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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] To our first hymn of the evening, hymn number 100, Day by Day, hymn number 100, 1-0-0, Day by Day. ["Day by Day"] Hymn number 100 will sing there starting on the first. Day by day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here. Rusting in my father's wisely stolen, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is tied beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what he needs best. Loving me is part of pain and pleasure, Being we toil with peace and rest. Every day the Lord himself is near me, With a special mercy for each child. All my cares if we would bear and cheer me, He whose pain is counselor and pal. The protection of his child and treasure, Is a charge that on himself he lay, As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure, This the pledge to be made. Help me then in every tribulation, So to trust thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith's weak consolation, Offered me within thy holy word. Happy, Lord, and toil and trouble-beating, E'er to take us from the Father's hand, One by one the days, the moment's fleeting, Till I reach the promised land. Amen. We'll open with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you again for the same opportunity today to continue to gather together, to sing praises, to hear preaching on your word. I pray that you would just be with those that received everlasting salvation this afternoon, that you would stir up their spirits to get into good church and to do works for you, Lord, now that they've been given that free gift of eternal life. We pray that you would just be with Brother Dylan for the service this evening, that you'd fill in with your spirit and open our ears once again to the message this evening. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, for our next hymn, turn, if you would, to hymn number 110. 1-1-0, hymn number 110, All the Way My Savior Leads Me. Hymn 110. On the first, let's sing. All the way my Savior leads me What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy? Who through life has been my guide? Every peace divine is comfort Here by faith in Him to dwell For I know what every fall means All things well For I know what every fall means Jesus who with all things well All the way my Savior leads me Cheers each winding path I tread Gives me praise for every trial Beats me with a living bread Though my weary steps may falter And my soul affairs may be Cushing from the rock before me Though a stream of joy I see Cushing from the rock before me Though a stream of joy I see All the way my Savior leads me Oh the fullest of His love Perfect breath to be His promise In my Father's house above When my spirit, clothed and mortal Brings its life to realms of day This my song through endless ages Jesus led me all the way This my song through endless ages Jesus led me all the way Amen Alright welcome back to Step Fast Baptist Church this evening If you need a bulletin raise your hand we'll come around and get that to you We do have our verse for the week there on the front 2 Timothy chapter number 2 starting a brand new chapter This week and so I encourage you to keep up the hard work in Memorization as brother Cameron finishes passing those around Also if you were able to quote the last chapter Exodus chapter number 20 If you wouldn't mind making your way back to the back table There is the gift cards that I've left there and he can help you Get those so if you were able to accomplish that and you have not gotten your prize For Exodus chapter number 20 please find your way back there And if I happen to run out just let me know and I can go grab some more as well So we do have our service times there and our so many times listed on the inside Along with our nursing home ministry schedule as well Also if I could get a count of the salvation from this afternoon Just one person from your team raise your hand so I can get a count there Okay so we have a total of five to add for this afternoon Thank you for that and we'll keep up the hard work in soul winning Those numbers are a little bit out of date as well We had several numbers to report from this past week And I just got those updated today so we'll have that for you on Thursday We want to continue to be in prayer for our expecting ladies And also our next fifth Sunday fellowship March 10th And we'll get a theme for that fellowship as the weeks approach February 11th is today you made it Brother Oz he's going to be preaching for us this evening again Great to have him and his family here with us And then February 24th is the ladies event Which is going to be at the house of clay You're going to be not making ceramic vessels But rather painting them That's totally a ladies event there Glad you guys are able to have that time of fellowship And that is nursing's only preferred There is a sign up sheet on the back table If you haven't done so already make sure you get signed up for that March 18th will be a home school field trip That we're going to do to the cowboy hall of fame And you may check your calendar I know we have some public school We also have some home school children That should be the week of spring break So check with your calendar And hopefully that lines up That'll be on a Monday And it'll be from 10 to 2pm And it's kind of a special event that they're doing there at the cowboy hall of fame So I encourage you to participate in that March 30th will be our next soul winning marathon In the Oklahoma city metro Of course that's Easter weekend And I'm going to get some Easter handouts ready for everyone Probably ready to hand out the beginning of March So we'll just spend the whole month of March Handing those out promoting Easter Sunday And we'll go soul winning that weekend All day in the morning in the evening And there will be a local one here in the metro And then of course we have our giving statements For the previous year available If you need those just let me know And I can get that to you if you haven't already gotten yours And also if you did not get your picture taken This morning please stick around For after the service to get your picture taken We still have everything set up Brother Alex is doing that for us And if any of the pictures don't necessarily come out right Or depending on the format of the potential yearbook that we're going to do We will have a secondary time to do those pictures And we'll get that scheduled as well About a month in advance just so that way everyone knows So just be aware of that That's all the announcements this evening So we'll go right to our next song in your hymnal Hymn number 120, Jesus, Savior, pilot me Alright hymn number 120, Jesus, Savior, pilot me Hymn 120, 120, Jesus, Savior, pilot me Hymn 120, we'll sing there starting on the first Jesus, Savior, pilot me Over life's impetuous sea Found no place before he roamed Hiding rock and treacherous shoal Chard and compass come from me Jesus, Savior, pilot me As a mother sittles her child Thou canst watch the oceans wild Hoistless waves obey thy will When thou saith to them be still Wondered sovereign of the sea Jesus, Savior, pilot me When at last I hear the shore And the fearful breakers roar Twist me and the peaceful breast Then while leaning on thy breast May I hear him say to me Fear not, all I will pilot me As the offering plates are being passed around Turn if you would to Psalm 119 It will be the teth portion So verse 65 of Psalm 119 Good evening Psalm chapter 119 starting in verse 65 It's going to be teth in your Bible if it's divided that way The Bible reads Thou hast dwelt well with thy servant O Lord According unto thy word Teach me good judgment and knowledge For I have believed thy commandments Before I was afflicted I went astray But now I have kept thy word Thou art good and thus good Teach me thy statutes The proud have forged a lie against me But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart Their heart is as fat as grease But I delight in thy law It is good for me that I have been afflicted That I might learn thy statutes The law of thy mouth Is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver Heavenly Father Lord we just thank you so much for this day Lord at this time we just ask you to be with brother Oz Brother Oz and just fill him with your spirit and give him the words to speak Just help this congregation to focus on what you'd have for us In Jesus' precious time we pray Amen Amen Alright good evening everyone We are in Psalm 119 And we spared you this time from reading the whole thing One of these days would be cool though It would take like 15 minutes for a really fast reader So we'll see if that ever happens someday But we're here in Psalm 119 And I want to read verse number 71 The Bible says It is good for me that I have been afflicted That I might learn thy statutes So notice here the psalmist's attitude towards affliction It's kind of a paradox from our human understanding Where he's being afflicted but the psalmist actually says It's good for me that I'm being afflicted Now this is in complete contrast to our American way of thinking Where the average American they want to spend their life seeking To be as comfortable as possible The American way of thinking is I want the easiest job I can get That pays me the most amount of money I want to live in the nicest house I could possibly live in Drive the nicest car I could possibly afford Get the best healthcare Like Americans we're all about comfort right We don't like affliction We don't want to feel afflicted But the Bible says here that it is good for us to have been afflicted And the title of my sermon this evening is affliction is good Affliction is good Even think about this physically speaking Our bodies were meant to move Our bodies are meant to work and to experience exertion And to push ourselves and to fight and to work It wouldn't be healthy for us just to sit down in a pod And never move and never use our bodies We would start feeling a lot of pain And what's funny is like I used to work a very very physical job And I noticed that once I move towards more of an office job My hips hurt more My back hurts more And I have to like put in more of an effort to get exercise outside of work And hit the gym and stuff like that Because if you just sit down Your body is not meant for that right We're made for affliction We need to have affliction in our life Even physically But the same thing is true spiritually Affliction is good for us spiritually Now this evening I want to give you four reasons Why affliction is good And we'll make some application at the end of this sermon So number one Affliction is good because it helps you learn the Bible Affliction is good because it helps you learn the Bible Look at Psalm 119 again Look at verse 71 It says It is good for me That I have been afflicted Why? That I might learn Thy statutes Notice pain teaches Affliction teaches It's good that I've been afflicted Why? That I might learn Specifically learn what? Thy statutes And so when we go through affliction It causes us to learn the Bible Now this is true physically as well Think about you know when we're kids And we touch a hot stove Hey pain teaches right That pain teaches us Hey I don't want to touch that hot stove again Or have you ever messed with electrical equipment And got hurt from it and stuff like that That physical pain teaches you great valuable lessons in life It keeps you alive Okay Well when we go through affliction That pain teaches us the Bible spiritually And you know I'm going to tell you Several life experiences that I've had That have been affliction That have taught me the Bible You know what I know every single person in here Has gone through affliction of some portion And I'm sure you've learned things from the Bible too But you know there's some things that I've been through That have taught me the scriptures One of them is a pretty serious injury I had When I was 16 I grew up and my whole life This isn't a good thing I'm just telling you the truth about my life My whole life was centered around playing baseball From a young child I played baseball in the spring In the summer In the fall And during the winter we would do winter workouts Like that was my life as a child Growing up is just playing baseball That's what I put my focus and energy into That's what my parents put their money into And everything like that But when I was 16 I got a really bad injury I tore my rotator cuff My labrum And my bicep On my left shoulder And had a serious surgery That just destroyed my baseball career I did end up playing baseball again But I was never the same And I knew that I wouldn't be able to progress Any further in my baseball endeavor And that was afflicting to me at the time And I thought it was negative at the time But looking back I know that that was a positive thing That actually happened in my life And you know what It taught me that the spiritual is what's important in life I would not have gotten that lesson If I would have just played baseball my whole life I would not have gotten that Because all I cared about was baseball That's what I wanted to do with my life And I wouldn't have tried to have served Christ Because I was too busy playing baseball So I think that God gave me that affliction To teach me a lesson And I'm thankful for it But go to Colossians chapter 3 if you would Colossians chapter 3 Colossians chapter 3 Look at verse number 1 it says If ye then be risen with Christ Seek those things which are above Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affection on things above Not on things of the earth Remember that verse in Psalm 119 Hey it's good for us to be afflicted Why? That we might learn the Bible That we might learn by precept And this is something that I learned Hey God actually doesn't want me to put my affection on things below God doesn't want me to spend my whole life Playing a sport and caring only about baseball Rather he wants me to put my affection on things above And so by me getting that injury It caused me to be able to shift my focus from the carnal to the spiritual That's something that I learned through affliction Look at verse 3 it says For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ I love this phrase Who is our life shall appear Then shall ye also appear with him in glory And you know I mentioned this this morning But outside of serving God and outside of church Nothing else matters in life There's nothing in life that really means anything Or that is really going to have any type of eternal value Except what we do for Christ And so if you have that knowledge What should it cause you to do? It should cause you to seek those things which are above Not the things on the earth To put our affection on things above What does that look like? That looks like going to church three times a week That looks like reading the Bible every day That looks like praying to the Lord That looks like spending your time instead of practicing for a sport Out preaching the gospel getting people saved That's what God wants us to do with our time And you know if you are just putting something above God Like I was baseball You know that God's probably going to come after that in your life And so you need to be careful about what you decide to place above the Lord Because that could be a target of the Lord's wrath And for me thank God it was only something silly like baseball But you know I would hate it if people put their children above the Lord Put their spouse above their Lord You know that kind of stuff Just don't put anything above the Lord Rather hey just seek the Lord And seek those things which are above First Corinthians chapter number three Go to first Corinthians chapter three First Corinthians chapter number three It's talking about the judgment seat of Christ Notice what it says in first Corinthians three thirteen It says every man's work shall be made manifest For the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon He shall receive a reward If any man's work shall be burned He shall suffer loss But he himself shall be saved Yet so as by fire You know it's good every once in a while to remind yourself That there is a very real day coming in your life Where you will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ And your life will be judged according to your work And there's nothing else you can do You can't go back in time and change how you lived your life You can't go put in more hours soul winning You can't go read your Bible more at that time Your work is done Your life is over And guess what we don't know when our life is going to be over physically either I mean we could die tonight as someone that could die on the road tomorrow You never know So every single day you need to be seeking those things that are above Why? Because hey there's coming a day where you can't work anymore And you're going to be judged according to your work Hey all of the wood and the hay and the stubble All of the baseball You know today is the Super Bowl And I bet you a lot of Christians decided to skip out on going to church For the wood, hay, and stubble of watching the Super Bowl But honestly wood, hay, and stubble is just kind of meaningless But that's probably worse because you're probably just staring at The great whore of Babylon Taylor Swift the whole time anyways Probably just even worse than just wood, hay, and stubble You know what? God doesn't want you to waste your life on wood, hay, and stubble He wants that gold, that silver, that precious stone What is that? That's things that have eternal value Let me tell you this We read Deuteronomy chapter 32 this morning And one of the verses in that book talks about how We should memorize scripture and live according to the word of God And it says It's not a vain thing for you For it is your life Going to church is never vain Preaching the gospel is never in vain Reading your Bible is never vain Memorizing scripture is never vain Anything that you do that's spiritual Hey, it's going to last forever It's going to build rewards in heaven It's going to touch people's lives It's going to affect people's eternities And so every time you're going to church That's the right decision It's always the right decision to go to church Always the right decision to preach the gospel You know what? Don't spend your life on the carnal Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 And you know, I don't think I doubt that I was good enough To have played professional baseball Statistically speaking There's probably a very, very slim chance That that would have ever happened But let's just say theoretically I was somehow able to play Pro baseball like my childhood dream What would that have mattered? Zero Nothing But you know what? You know what? The person that gets just one person saved in their life Has done more than the best baseball player that's ever lived The person with the most home runs Barry Bonds Most home runs ever in baseball You get one person saved You've accomplished way more than he has You get one person saved You've done more than Tom Brady has done And so the world wants you to look up To these sport athletes And every young man It's put in their heart That that's what they should do To become a professional athlete You know what? It's vain It's worthless And I thank God that I went through that affliction Through the physical pain Of having my shoulder jacked up I feel that every day of my life My shoulder hurts all the time And I thank God that it hurts all the time Because who knows? I could have been chasing baseball still to this day And I'm thankful that I'm here instead Here's another affliction that taught me the word of God Losing an unsaved loved one Man, who's gone through that before? Man, that's one of the most painful things ever, right? When you know that this person you loved and cared for Died and went to hell But you know what? You can look at that affliction as an opportunity To learn the Bible You know what it taught me? Look at 2 Corinthians 4 verse 3 It says, but if our gospel be hid It is hid to them that are lost In whom the God of this world Has blinded the minds of them which believe not Bless the light of the glorious gospel of Christ Who is the image of God Should shine unto them Hey, you've gone through the affliction Of losing a loved one And someone you care about is in hell? Well, instead of just getting mad at God Or quitting on serving God Why don't you let that pain teach you To love souls more in the future? Why don't you let that teach you to say Hey, I've got some loved ones that are alive right now That are still here That can still get saved Maybe I should realize that if my gospel is hid It's hid to those people And realize, hey I need to take preaching the gospel seriously And not drop that opportunity To let more of my loved ones get saved What a shame that would be Go to 2 Corinthians 6 Flip the page there 2 Corinthians 6 verse 2 It says, For he saith, I have heard thee In a time accepted And in the day of salvation Have I suckered thee Behold, now is the accepted time Behold, now is the day of salvation Man, losing an unsaved loved one Put some urgency into my soul And realizing that when I'm talking to someone at the door This could be their last chance You know, we don't get to see what happens To the people that we preach to We knock on their door, we present to them the gospel And we may never see them again But I wonder, I wonder You know, of all the soul winners in the new IFB I wonder if one of our soul winners Ever just knocked on someone's door, gotten them saved And that person died that night I bet you it's happened I bet you it's happened where someone's gotten someone saved And they died the next week Or they died the next month But hey, us as soul winners realize That now is the day of salvation Don't wait to preach your loved ones the gospel You know that you have someone in your family that's unsaved Get that fixed now Get that fixed today Preach them the gospel Don't wait on that So you don't have to experience the pain And the affliction of losing a loved one like that Because there is no remedy How do you comfort someone whose loved one goes to hell? You can't It's eternal There's no fixing it ever They're lost for eternity That's sad, but that's reality And so, if you go through that affliction And hey, I'm sorry I've been there But let that teach you Not make that mistake again And let that teach you to care about souls more In the future Go to 2 Samuel chapter number 12 2 Samuel chapter number 12 So that taught me Another affliction that I've been through And many people have been through this affliction Is miscarriage Losing a child That's an affliction, that hurts, that's painful And I don't want anyone to have to go through that It's not fun But you know what? That affliction taught me the Bible as well Go to 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 19 Notice it says We have a situation here where David's son is very sick And on the brink of death In verse 19 it says But when David saw that his servants whispered David perceived that the child was dead So David's child died Therefore David said unto his servants Is the child dead? Then they said he is dead Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself And changed his apparel And came into the house of the Lord and worshipped Then he came to his own house And when he required they set bread before him And he did eat Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child While it was yet, while it was alive But when the child was dead Thou didst rise and eat bread And said, While the child was yet alive I fasted and wept For I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me That my child may live? Now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? Notice that it says, I shall go to him But he shall not return to me Hey you know the affliction Of losing a child taught me to love The promise of heaven even more And hey I'm looking forward To being able to meet my child someday in heaven And lots of people have gone through This before And that should draw you to the scriptures And say, Hey David lost one David lost his son And he said, I shall go to him Praise the Lord for that Praise the Lord that when you lose a child Hey that child is innocent That child is not going to go to hell That child is completely safe and secure in the Lord And that when you die someday Your child is going to be waiting for you in heaven Praise God for that Thank God for that It could at least teach me To love God's word even more Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 6 Ecclesiastes chapter number 6 You know here's another affliction I've been through that's taught me the Bible That's being stabbed in the back By my friends You know the new IFB has had splits Over the years And usually it was involving people I didn't really know that well But you know a few years back There was a split at the church I was going to And someone that I thought Was a great friend of mine Just completely turned on the church Now thinks that Pastor Aaron Thompson is a spiritual abuser And Shure Foundation Baptist Church Is a cult And just completely changed I mean it would be like someone in here Who you love and know is your friend That you think is your fellow laborer And just boom you're part of a cult You're a terrible person you're spiritual abusers I mean that's crazy And it doesn't really surprise you anymore after that But the first time man it hurts But you know what that affliction teaches you The Bible What did it teach me Ecclesiastes 6 16 It says a faithful friend Is the medicine of life And they that fear the Lord Shall find him You know what getting backstabbed Has taught me before It teaches me to appreciate my real friends It teaches me to love and appreciate the people in my life That are really faithful friends Because a faithful friend is the medicine of life Man isn't it just refreshing To have a real true friend Not just someone that Is with you when the times are good But when the times are bad too Not just someone who likes you when you're at your best But who likes you even when you make mistakes Even when you do something foolish Or say something foolish That type of friend really can encourage you in life And if you find a friend like that Man that is a blessing And they that fear the Lord shall find him Fear the Lord and you'll find a friend like that Put God first and he'll give you Some great friends like that Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 12 2 Corinthians chapter number 12 What about some other afflictions How about just the afflictions that our church Has gone through I mean steadfast Baptist church has been through a lot of afflictions Protests Lawsuits Threats Stalking Steadfast has been through a lot But you know One of the things that all of our afflictions has taught me Is that The sodomites and the reprobates Are truly exactly what the Bible describes in life I don't have to just read the Bible And be like well you know I've never really experienced them But I'm just going to trust what the Bible says No no no Everything that the Bible says about sodomites I know for a fact is true Because I've literally lived it I've literally seen it with my own eyes I don't even have to take it by faith anymore And so yeah that's affliction at the time Dealing with all these freaks But hey the benefit is that I got to learn God's law The benefit is that the kids growing up in our church They got to see oh What mom and dad say about them is exactly true Look at the nasty things they're saying about the Lord Look at the disgusting comments they're saying about mom Look at you know what I mean The kids see that stuff and they learn the Bible too Through affliction Hey it is good for me that I have been afflicted That I might learn by statutes Here's another reason why affliction is good Is that affliction keeps you humble 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7 says And lest I should be exalted above measure Through the abundance of the revelations There was given to me a thorn in the flesh The messenger of Satan to buffet me Lest I should be exalted above measure So notice the Apostle Paul Man he was a really special person He was given a lot of scripture He wrote a huge portion of the New Testament And it would have been really easy for him in the flesh To have been exalted Like oh I'm the Apostle Paul I'm writing a bunch of the New Testament I'm such a great guy And you would say well what's wrong with that necessarily Well pride goeth before destruction That's the problem with it Is that if Paul would have been puffed up He would have been destroyed And so God in his love In his care for the Apostle Paul Gave him a thorn in the flesh You say well that doesn't sound loving That doesn't sound nice No actually affliction was good for Paul Because it kept him humble Because if Paul wasn't humble His life would have been destroyed That's the truth And you know a lot of people like to Question about what is Paul's thorn in the flesh I mean I'm open to hearing different theories about it I think it's probably a problem with his eyes Because I think it's the book of Galatians Which is a pretty short epistle Paul says you see how large a letter I've written unto you with my own hand I think because he had problems seeing He wrote really large letters Because it wasn't really that long of an epistle And also I think in the book of 2 Corinthians He talks about how they loved Paul so much That they were willing to impart their own eyes unto him And you think about a guy that's been beaten with rods And stoned and almost killed Like very possible that he had messed up eyes Right from his trauma to the brain Or even direct trauma to the eyes And that's what I think his thorn in the flesh was But notice in verse number 8 it says For this thing I besought the Lord Christ That it might depart from me You know Paul at the time Even though affliction is good Even though it's good for us to be afflicted He's not necessarily understanding that at the time Right And we've all been there We've all had issues in our life Where we're praying Lord please take this away from me Please help me with this issue And then looking back at our lives We say oh actually it was good that the Lord didn't answer that prayer Oh I actually see how that trial That affliction made me better And that God was actually helping me By not answering that prayer That's where Paul was at You know and he was He was beseeching the Lord three times That's probably not just three quick prayers before bed That's probably three really long intense seasons of prayer Where Paul is saying like Hey this is at the top of my prayer list God I'm gonna continually come to you with this issue Every single day I'm gonna beseech you to take this thorn in the flesh Away from you From me But God didn't see fit to do so Why? So that he wouldn't be exalted above measure Why? Because that would have actually destroyed him Not The thorn in the flesh wasn't destroying you Paul It was if you would have gotten rid of that thorn in the flesh That actually is what would have destroyed you And sometimes that's hard for us to take We're like no we want our afflictions to go away No we want the comfort right But man that's not always what's best for us And think about the things that people desire in life People desire a lot of money But you know what? Maybe God doesn't want you to have a lot of money Maybe you will struggle with money until the day that you die And maybe that's God actually being merciful to you Because maybe if God just gave you all the money Maybe you would get prideful and lifted up and stop serving God And you'd show up at the judgment seat of Christ Poor You know that wouldn't be good You know people want Like we talked about sports accolades You know Oh Lord just please help me get into the major league baseball Help me to get into the NFL right People pray for these type of things But God doesn't necessarily want to give you that Because it wouldn't even be good for you Or you know Every lady wants to look like a supermodel But what if being a Looking like a supermodel made you a crappy person Because let me tell you something A lot of these women That are just extremely attractive Are just terrible people You know I wouldn't know But I would imagine All these people and only fans Probably aren't ugly That's how they're making money But guess what By you being attractive You're literally selling your soul Being a whore You're devaluing yourself You're being wicked In the sight of God And it's like Oh great You're pretty Yeah but that's vain That's pointless That's meaningless Maybe it's good That us men aren't all 235 pounds 6 foot 5 Strapping Square drawed Guys Okay Because maybe That wouldn't be good for us Maybe we'd get prideful You know Hey It's good that we got issues Right Maybe it's good for me That if I spend five minutes in the sun I burn like a crisp Maybe God just wants to keep me humble Right Don't forget to put on your sunscreen Dylan Right Put on your big hat That's an affliction for me Trust me It's an affliction But maybe it's good for me And so Whatever your afflictions are Just embrace them Hey There's nothing wrong with praying to the Lord At times he does take away our afflictions But there's gonna be some things in your life that he never takes away Are you gonna be okay with that? Verse 9 He said unto me My grace is sufficient for thee For my strength is made perfect in weakness Most gladly therefore Will I rather glory in mine infirmities That the power of Christ May rest upon me Damn What are you willing to take in your life That the power of Christ May rest upon you? If you can get to that place with your attitude You're going places as a Christian If you can say Hey Lord You know I'll be poor If I have to be poor If the power of Christ will rest upon me Hey Lord I'll have health problems If you need me to have health problems If the power of Christ will rest upon me Hey Lord I'll have marriage problems If you want me to have marriage problems At the power of Christ And they rest upon me Whatever the issue Whatever the affliction God is number one And if you have that attitude You'll go places in Christianity Look at verse 10 Therefore I take pleasure In infirmities What? I mean that's super counterintuitive To the way we think Paul is saying I literally take pleasure In infirmities In reproaches In necessities In persecutions In distresses For Christ's sake For when I am weak Then am I strong And this is what separates Elite Christians From everyone else Paul is a Absolutely Elite level Christian Right here Why? Because of his attitude That he literally is willing To take pleasure In infirmities He says Oh In reproaches I take pleasure In that Oh in necessities I've got a bill That I don't know How I'm gonna pay I take pleasure In that Because I know that the Lord Is gonna be Glorified Through him providing For me Somehow But you know The person that's super rich They don't feel that way They don't need The Lord In their own eyes They think I've got everything All figured out I'm Superman I've built all this well Look at how cool My house is Look at how cool My car is I've done this all myself And you know what Those people don't have The power of Christ Resting upon them They're relying on Their own strength And you know what The arm of flesh Will fail you You may think You're strong today But eventually Your flesh will fail you Relying on yourself Will fail you But you know what Just being That will actually Keep you humble That will actually Be a blessing For your life Go to Exodus Chapter number one Exodus chapter number one Here's another benefit Of affliction Affliction causes growth Affliction causes growth Exodus chapter one Verse seven And the children of Israel Were fruitful And increased abundantly And multiplied And waxed Exceeding mighty And the land Was filled with them Now there arose up A new king over Egypt Which knew not Joseph And he said unto his people Behold the people Of the children of Israel Are more And mightier than we Come on Let us deal wisely With them Lest they multiply And it come to pass That when there fall Without any war They join also Unto our enemies And fight against us And so get them up Out of the land Therefore, they did set Over them Taskmasters Notice To afflict them With their burdens And they built They built Pharaoh, Treasure cities, Python, And Ramses So notice what the king Of Egypt's mindset is He says I see That these people are strong That they're mighty That they're plenteous And I'm worried That they're going to be So strong that If there was a war They would team up With our enemies And overthrow us So he goes So I have an idea Let's afflict them This is a really bad move If you want to weaken Someone Because affliction Brings growth Affliction Doesn't weaken you It actually Makes you stronger Look at verse number 12 But the more they Afflicted them The more they multiplied And grew And they were grieved Because of the children Of Israel You see affliction Causes growth Bad move by Pharaoh Again, think about this physically If you were to have a personal trainer Take you into the gym He's going to afflict you He's going to cause you Pain and suffering And he's going to make you Hate your life You know what's going to happen? Growth You're going to become stronger And just like that's true Physically That is true Spiritually as well Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3 I'm sorry Go to Romans 5 I'll just read for you Think about this How are some ways That we can be Afflicted Spiritually Well the main way The number one thing I think of Is persecution That's a way We can be afflicted Spiritually While you're turning To Romans 5 I'll read for you 2 Timothy 3 10 Now has fully known my doctrine Manner of life Purpose Faith Long suffering Charity Patience Persecutions Affliction Which came unto me at Antioch At Iconium At Lystra What manner of persecutions I endured But out of them all The Lord delivered me Yea and all That will live godly In Christ Jesus Shall Suffer Persecution So notice Paul Was a person who was Greatly afflicted In life Not only did he have He was just Greatly afflicted From every area of life He was talking about How he was Having afflictions Of brethren False brethren And he's constantly Being shipwrecked And attacked And physically eaten And being stoned I mean this guy Was constantly being Persecuted And afflicted But notice what he says He says But out of them all The Lord delivered me And all of that affliction That he endured All that pain What did it do? It turned Paul into One of the strongest Christians that ever lived And what was he? He was someone That went through A ton of affliction And think about The great men of The Bible That we all Look up to As great heroes Of the faith They're all people That went through affliction Read Hebrews chapter 11 These people Didn't have Easy lives The reason why They're in the Hall of faith Is because all of their Lives were Extremely difficult And extremely full Of persecution And affliction That's what made Them strong That's what gave Them strength To become The greatest In the Christian Life And think about All the great Christians that You know personally I think about Some of the pastors That I know That I look up to As great men Of God They're people That have been Persecuted Pastor Stephen Anderson Banned from Like half Of the globe Right Pastor Shelley Probably has More protests On his Church services Than any other protesters are as many protests but he had more protests I mean he had thousands of protests outside of his literally thousands in the accumulation of just a couple of months where we had protesters that lasted for years and years but it was a handful sometimes we have big protests but Pastor Jimenez had huge crowds of protests right going worldwide viral all the men that I look up to a pastor Aaron Thompson has had protesters Pastor Joe Jones has had protesters with rifles outside of his church right just a bunch of weirdos all of these guys that I know that I look up to as as heroes of the faith the spiritual giants that I know are men that have been afflicted heavily and so it's not a coincidence affliction brings growth look at Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5 look at verse 3 again this is Paul he said not only so but we glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience he's saying hey we're gonna we're gonna glory we're gonna be excited about the fact that we're having tribulation troubles affliction why because it's gonna work patient what's he saying we're gonna grow as people we're gonna grow as Christians by going through persecutions it's gonna cause us to grow in our patience what is patience patience is the bearing of provocation annoyance misfortune or pain without complaints loss of temper irritation or the light I mean that is what is that that's maturity that's really what that is patience is a mature person person that's able to go through persecutions and temptations and annoyances without complaining about it with or even being like the Apostle Paul not only are you not complaining about it he's saying I glory in tribulation I get excited when this stuff happens why because he's gonna grow from it he knows he's gonna grow from it look at verse 4 and patience experience and experience hope and think about it patience and experience are both markers of a mature Christian like when you think about a mature Christian it's someone that's very patient in the faith and it's someone with a lot of experience but how do you get there as a Christian tribulation how do you get there affliction you cannot be a spiritual person a mature spiritual Christian without having gone through hardship in your life it's not gonna happen so when it happens feel like hey this is awesome this is an opportunity to grow hey cool this is an opportunity for me to learn the Word of God more hey cool this is an opportunity for God to keep me humble hey cool this is an opportunity for me to grow spiritually that's how you should look at and not just see every little temptation in your life as the end of the world no sure pray to the Lord pour out your complaint unto the Lord but at the same time trust him and expect to see growth go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 2nd Corinthians chapter number 4 I'm going to read for you again I love this verse Proverbs 3 5 says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding I just love that verse because it just applies in so many different areas of life right if you're trusting in the Lord and you're not leaning on your own understanding you know you could read something in the Bible and it may not make sense to you but you could trust the Lord that it's true and you could do it anyway or when we're talking about affliction you could be going through something in life that you're like I don't see how this is making me better I don't see how this is teaching me anything I don't see how this is causing me to grow but I know that's the truth so I'm going to trust the Lord anyway make this one of your life verses Proverbs 3 5 2nd Corinthians 4 17 says for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory think about this in the context of how affliction makes you grow affliction also makes your spiritual bank account grow he's saying look when we go through these afflictions it works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that's some other growth you're going to get spiritually by going through affliction is hey your rewards in heaven are growing that's another way you could just keep things in the right perspective when you're going through hardship okay go to 2nd Corinthians chapter number one 2nd Corinthians chapter number one and another great benefit of affliction is that affliction enables you to help other people and man this is one of the most important things because what really makes someone a disciple of Christ what makes you a good Christian is not just that you are doing all the right things but it's that you're actually helping other people and that's real Christianity right there is that we're helping our brothers and sisters in Christ we're helping other people to grow right well look at 2nd Corinthians 1 3 it says blessed be God even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of mercies and the God of all comfort notice who comforted us in all our tribulation Paul saying hey God has comforted me why that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God notice how Paul went through all those persecutions all those troubles and he's saying like yeah I glory in those things yeah I've gotten patience and hope and experience by all those things and God has comforted me in those why so that I could comfort other people when they're going through that by the same comfort that I received from God and so that's another thing you should keep in mind when you're going through something hard maybe you're going through a medical problem but you know what while that sucks while that you're going through that you continuing to be steadfast and you continuing to serve the Lord you're setting the example for the next guy that has that same problem or the next girl that has that same problem and you could want to just quit and just wallow in self-pity what was me that I'm going through this you know what you could look at it as an opportunity to minister to the next person that goes through that you lost a child you had a miscarriage and that sucks I know I've been there hard but you know what maybe God is allowing you to go through that so you can comfort the next person that goes through that as well because while we would like to think that everyone is just so spiritual that when they're going through hardships they're just going to lead to the Bible and lead to their knees and prayer to God that's not the reality sometimes people just need their brothers and sisters in Christ to help and so you need to be that person for other people when you go through afflictions you know maybe you're going through financial issues maybe you've been there your whole life and you always will be but hey come for people that are going through the same thing right hey man I'm in the same boat too yeah Biden screwed both of us isn't it awesome haha inflation you know laugh it off you want to go to Costco and get a dollar fifty hot dog for dinner does that mean we're inflation that way right hey console your brethren when you're going through hardships go to or in the same chapter this for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounded by Christ notice the more we suffer the more God gets to comfort us the more God gets to console us and the more our brothers and sisters suffer the more opportunities there are for us to minister to those people as well verse six and whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation those Paul saying when I look at my own problems when I look at my own affliction you know what I'm thinking about in my own problems other people that's why I say Paul is an elite Christian because he even looks at his own problems as an opportunity to serve other people is that how you and I are and we need to be like that we want to strive to be like that that's amazing that he's like that whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope of you is steadfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so shall you be also of the consolation notice Paul is looking forward to the fact he's saying yeah I know that you guys are going through suffering but I'm looking forward to the fact that just like I got to be a partaker of God's comfort of God's consolation that you guys are going to be as well and how does he do that obviously he does that by preaching them the Word of God by teaching them the Bible and of course I'm sure he was a friend of these people too all when he's listing names in various places in the New Testament he talks about his fellow helper his fellow laborer his fellow soldier he calls out people by name that helped him personally you know I'm sure Paul was a close friend of people and that he was a good comforter and consoler of people go to Hebrews chapter number four Hebrews chapter number four Hebrews 4 verse 14 says seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession for we have not in high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin notice Jesus Christ humbled himself so much that he went from his eternal state in heaven to become a little baby in a manger and why did he do all that why did he go through the whole experiences of being man which is full of sorrows and temptation and hardships Jesus Christ was called man of sorrow I mean he did not have an easy life you remember he was tortured and killed at the end of it why did he do all that well look at verse number 16 says let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace why that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time notice what affliction did for the Lord himself it enabled him to help us because he was afflicted like we are afflicted he was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin we don't have an high priest which can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities meaning Jesus Christ knows what it's like when you're sad Jesus Christ knows what it's like when you're hungry Jesus Christ knows what it's like when you're betrayed by your friends Jesus Christ knows what it's like when you're mocked he was mocked he was spit on he was forsaken he was hated of the world he knows what all these things are like why so that he can help us to be a great suckerer to us to be a great consoler to us and so when you go through your trials when I go through my trials let us look at it as an opportunity to say hey I can help console someone in the future I can help my brothers and sisters in Christ if they ever go through what I've gone through I can help them as well that's the attitude that God wants us to have hate afflictions good affliction it's good for me that I have been afflicted the Bible says hey when I'm afflicted I love turning to the Bible and seeing great stories of men of God in the Bible that were afflicted and seeing God deliver them out of it I love the story of Daniel being thrown in the lion's den and him living through that and surviving and not being touched by those lions right because it's like what are our trials in comparison of that when when was I ever thrown in a lion's den right I mean that's crazy or you know Shadrach Meshach and Abednego you know standing up to King Nebuchadnezzar refusing to bow the knee saying even if you throw us in the fiery furnace we're still not going to bow the knee to you isn't it comforting to see their faith and see how God delivered them out of it hey isn't it comforting to see the Apostle Paul and Peter and the Apostles say hey we ought to obey God rather than men and refuse to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ get thrown into prison and God delivers them out of it you know Paul saying that hey I don't know what's going to happen to me when I leave Ephesus but here's one thing I know that sufferings abide me and every city that I go to but yet the Lord still delivered him out of every temptation and that just fires me up that just realizes hey whatever temptation whatever affliction I'm going through I know God can deliver me out of it and that brings me comfort that brings me growth in my life now how do we apply these truths for a life we learn tonight what do we learn hey afflictions good for us affliction is good for us why it teaches us the Bible it keeps us humble it causes us to grow spiritually it causes us to be able to help our brother and sister in Christ so what should we do about that okay let me show you what we should do about that this right here can everyone read that it says embrace the suck okay this is a pass that I keep on my backpack and you know what this means this means be steadfast that's what this means what this means is when things are hard when they're when things suck in your life when you have affliction when something bad is happening on just embrace it say bring it on affliction yeah let's do it let's grow spiritually let's get better let's serve our brothers and sisters in Christ let's learn the Bible more embrace the suck when it comes in your life just embrace it embrace the problems be steadfast go to James chapter number four first Corinthians 15 55 therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord it's not in vain any work that you do any affliction you suffer for Christ the problems in your life and when you look at things through a spiritual lens you realize affliction is good so what should we do as a result of that be steadfast that that doesn't mean serving God when it's easy I mean what if you just said like man I had the easiest week of my life this week but I'm just trying to be steadfast it's like I just man this everything is going great for me my health is great I'm making so much money my marriage is awesome everything in my life is so easy but I'm just trying to stay steadfast it doesn't make sense right no being steadfast means things are hard there's challenges there's things trying to stop me there's things trying to move me from my course and you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna be steadfast anyway I'm just gonna embrace the suck and just overcome it anyway through God's power through God's grace James chapter 4 verse 8 says draw nigh to God and you will draw an eye to you cleanse your hands he sinners and purify your hearts he double-minded notice this command in the Bible be afflicted hey just embrace it and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord he shall lift you up and some of the best things you could ever do in your life is just to humble yourself before God so he doesn't have to and just say like Lord I accept these afflictions help me to get through it by your power help me to get through it by your grace help me to learn your word help me to grow spiritually help me to become patient help me to be humble help me to help my brothers and sisters in Christ I'm just gonna be afflicted Lord tell me to be afflicted okay that's what Jesus Christ did that's what our Savior did I'm just gonna be afflicted too I'm just gonna accept it I'm just gonna embrace the suck go to 2nd Timothy chapter 1 this would be the last verse 2nd Timothy chapter 1 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 8 it says be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner notice this but be thou partaker of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God hey let's not run away from affliction in our life let's not just take this modern American view where we just want to make our lives as easy as possible and avoid pain and avoid affliction you know what let's just embrace the affliction let us be partakers of the afflictions of Christ say hey our Savior was afflicted if that's good enough for him it's good enough for us to let's just embrace it let's not run away from it let's say hey you know what affliction is good let's have that attitude affliction is good why it'll help you learn the Bible more why it'll make you humble why it'll cause you to grow why it'll allow you to help your brothers and sisters in Christ more sounds to me like affliction is good so what should we do hey Lord thank you so much for this day thank you for the Word of God and thank you Lord for the afflictions that we go through sure you're not thanked enough for our afflictions Lord we're always trying to get rid of our afflictions but thank you for our afflictions Lord and I just pray that you would help us to humble ourselves and to rely on you to get through them and that you would help us to learn the lessons that you have us to learn from our afflictions thank you for this church pray that you bless everyone here you seem to cry for you. Amen. All right for our last hymn this evening if you would grab your hymnals turn to hymn number 130 yesterday today forever hymn number 13130 yesterday today forever 130 starting there on the first Oh how sweet the glorious message simple faith may claim yesterday today forever Jesus is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful, heal the sick and lame. Cheer the mourners till the tempest glory to his name. Yesterday today forever Jesus is the same. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. He who pardoned Eric Peter never means thou fear. He that came to faithless comets all my doubt will clear. He who left the love disciple yesterday today forever Jesus is the same. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. He who bid the raging billows walked upon the sea. Still can hush our wildest tempest paths on Galilee. He who left and prayed in anguish in Gethsemane. Drinks with us each cup of trembling in our enemy. Yesterday today forever Jesus is the same. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. As of old we walk to Emmaus with him to abide. So through all life's way he walked if ever near our side. Soon again shall we behold him base and lord the day. God will still be the same Jesus as he went away. Yesterday today forever Jesus is the same. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change but Jesus never. Glory to his name.