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Philippians 3:1-9 -Rejoice In The Lord- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2026-10-11
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Would you open your bibles to Philippians chapter three verses one through nine? So good to be here this morning with you. So much happening. The beast system is being built at warp speed, and I'm glad that you and I, us collectively, are aware of what's happening. It means that Jesus is coming back real soon. And so it's not doom and gloom for us. We're ready no matter what's gonna happen. And just crazy talk of build... Rebuilding the temple and and, you know, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet can't happen unless Israel, you know, builds a temple. And president Trump and Jared Kushner and Netanyahu and all of them are moving in a direction of of proceeding to build that temple, and that's fascinating. And so many other things that are coming into place and just amazing time to live and looking up knowing that our redemption draws nigh. Not putting our hope in the midterms, not putting our hope in men, fool me once, you know, fool me twice, fool me three times. The electoral process, I believe, is broken. And I believe, personally, you do whatever you want. But I want I wanna encourage you. Don't think that you can vote and then go back to sleep. I'm not anti voting. Vote. But keep voting. Keep voting. Watch these guys. Once they get in office, they don't do what they told you they were gonna do. So hold their feet to the fire. Keep voting. Expose them. You've got the ability to know what they're doing and expose them. Don't go back to sleep and wait till the next voting cycle hits and thinks you're gonna fix everything that's broke because it doesn't work that way. They hate exposure. So Ephesians five eleven, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. If you expose them, they go insane. They can't handle the light shining on their devious things they do. And so don't make excuses for them. Expose them. If they do wrong, if they do the Stargate Project, their first day in office with Palantir and all the globalists, hold their feet to the fire. You know? That's what you and I assault and light. We we we strain the evil by exposing it. But if we fall back asleep, then they just keep moving toward the goal, which is globalism, which ultimately we know is gonna happen. But our job's to slow it down, to stave off the corruption, to make it hard for them. You know? And and and what what does that mean? Well, if you buy a little bit of time, you have more time to share the gospel. You have more time to reach people with with the good news rather than just checking out saying, well, it's inevitable. It's gonna happen, you know. And then there's no pushback. There's no resisting evil. And I believe that's going out as a bunch of wimps. And we we don't wanna go out like a bunch of wimps. We wanna go out like the church of Philadelphia with a little strength, maybe a little strength, but relying upon the Lord. And we've got an open door that no man can shut and and getting the gospel out. And so, so be ready. Alright. There you go. Philippians chapter three verses one through nine. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord to write the same thing to you. To me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might have also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he has, aware of, he might trust in the flesh. I more circumcise the eight day of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dumb that I may win Christ. And be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. So father, we thank you once again for the privilege and the blessing of having a bible, of owning a bible. And, lord, the privilege and the blessing of the light bulb going on in our hearts and minds when we are born again. And, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, Lord, we crave. We have an appetite, to know you. We want to get to know you. And, Lord, we we cherish, and we thank you for the milk of the word and and the the veggies and the fruit and the and the meat of the word and the sweetness, the honey of your word. And so, Lord, we pray that you'd feed us now, that you'd nourish us and strengthen us spiritually, Lord. We have so much stimulation, Lord, for our minds and and our souls. And... But, Lord, we need that stimulation. We need that edification, that building up, in our inner man, Lord, to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And, Lord, the only way that happens is by a work of your holy spirit as we study your word, Lord. So, God, minister to us your sheep. Feed us, Lord. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please be seated? The theme of this book is rejoicing or joy. And Philippians four verse four says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. For many of us, this is easier said than done. Rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoice in the Lord, you know, always really in everything. Always being able to rejoice. When adversity invades our best life now bubble, most of us are inclined to complain to God, not rejoice. Who in their right mind would sing songs under the Lord at twelve midnight after having been, you know, beat beaten? You know, they're in Philippi, the very people that Paul's writing this letter to. Well, answer comes back Paul and Silas. How crazy it was that they, having been beaten, being innocent also, they're not sitting there blaming God saying, God, I didn't sign up for this. You know? They're singing. They're worshiping the Lord. They're not gonna allow the devil to steal their joy. Are you allowing the devil to steal your joy because of the circumstances that you face? Do you hold on to things from the past? Maybe even your childhood, obsessing over these things. And if you're not careful, you you succumb to depression and discouragement and the why gods, you know, take over, and you you don't get to experience the joy of the lord, which is our strength. You get you get taken out. So who would worship god after being reduced to dust and ashes, afflicted with painful disfiguring boils like Job? Job's, you know, naked came I into the world, naked I'm gonna go, the Lord giveth, the Lord take it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You know, that that is just so antithetical to who we are as people. We, you know, we we don't praise God and worship God when bad things are happening to us. We look to God and we say, wait a minute. What happened? Why are you doing this to me? I thought you loved me and all. That's the inclination of our heart, our natural man. But the life of the spirit, walking in the power of the holy spirit, you and I as Christians, we have the power of the holy spirit that lists us above these circumstances and gives us a quality of life that is... That of a worshiper. God's called you and I to be worshippers, worshippers of Jesus. So who would worship God in that way? You know? It, it takes a, it takes a work of God's spirit. And notice it says always, rejoice in the Lord always. So how is that even possible? How how could that possibly happen? It's easier just to curse God and die, as Job's wife said. Why don't you just curse God and die? It's much easier to do that. Much easier to have your pity party. Curse God and die. I'm checking out. I'm gonna overdose. I'm gonna take my life in the suicide level of people that don't know the Lord and all. But you and I as Christians, we represent hope. We represent hope of eternity. And though our our man's perishing, our inward man's being renewed day by day. And there's a quality of life again that we exhibit, a quality of life that we live, the life of the spirit that the world can't have. The world, no matter how much money they have, no matter where they go, what they do, they cannot experience the life of the spirit that you and I, enjoy. So my life, my depression, my kids, my spouse, my poverty, I'm trapped. I'm powerless to change my lot in life. My heart is overwhelmed by the circumstances God has allowed into my life. How can I rejoice? I need help. I need some Xanax. I need some alcohol. I need some self medicating herbs. I can't take the anxiety anymore. I can't take the sleepless nights. I'm just overwhelmed. Well, when we get to chapter four, Paul's gonna remind us, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding is gonna guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. That's the Christian life. I don't have 10 counselors on staff. I don't have people with psychological degrees or Christian, quote unquote, counselors to talk to you about your lot in life. Not gonna happen. Doesn't happen here. There's other churches out there. That's the way they deal with it. I don't see it as biblical. I see a quality of life available to you and I. It's the life of the spirit. The life of dying to self and tapping into getting into that place of being a worshiper where God elevates us above these real circumstances. It's real. The pain is real. And don't misunderstand me. We're gonna weep with those that weep. We're gonna be there for you to listen the first time, maybe the second time. But when you come at me year after year after year with your story, I'm a say, you know what? You're obsessing about the past. You need to get your eyes off yourself and onto Jesus, cause you're getting ripped off big time. And you can't mask it or hide it with drugs, psychotropic drugs and all. You're you're not gonna grow as a Christian. You haven't tapped in. You haven't entered into all that God has for you in the life of faith. Yes. Your suffering's real. Praise the Lord. You're accounted worthy to suffer for his name's sake. You're accounted worthy to have a scar or two, to have a badge, to have a testimony. You've been tested, but you're coming out swinging. You're not gonna let the devil steal your joy. Not gonna happen. God's gonna give you a song in the night. God's gonna give you the empathy, the consolation, the comfort that you receive to comfort someone else who's gonna go through these things. That's life. We don't promise your best life now. We promise your best life when you see Jesus face to face. We're promised tribulation in this life, pressure. We're promised affliction in this life. We're promised trials. We're promised adversity, but be of good cheer. Jesus said, I've overcome the world. Be of good cheer. Rejoice because greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world. And since God's before us, you know, who can be against us? The thief comes not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy you. But I've come that you might have life, and that more abundantly. The abundant life is not the the physical riches. It's this life of the spirit, the spiritual riches. I mean, think in terms of a Bill Gates. All he's obsessed with is killing people. He's got billions and billions and billions of dollars, and all he's fixated on is being a tool of the devil to depopulate the planet, which means murder as many people he can. He'll use mosquitoes. He'll use the vaccines. He'll use a plague. He'll use anything he can to... I mean, come on, guy. Get a life. Why not use what what you've been given by God for good? These guys are so miserable. They're so incredibly miserable. They're tools of the wicked one. And you and I don't have anywhere near that kind of money, that wealth, that privilege, if you will. And yet, we have the true riches. We have the true riches, the life of the spirit. We we have the the the families and the friends and the body of Christ, and we have a hope that nothing can steal or take away. I'm not putting my hope in these globalists that I... Help me to live to be a 140 years old like a Jared Kushner of these guys. Why would I wanna live like a miserable puke for a hundred and forty years? I'm thankful that the angels were there guarding the tree of life with a sword to keep our miserable fallen nature from being able to live in these bodies forever. Because as we get older, we get more and more evil. We don't get good. We don't get better. We get smarter at lying, smarter at being evil. There's no reforming this. God's prescription is death. Death to self. Death to that old nature that you might have a new nature. So rejoice in the Lord for number one, the freedom we enjoy. You and I are free. We're no longer in bondage. We're no longer slaves to the world, the flesh, and the devil. He says, finally, and his finally isn't a finally, you know, we're finishing up here. He's getting to the to to the main part of the topic of this book, that of rejoicing. He says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Now, you cannot say to the apostle Paul, like so many say to the pastors. Well, you just don't understand. You've never been beaten like I've been beaten. You just don't understand pastor Paul. You know, I I had a pretty rough growing up. You can't say that to this man. He got beaten. Him and Silas were beaten in a Philippian jail at midnight. And they came out of it rejoicing. And prior to that, he got stoned at Lystra and Derby. Left for dead. And he got right back up and went into Lystra and Derby, Iconium preaching the gospel. You can't stop this guy. And so often, we want some sort of an out. Well, you know, pastor Rick, you you've never experienced that. You you've never gone through that. You... All of us have been tempted. All of us have gone through things. No. No. There's not one person here that has the market cornered on your suffering's unique. You're the first person in the world that's ever suffered so much. That's what the devil would like you to think that, you know, I'm the last one left. And the Lord says, got 7,000 that haven't bowed their knee to the prophet Baal. I got my people everywhere, and there's no temptation that's taken you, but such is common to man. It means you're a Christian and you have cancer. The unbeliever has cancer too. You're a Christian and your daughter, your son don't like you. The unbeliever has daughter and sons that don't like them too. The difference is, in the storms of life, Jesus is in our boat. We're in his boat. And he's there asleep teaching us how to rest in the Lord. And he says, peace be still. And he gets us through it, doesn't he? He gets us to the other side. How are you gonna get to the other side? How are you gonna go through the valley of the shadow of death if you don't rely upon the Lord and begin to worship him rather than coming to to the temptation of loving the bondage you're in. When you're miserable, the last thing you want is some poly, some Pollyanna, some smiley singing Christian invading your dark space. I like it here. Who are you to come here and start telling me about Jesus? Jesus was in the area of Gadara in Mark chapter five verse 17. And the two demoniacs were there. They're overwhelmed, they're in the tombs, and they're cutting themselves, and they're just overwhelmed with it. And they see Jesus, and one of the demoniacs runs toward Jesus, and and he's just so excited and all, and... But he's he's a demoniac and all. And you know the story, the lord delivers him of the demons, him and the other guy. And they were they were naked. They were crazy. They were the kind of people that the police officers hate, you know, visiting over at Fred Meyer. They've come off their meds, and and and they're just insane. And they're superhuman strength. And police officers like, you know, what do we do with this guy? You know, they're they're they're... They throw my back out when I try and wrestle him to the ground and all. And and better try the taser. They just throw the tasers off. Nothing works. They're breaking the chains and all. Demonic demonically possessed people. But the guy sees Jesus, and he runs toward him. And he's hoping. He's praying. He's he's wanting. And the Lord talks to the demons in Matthew's account. We're legion for Romanian, puts them into the swine, and they go over the cliff and all. But guess what happens? The demoniacs, they wanna follow Jesus. He wants to fall. And the Lord says, no. You go home and give a testimony to your family. You let them know what just happened to you. But the people of Gadara come out there and they beg. They pray for Jesus to leave. They love their darkness. All they cared about was those pigs. Those pigs that went over the cliff into the water. That's all they cared about. Deviled ham. That's all they wanted. More deviled ham. And they begged Jesus to leave. We don't want you here. Get out of here. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah, they they were indignant toward Lot, you know? Never really accepted them all, you know? They're happy with their darkness. Leave us, Jesus. You Christians, get out of here. We love our darkness. We don't wanna be reminded of the wickedness and all. State of California just passed a law that churches are gonna have to educate their staff if you have five or more staff members of how to speak to LBGTQ people. And it's common in state of Washington, all that censorship, whatever. And what do you mean how we speak? We use the Bible. We speak the same way we speak to adulterers, fornicators, liars. We're all sinners. We don't we don't pontificate toward one particular type of sin. We read Romans one. Romans one would square it away. We'll bring it. We'll bring it in first Corinthians six, and such were some of you, But you've been washed. You know? You've been sanctified. You're justified. All of us come the same way by grace through faith alone. But for some reason, some of these groups don't like to be reminded that they're sinners. They want a normalization of of where they're at, and they're living in just such incredible darkness. But they wanna hold on to that darkness and try and make it appear to be light when it's not light, and they're being they're being convicted. But they don't wanna hear it. And many churches begin to water down the gospel because people love their darkness in John three. They want their darkness. They don't want the light to shine. They don't want the light to shine to expose their darkness. They're content in their darkness. They're content with their bondage. They like being in bondage. They don't want to be set free. He says, beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision. And so don't go back to prison. Don't go back to holding to the letter of the law. The dogs... The term dogs there, the Jews would use the term dog to describe Gentiles. Paul's using the term dogs as these ravenous dogs that would run through the streets and the cities and all. And and so he's likening these false prophets, these Judaizers that are coming along to areas where people are responding to the gospel, and they're trying to tell them, well, you Gentiles need to become Jews first. You need to be circumcised. You need to be a Jew first before you can really experience the freedom, the joy, and the blessing. So using the letter of the law to destroy the freedom, purchased for us by Jesus Christ. We don't live according to the letter of the law. The letter of the law kills. The spirit gives life. And then this this particular topic came in acts 15 to the... To James, the brother of the Lord, and Paul, and Peter, and all. And Peter says, why put a burden upon the Gentiles that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? Gentiles don't need to be circumcised. The word circumcised speaks of a circular cutting of the foreskin, speaking of the Abrahamic covenant of of a peculiar people set apart by God that would be productive, that would be reproducing, and eventually, the Messiah would come forth, therein. And so beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. People trying to steal your joy. People trying to steal your freedom. And then he says, beware of the concision and concision those that are emphasizing again the circumcision. But the Greek word there speaks, some of your bibles even use it in English, mutilators. Rather than making a circular cut, they're gonna cut it all off. They're gonna emasculate you. They're gonna take away your whole productivity. You're not gonna grow as a Christian if you're being put under the law. And I wanna I wanna... Little side note here, a little exhortation. You guys, especially you guys who are feeling the pressure of standing out from an effeminate effort to make men effeminate, but you're crossing all the way to the other extreme and try to rule your home by the letter of the law. You're trying to prove that you're the man, trying to prove that that your wife will live in submission. You're blowing it. You're going to an extreme. There's a mutual submission within the home in Ephesians five. Jesus is the head of the church, head of the home. Freedom's the key. Freedom in your relationship. Freedom to recognize how gifted your wife is. How lovely, how kind. You... You're a small man if you've gotta try and rule over somebody. That's a small man. Let her blossom. Let her grow. Nobody wants to be a slave. Don't take away her freedom. Be careful. Use grace, unmerited favor. It hurts. It hurts to watch. It hurts to watch women cower in fear because these these men out there who are reacting in such an extreme manner. It it... It's I mean, think in terms of Islam. Think in terms of these other religious systems, how dominant these men and the cultures are of women. Jesus is the great emancipator. He's the liberator. He's the one that set women free. He sets Gentiles free. He sets everybody free. And so as a matter of a pecking order or a headship, you're there to be a covering. You're there to cover her. You don't you don't act like a dog. You don't act like a some sort of a general that tries to rule over her. It it makes me wince. It makes me hurt. Kathy, early on in our marriage and my insecurity, you know, there were times where where I mishandled my authority in the home, but I really appreciate her sassiness. I appreciate that she's not a milk toast, and I appreciate that she would never let somebody dominate her. I appreciate the walking hand in hand side by side and not putting our home, putting our lives under the letter of the law which kills, but the life of the spirit. If I'm wrong, she lets me know. If we've got a decision to make, we pray, and we let the Lord make the decision. We don't move forward until we're of one accord, of one mind, of one heart. Jesus is on the throne. I don't force, and that's what these guys were doing. They were coming in with the letter of the law, the 613 precepts of the Old Testament law, and trying to pose this upon Christians who should have been enjoying their freedom, that Jesus fulfilled the law. Enjoy your Christianity. Enjoy this love relationship. The thief comes not, but to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I've come that you might have life. The accuser of the brethren, Revelation 12, he's always looking the letter of law to accuse, to find fault. Quit finding fault. Go to first Corinthians 13 and love. Put your name in there. Don't be trying to keep score. Don't be trying to find the minute, the smallest detail to capitalize upon and to bite and devour. Dogs bite. Dogs have fleas. Evil tools of Satan, they're liars. They're condemning you. They're castrating you, bringing you to the place of impotence. The letter of the law kills, but the spirit gives life. He says, verse three, for we are the circumcision. So here's the true circumcision. For we are the circumcision, so that we're the ones that are marked. There's a mark upon us. We've been chosen. We've been... Have the earnest of the holy spirit. And if you can't see, he's trying to show you the circumcision of the heart. The foreskin of the heart has been cut away. We belong to the lord. The foreskin of the heart speaking of the life of the flesh, and we're living the life of the spirit, not the outward. The inward foreskin of the heart's been cut away. The inward aspects. We're yielded. We're choosing to love God. We're not living according to the law. We're living according to love. And love is a higher motivator than that of the law. With all these cameras that are going up, surveillance going up, you'll hear some of these guys talk about it, how, you know, people will... They'll cheat, steal, and lie, do all sorts of stuff if they think they can get away with it. These cameras, it's gonna facilitate better behavior. If people know that government's watching, then they're gonna do what's right. And the bankers, Larry Fink, he's saying, we can curtail behavior when we get this ID, everybody having a digital ID in a digital banking system. We can curtail behavior. We can force people to do what we want them to do. That's the ultimate tyranny and letter of the law that they're seeking. It's satanic. And that's the that's the b system that's going into place. But you and I as Christians, if we're in China, if we're in Iran, if we're in the first two centuries of the Christian church, we we play by the rules. We don't need our bosses surveilling us or watching us whatever because we serve Jesus. We have a higher authority in our life. It's love. It's Joseph being on leave. And how could I do this great evil against God? Nobody needs to watch me. I don't need the supervision because I'm gonna do it all as unto the Lord. I'm working to please the Lord. I'm not only working when my boss is watching, I'm working because I know he's always watching. And I wanna live a life that's pleasing unto him. And that's the love of Christ that constrains us. Living according to the laws, a a rudimentary way. We have a higher calling, the calling of love. Love is the fulfillment of the law. And so he says, which worship God in the spirit. So we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit. So we're choosing to worship. It's not force. It's not for money. We're not mercenaries. We choose to follow the life of the spirit. It's not I have to. I love God's calling upon my life. I love doing what we're doing. I love being a Christian. I love being a, you know, a father and a husband and all. I love the roles that God allows me to be, the person he allows me to be. And it's love motivating me. It's not I have to. I have to wake up and tell Kathy I love her again. No. It's it's inside of me. It's inside of her. God's put that there. We just... God initiates and we respond. And that was one of the greatest things of being born again, that love that God places in our heart, the capacity to love people more than we love ourselves. So we worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. So no rejoicing in self, only in Christ Jesus. Paul said in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. No confidence in the flesh. We're putting our confidence in Jesus. It's his finished work. It's the power of his holy spirit that enables us to live the Christian life. It's the power of his holy spirit that's gonna bring us to the finish line, that's gonna complete this work that he's begun us in Philippians one verse six. A confidence that we have in him that he's gonna finish this this work of salvation that he initiated. And so no rejoicing in self. No rejoicing in that, oh, wow. I, you know, I tied twice. I I fast twice a week like the the pharisee, Jesus said, who prayed with himself. I fast twice a week and and I give tithes of all that I have, and I'm not like this this extortion or the murderers, the adulterers, nor even like this publican, you know, right near me. I'm better. I'm a I'm a step above. I'm a Pharisee, a separatist. And Jesus said, this man prayed with himself. But the publican wouldn't so much as lift up his eyes onto heaven and smote his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Luke 18. Jesus said, this man went away from there justified, just as if he never sinned. Whosoever exalts himself is gonna be abased. You're exalting your pride. You're exalting your performance. Look how good I am. Well, God doesn't grade on the curve. If you're good on all points and and one demerit, one debit, you're guilty of all. The wage, if you wanna work according to works, the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you want the gift or do you want it to keep working? You wanna keep getting your wage, what you deserve. God, I want what I deserve. God, this is unfair what you're allowing into my life. I've been a good Christian. I've been a good guy. Why are you allowing these things, these adverse circumstance and things in my life? I'm one of the good ones. Well, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he'll direct your paths. You... His ways are above your ways. They're past finding out. You're gonna have to walk by faith, not by sight. There's certain things you can't reconcile in this life, But you can also look at it in such a way, the privilege of suffering. The privilege of fulfilling, filling up the sufferings of Christ, that he chose you to suffer in that way. And it wasn't because you were doing bad. In many cases, it's because you're a threat to the kingdom of darkness, and there's a test going on. The devil's saying, I can take away his stuff, Job. I can take away, you know, his stuff and his health, and he'll curse you to your face. And God says, no, Job loves me for me. And the test that people are watching is do they quit? Do they curse God and die? How are they responding? Oh, he backslid. He's back into drugs and alcohol again. He left his wife. He couldn't take the pressure. He couldn't take it. That stuff that was taken from him, it was his identity. It was who he is. It made him feel good. It made him feel big. Now it's all gone. And Job's there, and little kids little kids are coming up to Job, the the most prominent man of his era, and they're mocking him. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, they're coming in miserable comforters, thinking they know why it happened. They couldn't see behind the curtain. They didn't know why it was happening. They didn't have a clue. Job didn't have a clue. And he wrestled and he wrestled and he wrestled with God. And God never said, Job, I'm sorry. If you're waiting for God to tell you, I'm sorry. You don't know God. Or how about this one? Your counselor, your psycho person said, you need to forgive God. That's blasphemous. God needs to be forgiven? What kind of God do you serve? Really? You're you're gonna... I forgive you. You hurt me. Really? He never says, oops. He's causing all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. It's his purpose. And he uses suffering a purpose. Do you know that when the god called Saul of Tarsus, he told Ananias, show him what things he must suffer for my namesake. He said he's a chosen vessel unto me. He's gonna bear my name before kings. He's gonna bear my name before his own countrymen, the Jews, before Gentiles. Paul's a... Paul is chosen just as Jeremiah was chosen, just as Isaiah was chosen, just as Daniel was chosen by God to bear his name. God has chosen you to bear his name. And you stand out from the norm. You win the lottery, you don't stand out. Not really. Oh, they just won the lottery. Well, take away all the money. Take away it all. And what kind of person is he? We as Christians, we go through much suffering, much affliction. We're promised much suffering, much affliction, tribulation. But in all these things, we're more than conquerors through him that loved us. We rise above it with the help of the Holy Spirit. What motivates us? We know that Christ is risen from the dead. We know that he conquered sin and death. And we know that he's coming back and he has a plan and a purpose. It's all gonna fit. It's all gonna fit in the millennium. It's all gonna fit in heaven. It's all gonna make sense eventually. It's a badge of honor that we'd be chosen of him to represent him to fill up his sufferings. And so Paul's getting after these Judaizers that are trying to steal the joy of these people. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Only in Christ. He's worthy of praise. Rejoice in the Lord for number one, the freedom we enjoy. Number two, rejoice in the Lord for the flesh he destroyed. Man, again, what would it be like if my flesh was not destroyed? What would it be like if I lived in my body and soul, my endemic, the old Rick, the before Christ Rick? What if that before Christ Rick, unregenerate Rick would have got at the tree of life and I had had to continue living in that fallen nature. How evil. You look in Genesis six, the thoughts and intents of men's heart were only evil continually. They're in their nine hundred years. They didn't get any smarter. They got smarter with evil. And they were violent to one another. And God said, it repented him that he made man because the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. Do you think Bill Gates has a good thought? A godly thought once in a while? Only evil continually. The machinations, the strategies of fulfilling the devil's inspiration of destroying humanity. The George Soros and these guys, these pedophiles, these cannibals, these Satanists, Luciferian people. If you don't know the true condition of what these guys are, your head's in the sand. These are the globalists, the Luciferians, the tools of the wicked one. And the Lord in his grace and his mercy is gonna come back and put this dog down. It's a rabid dog that needs to be put down. And he's gonna set up his kingdom wherein righteousness dwells. He's gonna wipe away every tear. He's gonna wipe away all the sorrow. Man left to himself. Oh, no. You and I left to ourselves. No. We rejoice that the flesh is destroyed. Verse four. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he has whereof he might trust in the flesh, I'm more. So Paul's saying, you Judaizers, you people live in according to the letter of law. You self righteous Pharisees always finding fault with everybody, trying to rule over everybody, holding them to the letter of the law, the condemnation that's there. No love, no freedom, no joy, no blessing. Everybody's shaken and fearful every time they're around you. You separatists, you people that... You you hypocrites. Your whole expression, your whole modus operandi is the external, but your heart's revealed and your heart's wicked. And Paul's saying, in his credentials, he had impeccable religious credentials. He said, could exceed all those guys playing that game. He says, circumcise the eighth day according to Leviticus 12 verse three. The Lord Jesus circumcised on the eight day. It signifies being a Jew, being a part of the Abrahamic covenant. Identification with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not with Isaac, not with Ishmael. With Jacob, not with Esau. The Abrahamic covenant that leads to Jesus. Jesus is a Jew. There's no place of anti semitism. I was circumcised the eighth day. Paul had a religious home. I did not have a religious home. I don't know what kind of home you came from. Nobody expected anything out of me from my home. I'm of the stock of Israel. I'm no half breed. I'm no Samaritan. I'm of the stock of Israel. Of the tribe of Benjamin, a noble tribe, a tribe that that sided with David in the in the revolt of Absalom that stayed with him. Benjamin, Jacob's one of Jacob's favorites. Joseph the other. From Rachel, the kingly tribe, the first king that of king Saul, a prominent tribe, a Hebrew of Hebrews, mom and dad. Timothy had a Jewish mother, but a Gentile father. Not me. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. Mom and dad both are Jews. I got a pedigree. Not only that, but I lived as a Jew culturally. I didn't live as a Hellenistic Jew. Some of the Jews were embarrassed of being Jews and tried to have cosmetic surgery to remove their mark of circumcision. Ouch. So that they could go in the public Roman baths and not be identified as being one of them. Paul says, no. I'm a Hebrew Hebrews. I'm not a Hellenistic following the Greek culture. I got good stock. As touching the law, I'm a pharisee. I'm a separatist. That's what the word pharisee means. Strict religious sect, a separatist. Jesus in the sermon on the mount, when he's bringing forth the conviction of the Holy Spirit against these pharisees, he's illustrating and trying to show them that if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you're already an adulterer. If you're angry with your brother, you're already a murderer. And even though you're living it with the external, pulling your robe in and everybody thinking that according to the law that you fulfilled it all, Jesus is saying the law judges your heart. And Paul saying that he was once that way. He thought concerning the law, he was blameless. That he fulfilled it all externally until he discovered that the law deals with internals. He discovered like the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said, what must I do? And Jesus said, keep the law. Which which? And and, you know, all of them. And he says, I've kept them all from my youth. I haven't committed adultery. I'm honoring my father and mother. I haven't lied, cheated, stealing, you know, whole thing. I kept the Sabbath holy. One thing you lack, go and sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you'll have eternal life. And he went away grieved, saddened because he had much possessions. It wasn't the possessions that was the problem. Jesus was identifying the sin of covetousness, Internal sin. Always wanting more. How hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven. Easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. But with God, all things are possible. That covetousness from within, that desire for more, that desire for the idolatry of things and the deceitfulness of riches. If riches increase, don't set your heart on them. Don't let it become an idol. Hold it loosely. And so Paul, concerning the... As touching the law of Pharisee, a strict separatist. And so in Ephesians five verse 20, Jesus told the disciples, except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will no wise enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples are looking at that like, they're experts at keeping the law. These guys are pros. And Jesus is saying, we have to exceed them? We have to do better than they're doing? And then their result... Their their question was, well, who then can be saved? And then Jesus illustrating that these guys are like white wall sepulchers. The outside, they take the whitewash on a on a burial site, and it looks good from the outside. But within, they're full of dead men's bones. There's a corruption from within. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. They need to be born again. They need to be born of the spirit. That old, the demic nature is there, that demic nature is dominating them. They might be good outwardly. You might see them very moral and religious and going to mass and going to church and doing that, all the externals. But inwardly, even though they might be on the scale of one to 10, they might be a an eight or a nine morally as an unbeliever. And you're a believer and on a scale of one to 10, you're a puke, you're a three maybe. You're still saved. Because it's not your righteousness, not your morality. It's Christ's righteousness that's imputed unto you. Many righteous moral people will not enter into the kingdom of God because they live according to works. They under... They need to understand that God doesn't grade on the curve. The wages of sin is death. If you if you fulfill the law on all points and guilty of one, you're guilty of it all. The whole thing comes down on you. The law is a pedagogue. It's a tutor. It's a schoolmaster to show you your need of Christ. And if you don't have that sense of godly sorrow that leads to repentance, then you're blinded by your own self righteousness. That's the whole point of Matthew seven, judge not lest ye be judged. The whole point there is the pharisees are judging everybody, but they got a big beam in their eye. And he's saying, well, you truly love your brother. You know, take the beam out of your eye so you can go get the little speck out of their eye. The woman caught in the very act of adultery in John eight, where are thine accusers? Nowhere, Lord, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. He came not for the righteous, but for sinners to seek and to save the lost. And when you and I respond, his righteousness is imputed to our account. Paul saying, if we were to compete, if it was competition of who can be the best pharisee, who can be the best religious dude, I exceeded all of you. Concerning my contemporaries, I was voted most likely to succeed. I could have been the next high priest, a member of the Sanhedrin and all. I had it down, man. I was raised at the feet of Gamaliel. I was tutored by the great rabbi Gamaliel, man. And I see so much of the flesh in Christianity among the pastors and all competing and acting like, you know, they're it. And and I always go away. It's always been kind of strange to me. That's like high school. So immature. Just be who God made you. Quit trying to put on the airs like like you're something special. Just be who you are. He says, concerning zeal, persecuting the church. He says, man, I was a radical zealot. I was taking letters and, you know, there was this guy named Stephen, and he was one of these Hellenistic Jews, and and he was one of the deacons there in the church in Jerusalem. And, man, we engaged this guy. We began to come after him. And, you know, the guy shredded us. I'm raised to the feet of Gamaliel, and I've got I've got such a knowledge of of the Torah and this deacon. They're ignorant, unlearned men, but they'd been with Jesus, and he shredded us. We could not debate. We could not answer. We could not rebut what he was saying. So what we did was we gaped upon him with our teeth. We murdered him. We picked up stones, and we stoned him. And, you know, his face is still haunting me. They laid their coats at my feet as I was watching this all take place. And it made me more angry and more ravenous and more crazy. And I got letters from the the religious leaders go all the way to Damascus. But that face of Stephen, it was shining like like an angel, bright. And and he's looking up to heaven and he's saying, father, lay not this sin to their charge. Very similar to what Jesus, that carpenter from Nazareth, said while he was on the cross. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. It's haunting. And in all my self righteousness and all my my effort to be accepted by God, I felt so filthy. I felt as a murderer. And yet in my mind and in my belief system, maybe like today, many who are in the Islamic mode, killing people is doing God's service. And I took letters and I went as far as Damascus to grab hold of these Christians, the ones who were following along the way, to apprehend them, men and women, and bring them back and prosecute them. What was their crime for being Christians? And there was a bright light at twelve in the afternoon shining brighter than the sun, the Shekinah glory of God. And I hear a voice from heaven saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I'm, who art thou, Lord? The posture, the tense, the the expression, Lord. I'm Jesus. Jesus identifying with his church. I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. Can you continue to kick against the pricks to continue to kick against the goads? It's a picture of an ox with a goad, with a a wood point at the flank. And when the ox would kick to try and kick the guy, you know, plowing, it would poke his plank. Paul is resisting the holy spirit. God's prodding him. God's poking him. The vision of Stephen, what happened there? The son of man, a standing ovation. Jesus Jesus standing. I see the son of man. I see Jesus standing, and they couldn't take him. They ran upon him and stoned him. Paul was tormented. And Jesus identified with Stephen and others who were murdered and mistreated. Can you continue to kick against the goats? Can you continue to resist my love? Paul thought he was a pharisee of pharisees. He thought he had entrance into heaven. He was zealous for the cause. He was not a lukewarm pharisee. He wasn't gonna be spit out of Jesus' mouth like lukewarm Laodicean Christians. He said, I'd rather you're hot or cold, Jesus told the church of Laodicea. Paul was hot. Hot with anger. Hot with hatred. Murderous. And Paul arrested him. Or excuse me. The Lord arrested Saul of Tarsus, gave him blindness, had him led into the city by his guys in a street that is called straight to the home of a guy named Judas. And then the Lord gives a vision to Ananias, a disciple. And to Ananias, this disciple, he said, go into the street which is called straight to the home of Judas. And there's one there named Saul. He's praying. Behold, he's praying. Saul of Tarsus. And Ananias says, Lord... Acts nine verse 12, Lord, you got the wrong guy. You got the wrong guy. That's That's a holy hit man. And he's going all over the region hitting on, hurting people. He's a bad dude. Well, he's blind right now, and he hasn't eaten in three days. And man, he's praying. And the Lord says, he's a chosen vessel unto me, and show him what things he must suffer. This is Paul's calling. That's why it was not strange. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that's gonna try you. This isn't a strange thing. It's not your fault. It's not because you're doing bad. It's because you're a threat to the kingdom of darkness. And he wants to snuff you out and steal your joy because a because a Christian without joy is an impotent, powerless Christian because your quality of life has failed. You failed in your witness. You're gonna be my martyrs in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the other Mars church, and then you're gonna do it by the power of the holy spirit that I'm giving you. Next one verse eight. Show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake. He's gonna take my name to kings and to the Gentiles and to his own countrymen. And that's what Paul did, isn't it? And he's about thirty years in at the point of writing this letter, chained to a Roman soldier. Thirty years in. And the Lord's never failed him. There's no regrets. There's no regret looking back. Oh, I wish I could have continued to be a Pharisee. I wish I could have become the next high priest and all. And yet these guys that are persecuting the church in Philippi are acting in this way like, hey, we're so superior. And Paul's saying you're in the flesh. I used to be in the flesh. And if I were to lay out my credentials in the flesh who I was before Christ, they were impeccable religious credentials. Touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Paul says in Galatians one thirteen, in times past, beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it. He says touching righteousness, which is it in the law, blameless, pious outward religious perfection. Paul was a flesh puff. He was puffed up in the flesh. Look at me. I'm so good. But then Jesus arrested Saul who became Paul. And if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things are passed away. All things are become new. Praise the Lord. I'm not the old Rick. In Romans six verse six, Paul says, the old man is crucified with him. What's god's provision for you when you're in this prison? He's gonna reform you. Right? He's gonna put you through steps and give you a Xanax and talk to the psychiatrist, and they're gonna reform the old you. They're gonna make the old you better. They're gonna blame your mom. She didn't hug you enough. They're gonna blame your dad. They're gonna play the blame game. It's not your fault. And here's a hanky. And everybody's... Nobody's rejoicing. It's all phony. It's all fake. And how do we know? When the economy crashes. We'll find out who's walking with Jesus and who's not. When the things of the world can't prop us up anymore, we're gonna weep with those that weep. If I'm weeping, I hope you'll weep with me. I hope you'll comfort me. You'll have empathy toward me and my family. But like David, when my child's life hangs in the balance and I'm fasting and I'm praying and I'm seeking the mind of God. And then and then lo and behold, the child dies. God's made his decision. And now I'm David, and I've washed my face. I get back up, and I move forward. God's made his decision. I gotta move on. I gotta forget those things are rich behind. Press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling God in Christ Jesus. If I'm fixated on the past, no man having put his hand to the plow looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. God has new life. Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That old Saul of Tarsus is dead. But if you guys wanna compare, check it out. There's a history of who I was. And you guys are running around throwing your credentials around like you're so important. It's laughable. It's like Pilate telling Jesus, don't you know I have power to crucify you? Don't have any power over me. I have power to lay my life down to take it again. No man takes my life from me. I will lay it down. He's a chosen vessel. He's transformed to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I'll show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord for the freedom we enjoy. Rejoice in the Lord for the flesh he destroyed. I identify with his death, his burial, his resurrection. The old rick is dead. He went underneath the water. The new rick comes up. I'm identifying with Jesus in that newness of life. The old things are passed away. All things are become new. The freedom we enjoy, the flesh destroyed. And thirdly and finally, we rejoice in the Lord for the faith that we employ. Verse seven. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. What does a man profit if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his life? Paul's saying all those privileges, all that... All my upbringing being a Roman citizen and a Pharisee of Pharisees and raised at the feet of Gamaliel and all of it. It's all his dung. It's all his refuse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. My salvation is the most precious thing that I possess. The faith that Jesus gave me, the faith that I acted upon, the faith that I live by is the most important aspect of my life because I was walking in darkness. I thought I was doing good. I thought I was going to heaven. I thought I was living a life to please God, but I was actually an enemy of the cross of Christ. And it's all as dung. It's all as refuse for... If I were to compare the the the beauty and the blessing of knowing Jesus in verse 10, he's gonna talk about that I might know him. That's the motivation of my life. I wanna get to know this guy. He appeared to me. He spoke to me on that Damascus Road. He apprehended me on that road. He arrested me. He stopped me in my tracks. He stopped me from destroying myself and destroying others. And he enlisted me. He drafted me. He made me a part of his army, the Lord's army, a soldier for Jesus to save souls, to win people to Christ. All the world is as done that I may win Christ. He says, verse nine, to be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Jesus is faithful. Jesus has saved me. It would have been it would have been horrible to be deceived. It would have been horrible to be so deceived that I think I'm good enough to get into heaven, that I tied enough, gave enough, went to church enough, all of that. And yet, discover one day, the Lord say, away from me. I never knew you, Saul of Tarsus. You that practice iniquity. Lord, Lord, Lord, I I got it down. I got it down. I never knew you. Christianity is a relationship that you believe on him whom he has sent. This is the work in John six twenty nine. What's the work that we must do that we might inherit eternal life? And Jesus told him, this is the work that you believe on him whom he has sent. It's your faith. In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus traveled 50 miles to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 50 miles. Kinda like in John four, it was a divine appointment, like the woman of Samaria at the well, Jacob's Well. This woman had a demoniac daughter. This woman was a Gentile. And Jesus, thou son of David, travels 50 miles to meet with this woman and to nurture and to draw the faith out of her that he knew was in her. And the woman when she sees Jesus, she says, Jesus, thou son of David. That's a phrase. That's a phrase for access. Respect thou son of David. You're the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. But it's a phrase for Jews, not for Gentiles. Right? But for Gentiles too. He's the savior of the whole world. But she's using such a way to gain access, and he ignored her. She was begging him to heal her daughter who was demon possessed. How could God ignore a request, a cry, a desperate cry of a mother along those lines? Because Jesus was gonna do something better, something greater than just heal this daughter. He intended all along to heal her daughter. But what good does it do if he heals her daughter and she and her daughter go to hell? So he's gonna draw the faith out of mama. And she is imploring him and so much so that the disciples say, give in to her. Give what she wants. She's making us crazy. She won't stop. And Jesus finally speaks and he says, it's inappropriate to give that which is holy unto the dogs. Dog is a cutting term, a derogatory term describing Gentiles. Sees a Syrophoenician, a Canaanite woman. But Jesus didn't use the same word that we saw the dogs, the concision. He used the word for puppies. And she says, Lord, even the little puppies get the scraps that fall from the children's table. Like, Nacho asked her, who is this incognito? What are you about? I like volleyball. My favorite color is tan, and I love puppies. Little puppies. Who could deny a little puppy? Jesus is calling her like a little puppy. She has access to take the scraps that fall. The nation of Israel is rejecting him. They could have it all, but they're rejecting him. And he's making a divine appointment 50 miles away so that he could illustrate the great faith of this woman. He says, be as so as done to your faith. And he said that, great is your faith, woman. I haven't seen this kind of faith in Israel among my own people. So to the centurion, heal my servant. And the centurion saying, just give the command. You don't need to come. I'm a guy in authority, and I give a command and have... You just give a command in the spiritual realm. You command, and he'll be healed. And Jesus said, great is your faith. Two Gentiles exhibiting great faith. Is your faith exhibited? Is your faith screaming and rejoicing and praising and worshiping God? Are you a worshiper? Even the faith that we employ comes from him. Do you appreciate your salvation? Is it a good marriage? Any regrets? Are you able to rejoice in the Lord for the freedom we enjoy? For the flesh destroyed? I haven't arrived. I'm pressing toward the mark. I'm not the wretched Rick, as big a wretched Rick as I once was. The Lord's changing me. He's transforming me. I'm thankful that he's teaching me the necessity of crucifying the flesh every day, taking my cross up and following him. I haven't arrived. Paul hasn't arrived, but I'm pressing toward that mark. I'm running toward that mark that one day when I see Jesus face to face, the old flesh is gonna be finally thrown off completely. But I'm being transformed and changed from glory to glory in the image of Christ. And, man, I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that I'm growing, that I'm getting to know him, that I'm becoming more Christ like. The flesh destroyed and the faith we employ, I can rejoice in the Lord. Now notice what Paul does not say. Notice what he does not say. He says... He does not say rejoice in the beating. Some of you have been beaten, abused. Some of you have been maligned and mistreated verbally, busively, maybe physically. He's not asking you to rejoice in the beating. He's not asking you to rejoice in a violent home life, father, husband, injustice, the pedophiles, the molestation. He's not asking you to rejoice in the beating. He's not asking you to rejoice in the rape, to rejoice in the sickness. We are instructed to rejoice in the Lord. Can we do that? Can we do that? Can we rejoice in the Lord? Is he worthy of praise? Is he worthy of we coming as worshipers to worship him, to overcome the world, the flesh, the devil, the heartaches, and the suffering that we faced? Rejoice in Christ Jesus being found in him. Jesus said in John sixteen thirty three, these things I have spoken unto you that in me, you might have peace. In the world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Rejoice for I've overcome the world. Satan wants to break you by getting you and I to obsess about the affliction, the adversity, the problems, things that we face, all of us have faced. Somebody bails on you, betrays you, leaves the marriage. Your parents betray your family, your sisters, your brothers, unjustly treated. And you know you're being unjustly treated. Are you able to go away from there, rejoicing that you're accounted worthy to suffer for Jesus' namesake? Are you able to rejoice no matter no matter what comes your way? Satan wants to break you. Obsess instead about Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Become a worshiper. In second Chronicles chapter 20, there's a king named Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat has Jehazi come to him, the prophet and let him know that, hey, we've got the Moabites. We've got the Ammonites. The offspring of Lot with his incestuous relationship with his daughters. The Moabite, Ruth, the Moabite is, the Messiah's gonna come through that line in Matthew one. Assorted, wicked story that God takes and brings beauty from the ashes. But Jehoshaphat's being tested, the king. And so the armies of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and those of Mount Seer are coming against Jehoshaphat, and they're amassing, they're coming against him. And Jehoshaphat calls a fast. He calls the entire nation to fast and to pray to get on their faces before God. And then he begins to cry out to God and remind the Lord, Lord, you said that if we come into the temple, if we come in to your house and we we begin to pray and to seek your face, that you'll hear from heaven that you're gonna intervene. And Lord, this army, this battle is far too big for us to deal with. They're far mightier. They're far bigger than us. We don't have the power. And you're looking at cancer. You're looking at what you're facing. You don't have the power to fix that. And neither know you what to do. You don't have a strategy. You're a problem solver, but you don't know what to do. And the experts don't know what to do. They're saying this is terminal. This is terminal. There's no hope for your marriage. There's no hope for your prodigal son or daughter. There's no hope for your body. You're gonna perish. She's gonna get worse. And the discouragement, the despair, and the overwhelming sense of no hope just overwhelms and you can't sleep and it hurts and it hurts and it hurts. But Jehoshaphat got his eyes back onto the Lord. And the Lord sent a messenger to Jehoshaphat and said, the battle isn't yours, Jehoshaphat. The battle's the Lord. Who's on the throne? Is Jesus still on the throne? Is Jesus still in control? Is he still almighty sovereign? Are he still your Lord? There's hope. The battle's not yours, Jehoshaphat. Stand and see the salvation of the Lord. Just as David knew. The battle belongs to the Lord, guys. And then Jehoshaphat was instructed. He took the singers. Jehaziel got the singers and Asaph and all the priests that sing. And the Lord told him to go down to this one area and stand there. And as they began to worship, as they began to worship God, getting their eyes off themselves and began to rejoice in the Lord. The joy of the Lord's our strength as they began to bless him and praise him for the beauty of holiness. God is holy. It says that their enemies, the Moabites, the Ammonites, those of Mount Seir began to discomfit and fight and destroy themselves. The enemy, all his machinations, all this stuff of globalism, he's gonna destroy themselves. The... These globus are gonna destroy themselves. Jesus already wins. We already know. We read in the book ahead. He comes back. We're already on the winning team. We don't need to fear man or fear what they're putting together. We can be aware and we can expose it. We don't like to be deceived. As a pastor, I have a responsibility to protect you. I have a responsibility to prepare you. And the best way I know is to equip you spiritually, to let it be real that your eyes are on Jesus. And as they begin to worship the Lord, their enemies are defeated. They're worshiping God. And as you're feeling that pressure and that that cloud of darkness, I was... I've I've very seldom, I can't remember a time that I've ever experienced this. But for about a week and a half, I was experiencing an incredible sadness, and I didn't know why. I didn't know if, like, is there gonna be a false flag? Is something gonna happen to America? Something gonna happen to my family? Why am I sensing in the spiritual realm in my in my spirit such an incredible heavy sadness? And I had to fight it off. I had to fight it off. I had to make sure that the devil didn't win, that he didn't cause me to to succumb to that sort of discouragement. I've never had that degree of... You hear about the Northwest, how dark it is and all that. It wasn't even raining yet. Still sunny. Why why why would I get bummed out, you know? But I but I knew I had to fight it off. I knew I had to get my eyes off it. I could pray and I could ask the Lord, what are you preparing me for? Something gonna happen? But I I need to I need to fight through this. I can't give into this. I can't let this get a foothold. Begin to pull me down. And for me to begin to rehearse all the adversity and all the stuff that's happened in my life and build a whole case against God and how mean he's been to me. I had to fight it off. And I chose and you must choose. We choose to worship God and I began to get my eyes back on the Lord. Begin to worship him. I begin to take that burden casting all your cares upon him for he cares for you and begin to give that burden of sadness to the Lord. Because he's a man of sorrows. Lord, you can carry that sorrow. I can't carry that sorrow. It's too thick and I don't know if it's Jessica. I don't know what was happening, but in the spiritual realm, there's a huge sadness. But we broke through. We broke through by doing what God's called us to do day by day, moment by moment, continuing to walk by faith, focusing upon him to be worshipers, to gather with the body of Christ, to not quit, to allow the Lord to minister to us, to take away the discouragement, the despair, and to create chemicals in our brains as we worship that are endorphins popping as we worship. He's made you and I for worship. So when all the guys are lying to you about your serotonin imbalances and all that other than nervous system and all this weird stuff, They're lying to you. They don't understand the realm of the spirit, the life of the spirit for the Christian. Jesus is more than enough. And as we worship, we wind up getting the victory. The Lord caused the Jehoshaphat and the gang to spend three days gathering the spoil. Three days of gathering the spoil from that whole picture of loss of everything to an enormous abundance, the abundant life of the spirit. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for your love, Lord. Thank you for the power of your holy spirit that's greater than any weapon that any weapon formed, anything the devil tries to send after us, Lord. Don't let the devil steal, kill, and to destroy. Take away our joy. The joy of the Lord's our strength. We're we're... It's just a nonnegotiable. We're not gonna give it up, Lord. When we faint, when we don't have the faith, Lord, we pray that faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, that you'd help us as we get into your word and as we pray and as we intercede. And Lord, as we weep with those that weep, as we console and comfort, Lord, we pray that it'd be momentary, that joy would come in the morning, Lord. That we'd break through, that we persevere, that we'd not stay in that place of despair. Lord, we know that we sorrow, but we don't sorrow as those who have no hope. Lord, we cry, we weep when we when we experience loss of a loved one. We know that's natural. We know that's real. We know that Jesus wept. But Lord, you don't stay there. We move forward. We grow. We put our hope in the resurrection and the nearness of your return. This is a light affliction. It's but for a moment. It's working a far more eternal weight of glory 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, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Lord, we want an eternal perspective. We don't wanna be ripped off by the news media and the world and the bleakness of the times in which we're living. Lord, we don't wanna put our hope in a man, men or women, politicians or whatever. We want our hope in you. Lord, we're looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior. Lord, our citizenship is in heaven, and we're looking for you, Lord. So help us, Lord, day by day to live the Christian life in a victorious manner, Lord, in such a way, Lord, that in spite of all the weirdness that we're able to worship, We ask that you bless our marriages. You bless our homes. You bless the kids. That Lord, we'd have a quality of life, the life of the spirit that can't be purchased with money or things or or circumstances. It's a life of the spirit. It's in our relationship with you, a byproduct of our relationship with you as we get to know you. So help us, Lord, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
About This Podcast
Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Sunday Service
Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
