coast. 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:46.440 The Aegean Sea. 00:07:47.880 --> 00:07:49.800 And Paul has a dream. 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:52.970 And he has a dream about a Macedonian man. 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:59.020 And the Macedonian man says, Come to Macedonia. 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:00.660 Help us. 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:01.720 Come here. 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:02.700 Help us. 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:11.460 So, Paul, having this knowing the will of God sets out for 00:08:11.460 --> 00:08:16.320 Macedonia and they come to the first city of Philippi. 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:22.760 Ready to help by sharing the good news of eternal salvation with the people of Philippi. 00:08:25.880 --> 00:08:27.240 Who are in desperate need. 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:29.200 And guess what happens next? 00:08:31.340 --> 00:08:36.110 They all repent and believe in Jesus and. 00:08:38.690 --> 00:08:40.200 No, that doesn't happen. 00:08:40.640 --> 00:08:48.160 What happens is that Paul gets stripped off all his clothes, publicly humiliated, 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:51.440 and in front of the whole town of Philippi. 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:56.200 He is beaten with rods over and over and over again. 00:08:58.180 --> 00:09:02.300 And after he's beaten to a pulp, he's thrown into prison. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:12.600 And the next day the people in Philippi, the leader of leaders of Philippi tell him to leave and 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:13.480 don't come back. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.400 And so he goes to his next town called Thessalonica. 00:09:20.400 --> 00:09:25.680 And after being there, after being in the synagogue preaching and explaining why Jesus is the Christ. 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:30.300 A mob starts forming and tries to find Paul. 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:38.480 And they go to the house of which Paul is staying at and they don't find him. 00:09:39.340 --> 00:09:46.380 But what they do find is the people who were being hospitable to Paul, who were putting him up in 00:09:46.400 --> 00:09:53.420 their houses and they find them and they beat them up and they scream and they yell at 00:09:53.420 --> 00:09:53.840 them. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:10:01.700 And in the middle of the night, Paul has to sneak out of the city so that he is not beaten or 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:05.760 killed by the people of Thessalonica. 00:10:09.400 --> 00:10:16.520 After that, he travels to Berea and unlike Philippine, Thessalonica 00:10:16.520 --> 00:10:19.720 starts things start hit, hitting the ground running. 00:10:20.040 --> 00:10:21.260 Things start going well. 00:10:21.660 --> 00:10:24.370 It says the people of Berea were noble. 00:10:24.820 --> 00:10:32.040 And instead of just dismissing what Paul had to say, they searched the scriptures and they found out what Paul was saying 00:10:32.040 --> 00:10:39.080 about Jesus was true, that he was the Messiah, that the Messiah had to come and rise again to die 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:40.280 and rise again. 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:48.460 And they start believing in him and they start they start spreading the gospel and all of a sudden things start going well. 00:10:49.760 --> 00:10:50.260 But then. 00:10:51.640 --> 00:10:52.860 The people of Thessalonica. 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:54.420 Hear what's happening in Berea. 00:10:56.140 --> 00:11:02.060 And the people in Thessalonica leave Thessalonica to go find Paul in Berea and kill him. 00:11:04.180 --> 00:11:05.300 And he has to leave Berea. 00:11:07.640 --> 00:11:10.060 So he leaves Berea and goes through Athens. 00:11:11.380 --> 00:11:18.640 And he in Athens, he goes to the Areopagus and to the epicurean and stoic 00:11:18.640 --> 00:11:19.340 philosophers. 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:26.620 And he explains to them who Jesus is, what the gospel is, that he died and rose again for our sins covering so that we 00:11:26.660 --> 00:11:29.760 could have reconciliation between God and man. 00:11:31.100 --> 00:11:34.080 And few people believe him. 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:42.100 And most of them just say that this is these are strange gods that you bring before us. 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:50.540 And then Paul travels south to Corinth, where we begin being rejected, resisted, and then 00:11:50.540 --> 00:11:54.780 blaspheming his Lord and savior. 00:11:57.400 --> 00:12:01.280 Question How would you be feeling if you were Paul at this moment? 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:12.640 Without knowing what was to come and having this track record, what would you be thinking 00:12:12.640 --> 00:12:13.720 would happen next? 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:22.640 See, I don't think his body has recovered from the beating that he received from Philippi. 00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:24.940 Paul is. 00:12:25.400 --> 00:12:26.130 Paul is old. 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:31.200 And on top of that, he's been traveling and working. 00:12:33.380 --> 00:12:39.980 And in all reality, he must be physically exhausted and emotionally drained. 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:41.980 He has been thrown into prison. 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:43.140 He has been beaten. 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:48.930 He has been run out of several towns and he has yet to find rest. 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:59.660 If I was Paul, I would be terrified that the exact same thing that happened in Philippi, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:04.480 Thessalonica and Berea would happen again in Corinth. 00:13:08.280 --> 00:13:12.700 And I would have to run for my life and go to some other town. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.080 And be rejected by them again. 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.560 It's not what happened in Corinth. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.060 It's what happened before Corinth. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.040 It's what happened in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. 00:13:28.300 --> 00:13:30.940 It's not the weight of being rejected once. 00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:38.580 It's the weight of being rejected and failing again and again and again. 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:39.220 It's the sum. 00:13:42.260 --> 00:13:46.160 It's not exactly because you got fired from a job that you worked at for ten years. 00:13:47.920 --> 00:13:49.760 It's because. 00:13:53.080 --> 00:14:00.480 You've you're running out of severance and you think seriously about selling 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:07.580 your house to keep your family afloat and the constant interviews and applications that don't 00:14:08.020 --> 00:14:11.460 come back and nothing ever happens to them. 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:19.060 It's not about losing a loved one to cancer, but it's the amount of funerals 00:14:19.060 --> 00:14:22.640 for family and friends you've had to attend for the past three years. 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:34.260 The inclination of our hearts is to question why. 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:43.220 And if I was Paul, I would be thinking, for what purpose have you called me here? 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:43.440 God. 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:50.220 Nothing has gone the way it should have gone. 00:14:51.420 --> 00:14:54.440 Did you just bring me here to suffer? 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.050 You kept me from going where I wanted and I willfully obeyed and came to Macedonia. 00:15:01.550 --> 00:15:02.980 Macedonia and have been faithful. 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:10.980 Serving through trial and hardship, but nothing is working out. 00:15:13.140 --> 00:15:17.220 I am tired of running and being beaten and shamed. 00:15:18.280 --> 00:15:25.700 And the propensity for us to do is to say, Lord, if this is the will for your, this 00:15:25.700 --> 00:15:33.660 is the will for your life, for me, I don't want it. 00:15:34.280 --> 00:15:40.680 Now, this moment when you're at this crush depth, ready to collapse in on yourself. 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.520 This might just might be the most important moment of your life. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.700 The events leading up to this crush depth. 00:15:53.260 --> 00:16:00.380 Have a significant impact on you, but the way you respond will have a significant impact on 00:16:00.380 --> 00:16:03.760 the way you live your life for the rest of it. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.560 Responding in bitterness to a hurtful situation. 00:16:09.620 --> 00:16:10.620 At age 30. 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:14.500 Will determine who you are at age 40. 00:16:17.060 --> 00:16:18.640 And what you will become at age 50. 00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:21.380 In age 60. 00:16:22.880 --> 00:16:29.520 It's these moments that will often define who we become. 00:16:33.280 --> 00:16:40.760 A while ago, me and my friend Kyle, I went down to Saint George for a wedding, and 00:16:40.760 --> 00:16:46.460 on the day of the wedding, we didn't really have anything do doing going on through the day. 00:16:46.520 --> 00:16:53.640 So we decided to go with Zion and to explore God's creation and to just talk and have a good time together. 00:16:54.460 --> 00:17:02.920 And we have a very unique relationship with one another because we often don't see 00:17:02.920 --> 00:17:05.619 or talk to one another because of distance. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:12.010 But for some reason, whenever we're together, we have very open and meaningful conversation. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.640 And for that I really enjoy his friendship. 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:18.720 And while hiking. 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:26.619 While enjoying Zion, I asked him the question, If you were to nail narrow your values 00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:27.849 down to five. 00:17:29.540 --> 00:17:31.120 What would they be and why? 00:17:31.620 --> 00:17:34.800 Meaning what do you see as most important? 00:17:35.540 --> 00:17:38.060 What principles do you live your life by? 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:39.960 And why did you. 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:41.780 Why would you choose those principles? 00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:47.140 And he answered after some serious thought. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.550 And then he asked me the same question. 00:17:50.220 --> 00:17:52.800 And I answered after some thought. 00:17:54.740 --> 00:18:02.200 And what we ended up realizing afterwards is that every single value that we listed 00:18:03.620 --> 00:18:07.920 was because of something that left us crushed. 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:14.840 Something that left us hurt or in pain or alone. 00:18:15.760 --> 00:18:22.760 And every single one of those things was something positive, whether it was faith, whether it was humility, whether it 00:18:22.760 --> 00:18:28.530 was perseverance, whether it was relationships. 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:34.760 All those things came from a point of when we felt crushed. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.120 And it's no different for Paul right now. 00:18:41.280 --> 00:18:42.740 He is at that crush depth. 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:44.250 He's at that breaking point. 00:18:44.620 --> 00:18:51.480 And how he responds won't just impact him, but it will impact millions of people. 00:18:53.400 --> 00:19:00.740 How he responds to this moment will determine who he is for the rest of his life, as well as the thousands of people he has and will 00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:01.640 minister to. 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:11.520 And in verses nine and 11, we read these beautiful words that Jesus himself says to 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:18.120 Paul in a vision right after this moment in Corinth. 00:19:21.830 --> 00:19:23.970 Once I get the clicker going there. 00:19:26.250 --> 00:19:26.860 Yes, there it is. 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:28.000 All right. 00:19:29.520 --> 00:19:36.660 And Jesus comes to Paul in the night by a vision and says, Do not be afraid any longer, but go 00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:37.400 on speaking. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:45.160 Do not be silent, for I am with you and no man will attack you in order to harm you. 00:19:45.860 --> 00:19:48.660 For I have many people in this city. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:55.500 And he settled there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them. 00:19:59.260 --> 00:20:05.920 Jesus meets Paul in his despair, in his pain and his hurt. 00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:07.740 Jesus is there. 00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:15.300 And he tells him to fear no longer be no longer paralyzed by fear. 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:20.480 For. 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:27.720 I have many people in this city, meaning Paul is the chosen instrument by God to share the gospel with 00:20:27.770 --> 00:20:34.940 this city so that many people could come to know who Christ is, to have a relationship with the living 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:35.580 God. 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:41.780 And Paul is God's chosen instrument to do this in the city of Corinth. 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:44.640 And this is what God had called him to. 00:20:47.760 --> 00:20:52.830 And don't glance over verse 11 when it says. 00:20:55.100 --> 00:21:02.300 And he settled there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among 00:21:02.300 --> 00:21:03.550 them. 00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:14.100 Because that is powerful and that is faithful and that is trust in Christ and 00:21:14.100 --> 00:21:16.390 what he has said to him. 00:21:18.780 --> 00:21:24.420 He ends up staying in Corinth longer than any other place other than the city of Ephesus. 00:21:25.280 --> 00:21:32.400 On his missionary journeys, he ends up staying there a year and six months, and then three months later on in his life, he writes 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.600 more to the city of Corinth than he does any other city. 00:21:38.340 --> 00:21:45.340 He writes the book of First and Second Corinthians, which are both lengthy letters to this 00:21:45.340 --> 00:21:46.100 church. 00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:54.340 And because of his response to this moment of crushing. 00:21:58.040 --> 00:22:03.200 Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people are released from a life of bondage. 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:11.200 Hundreds of thousands hear the message of a loving God who made a way for reconciliation by the blood of his own son on the cross. 00:22:11.560 --> 00:22:15.060 And many come to know Jesus personally and have eternal life through Christ. 00:22:15.580 --> 00:22:22.840 Because of Paul's response to this crushing, to this moment where he felt at 00:22:22.840 --> 00:22:23.440 an end. 00:22:25.800 --> 00:22:33.280 Because Corinth isn't just a backwater town, a backwater city, but it is the connection 00:22:33.280 --> 00:22:36.980 between east and west, north and south. 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:45.340 It was in between the Peloponnesian Peninsula that connected the north of Greece with the south of Greece. 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:49.200 And if you traveled north or south, you would be heading through Corinth. 00:22:50.280 --> 00:22:53.170 And if you traveled east through west, you would go through Corinth. 00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:54.930 It sat in this isthmus. 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:57.980 So it connected the Adriatic and Aegean Sea. 00:22:58.340 --> 00:23:04.020 It connected Turkey in the Middle East with Rome and the rest of the provinces. 00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:11.900 So Paul, being here, sharing the gospel isn't just these people in the city of Corinth, listening to this message 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:13.420 of good news. 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:17.940 It's thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who travel through this city. 00:23:19.300 --> 00:23:22.420 For the next year, the years to come. 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:31.200 Now, I haven't experienced a vision of Jesus 00:23:31.280 --> 00:23:38.700 saying that I am with you, but he has promised that he will never leave nor forsake 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:46.180 me because scriptures say in Hebrews 13 five. 00:23:48.760 --> 00:23:49.000 Through eight. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:58.740 For he himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you so that we confidently 00:23:58.740 --> 00:24:00.390 say, the Lord is my helper. 00:24:00.460 --> 00:24:01.380 I will not be afraid. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.060 What will men do to me? 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:11.060 Remember those who led You spoke the Word of God to you and consider the result of their conduct. 00:24:11.540 --> 00:24:12.520 Imitate their faith. 00:24:13.100 --> 00:24:18.440 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 00:24:20.860 --> 00:24:28.140 The same Jesus who met Paul in his crushing is the same Jesus 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:30.640 who is with us today. 00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:41.060 The same Jesus who was there when Paul was getting chased by mobs. 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:45.940 Who is there when he was being beaten again and again. 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:53.560 The same Jesus who was with him in jail and in hardship and trial is the same Jesus who is with 00:24:53.560 --> 00:24:58.670 us today, the same Jesus who wants to meet you and never leave you. 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:07.560 No matter how dark the circumstance, despite the loneliness we feel when it seems like the walls of our lives have 00:25:07.560 --> 00:25:08.160 collapsed. 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:14.280 And when we are at crushed depth and at any moment we can implode. 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:16.500 Christ is there. 00:25:17.520 --> 00:25:24.560 He is with us and he has promised his companionship to those who have entrusted themselves to him. 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:33.820 It's sometimes hard to wrap our minds around why trials come. 00:25:36.280 --> 00:25:43.480 And the natural instinct is usually to question God's purpose and ask Why 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:44.100 God? 00:25:44.320 --> 00:25:47.530 Why are you letting this happen to me? 00:25:48.460 --> 00:25:54.550 Because we equate suffering as something that God would never intend for. 00:25:56.100 --> 00:25:59.350 I thought we live in a fallen world. 00:26:01.360 --> 00:26:08.740 In fact, in the same city years later, people inside the church tried to discredit Paul 00:26:08.740 --> 00:26:16.040 in his ministry, using the same line of logic, citing the amount of Paul's sufferings, 00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:23.500 naturally coming to the conclusion that if Paul was truly called by God, if Paul 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:30.680 was appointed by God to share the Gospel that He was an apostle, he wouldn't be enduring 00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:34.800 the amount of hardships that he suffers. 00:26:38.280 --> 00:26:39.350 And it kind of makes sense. 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:40.340 Naturally. 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:44.220 It's like, yeah, if God is with us, why would He? 00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:47.040 We shouldn't be suffering as much as we do. 00:26:47.100 --> 00:26:54.560 You know, he there shouldn't be as much hardships and trials that come our way because God wants what's 00:26:54.820 --> 00:26:55.990 best for me. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:04.420 But Paul writes his response in the book of Second Corinthians to these people that tried to discredit Paul and his ministry, 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:11.280 and he doesn't do it just to defend his ministry and his name, but he does it to save their relationship with Christ. 00:27:14.280 --> 00:27:19.400 And if we were to ask the Paul the question, why did God let you endure such immense trouble? 00:27:21.320 --> 00:27:26.640 His response would be in second Corinthians four, seven through ten. 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:38.240 But we have this treasure in jars of clay or earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:41.940 of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.410 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:48.460 Perplexed. 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:49.820 But not despairing. 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:51.500 Persecuted. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:52.870 But not forsaken. 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:56.460 Struck down but not destroyed. 00:27:56.860 --> 00:27:58.860 Always carrying about in the body. 00:27:59.460 --> 00:28:00.580 The dying of Jesus. 00:28:01.040 --> 00:28:06.210 So that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 00:28:08.080 --> 00:28:15.380 Several years ago, I was a co-program 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:20.730 director for a camp back in Michigan called Lincoln Lake Baptist Youth Camp. 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:24.240 And I had a tremendous time at this camp. 00:28:25.100 --> 00:28:26.240 As you always have at camp. 00:28:27.820 --> 00:28:29.460 So you should go to camp, kids. 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:37.100 Sorry I had to get that in there, but I was a co-program director and I 00:28:37.100 --> 00:28:43.850 got to do this with my friends and I got to share Christ with these kids and I got to run camp and it was a lot of fun. 00:28:44.800 --> 00:28:51.840 But towards the end of camp, three months into camp, there was the last week of 00:28:51.940 --> 00:28:54.280 camp and this camp was wilderness camp. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:02.440 Instead of being Co-program director, I'd be the sole program director for this camp and I 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:05.200 was ready for the summer to be done. 00:29:06.060 --> 00:29:13.400 Yes, I enjoy camp, but three months of it is insanely long and immensely 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:14.280 exhausting. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:23.920 And when the wilderness camp came that first night, the counselors decided to 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:25.660 steal my mattress. 00:29:26.360 --> 00:29:31.420 We slept in tents, but I had a mattress because I could bring that. 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:33.940 So I had a mattress and they stole it. 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:37.880 And it got wet because it was raining. 00:29:39.760 --> 00:29:43.260 And not only was that wet, but the rest of my bedding was wet. 00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:48.020 And I had to bring that inside my tent. 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:52.420 That got very moist and very damp really fast. 00:29:55.040 --> 00:30:02.120 And the rain decided to not go away that 00:30:02.120 --> 00:30:09.260 night or the next day or the next day or the 00:30:09.280 --> 00:30:09.960 next day. 00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:15.360 And the day following that, it rained the entire week that we were at camp. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:21.280 My clothes were wet, my bedding was wet, my mattress was wet. 00:30:21.560 --> 00:30:23.000 My tent was wet. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:23.920 I was wet. 00:30:25.100 --> 00:30:25.660 For a whole week. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:27.980 I was never dry. 00:30:29.900 --> 00:30:36.900 And that first night, going to bed at around 11, having to wake 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:44.800 up before the sun and sleeping, trying to fall asleep, completely cold 00:30:44.800 --> 00:30:51.920 and wet at 3:00 in the morning when I have to get up and like two hours thinking, 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:55.080 how am I going to operate? 00:30:55.380 --> 00:30:57.700 How am I going to function tomorrow? 00:30:59.820 --> 00:31:01.920 How am I going to go on? 00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:06.940 And that happened almost every night. 00:31:12.360 --> 00:31:14.480 And it was it was miserable. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:17.170 But the thing was. 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:27.260 That week having 20 or 20 to 30 campers being wet. 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:30.780 Being responsible for those teens. 00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:38.900 I thank God for being in the book of Second Corinthians during that week and reading about Paul's 00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:40.960 trials and hardships and going, You know what? 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.080 I don't have it that bad. 00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:45.820 And you know what happened? 00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:53.500 Even though I felt as if I could not go on, God's power was working in me. 00:31:54.320 --> 00:32:01.320 And that was probably one of the most beneficial weeks of ministry I have ever experienced 00:32:02.380 --> 00:32:09.740 because I was at the end of myself, I had nothing left to give and I felt God moving through 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:14.400 me and doing things that I had no idea were possible. 00:32:20.560 --> 00:32:23.180 It wasn't my strength that got me through that week. 00:32:24.800 --> 00:32:25.160 It was God's. 00:32:26.040 --> 00:32:27.060 And I felt that. 00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:29.580 And because of that. 00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:32.680 I can look back. 00:32:32.820 --> 00:32:36.360 All I can do is look back and praise God for what He did through me. 00:32:37.460 --> 00:32:44.620 I have nothing to take credit for because in and of myself, I wanted to give up 00:32:45.140 --> 00:32:49.480 and I wanted to go someplace dry and I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life. 00:32:53.260 --> 00:32:56.000 What if those words ring true? 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:56.240 What? 00:32:56.420 --> 00:32:59.820 Paul said that when we are most incapable. 00:33:00.660 --> 00:33:02.080 He didn't say these exact words. 00:33:02.860 --> 00:33:03.480 Sorry. 00:33:03.800 --> 00:33:05.460 We are when we are most incapable. 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:08.260 That is when God's glory is most visible. 00:33:09.700 --> 00:33:16.800 When we are acting solely dependent on the power of God, the life of Jesus is manifested in our lives because it's not 00:33:16.800 --> 00:33:18.100 the power that we have. 00:33:18.160 --> 00:33:18.880 It's the power of Christ. 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:24.820 I am weak, and when I am weakest, you are strongest. 00:33:25.700 --> 00:33:27.740 You work through my weakness. 00:33:30.280 --> 00:33:36.000 And listen to what Paul is saying to those who question whether or not he is sent from God. 00:33:36.360 --> 00:33:43.500 Those people in Corinth that try to discredit Paul, he isn't saying the trials that 00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:46.210 you're hearing about, they're really not that bad. 00:33:47.580 --> 00:33:52.250 We haven't really experienced that many trials. 00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:57.880 God's with us because he does bless us. 00:33:58.040 --> 00:34:00.440 He doesn't just make everything terrible. 00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:00.640 Now. 00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:01.780 He doesn't say that. 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:06.620 He says in those verses. 00:34:10.100 --> 00:34:16.090 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. 00:34:16.540 --> 00:34:19.620 We are afflicted in every way, but not persecuted. 00:34:19.750 --> 00:34:20.980 Afflicted in every way. 00:34:21.020 --> 00:34:21.570 But not crushed. 00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:22.540 Perplexed. 00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:23.230 But not despairing. 00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:24.880 Persecuted but not forsaken. 00:34:24.900 --> 00:34:26.150 Struck down but not destroyed. 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.300 He's saying that. 00:34:30.120 --> 00:34:30.960 And he's saying. 00:34:32.600 --> 00:34:33.000 That. 00:34:36.520 --> 00:34:44.159 It would have been impossible for him to go on in his ministry without 00:34:44.159 --> 00:34:48.060 the power of God through him because of all the trials that he's endured. 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:55.980 He's saying that if God was not with him yet, if God wasn't constantly with him, he would have burned out. 00:34:56.280 --> 00:35:01.020 He would have quit or would he would have been dead a long time ago. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:07.840 The power that he has, the reason why he's able to go on is not because of the power that he. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:15.340 Sometimes he somehow possesses, but it's the power of God working through Paul to accomplish amazing 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:16.140 things. 00:35:21.680 --> 00:35:24.160 And without God, he would have been crushed. 00:35:24.980 --> 00:35:28.630 He would have been perplexed and he would have been destroyed. 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:31.460 And that is what he is saying. 00:35:34.660 --> 00:35:35.480 For us today. 00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:38.560 This is absolutely crucial to understand. 00:35:40.580 --> 00:35:47.740 Trials will come and pain will be felt and there will be times when we feel crushed, when we 00:35:47.740 --> 00:35:54.410 feel the weight of things around us, beyond what we can endure. 00:35:55.060 --> 00:35:58.680 But we have a God who is always with us. 00:36:02.500 --> 00:36:07.660 We have a God that gives us what we need to persevere for. 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:14.860 He is greater than our trials and ultimately promise us something beyond these triumphs, trials and something 00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:18.720 far greater than bliss on this earth. 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:27.560 At the end of Second Corinthians Chapter four, Paul writes these words to remind the Corinthians of why he endures what he 00:36:27.560 --> 00:36:28.220 endures. 00:36:30.580 --> 00:36:37.720 In verse seven and 18, he says, For momentary light, 00:36:38.240 --> 00:36:45.600 affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all 00:36:45.600 --> 00:36:46.340 comparison. 00:36:47.220 --> 00:36:54.010 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal. 00:36:54.520 --> 00:36:57.360 But the things which are not seen are eternal. 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:02.020 Wait a second. 00:37:03.060 --> 00:37:04.880 What do you mean, light affliction? 00:37:05.240 --> 00:37:06.270 Paul What do you mean? 00:37:06.680 --> 00:37:10.560 The affliction that you've been feeling is light. 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:12.540 That doesn't make any sense. 00:37:13.100 --> 00:37:14.190 You've been stoned. 00:37:15.080 --> 00:37:17.740 You've been at the brink of starvation. 00:37:18.460 --> 00:37:19.480 You've been shipwrecked. 00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:24.680 You've been beaten over and over and over again. 00:37:24.700 --> 00:37:25.520 You've been run out of towns. 00:37:26.720 --> 00:37:28.620 People have hated you. 00:37:29.340 --> 00:37:29.940 You've been wanted. 00:37:30.300 --> 00:37:31.000 You've experienced. 00:37:31.100 --> 00:37:33.320 People wanted to kill you over and over again. 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:34.580 How could you say that? 00:37:34.720 --> 00:37:35.240 This is light. 00:37:38.040 --> 00:37:45.020 And I don't think Paul is saying that the experiences, the afflictions that he's experiences are light. 00:37:47.700 --> 00:37:53.300 But he's saying compared to the eternal weight of glory, it's almost nothing. 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:59.320 If someone can bench £300, you're like that guy. 00:38:00.100 --> 00:38:00.160 He. 00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:00.570 He can. 00:38:01.040 --> 00:38:02.560 He can bench a lot. 00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:04.470 That is a strong person. 00:38:05.520 --> 00:38:08.580 If you can bench £300, that's a lot of weight. 00:38:11.220 --> 00:38:11.820 But. 00:38:12.940 --> 00:38:15.920 Compared to 10,000 tons. 00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:20.040 It's pretty insignificant. 00:38:20.100 --> 00:38:20.560 It's almost nothing. 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:31.280 And Paul writes and says, the light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:38.280 all comparison, meaning the £300 that we bear in this life hold 00:38:38.280 --> 00:38:39.080 nothing. 00:38:40.160 --> 00:38:47.000 Nothing in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that we will have. 00:38:48.180 --> 00:38:48.420 What? 00:38:48.500 --> 00:38:48.620 Where? 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:49.400 With Jesus. 00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:52.400 Paul. 00:38:53.980 --> 00:39:01.060 That's a greater perspective and understands that there's so much more than what this world 00:39:01.060 --> 00:39:02.560 has to offer. 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:08.380 We don't understand why things are the way they are. 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:16.820 But God has promised us something far greater than comfort in this world. 00:39:19.340 --> 00:39:27.320 He has promised us his presence, his power, an eternal home 00:39:27.320 --> 00:39:28.710 with him.