Transcript for:
2 Corinthians 11:16,33 -Genuine or Fraud?- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2025-06-08

Second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 16 through 33. Remember, Jesus on the throne, would you please stand with me as we read God's holy word together? Second Corinthians chapter 11 beginning with verse 16. I say again, let no man think me a fool, if otherwise yet as a fool receive me that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly in the confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. For you suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man, take of you. If a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face, I speak as concerning reproach as though we had been weak. Howbeit where in so ever, any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more. Labors more abundant, stripes above measure, and prisons more frequent, and deaths off. Of the Jews, five times received I 40 stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and faithfulness painfulness, in watchings often, in thirstings often, in cold and nakedness, besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak? Am I not weak? Who is offended? And I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory at the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus, Damascus with a garrison, desiring to apprehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands. Father, we thank you for your holy word. And Lord, we're so excited this morning to, Lord, to get it as it's there. No embellishment. No watering down. No making it more palatable and easy to swallow. Lord, you've called us all to suffer. You've promised us we're all gonna suffer. And, Lord, I pray as we look at Paul's example, Lord, we pray as as we compare the false prophets with the true prophets of God. Is there any prophet that didn't suffer? So Lord, we pray that you'd undergird and strengthen us, help our faith to grow ever deeper, and not be blinded, and not be deceived by the mania, the craving of pleasure by the church today. Help us, Lord, we pray. Make it real. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Would you please be seated? It's said it's been said that people are like tea bags. You don't know what flavor they are till they're put in hot water. As Gerald Celente says, I don't know that he's a Christian, but, he's got a phrase. He's been watching the economic, thing for a long time. I've been following him. And he's always frustrated because they'll begin to predict the collapse of the economy as they are right now. And, so let's say I've been watching him eighteen, twenty years. They've been predicting this. They look at everything and they basically say, when people lose everything, they lose it. And then he gets frustrated because the bankers have another trick up their sleeve as these guys are looking at historical rules of, banking. And these guys, he calls it kicking it down the kick the can down the road with QE and, you know, all the different things they're able to do. And so anyway, what people are fine civil and all that. But when they lose everything, then they lose it. They lose the ability to maintain their composure and to love one another and care for one another. And so the apostle Paul understands the fraud of the false prophets, their unwillingness to what? To suffer for Jesus. I probably said this to you a hundred times if I'd said it once. In China, you are not considered a pastor by the Chinese Christians until you have spent time in prison. If you haven't spent time in prison, they know you are a false pastor. Because if you're a real pastor, you're an enemy of the state, you're hated for telling so much truth, and you're gonna spend some time in jail. In our country, it's the opposite. If you are the most pleasurable, popular, biggest dude around, you don't ever say anything that's gonna make you hate it because everything's based upon your popularity. Kathy goes so far as to say, I think some of these guys, Rick, work for the CIA. I I think the reason they don't say the things that you're saying is because they work for the CIA, and they wanna be able to present this psyop to deceive the evangelicals. Could that be? Could it be some of the biggest guys that we think are the biggest truth tellers? The way to know a false prophet is what they won't say. As Bonhoeffer and the others would point out, it's what they won't say. It's what they won't expose. And as soon as Bonhoeffer gets on the radio to tell, you know, the world, they shut the radio off. You know? The pastors receive money from the state, and they only bring forth state, you know, state doctrine. And, even Hitler's a Christian. You know? And the guys will be dancing and and celebrating, you know, during the evening. And and then during the daytime, they're incarcerating Jews and putting them on trains head to, you know, Auschwitz and all. And these guys claim to be Christians. And the churches sing, and the trains go by, and the screams are real loud of the people, the Jews who are so passive. Why were they so passive? Why do they passively, in compliance, just load those trains? That's a mind blower. The fear, Envelopment of fear. If you get them afraid, Joseph Goebel said you can get them to do anything. And the churches, what do they do? Do they speak up? No. If you speak up, man. Like William Rembrandt, you know, he he he was being silent. His wife said to him, he you know, you better speak up in Romania. And he says, if I do, they're gonna apprehend me. You might never see me again. And she'd said, I'd rather you speak up and behold away than me be married to a coward. And he spent he and her spent years imprisoned in Romanian jails. Oh, our Christianity is so different. But Paul is bringing a fresh picture of reality of the false prophets that come into Corinth after Paul has spent eighteen months planting this church. And while the Christians are just just babes, they're just young in the faith, these false prophets come through, these Judaizers, and they begin to twist the gospel that the Corinthians were taught and begin to undermine Paul and attack him personally. And, they're undermining their faith. And he's so as we saw last week, he's he's jealous over them with a godly jealousy because he wants to present them as a chaste virgin unto Christ. But he fears, lest as Eve was beguiled by the serpent, so they would be beguiled. They'd be seduced for the simplicity that's in Christ. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Fall in love with Jesus. Stay in love with Jesus. Don't fall in love with these slick false prophets. And so their unwillingness to suffer for Jesus, their unwillingness to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus, as Paul was doing from the very first day he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul says, that's a warning sign. If they're unwilling to suffer, that's a warning sign that they're truly not a prophet. And we would go further, they probably aren't even a Christian. An unwillingness to suffer. Paul knew that the cross epitomizes suffering. The cross speaks of a torturous death to self and exposes who we are as pro professing Christians. So Paul wore his suffering as a badge. Paul's saying, you know what? You guys are undermining me. And rather than me telling you that I was raised at the defeat of Gamaliel, the greatest tutor any guy could ever be raised, and rather than me letting you know what my IQ is, my degrees are, and the best schools of Tarsus like Moses schooled in Egypt, a Pharisee of Pharisees, brilliant according to the world, but headed to hell because I didn't know Jesus. And the greatest day of my life is when he introduced himself to me, and he said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who art thou Lord? I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. And what's your calling? Here's your calling, Paul. I wanna show you what things you must suffer for my namesake. Hey, sign me up. Jesus is it consistent with what Jesus said? If any man come after me, let him deny himself daily. Take this cross up and follow me. The cross speaks of suffering. Christian, you're gonna suffer. The only way not to suffer is to compromise, to comply with the world, to be quiet when you hear a lie and not say a word. Let the lie go, and fall into that trap of calling it love. He's not very loving. The most loving thing I could do is to expose those lies. I wouldn't be a pastor if I didn't expose those lies. People's eternal destinies are at stake. And time and time and time again, we've been vindicated, found to be true because it's the word of god. You can't you can't go against the word of god. You stay with the word of god, you're always gonna be on the side of truth. You compromise and water down the word of God, you're in a you're in a slippery place. The whole Rick Warren thing that exploded has led a generation of so called Christians, unbelievers filling churches that in a time of crisis may not even be able to cope with it. Because they're put in hot water and we find out what flavor they are. They find out they're not living their best life now. They find out there may be a cross to carry. There may be some suffering involved. People might hate them. People might mock them. People might ridicule them. But if it's a church where abortion's okay, if it's a church where, you know, the psychobabble and the therapy, therapeutic emphasis rather than a holiness and death to self, sure that that goes for a time because we're all victims. We're the victims, not Christ on the cross. He's not the victim. We're the victim. And it's all about us. It's all about me. It's all about him taking away that that pain within my heart, that brokenness within my heart. And although Jesus wants to do that internal change and transformation of our life, we're looking at the externals. We're looking at, hey, I need more money. I need more comfort. I need a better husband. I need a better wife, better family. Always the externals. Always the outward things. Somehow it's gonna satisfy me inwardly, when all along we have everything we need for life and godliness found in the person of Jesus Christ. And when you cheapen him when you cheapen him and he's not good enough, and you're gonna turn to the psychiatry and the psych psychobabble and these counselors and women pastors and everything, not that women can't teach, But you're not acknowledging the headship. You're not acknowledging that Jesus is the head of his church. He's the head of your home. He's the head of your life. And if you don't get that square, if you don't get that right, nothing's right. You can't accommodate and appease a rebellious people in apostasy, their rebellion against God. You can't appease them. It's never gonna be good enough. They've kicked Jesus out of his church. That's why he's knocking on the door. He desires fellowship. But they're self satisfied. I'm rich and increased with goods. I'm in need of nothing. And Jesus says, no. Your true condition is you're naked, poor, blind, and miserable. You can't even see. You don't even know which end is up. The cross of suffering identifies as genuine, genuine Christians. We look at Job's faith. Job's got it together, man. I mean, he's he's Job, baby. He's the richest guy there is. And Satan says, you know what? Your your your people that profess to love you, they really don't love you. And God says, well, guess what? Here's a way we can find out. I'm gonna make Job a football and you and I are gonna kick him up and down the field. He's not gonna know which end is up. You go and take all this stuff away from him and he'll curse you to your face, the devil says to God. It's his stuff. It's all that you've blessed him with. Who wouldn't be a Christian if they're blessed with all that stuff? You've got a hedge of protection around. I can't get to him. He's a man perfect and upright in all of his ways, a man that fears God and excuse evil. Have you considered my servant Job? No, God. Don't brag on me. Don't brag on me. No. Brag on someone else. Brag on Job. And God says, alright. You take away all of his stuff. And you know the story. It's all taken away, including his children. All taken away. All the externals, except for his wife because she's such an encouragement. You know? And Job's profession of faith, naked came I into the world. Naked, I'm gonna go. The lord giveth. The lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the lord. Great great song to sing triumphantly. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. And then Satan says and this is the one many of you have already gone through, many of us. Well, make him sick. Take away his health. So many of you have had your health taken away from you. It's probably gonna happen to every one of us if we live long enough. But it's it's gotta be the most crazy thing we could ever go through to go into there and have the doctor cut your chest open and give you a quadruple bypass. Are you kidding me? I wouldn't be able to take that. I'm not put together like you. Then maybe that's why he hasn't done it to me yet. But, I mean, I'm overwhelmed with just that thought. And you put your faith and trust in Jesus. You do the best you can, and you come through that. And then you gotta recover. So Job, he loses his health. Skin for skin. All that a man has will he give for his life. Amen? He doesn't give in to the devil. He continues to worship the lord. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. He knows the way that I take it. When he's tried me, I'm gonna come forth as gold. And then the devil is allowed to bring in these miserable comforters, these so called Christians that begin to armchair quarterback his life. They can't see beyond the curtain. They can't see what the god and the devil are talking about. All they can see is external, the outside of the suffering of Job, And they begin to postulate, well, Job you must have had something evil in your life. Probably something you were doing wrong. They didn't hear the Lord say, have you considered my servant Job? A man perfect and upright in all of his ways, a man that fears God and excuse evil? And at the end of the book, Job says, I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes. It's true. Job is a sinner like you and me. All along, it's been by God's grace. And God never says to Job, oops. I made a mistake. God never says to Job, I'm so sorry, Job. God's sovereign. He's on the throne. He's in control. And the suffering that he privileges us to go through glorifies him because we love him for who he is. And he gives us faith that the devil can't take from us. You can't take Job's faith. And that's who we need to be. That's what we need to be like. Suffering exposes who we are. In suffering, the genuine is, number one, compassionate. How do we know a person's genuine? They're compassionate. They're going through suffering, but they're not embittered. They're not angry. They're not wanting to burn the world down. They want everyone to suffer like they're suffering. Toxic, toxic, toxic. Get away from them. So the question comes, will we love? Will we love as we're going through suffering? He says verse 16, I say again, let no man think me a fool. Boy, they sure must be thinking him a fool. The word fool means without reason. Let nobody think I've lost my faculties, my ability to reason between good and evil. If otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. So let me boast like a fool for a moment. You guys like fools? I'm gonna be foolish for a moment. Verse 17. That which I speak, I speak it not after the lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting. So you guys wanna boast? You like the boasters? You like these guys that come through and boast of themselves? I'm a do a little boasting. But the boasting I'm gonna do of is my sufferings. Let me roll my pant leg up. Let me roll my arm up. Let me show you where I was hit during combat. Let me show you the scars. Let me let me lift my pant leg up, and you see where the surgeon cut my leg off from the knee down. Nothing left. Why? Why? Why? Why? Love. Love motivated me. Greater love has no man than this, and man laid down his life for his friends. I was willing to suffer. I was willing to not only suffer, I was willing to give my life for the cause. What was the cause? Peace. We're trying to preserve peace. Because the world is filled with evil men and women and and plans and strategies to imprison us, to enslave us. And so good, evil men triumph when Edmund Burke said, when good men will do nothing. They're indifferent, unwilling to engage, unwilling to stand against evil. Paul's willing to stand against these false prophets. He's willing to be paraded as a fool. So not after the example of Jesus, but like these frauds. Verse 18, seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. I'll give you a comparison. Verse 19, for you suffer fools gladly. These guys are all in for these fools. All in. You can't say anything against their fools. Hey, wait a minute. That's my pastor. You can't say that. Well, your pastor's a fraud. He's a heretic. Well, that's not very loving. It'd be much more loving during pride month to, you know, to not say homosexual lesbianism is a is a sin. You know? Really? Well, the Bible says it's a sin. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah. That's God's solution. That's his attitude. That's what he says. And the children, they're wanting to groom. The laws they're wanting to enact. We love anybody that's homosexual, lesbian. We recognize many of them were themselves abused as children, confused, broken inside. And we seek to win them to Christ. We seek to win them to Jesus that they no longer have that gnawing pain within, that Jesus would set them free. But for those who are rebellious, who are just defiant against god. And they express that defiance and rebellion by wanting to snuff out the innocence of children, to pray and upon children in the school system, To brainwash and indoctrinate children, confuse them about their gender and all? No. Not on our watch. That's not love. That's not gonna happen. We, as parents, will not allow it to happen. And we don't send anybody to hell. Our adultery, our lying, our cheating, our stealing, all of us have sinned. All have fallen short of the glory of God. Our sin's no different than anybody else's sin except that we've repented. That's the difference. We seek to turn to Jesus and for him to change us and transform us and make us new. But the frauds, they present a pseudo love, a pseudo intellectualism, a false love that says God's tolerant of evil. Boy, that might make you popular, but it's not the truth. For you suffer fools gladly, seeing yourselves are wise. So if you only listen to fools, I'll be a fool since you've forgotten how I treated you with compassion. So Paul's gonna use a savage irony. Paul's gonna use sarcasm. Have you ever met a more sarcastic pastor than me? I love sarcasm. It's my contempt for the idiocy of the age in which I'm living. I'm so angry at the idiocy that I've gotta try and make a joke out of it, mock and expose it. Hopefully, that there's somebody here that can think. Hopefully, you're saying you're cheering me on like, finally, somebody said what I was thinking. You're thinking just like me, aren't you? Everyone's so afraid of being politically incorrect. Pastor Rick don't care. Not gonna pass up a good joke. And the more you tell me, the more gets in the sermon, so you gotta be careful. Savage irony. For ye suffer a man to bring you into bondage, so you allow the legalist to make you a slave. If a man devour you, always about the money. My dad's in in the hospital and he watches a lot of TV right now. And he's trying to, you know, see what's out there. He's getting a lot of television evangelists and all. Stuff that he normally shies away from. And I said, well, what's it like? Tell tell me what what are they up to now? What's the latest trick? Oh, it's always about money. It's always about money. Money money money money money money. And the fools give it to them. The only way those guys can have jets and be worth billions of dollars is that foolish people send the money in. Mind boggling. You let them devour you. You know, the the Pharisees were gobbling up. They were devouring a widow's estates, making it a spiritual thing for the widows to give everything they have to these Pharisees. And that's what these false prophets are doing even still today. They're devouring you. And you let them exploit you. You paid them to make you a fool, to manipulate you. If a man exalts himself, so you're dominated by him, they're lording over you. If a man smites you on the face, they're insulting you. They're intimidating you. Verse 23, I speak as concerning reproach as though he had been been weak. So yes, to my shame, I was too weak to abuse you like they did. I worked. I was chargeable to no man. And you let these guys in and you gladly pay them. Go into bondage. Let them berate you and lord over you. Put you under the law. Take away your freedom in Christ. And Paul's just shaking his head, like, what's going on? So instead of bondage, we brought you freedom, the forgiveness of sin. Instead of money, we labored night and day so that we could freely give unto you. Instead of manipulation, we served you. Instead of exalting ourselves, we humbled ourselves. We became weak to make many strong. Instead of abusing you, we loved you. We sacrificed for you. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give us life a ransom for many, Jesus said. The irony, the craziness of all this. In first Kings chapter 18 verse 27, the prophet Elijah was sick and tired of the apostasy of the nation of Israel. And Ahab and Jezebel were in control, or so they thought. And God caused it not to rain for the space of three years. So things are getting pretty tough. And so Obadiah, one of the prophets, he had hid 50 a hundred different prophets in caves and stuff because Jezebel had a had a rage to go and kill all the she had a that Clinton Hillary Clinton rage to go kill all the all the prophets. She's sending her hit men after him. The Clinton list is huge, you know. And, and so she's a she's just nut nutcase. She's a Sidonian princess. So Abraham marries a foreigner princess and she introduces the nation to a great heavy degree of Baalism and Ashtoreth, which are fertility gods and goddesses that seduced the people and drew them away from the true and living God. And so there's 450 prophets of Baal and there's 400, to Ashtoreth that Jezebel controls that are in the groves and all. And Elijah comes and he says, let's see who the true and living God is. Let's have a contest. Wouldn't you love to have a contest? I would love to have a contest with the unbelievers. The tragedy is they want a monopoly. They want a censor. I'm not afraid to be in a good fight, a good argument, to bring forth the truth. The truth is on my side, whether it be evolution, you know, you name it. We have the truth on our side. But they don't want creation taught in the public schools. They don't want the word of God taught Genesis in the public schools because we gotta indoctrinate, not educate. We gotta indoctrinate these children into a false religious system. It's easy to win those kind of debates because the truth is on our side. But man, they don't wanna they don't wanna spar. They don't wanna do it. They wanna monopoly. They wanna dummy down the people. They wanna dominate the people. And they wanna act like they're, you know, doctorates and we're the educated and trust the science. How many times we had to hear trust the science? Over and over again. Well, let us have some doctors that can present the facts then. No. You don't want that. You gotta have a one-sided censorship and manipulation of the people. And also, Elijah says, guess what? I've talked to God and I can get you some rain. Really? No. He didn't say it that way. He said, let's have a contest. Bring all your prophets of Baal over to Mount Carmel. Bring the four fifty and the 400. Get them over to Mount Carmel, and let's see if your little g gods can do what the true living God can do. And so you know the story. Elijah's there and he's allowing the 450 prophets of Baal to build an altar and to, get the wood ready, get everything ready, the trench dug, everything everything set there and all. And then Elijah on his side, he's he's got a trench dug. He's got he's got a a whole area where he can pour water onto it and all. And then he gives them the first shot. Alright. You guys first. Call down fire. Here's the issue. If you can call down fire from heaven and your god can consume the altar with the with the animal sacrifices all cut up and laid there just just right, then we'll all say, wow, you do have a powerful god, you know. Maybe your god of Baal is true. And so these occultists, they begin to chant and they're gonna get to the point where they're cutting themselves and they're getting into a occultic frenzy to try and make it happen and everything. And Elijah, about noon time, Elijah says, man, it's noon. You guys have been at this a few hours, you know. Maybe maybe your little g god, maybe maybe he's talking. Maybe he's too busy talking somewhere. Maybe he maybe he is pursuing, it says in the King James. We would say it in a very nice way here. Maybe he's going potty. Can we say that in a mixed group? He's going potty. That's savage irony. That's sarcasm. That's mocking these false prophets. And yet our sensibilities Pastor Rick, you can't talk like that. Why can't I? Why not? Jesus rebukes the Pharisees. He he mocks them. Elijah's mocking these guys. Paul's mocking these guys. It's part of a way that you kinda shock people into realizing they're being deceived. You're just trying to pop the bubble. They're seduced. I need to pop that bubble. Why isn't there god able to bring down fire? Is he on a journey? Is he talking? Is he going potty? What is it? And then they intensify their occultism, cutting themselves and, you know. And the devil's just a fallen angel. The devil's in chains. He can't do nothing right there. He can't deceive the people. God's holding them back. He can only do what God lets him do, to test the people to see whether they'll believe in God or not. Is the devil after you right now? Oh, is the bug there? Oh. Oh. Getting Pentecostal on me. Alright. Didn't think I see that stuff, do you? So then it comes Elijah's turn and he's calls out to God and God causes fire to come up. But first, he wants to make it, you know, really impossible by filling it with water three times, barrels of water. And so the fire comes down and it consumes the offering. It consumes there's some wood. It consumes the altar itself. And it even says that it it consumed the dust and it and it licked up the water. Just licked it up. Took it all away. And then you guys bring those 450 prophets down here to the brook and we're gonna slam them. They killed the 450 prophets of Baal. And Jezebel, she's hiding the 400. And she starts putting out threats that, Elijah, you're gonna be dead by this time tomorrow. So this guy goes from a huge mountaintop victory all the way into the valley, letting a false prophetess say that he's gonna be dead real soon, you know. And oh, Elijah gets all depressed. He's human. He's worn out. Physiologically, emotionally, spiritually, he's worn out. He needs to be a nurse and cared for, and God brings him the brook and gives him water, and Raven to bring him food, and gets him some physical rest and all. And what's the what's the best thing God can do in the prescription for Elijah? Get back to work. Don't be idle. You're a prophet? You'd be a prophet. Occupy till I come. There's no time to get depressed, no time to be paralyzed with fear, especially from a Jezebel. Don't let it happen. Get back to work. Watch God save people. Once the Lord saves people in your midst, it's like it's all worth it. All the suffering goes away. It's like birthing a baby. I've had a couple of them, but birthing a baby. Really painful until it it comes she comes out and all the pain's gone for the joy of a child being born. And that's what it's like when people come to Christ for a pastor and a pastor's wife in a little church fellowship. You know, when when we see the Lord save one of our loved ones, oh, it's all worth it. It's all worth it. That suffering I went through drew attention to Jesus. I was able to point to Jesus. He's the one that got me through it. He's the one that gave me the compassion and the love for those around me. And then all of a sudden, it's all worth it. Would you be willing to suffer that somebody would make it to heaven and not go to hell? Certainly. Especially with your children, Especially. So the irony of it all. In suffering, the genuine or compassionate. Secondly, in suffering, in suffering, when you suffer, think it not strange when you fall into trials. It's not if. It's when. In suffering, the genuine is committed. How committed are you? We saw will you love. We asked the question now. Will you quit? How many do you know that have already quit? And it's not even tough yet. I'm thinking of Jeremiah 12. You know, if you're weary with the foot soldiers, what are you gonna do when you know, God's not giving into Jeremiah's fears. He's not giving into Habakkuk, you know, when Habakkuk is, like, concerned about the Babylonians, you know, coming against Jerusalem. You know, he he lets Habakkuk know, Habakkuk, I'm gonna do something that if I told you, you wouldn't even believe me. And that's in the negative, not the positive, like I tried to let Kathy know about coming to Bremerton. I'm I misinterpreted that. I thought god was gonna do something so great that she wouldn't even believe it if I told her. You know? But it's in the negative. Habakkuk, I'm gonna do something so evil, so wrathful, so so hard for anybody to wrap their head around. I'm gonna use the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. And then he tells him, Habakkuk, the just shall live by faith. You're gonna have to trust me. You're gonna have to keep trusting me. You don't just start out trusting me. You're gonna have to trust me your whole life long. You never quit. You never go back. You never say, I didn't sign up for this. The genuine isn't gonna go back, isn't gonna quit, gonna continue, gonna persevere. In Romans five, your character is being formed as you go through these seasons and instances of suffering. So will you quit? 21 b, how be it, wherein so ever any is bold, I speak foolishly. I am bold also. Verse 22. Are they Hebrews, These false prophets? So am I. Because they would prance around. I'm a Hebrew. I'm of the chosen people. So am I. Are they Israelites? Not just a Hebrew, but an Israelite. In Isaac shall they seed be called. Jacob's name changed from Jacob Hillcatcher to Israel. The speaking of the 12 tribes of Israel. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Paul says in Philippians three five, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. Jesus told his disciples, except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, in Matthew five verse 20, you shall no wise enter the kingdom of God. They're masters at the external. You've gotta be far more righteous than these Pharisees. Concerning the law of Pharisee, they get a net in their mouth. You know? They swallow at a net. They swallow a camel straining out a net. You know, these guys would tithe from their little spice gardens and all there to the very letter of the law these guys are trying to hold to the law. Every jaw and every tittle. And Jesus said, your righteousness is gonna have to exceed that, to enter the kingdom of God. And they're like, who can be saved? Who can do it? And then Jesus begins to explain to them and teach them the intention of the law is to stop every mouth. The intention of the law is to judge and stop the self confidence the Pharisees have Because if they look upon a woman with lust, they've already committed adultery. If they're angry with their brother, they've already committed murder. The law is intended to make every person guilty, so that every person can come by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ, salvation being a free gift. So Paul says concerning the law, I was a Pharisee of Pharisees, man. I was zeal so zealous I was persecuting the church. I was going after them, man. So these guys don't exceed me in that way. Not even a chance. And so we see that I'm an Israelite indeed. In John chapter one, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, his cousin. And John describes it and says, it was like a a dove coming down. The Holy Spirit came down like a dove upon him. And, the voice from heaven is my beloved son and all. And and John's like, unworthy to baptize and all, but he's gonna baptize with the Holy Ghost and all. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He says it twice there in chapter chapter one. And then Jesus, goes from there, from that experience. And as we as we, move on through, he's, two of the disciples are walking along with him, John's disciples and all. And, they come over to, one of them is Andrew. And then they come over to Andrew, and Andrew goes home to get his brother, Simon Peter, who's unstable. And Jesus said, I know who you are. You're Simon Peter. I'm gonna call you no longer Simon. I'm gonna call you Peter, which means stone. You're gonna be little stone, little rocky. And then they're from Bethsaida. Andrew and Peter are from the city called Bethsaida. And there's another guy from Bethsaida named Philip. And Jesus comes to Philip the next day and says, Philip, come follow me. So Philip starts to follow Jesus and you got Peter and you got Andrew who's always going and bringing people to Jesus. Come, Andrew excuse me. Andrew had told his brother Peter, come, we found the Messiah. And then Philip is following the Lord and recognized that he's the Messiah. And then Philip comes and gathers Nathaniel. Nathaniel is standing over by a fig tree. And he says, come, we found the Messiah. We found the Christ. It's Jesus of Nazareth. And Nathaniel's incredulous said, Nazareth? Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip says, come and see. Come and see. So as Philip is walking over there toward or Nathaniel is walking over there toward, Jesus, Jesus says, behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. This is a genuine Israelite. This is a genuine believer. How do you know my name? Well, you're standing over there by the fig tree. I knew you. You think that's a big thing? I knew your name? Think it's a big thing? You're gonna see even greater things than these. Heaven's gonna open. The angels of God are gonna ascend and descend upon the son of man. Stick around, dude. You're gonna see a lot of things over the next three and a half years. An Israelite. Paul's saying, I'm an Israelite. I'm a believer. I'm a follower of Jesus. My my faith is open. I'm not just following like a Pharisee anymore with a dead faith, don't don't even know who the Messiah is. I know that Jesus is the Messiah. I'm an Israelite indeed. Amen. Hallelujah. Jesus said, you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. Jesus said, if you continue in my word are you continuing or are you a quitter? If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples? What? Indeed. A genuine. How do we know a genuine Christian? They get through suffering and they continue. They don't quit. They never quit. We're living in a time of apostasy, a great departure. I hate to use that word. But a falling away from the faith once believed. People are not only falling away professing Christians, they are resisting the Holy Spirit, falling away. They're departing. And the word speaks of rebellion. They're rebelling against the truth. They wanna make their own church. The church of Laodicea means people rule. People are ruling in the church, wanting the church to be made after themselves and their own ideas. That's apostasy, falling away from the truth. And that's why I'm such a stubborn Jack. You know the rest of it. You know, because I have to stay with the word of God. I don't care who comes in here, Who offers me whatever? Always, always tested with compromise. Likes. It always comes down to the word of God, pleasing Jesus first. Who will quit? Howbeit when so ever any is bold? I speak foolishly. I'm bold also. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? How How do I know they're a minister of Christ? Paul says, let's compare scars. So some of you are Christians. Some of you are in the military or were in the military, and you signed up, you passed boot camp, and you you did your job faithfully, to your nation. And people would say, hey, you're a you're a warrior. And then there's other guys, d day, June seventh, hit the beaches in Normandy. And they got sprayed, decimated, wiped out, but they didn't quit. They overwhelmed the Germans. They set France free. Now the ones coming home, the ones that made it home, that were on that beach, many of them are wounded, broken, shot, and somebody questions whether they're really a soldier or not. Well, let me tell you. Look at this. Look at this. Look at the scars. Look at the schemata, the scars of Jesus that I bear, Paul's able to say later. That's my proof. I bear the scars of Jesus. I suffered in his place. He's not here to suffer anymore, but I'm filling up his sufferings. As a Christian, you're filling up his sufferings. People are reminded of the cross. They're reminded of how Jesus suffered to prove his love. And your willingness to love and to not quit, all the Christians that were brought into the Colosseum in Rome, and gladly gladly became a spectacle. The word spectacle is theatron, the theater of the angels and everybody watching these beautiful Christian families, men, women, and children be mocked, be put in coats of skins, and and eaten by wild beasts, wild animals, and such, just for the sport. Just for the sport of of these crazy, crazy people. Unbelievable. And yet we're reminded We're reminded of the crushing, the crucible of suffering that Jesus went through. He never complained. The crushing of the cross, it only revealed even greater love as he interceded for us. And he said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do. We see his heart. We see the heart of Jesus as he's being mocked and ridiculed and spit upon. His beard has been pulled out. He's received the cat of nine tails on his back. He's been beaten beyond the recognition of a man, loss of blood and strength and ability, and Simon is able to help him carry the cross there. And, and the people are there in his face. You saved others yourself. You know, save yourself if you're the Christ. Come down from that cross. But he hid not his face from shame and spitting, did he? He took it all in. What's his what's his reaction? What's his attitude? What's his heart? From the buns of the heart, the mouth speaks. We don't know what flavor you are till you're crushed. Oh, till you're crushed. Oh, Bishop of Smyrna, Bishop of Smyrna Polycarp, we don't know what flavor he is. The word Smyrna means myrrh. The myrrh, you can't smell that myrrh, the sweetness of that myrrh, the bitterness of that word myrrh for embalming. And Jesus has good things to say concerning the church of Smyrna. He says, I know your suffering. I know what you're going through. I know how faithful you are. You're not quitting. I know you're compassionate. But the fragrance of Christ is gonna come forth from you when we crush you. And then the myrrh comes forth either as sweetness or as bitterness. That's what the word Smyrna means. The fragrance of Christ coming forth. Are you gonna quit? Let's compare the scars. I speak as a fool. I am more in labors, more abundant in the stripes, above measure in prisons, more frequent in deaths often. So we see Paul here, the prisoner. He didn't quit or excuse me, the pioneer. He's pioneering this church. He's a church pioneer. I consider one of the greatest privileges of my life, leaving the party and coming here, being here thirty years, and being able to plant a church here in Kitsap County with you. How many people do you know have planted a church? We planted a church here. Brian and James and all of us collectively, we continue to plant this church. It hasn't been uprooted yet. And we all share. We all share together. But Paul's a church planter. These these false prophets, they don't plant churches. They come in to try and steal the church, to steal the sheep. They're sheep rustlers. They wanna take over while Paul's not there. And he says he says, you know, I've I've labored for these guys. I am more in labors, more in abundant stripes, above measure in prisons, more frequent in deaths often. I didn't quit. The genuine shepherd lays down his life for the sheep in John 10. The hireling quits when things get tough. They take off. They're just gonna take their resume and they're gonna send their resume through the different denominational structure they have, and they're gonna look for a better gig. They're not gonna endure the suffering of a church that's sick, that's stale, that's stagnant. There's just not enough people for me. I've got a I've got better talent than that. I'm wasting my talent in that small town. I'm gonna go somewhere where where I can capitalize on the demographic. I wanna be popular. I wanna be prosperous. I wanna waste my life in Corinth. These people are never gonna get it. He didn't quit on them, but the false prophets do. When things get tough, what are they? They're cowards. Cowards always quit when things get tough. The genuine stays in the marriage. You wanna be a warrior? You wanna be a dad, a father? You stay in that marriage. Your kids are counting on you. You failed? You quit once? Don't do it again. You quit when you're an unbeliever? We understand that. As a believer, as a professing Christian, don't quit. The genuine stays in the marriage. Two can only walk together except they be agreed. It takes two, husband and wife, don't quit. You got a problem in the marriage? The problem's vertical. The problem's in your walk with the Lord. Get right with the Lord. Get right with Jesus. Die to self. The husband remains faithful. He doesn't quit when adversity strikes. The selfish fraudulent cowards are always looking for a better gig. So many women coming through the sixties into the seventies. In the fifties, Kathy's mom, many of the ladies, the sexual revolution hit. And these idiots coming out of the fifties into the sixties, they began to envision themselves as Hugh Hefner. Their wives got them through school. Their wives faithful at home and homemakers, far smarter than their husbands. And they prove it by gaining a career and showing them later. But at what expense? The children. The home. The family. Nobody can do do the job of a mother in a Christian home as well as the mother. Nobody can do that job, not the public schools. And some of you ladies that are career minded ladies, you had double duty. You did both. You're super moms. You didn't quit. You raised the kids without a husband or with a husband. Doesn't matter. Your testimony as a Christian is predicated upon faithfulness. Faithfulness, compassion, love, and never quitting. An easier path, greener grass. Kathy's dad once told me that when divorced, Kathy's mom, twenty five years of marriage, and he's a successful businessman, salesperson, making lots of money. But he had a lot of affairs. A lot of prostitutes and selling and drinking and mixing it up with people, making them feel comfortable to get the sales through and spent accounts and all those things. And Kathy's mom knew about it. She stayed in the marriage for the girls, for the kids, hoping he'd come to a census one day. And when we got married, we had him and his new wife over and she began to degrade Kathy's mom, Marlene. She began to tear her down right there at the dinner table. Try and justify the divorce, justify all that went on. She was testing us to see if we'd go along with what they were doing because, hey, they had the money. But we've never been one to be bought. So I said, no. I I think you went through a midlife crisis, Bill. I think you thought you'd go for the younger model and it you know, that'd be the way to do it, whatever. And he says to me, you know, I thought the grass was greener on the other side. I found out it's not, but there's no going back. And his his new wife was blown away by that. But it was it was an honest assessment of how deceived he was and what it's like thinking the grass is greener on the other side. It's always about them. Never was about Jesus. The fiery the fire of suffering exposes the frauds. The draws to be separated from the genuine. Paul says, are they Israelites? So am I. Are they of the seed of Abraham? So am I. God told Abraham in in, Genesis thirteen six that his seed's gonna be as the dust of the earth. In Genesis twenty two seventeen as the sand of the sea. In Genesis fifteen five as the stars of heaven. You're not gonna get rid of the nation of Israel. There's no replacement theology. God placed for keeps the seed of Abraham. Of the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes save one. Now here's an important thing to remember. When Jesus was when Pilate told them to lick or to strike Jesus, to give the cat of nine tails to him. There's a handle that they'd hold and strips of leather with pieces of bone and pottery. Things that were that could blunt. And so it's taking off it's not just hitting the surface, it's pulling the sinews of the skin out and it would expose organs, it would expose, parts deeper parts of their body that disfiguring. And, and remember with the Romans, they didn't have to stop at Deuteronomy twenty five three that says the Jews have to stop at 40 lashes. They didn't have to stop there. They could continue as long as they want to get a confession out of Jesus. And as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, he opened not his mouth. He had nothing to confess. Now the Jews, if they saw that a person, they were going to whip him in this way, they could give him 10, they give him 20, They could give him no more than 40. So they had three different divisions there of what they would give to a person. And they decided, these Jews decide with Paul, he's gonna get the full amount. But they weren't gonna do 40 because if they did 41, they'd get in trouble. So the Jews thought that they're really clever, so only give them 39. So 40 stripes less one. So you know this was administered, he says, five times receive thy 40 stripes save one. So he's tortured by his brothers, his own brothers, and he never quit on them. In Romans nine three, he says, I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Paul said, I'm willing to give up my salvation for these guys that just do nothing but beat me to death. If I could just get through to him, this blindness that in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. If I could just get him to see, hey, Antonio, you know, hey, commander, you know, at the Antonio forces, let me speak to him. You know, so Paul begins to speak in Hebrew, and they get quiet until he comes to the word gentile. Then they go crazy. They go crazy in trying to pull them apart and all. I mean, he's he's really, really wants to reach his countrymen. And like Moses, Paul says, I'm willing to give up my salvation if it'd be enough just to just to get these people to see. He says, thrice I was beaten with rods. It's unlawful to beat a Roman citizen, but thrice I was beaten with rods. You know? This is this isn't right. At Philippi in Acts sixteen sixteen, he was beaten. Him and him and Silas. And they brought the house down, didn't they? And the Philippian jailer came to know the lord and his whole house. He says, once I was stoned. I'm not gonna make a joke there. They tried to kill him. And stone is the way that the Jews are trying to kill somebody. He's there at Lystra. He's there to preach the gospel. They just previously, just a few verses before, were gonna worship him and Barnabas as Jupiter and Mercurius. I mean, you you got it. You got the popularity. They're gonna make us gods. And Paul stops them, stops them. No. We're men of like passions as ye. We're just men. We're not even angels. We're just men like you. We're not gods. Oh, god. How quick it changes. You go from being a god to being stoned, left for dead. And everybody's standing around him and he stands back up. Would you quit at that point? Would you say, hey, I I need a little r and r. I need a sabbatical. I know of a pastor that inherited a ministry. And the ministry had probably $250,000,000 of assets. 60,000,000 of which was cash. And he went through it. Destroyed the church. Goes from 20,000 people down to 400. But he's got all the money. Run it out of money and sells a church asset for 52,000,000. Now he's on a sabbatical, traveling the world. And not one peep from any pastor or board member or somebody that shall hold him accountable. I'd hate to I hate to meet up with God after that. And you know, the irony of that is, he thinks he's so spiritual. He thinks he's so much smarter. And, you know, I think there's a mental illness there. I think it's the Obama thing where your chin goes up and you're the emperor with no clothes. You think you've got it. And everyone's just like, oh, this is so embarrassing. It's just so embarrassing. How did he how did he get in that position? The lord's just shaming all of us to watch the feet of clay of man. It's not by might nor by power, but by by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Previously, there was a great move and work of God's spirit. Now there's Ichabod, the glory of the Lord has departed. And even with all those resources, radio stations, everything, he can't draw enough people there to pay the bills. I've experienced not being able to pay the bills, but I didn't have any people. I didn't have nothing. This guy's got it all. He's got no excuse. What a shame. Nobody can talk about it. Nobody say anything. Paul stands up and he goes right back in. Right back in and he begins to minister to the people of Lystra and at Iconium and Antioch and and it and he says to them he says to them he lets them know that we, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. This isn't an anomaly. This isn't a coincidence. This isn't a rare isolated incident. This is common practice for Christians. Get ready. Get your big boy pants on. We through much tribulation, not the tribulation, much tribulation. Jesus said, in this world you will have tribulation pressure upon you. But be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. I mean look at this guy, he's disfigured. He's he's beat up with And then many people come to Christ through that. Many of the people are emboldened to receive Christ. So too the people that are watching those in the Colosseum be killed. They're emboldened to come to Christ. The Romans wiped out close to 6,000,000 Christians in the first two centuries. All they had to do, those of Smyrna, was say Caesar is lord. All Polycarp had to do was say Caesar is lord and Polycarp could could live another day. And the soldiers and those that are gonna kill him are saying, please, we don't wanna kill an old man. 80 in six years he's been faithful to me. How could I quit on him now? The Bishop of Smyrna, the only church that has a good report from Jesus. We know you've been faithful. I see your faithfulness. Don't fear none of these things that are about to happen to you. You continue to walk by faith, and I've got a crown of life for you waiting for you. That's Jesus exhorting them. Every tear, every hurt, every every every hair that falls out of your head doesn't go unnoticed. The lord sees these things and he cherishes your faith being exemplified, being lived out, and your willingness to suffer for him. He says three times or thrice in the King James, I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I've been in the deep. Oh, that's the horn of Africa getting around the horn. Oh, a night and a day in the deep. That's commitment. No going back. Remember Lot's wife? No man putting his hand to the plow looking back, continually looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God, a pillar of salt. He says, in journey and soften notice the word perils here. The word peril means danger. Constant danger all around him. So how do we operate in the face of danger? Are we gonna be paralyzed with fear? Or do we have enough faith to continue? I have to be honest with myself in that there are things that have happened in my life coming out of it years later. I have to be honest, I don't know if I can trust God. It was so traumatic, so over the top. The evil. People dying around me. People leaving. Years of working. Where was god? Why was I so abandoned? Why did everybody leave? Why did they run off to new life, which is proven to be an apostate church? Why would they all run there? Where are you, god? What am I to do now? Just be faithful, Rick. But can I trust you for big things like I used to when I was a crazy man? I don't think I can do that, Lord. I don't think I can step out that far anymore. So I'm gonna keep it close to the chest. I'm gonna keep it real close and and not take any more risks. You know, I'm getting older. I'm waiting for the Lord to do some big things, but to do it by his spirit because I can't do it my own strength anymore. And I know the Lord was helping me. I know the Lord did miracles. I know the Lord did some amazing things. It was the Lord. It was radical. And I drive through Downtown Bremerton. I hate going there, but I go there and it's dark. The light is gone. God, why would you take the light out of there? I was never afraid of the darkness. Never once was I afraid. We're engaging the enemy day by day. Lord, why allow the church to fight against itself and to implode upon itself? I can't I can't reconcile it. And so faith, our faith I'm not gonna quit, but I don't know that I have the faith of a Joshua and a Caleb when they're eighty eighty five years old and he's gonna go slay giants. He's as strong in his eighties as he was in his forties, and he's ready to take mount, you know, the mount there at Hebron. Hey. You promised me, Joshua, I'd get this section of land. Well, there's giants that well, we'll we'll get rid of the giants. Hey, Caleb. You and I went in there before and there were walled cities and giants, and we said, let's go in right now. We've wasted forty years going in a circle till this generation's, you know, died. And I'm as strong now as I was then. Let's go. Let's get on it. No matter how old you are, don't quit. God has great things he wants to do through you. And I'm admitting, Lord, I believe, but help my own belief. Strengthen my faith. Give me the faith. A night and a day I've spent in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren. What's on your list? Where's your list? What perils, what danger were you willing? What risk were you willing to take for the kingdom of God? It doesn't always go well. Sometimes we fail according to men, but with God, it's not a failure. He's gonna still reward you for your faithfulness. You didn't quit. You humbled yourself. You stayed in that marriage. You stayed in that ministry. You kept doing the best you can. How big is your list? How intense? Oh, I'm gonna quit. I I broke my nails. I I I just got my nails done. It broke and I I can't take it anymore. I need some gummies. Paul warned us in second Timothy three one, that in the last days perilous times are gonna come. Dangerous times. If this world breaks out into World War three with the nukes flying, believe me, we're gonna hit a time that none of us have ever seen before. Few of us. And I don't know how I'm gonna put my pants on. One leg at a time. That's right. One day at a time. Not gonna quit over a broken nail. I got some nice nails. But so if I ever say to you, man up. Don't get your feelings hurt and leave the church. You all wanna think you're warriors. Bunch of quitters. So many people quit. I mean, what? You got your feelings hurt? Really? Gosh. So what, I gotta talk to you like I'm a nurse? I gotta I gotta get a hanky out and wipe your wipe your lip like you're a child? Just just do your job. Do what God's called you to do without excuses. Pastor Romaine used to tell us about an animal called a yabbet. You ever seen a yabbet? The pastor tries to help you out of your excuses and out of your quitting, and it's your wife's fault, and you're coming up with all this stuff, and he gives you the solution, and you say, yeah, but yeah, but yeah, but yeah, yabby, yabby, yabby, yabby. As the Lord told Peter, if I wilt tarries till I come, what is that to you? Follow thou me. You do your job. Leave him to me. I'll deal with him. In weariness and painfulness, and watchings often, and hunger and thirst, and fastings often, in cold and in nakedness. So Paul went without. He persevered as seeing him who is invisible. He lacked and so we see him as a pioneer now as a pastor. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Pressure without and pressure within. Committed to others, not every man for himself. And so it's very difficult you guys don't know this because you're not pastor pastor's wives or kids. You guys are on our minds twenty four seven. All we talk about for thirty years is this church and the people in this church. And our kids get tired of it. That's why sometimes they wanna go to another church, another place, other friends, separate themselves. If we didn't care about you, we'd just blow you off. It's like punching a card. Once we punch the clock here, I'm done with you. It's over. Onto something else. That's not the way it is. That's not the way it is for you as parents. That's not the way it is for us as as a shepherd, as a pastor. Even when you leave, we're thinking about you, praying for you, your loved ones. We never gloat when we hear that you've fallen into sin. In your rebellion, in your projection, you project upon me, finding fault with me. And I stand up against you. And then you leave here because you didn't get your way. And then I find out you've been having an affair all along. And now you're leaving your wife. And you had the audacity to try and project upon me. And I still pray for you and your children. I see your children. I see your grandchildren in the community. Paul cared. False prophets don't care. They could care less. Who is weak? Am I not weak? Who is offended? I burn not. So Paul said, I'm committed. I'm not indifferent. In a time of crisis, you could count on the apostle Paul. He would not abandon anyone. No soldier left behind was his policy. Suffering exposes who we are. In suffering, the genuine is compassionate. Secondly, committed. Thirdly, in suffering, the genuine is compliant. Will you be compliant to the Lord? Will you be compliant to his will for your life? Will you be compliant in a season of suffering? Are you gonna stop loving? Are you gonna quit? Are you gonna leave? I didn't sign up for this. I got a better place I could be. If you know that you know that you know, you're in God's will. That's the best place for you to be. It's the safest place for you to be. It's the greatest place of joy. If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my infirmities. He's saying to God be the glory. He has sustained me through everything. The reality. What's the reality? Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the lord delivers them out of them all. Psalm thirty three nineteen. That's a reality. That's something I gotta preach on. That's something I gotta remind you of. There's no temptation that's taken you but such as is common to man. When things go sideways, when you go through suffering, you're not alone. You don't have a monopoly on suffering. There's no temptation, no testing, but such as common to man. Unbelievers get cancer. Christians get cancer. Unbelievers have wayward children. Christians have wayward children. Unbelievers lose their job. Christians lose their job. You're not alone. You're just in the human race. One thing different, on that sea of life, Jesus is in your boat. The unbeliever doesn't have that help to get them through those crises. There's no temptation that's taking you, but such is common to man. And God is faithful who will not tempt you or test you above that which you're able to bear, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you might be able to bear it. You're bearing it See, a lot of people say, he's not gonna give you more than you can handle. Yes, he will. He's gonna bring you to the edge and give you more than you can emotionally, spiritually, physically handle. He's gonna bring you to the place where your back's to the wall and all your intellect, your money, nothing can alleviate, only him. And now your face is gonna grow. And he's set in the stage to do a miracle in your heart, transform and change you. He may not heal you. You might go home to be with Jesus, but he's gonna transform and change your heart. You're not gonna be embittered or angry or quit. Your faith's gonna be even stronger. You'll be rejoicing that you're going to heaven soon. Not my will, but thy will be done as you hear the way the Lord prayed to his father. If you're willing, remove this cup from me, but nevertheless, not as I will, but thy will be done. The reality. The second reality. Acts nine fifteen, he has a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him what things he must suffer for my namesake. You're not preaching a utopian falsehood. You're not preaching a false golden age up ahead. You're not preaching a political way to get the Romans to like you so that the church can prosper and grow in Rome. You're preaching the gospel and they hate you. But no matter how much they hate you, the church flourishes because it's a work of God's spirit. Not compromise, not giving into the world, not becoming a worldly Christian or worldly church. No utopian utopian golden age now. The reality is, Jesus said the time ahead is gonna be worse than the world's ever seen or ever seen again. Pray that you are counted worthy to escape these things and stand before the son of man. That's why we give you the blessed hope of the rapture. The hope that you have to to take you to pray always that you may count worthy to escape these things and stand before the son of man. When you see these things begin to come to pass, look up for your redemption draws nigh. Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior, we want you to hope in heaven. We wanna give you the reality of how difficult the days ahead are. Perilous times, dangerous times are ahead. That doesn't sell. It's not gonna make me popular. People are gonna hate me. But those that endure are gonna get strong. They're gonna boot camp. They're gonna pass boot camp. They're gonna be able to engage the enemy. The reality in acts fourteen twenty two, exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. We comply. We yield to God's will for your life. In second Timothy four verse 10, Paul has a record of some guys that he used to hang with. You think of the Christians you started out with, where are they now? How are they doing? For Demas now, I gotta back up a second. One of the things that blows my mind is Facebook really helped me to reconnect with all my friends from forty years ago, over forty. They weren't Christians back then. I got saved when I was 20. Kathy got saved, she is 20. And all of our friends, there wasn't one Christian in our life. And man, there's so many of them Christians now. It's so exciting that I don't have to say, Demas left me, and you left me. No. No. These guys are all Christians. It's so exciting. I'm blown away at God's faithfulness. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. Wow. Why did he miss leave? He loves the world because the suffering was too great. He he didn't want to suffer. He wanted what the world he want the the prosperity of the world. Well, pastor, can't we mix the prosperity of the world with Christianity? Can't we have both now like Joel says? I don't know. Maybe some of you. Maybe some of you for a time, for a period. There's nothing against money. If riches increase, just set not your heart on it. But deal with the reality of reversal. If things reverse, don't lose your faith. Don't base your faith upon the promise of prosperity. We all love the prosperity. We all love the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he adds no sorrow to it. I'm not a masochist. I'm not anti wealth. I just don't want that to be the carrot that people trust and believe in. And then when reality strikes of a season of suffering, so too their faith fails. Most important thing, you possess your faith in Jesus. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed unto Thessalonica, Cretans to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke, the doctor, is with me. He's not one of the apostles. He's a Greek. Only Luke is with me. Paul needed a doctor to attend him, a doctor to write the book of Acts, a doctor to write the gospel of Luke, A doctor to attend to Paul's constant infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forevermore, knoweth that I lie not. I've got genuine faith, tested proven, refined, compliant to the Lord. He knows the way that I take when he's tried me. I'm gonna come forth as gold. It's revealed as genuine faith. How do you know that guy really oh, he believes. I've seen him go through so much stuff. And they love Jesus. They love Jesus. They All they want to talk about is Jesus. All they want people to hear about is Jesus is coming again. All he talks about is the rapture. We don't even like the doctrine of the rapture anymore. We're tired of hearing All he wants to talk about is the rapture. Every sermon he gives about the rapture. He's so out of touch. If he'd only knew that Darby and all them lied about a pre tribulation rapture, if he only knew. Well, I know. Jesus spoke of a pre tribulation rapture. That's all I need. What do you got? And then here's one that was very humbling for Paul. Very, very humbling. In verse 32, in Damascus, the governor under Aretas, this is when Paul was first saved and he was in the deserts of Arabia there getting to know the Lord. And he was trying to minister in Damascus. And when he's in Damascus, he so angered the leadership, the governor of Ariidis there, that he was a he was a marked man. They want to grab hold of him. So what did the Christians to do there in Damascus? They hid him. They hid him. So in Damascus, the governor under Ariidis, the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison desires to apprehend me. So the soldiers are out. They're put in the National Guard in LA, man. They're gonna get that mayor. Right? Take her to jail. And not and not that she's being good, Paul's a good guy. And through a window, just think how how humbling this is for him. You know, Nehemiah went to Bias and Sanballat and come to him and saying, hey, come over to the temple. Let's talk. Let's let's let's work this out, you know. Why don't you stop the work, the importance of the work, and come over here and, you know, we we can work this out, you know. Piece of cords and stuff, you know. And I love what how Nehemiah responds, should such such excuse me. Should such a man as me? He knew his calling. He knew he had a very important work to do, and he wasn't gonna take time out to play tiddlywinks with these guys. You ever play tiddlywinks? Should such a man Kathy's gonna help me. Should such a man as me. Oh, I love that. Who are you in Christ? And Paul, and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped that his hands. So they came up with a plan to get a big hamper, great big need to be a big basket for me. And, took a rope and let him down outside the walls and he escaped. Paul would love to just go head on, but he he had to humble himself. Meekness is strength under control. He's strong, but he knows a time that as the prophet, Klinitz, was said, a man's gotta know his limitations, you know. So the mighty Saul of Tarsus who backed down for nothing became the compliant apostle Paul, humbling self in weakness, going out in a basket. Learning that when he's weak in the next chapter, learning that when he's weak then he's strong. For God's Jesus said his grace is sufficient, his strength is perfected in weakness. The compassion, the commitment, and the submission of Christ under the father working through him. In Isaiah fifty three three, it says, he is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Is your faith genuine or a fraud? What is suffering revealing about you? Will you continue to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus wherever he takes you? Wherever he takes you. Whatever circumstances, whatever place, whatever you find here, sometimes it's so surreal. You never ever ever imagined that it would be like this. Habakkuk, if I told you what's gonna happen, you wouldn't believe me. But the just shall live by faith. Continue to live by faith. In first John two nineteen, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued. If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed and you know the truth and the truth will set you free. They have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Genuine or fraud, who are you? A little sifting taking place, a little hot water, A little tribulation. A little difficulty coming. And I don't know that those who profess to be Christians, a very small small percentage, I keep hearing from you guys. You guys are letting me know that Jesus said, narrow is the way to eternal life and few there be that find it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many go in there at and you guys are always telling me, you know, pastor, that few that few, it's really few. And Brandon knows the number. What's the number Brandon? Two hundred thousand, I think he said. Only 200,000 gonna make it. He's a mathematician. Man of faith. And so we want to know from a there's gonna be relatively few of those who profess. And as you watch things intensify, you're gonna watch more and more people be compliant with the government, compliant with an easy way out, receiving the mark, receiving this, receiving that, digital ID, everything in compliance to make life easier for them. You need to be ready. Watching, looking for the rapture. You don't have to deal with it then, but someone will play something for you now. It's about heaven. We're gonna partake of communion. And I'll have I'll have the ushers pass out the bread and the cup first, but let's pray. Father, we ask, Lord, if there's anybody here that doesn't know you, that we'd have the blessing of watching you save them, Lord. Nothing gets us more excited about serving you, Lord, than watching the little babes come to Christ. Watching those who are backslidden rededicate their hearts and lives unto you, Lord. Makes it all worth it. I know that's the desire of your heart that the angels there's rejoicing in heaven among the angels when just one sinner repents. It's exciting. Lord, do we pray for those that are here. If there's anybody here, that today would be their day of surrender unto you. So while your heads are bowed as you continue to pray, is there anybody here this morning? We want to give an opportunity, an invitation to receive Christ. In John chapter one, as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God even them that believe on his name. People are arguing, oh, you know, there's no such thing as accepting Christ. Well, as many as received him, are you ready to receive him? There's those that reject him. Do you want to receive him? Do you want to receive Christ in your heart and life? It's that simple. You're turning from your sins, crying out to God, God, be merciful to me a sinner. Anyone here this morning? Just lift your hand up. We wanna pray with you. So father, we thank you. Now as we partake of communion, Lord, we pray that it just be so special, so precious, as we meditate upon you and your love for us at the cross. You didn't quit, the suffering that you went through. And Lord, as we're reminded of that and as we look to the future, Lord, you're coming again for us. And as you've gone to prepare heaven, Lord, we love you. We praise you. We worship you. In Jesus name, Amen.