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Amen. All right, we're there in 2 Corinthians chapter number 4. And on Wednesday nights, we've been going through the book of 2 Corinthians. It's our Wednesday night Bible study verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And tonight, we're going to continue here in chapter number 4, where we left off. And my voice is not 100% back to 100% yet, so I don't know how long I'll last tonight. We'll see how far we can go. But we'll get as far as we can. There's really not a lot that I want to deal with tonight. I want to look at a short passage. If you remember, last week we started chapter 4, and we talked about the fact that in verses 1 and 2, we saw, if you remember, the book of 2 Corinthians up to this point has had this theme. And it continues with this theme about ministry and about ministers. And the Apostle Paul, there in verses 1 and 2, he talked about his teaching ministry, or we could say his sermons. And then in verses 3 to 7, he talked about soul winning and reaching people with the gospel. And of course, those are the two things that every church should do. We should reach people, and we should teach people. And then in the chapter here, he continues. I'll give you just a quick outline if you want to jot it down. In verses 8 through 9, he talks about the minister's suffering. In verses 10 through 12, he talks about the minister's sacrifice. And in verses 13 through 18, he talks about the minister's spiritual life. And we're going to cover all of that verse by verse thoroughly. But tonight, I really just want to focus in on verses 8 through 9. If you look down at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and look at verses 8 and 9, you'll recognize them as very well-known verses, very powerful verses. The Bible says we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. And these two verses, they hold these several statements, four statements. And these are some powerful statements in the Bible. There are some amazing statements. There are statements that I know because the theme is ministry in this book so far in 2 Corinthians. And I can say for myself and I know for many other pastors in ministry that these statements are often statements of encouragement. They reinforce you. And what I always think about when I read these statements is they're statements of reality and reassurance, statements of reality and reassurance. The apostle Paul, he's very real with us about some of the things we struggle with and we deal with in ministry. He gives us the reality of the matter, but he also gives us reassurance. So tonight I'd like to just look at these two verses. I'd like to look at these four statements and these two verses and kind of break them down for you. And I think they're just powerful enough that they're worth an entire sermon. If you look there at verse number 8, I want you to notice the first statement. And statement number 1 of reality and reassurance here that Paul gives us, he says, we are troubled on every side, he says, yet not distressed. He says we are troubled on every side. What's interesting is that this is not the only time that the apostle Paul uses this terminology where he says we are troubled or we are in trouble or find ourselves in trouble. And keep your place there in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, if you would. And go back to chapter 1 and look at verse 8. Let me just give you a couple of examples of this terminology where he says we are troubled. And I would say this, and this is why I say these are statements of reality and reassurance because here's the truth. It is true that sometimes in ministry, if you serve God and you serve the Lord, you may find yourself at times describing your situation as saying we are troubled on every side. The Christian life, the prosperity gospel is a lie. And the Christian life, this idea that the Christian life is just riches and wealth and there's no problems is not true. Here we have one of the greatest servants of the Lord saying to this church in Corinth, he's saying we are. He's being honest about his situation. He says we are troubled on every side. That doesn't sound like a positive statement. That doesn't sound like a reassuring statement. But it's a statement that he makes there. And it's a statement that he's made. Notice there in 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 8, he says, for we would not, brethren, have you ignorant. He says, I don't want you to be ignorant of the fact, he says, we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our troubles which came to us in Asia. See, you might find yourself in the Christian life saying, all of a sudden, I'm having these troubles. I'm having these issues. I'm having these problems. Am I doing something wrong in the Christian life? Well, let me tell you something. The apostle Paul had troubles. He says, we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our troubles which came to us in Asia. Look down at 2 Corinthians chapter 7, if you would. Look at verse 5, 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 5. He says, for when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest. Notice, he says, our flesh had no rest. He says, but we were troubled on every side. He said, we had troubles. And I want you to notice how it's described there. And if you would, keep your place there in 2 Corinthians. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, 1 Corinthians 16. I want you to notice, he doesn't say, we have trouble. He doesn't say, we have this issue. He says, we are troubled on every side. He's saying, we are surrounded by trouble. It doesn't matter which way you look, there's something going on. There's an issue. There's an obstacle. There's a fight. There's a problem. And I want you to understand, I think in the Christian life, we need to just grasp this and come to grips with this idea that, yes, it is true. Sometimes we are troubled on every side. And we don't have to lie and pretend and act like everything's OK all the time, because sometimes things aren't OK. Sometimes, like the Apostle Paul, we can say, hey, we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our troubles, which came to us in Asia. Sometimes there are issues. Yes, it is true that sometimes we have trouble. And you say, well, what's the deal with that? And here's what you need to understand. The reason for trouble is this, because when you attempt to accomplish anything for God, there will always be opposition. There's always going to be an adversary. Are you there in 1 Corinthians 16? Look at verse 9. 1 Corinthians 16, 9, the Bible says, for a great door and effectual is open unto me. Doesn't that sound nice? A great door and effectual, a great door of opportunity, a great door of ministry is open unto me. And by the way, we can say, like the Apostle Paul, there's a great door and effectual that is open unto us. You and I today have a great opportunity to be able to serve God and do something for God and accomplish something for God. Hey, don't you know that God is no respecter of persons? Don't you know that God wants to use you and God wants to use me in the same way that he used the Apostle Paul, in the same way that he used Peter, in the same way that he used any preacher you can think of, any man of God you can think of, any person that you can think of and say, wow, God used them in a wonderful way. Hey, know this, God wants to use you and God wants to use me and God wants to use this church in the same way. There's a great door and effectual is open unto me. You say, well, why don't more people try to do something for God? Here's why, because when that door is open unto you, when the opportunity is there, the Bible says, and there are many adversaries. There's always going to be opposition. In fact, I would say this, if you're never fighting the devil, you must not be bothering him that much. If the devil's never messing with you, then you just must not be that big of a concern. I like the story in the book of Acts when you have those men trying to cast out the devils and the demons and the devils say, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? Whenever somebody attempts to do something for God, when somebody attempts to walk through the door of great opportunity and effectual that is open unto us, just realize that when you do that, there's going to be a great, an adversary there to meet you. People say, my life used to be five, so I started coming to church like this. Yeah, because your life wasn't bothering the devil till you started coming to church like this. I started, I decided I was gonna, Pastor Regis heard about soul winning, I decided I was gonna start going soul winning, I started having all these farms at work. Well, when you walk through a door of opportunity and attempt to do something for God, there are many adversaries. And I know our church can attest to the fact we've experienced a lot of opposition over the years. And the reason for it is because we've attempted to do and accomplish great things for God. I'm not saying that we've always done the best and we definitely could have done better, but we've attempted to do great things for God. We've attempted to reach this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've attempted to preach the Bible without apology and without watering it down. And as a result, we have experienced that sometimes you get the devil upset at you, you get the world upset at you, the adversaries show up. And sometimes like the Apostle Paul, we say, hey, we are troubled on every side. And there's always this, sometimes I should say, there's this feeling of almost like, well, what are you doing wrong? When your church is the one getting protested, what did you do wrong? You must have done something wrong because no other churches are getting protested. You must have done something wrong because they're not writing those types of articles about any other pastor. You must have done something wrong. But I would tell you that what we're doing is what New Testament Christianity has always done and the Apostle Paul says, hey, we are troubled on every side. It's true. Sometimes there's problems, sometimes there's issues, sometimes there's fight. That's why I always think it's funny people say, well, you know, you guys have all these issues, all these problems, you have all these fights and there's fighting this false prophet and this guy turns on you and these situations. Hey, yeah, it's true, we are troubled on every side. Sometimes. It's a statement of reality. But here's the reassurance. Keep your place right there in 2nd Corinthians 7. I'm gonna come back to it. But go back to 2nd Corinthians 4. Look at verse 8. Here's a statement of reality. We are troubled on every side. It's true. Here's the statement of reassurance. Yet not distressed. See, Paul says, yes, it's true. We are troubled on every side. He says, yet not distressed. So what does the word distress mean? The word distress means suffering, anxiety, suffering, stress. You see the word stress there and the word distress. Paul says we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. He says we are troubled on every side but we're not anxious about it. We're not stressed out about it. We're not that concerned about it. We're not that worried about it. The purpose of trouble is to cause anxiety or stress or distress. That's why the enemy brings trouble. You say, why does the enemy bring troubles to churches like Verity Baptist Church? When we're trying to send out, we're trying to train and equip as many soul owners as possible to go out in this community and reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, then things happen to us like the things that have happened to us where we've been attacked and we've been protested and we've been black-polled from the community and not allowed to rent certain buildings and go certain places. You say, why would the devil do that? Here's why. To bring stress from the congregation so that you'll quit, so that you'll say, oh, I don't want to do this. See, Paul says, look, we are troubled. Don't be ignorant of the fact that we are troubled but you know you can be troubled and not distressed. The purpose of the troubles is to cause anxiety. The purpose of the troubles is to cause stress, to cause distress. Go back to 2 Corinthians 7. Look at verse 5. Notice what he says there. In 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 5, he says, for when we were come into Macedonia, he says, for when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, he says, but we were troubled on every side. Notice what he says. He says we were troubled on every side and what's the result? Notice, he says, without were fightings, within were fears. I love the fact that the Apostle Paul is very sincere and very authentic. He says, look, you know me as the great, this is what Paul would say, you know me as this great Apostle Paul fighting the battles of the Lord, fighting with these issues and these protests and these riots that he had in his ministry. But he says, let me tell you something. When we were troubled on every side, he said, without were fightings. You saw the fights on the outside, you saw the fights on YouTube, you saw the fights on social media. He said, without were fighting, but he says, within were fears. See, the purpose of bringing without were fightings is to produce within were fears. The devil's gonna try to scare you, gonna try to discourage you. Gonna try to stress you out so you can't serve God. And let me say this, we're human beings. Now look, I understand, and I preach this, and I believe this. Go with me if you went to the book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter five. If you start in the book of Revelation, go backwards. You have Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter. The Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear. Amen. The Bible says that we should fear nothing but the Lord. The Bible says that we should not fear man, fear not what man can do unto you. The Bible says those things, and I believe that, and I teach that, and I preach those things, but let me just be honest with you. We're human beings, and sometimes, when without were fightings, within are fears. Sometimes, can we just be honest? Sometimes, you know, you see maybe someone like myself or someone like Pastor Anderson or someone like some other pastor out there, and we're fighting these battles, and you see us wherever on the news or on the newspaper or whatever, and you say, oh man, they're out there fighting the Lord's battles. Let me tell you something. Every once in a while, while without were fightings, we're human like anybody else within our fears. Sometimes, there are things that trouble us on the inside. Sometimes, there are things that scare us, and I understand that fear is not of God, and I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm just saying, can we confess our faults one to another? Sometimes, within our fears, when they bring the trouble, when they bring the battles, when they bring the issues, and by the way, that's the point. They're trying to scare us. They're trying to discourage us. You're there in 1 Peter chapter five? I'd like you to notice verse number eight. 1 Peter five and verse eight, you know this verse. It's a famous verse about spiritual warfare. Be sober, be vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, did you know you have an adversary? You know you have an enemy? Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walked about, seeking whom he may devour. We know that verse. We understand that verse. It's a sobering verse. Right before 1 Peter five and verse eight, right before 1 Peter five and verse eight, you have another very famous verse, and often, as I would read the Bible and study the Bible, I would always think to myself, these two verses seem to be very opposite of each other. I don't understand why they're in the same context. Because 1 Peter five and verse eight is this verse about the devil and about spiritual warfare. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walked about, seeking whom he may devour. But then 1 Peter five, seven is a very positive, very encouraging verse that says, casting all your care upon him, for he cared for you. And I used to think to myself, I wonder why these verses are connected. Why are they in context? Why would God do that? Because casting all your care, the word care means anxiety, it means stress, it means distress. Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. But then I realized that the reason that God puts these and connects these verses together is because your adversary, the devil, will often bring trouble that'll cause anxiety, stress, and distress. Without we're fighting, within we're fears. You say, what do we do with that? Casting all your care upon him, for he cared for you. You cast your care upon Christ while you're fighting the battles. That's the only way that you can make this statement of reality and reassurance like the apostle Paul says, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. He says, within we're fighting. Without we're fighting, within we're fears. That famous hymn we sing, Just As I Am, has lyrics that are taken from this idea. When it says, just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, the lamb of God, I come, I come. Here's the truth. There's going to be battles. It's true. We are troubled on every side. But we can also say, when we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. Then the apostle Paul, I want you to notice, he makes the second statement, the second statement of reality and reassurance. He says this in verse eight. Notice, he said, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. Then he says this, he says, we are perplexed, but not in despair. That word perplexed means puzzled. It means confused. You know that it's not very reassuring to have the spiritual leader, the leader in any capacity to say, I'm confused. But Paul said, hey, can I just be honest with you? He says, sometimes we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. He says, and sometimes we are perplexed. Sometimes we are confused. Sometimes we don't understand. We're not sure what God is doing. Go with me if you would. Keep your place there in 2 Corinthians 4. Go with me to the book of Job, Job chapter 10. Not too long ago, we studied the book of Job, went through the book of Job. If you remember the life of Job, Job was often confused. And again, these are statements of reality and reassurance because usually, sometimes as leaders, we don't want to tell people, I'm perplexed. I remember back in 2016, you guys obviously, any of you know the story, we had a lot of persecution and protests and all sorts of things going on, and we needed a building. Our lease was running up in the building we were in, and we were told that we would not be allowed to renew the lease, and we spent, I don't know. Talk about tenacity. We probably spent three months, 12-hour days for three months or so just looking at building after building after building. I literally think that I have walked into every building in the city of Sacramento, and it wasn't our church. As far as the attendance, we were strong. Financially, we were strong. We had the money we needed to get buildings and all those things, but people just, as soon as they saw me, as soon as they heard our name, they just wanted nothing to do with us, and we just, looking for building after building after building, just getting denied and denied and denied, and it wasn't days, and it wasn't weeks. I mean, it was months of just, what's gonna happen? I'm thinking to myself, well, our church is running like 120, and maybe we can go back to the house. I know I can put like 50 people in my house, and we have like four services or something, and all these things, and you come to church, and people, and God bless them, God bless you, they're just concerned, but every time you come to church, somebody asks you, how's it going with the church, providing a church building? And you know, what do you say? I'm perplexed. I don't know. I'm not sure. I don't know what's gonna happen. See, sometimes we are perplexed. And yes, it is true that sometimes we're confused, and sometimes we're unsure, and sometimes we don't know what God is doing, and look, sometimes, please understand this, sometimes God himself is hiding what he's doing from you. Job chapter 10, if you remember our friend Job, he said this in verse 10, he says, I will say unto God, do not condemn me. Remember Job, I don't need to remind you of the story of Job, he's a perfect and upright man, lost everything. He says, I will say unto God, do not condemn me. He says, show me wherefore. That word wherefore means for what reason. He says, show me wherefore, for what reason? Thou contendest with me. Here Job is telling God, just tell me why you're doing this, God. Verse 15 of the same chapter, he says, if I be wicked, woe unto me, and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. He says, I am full of confusion. He says, I am perplexed. He says, I'm puzzled, I don't know what God is doing. But do you know that though sometimes we don't know what God is doing, we can always be assured that God knows what he's doing? We can remember that when we are confused, God is not confused. When we can't see the way God sees the way, we may not be sure what God is up to, but God knows what he's up to. Job 23 and verse eight, I want you to notice what Job says, Job 23 and verse eight, he says, behold, he's illustrating the fact that he doesn't know what God is doing. He says, behold, I go forward, but he is not there. He says, I'm looking for God. He says, I go forward, but he is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand where he does work, but I cannot behold him. He says, he hides himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. He says, I can't find God and I think God's hiding from me and I don't know what God is doing. And I go forward and I go backward and I go to the left hand, I go to the right hand. I feel like he's hiding from me. He says, he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him. But then he says this in verse 10, he says, but he knoweth the way that I take. Sometimes I don't know where God is, but I can always be assured that God knows where I am. He knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And for that reason, like the Apostle Paul, we can say, look, we can admit realities. We can say, it is true, sometimes we are perplexed, but not in despair. The word despair means complete loss or absence of hope. Despair means that you've entered into a state of hopelessness. And like Paul, we can say, yes, sometimes we are perplexed, but we are never in despair. We are never without hope. We may not know what God is doing. We may not know where God is, but we know that God knows where I am, though I go forward and he is not there, though I go backward and I cannot perceive him, though I look to the left and I cannot behold him, though I feel like he hideth himself and I cannot see him, I know this, that he knoweth the way that I take. I don't know where God, sometimes, look, sometimes I don't know what God is doing, but God knows what we're doing. I don't know where God is, but God knows where we are. And as a result, we're never in despair. Bible says blessed is a man that trusts in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. Bible says, you know, hope in God. So look, sometimes, I'm just telling you, can we be honest? Sometimes we're gonna fight battles and thank the Lord that we haven't fought any major battles recently, but that doesn't mean that battles may not come. And when they come and when we get the bad publicity, when they try to make us look bad, remember that New Testament Christianity sometimes does have to admit we are troubled, we really are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. And sometimes, if you would be patient with your leaders, sometimes we have no answer but to say we are honestly, truly perplexed, but not in despair. And Paul makes this third statement, I want you to notice it. Notice what he says in verse nine. In verse eight, he said, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. In verse nine, he says this. Persecuted, persecuted, but not forsaken. You know that it's true that in the Christian life you will be persecuted? The word persecuted means suffering, hostility, or ill treatment. The Bible says, yay, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The Bible says that if you're going to live for God, do you understand that? I mean, let me read that verse to you again, second to three, 12. Yay, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And if you're not suffering persecution, and I'm not saying that you need to be suffering persecution all the time, but if you've never suffered persecution, you must not be living godly in Christ Jesus. People are like, pastor, you understand, my family thinks I'm in a cold, my coworkers think I'm crazy, things are just not going. And it's like, things are not going right. And it's like, no, everything's right. Is this how it's supposed to be? Yeah. Yay, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. They're gonna think you're crazy. They're gonna think you're in a cold. The Bible calls it being peculiar. Go to Luke chapter six, if you would, Luke chapter six, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Luke chapter six. What's the most annoying is that often these worldly Christians who never get persecuted, when you get persecuted, then they look their nose down at you like you're doing something wrong. It's like, nobody, you're doing something wrong. You're not living godly in Christ Jesus if you're never suffering persecution. It's true, in the Christian life, we will suffer, let me say it this way, if you're doing it right, you'll suffer persecution. And for this reason, persecution is a good thing. Luke six and verse two, notice what Jesus said about it. He said, blessed are ye. Don't you like those words, blessed are ye? I mean, don't you want Jesus to say, blessed are ye? He says, blessed are ye when men shall hate you. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company. My friends don't wanna spend time with me anymore. Okay, well, blessed are ye. My family asked me to not come over for Thanksgiving. Okay, well, blessed are ye. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake, rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy, do you understand what he's saying? He's saying, look, when you get persecuted, don't get sad, don't get depressed, don't get anxious. He says, rejoice in that day and leap for joy. I mean, I read that phrase, leap for joy, and I think like a little kid, like a child, you give them a candy bar and they're like, jump it up, like, yay! God says, that's what you should do when you get persecuted. You're earning rewards in heaven. You're being like Christ. He says, rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Behold, your reward is great in heaven. He says, for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. They persecuted the prophets and when they persecuted us, hey, we're in good company. And Paul says, look, it's true that we get persecuted. He says, but here's what you need to understand. He says, you're there in Luke, keep your place right there in Luke, but go with me to Romans if you would. You got Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Romans chapter eight. He says, here's the thing, we're persecuted, because remember, there are these statements of reality and reassurance, right? We are troubled on every side, that's true, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, yeah, sometimes. He said, we're troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. He says, persecuted, yeah, it's true, sometimes we're persecuted. Here's the upside though, he says, we're persecuted, but not forsaken. Amen. He says, we're persecuted, but we haven't been abandoned by God. We haven't been deserted by God. See, the point that the Apostle Paul is trying to make is this, he's saying, what if you could live a life that never suffered persecution, but you never really knew and walked in the power of God? He said, I'd rather be persecuted, but not forsaken, than be forsaken and never persecuted. See, the truth is this, when you and I, and obviously, when it comes to salvation, even worldly Christians will never lose their salvation, but the point is this, when it comes to walking with God, hey, I'd rather have the whole world turn on me and have it just be me and God than to have the whole world be my friend and be at enmity with God. That's right. The Bible says, hey, if God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8, 35, notice what Paul says here about being forsaken. He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. He said, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. He says, because of God's sake, because of Christ's sake, we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, he says, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. He says, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor death nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So you know, yeah, sometimes we are persecuted, but I'd rather be persecuted and not forsaken. If God be for us, he says in verse 31, what shall we say then to these things? You say, pastor, you don't understand. You know, you got the protest and you got the lawsuits and you've got the government coming down and you've got all these mandates and you've got all these problems and these issues that you'll have to deal with if you continue to preach this way and live this life. Hey, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? I'd rather say, yeah, I'm persecuted, but I'm not forsaken than to say I never get persecuted, but I'm at enmity with God. Notice the fourth statement, 2 Corinthians 4. These statements of reality and reassurance. He says, we are troubled on every time, yet not distressed. He says, we are perplexed, but not in despair. He says, persecuted, but not forsaken. Then he says, this is my favorite one, the fourth statement. He says, cast down, but not destroyed. He said, what does that mean, cast down, but not destroyed? Well, in the original Greek, it means not down, but not knocked out. Cast down means you took a hit and you fell. The idea here, remember Paul, the great athlete, he always likes to use these athletic terminology and he says, sometimes we're cast down, sometimes we take a hit to the chin and we fall and we stumble, sometimes we're knocked down. He says, cast down, but not destroyed. What's he saying? He's saying, knock down, but not knocked out. Sometimes we get knocked down, it's true. Sometimes we get hit and we fall, it's true. Sometimes we stumble, it's true. We're not always 100%, we're not always batting 1,000. We're not always just doing the greatest. Sometimes the devil hits us and we didn't see it coming and we get cast down, but glory to God, we can get back up. He says, cast down, but not destroyed. Go back to Luke, if you would, Luke 22. Luke chapter 22 and verse 31. I'm here to tell you sometimes the devil hits us and we fall. I mean, sometimes he uses the course of this world and the power, the prince of the power of the air. And we lose buildings. Our insurance drops us. People won't rent to us. We have to, you know, banks drop us. And I remember there was a time during our ministry with Brother Stuckey, every three days or so, he was like, Pastor, they shut us down again. You know, we'll find another one. He's like, you know, just setting up bank after bank after bank. People call him and say, you know, this is a cult. You know, this is a hate group. Hey, look, I'm just telling you, it's not all, sometimes we are knocked down. Sometimes we're cast down, but not destroyed. Luke 22, look at verse 31. Luke 22, verse 31. Why don't you notice what Jesus said to Peter right before Jesus went to the cross? Remember, Peter denied Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 22, 31, the Bible says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh, seeking about whom he may devour. He says, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Sometimes the attack is hard. Sometimes we get knocked down. But Paul says, cast down, but not destroyed. I want you to notice what Jesus says to Peter in verse 32. See, in verse 31, here's what Jesus told Peter. He said, you're gonna get knocked down, Peter. You're gonna fall, Peter. You're gonna deny, you're gonna deny me. As a result, you're gonna quit the ministry. As a result, because you're a leader and you have influence, many of the other disciples are gonna quit alongside with you. In verse 31, he says, you're gonna get cast down. In verse 32, he says, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. So what does that mean? Here's what he's saying. He's saying, Peter, I'm praying that when you get knocked down, you won't get knocked out. He says, but I have prayed for thee. That thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, when you get right, Peter, when you come back, Peter, when you stand up, Peter, strengthen thy brethren. Bible says this, for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again. So here, the apostle Paul, he gives us these statements of reality. He says, look, it is true. Sometimes we are troubled on every side, but not distressed. He says, sometimes we are perplexed. We're not sure what God is doing. We're not even sure where God's at. But we are never in despair. He says, persecuted? Sure, but not forsaken. He says, cast down sometimes, but not destroyed. He says, the Christian life is a life of trouble. It's a life of trial. Sometimes we're not doing as well as we wish we were. But when you get knocked down, praise God, you can get back up. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for these statements that the apostle Paul makes. When I realized my voice was weak, and I don't know that I am able to communicate the truth from this passage as well as I'd like to. But Lord, help us to take these statements of reality and reassurance. Because sometimes we'll need them. They'll encourage us. Sometimes others will go through difficulty, and we'll be able to encourage them. Hey, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Lord, I pray you'd help us to always be real, transparent with the Christian life. There's reality of difficulty, but there's reassurance of God before us who can be against us. Lord, we love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.