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Amen. All right. Well, we're here in 2nd Corinthians chapter number 1 and this is the introduction Sermon, so it's always good to be here for the first sermon for a new book and I hope that you continue to come to each Service and I'll try to get through a chapter a week, but I just don't know if that I can promise that Sometimes there's just so much to dissect and it is a Bible study. So we're trying to study the Bible not just preach one sermon Just for the sake of preaching a sermon so And and obviously I don't want to just sit there and go down deep stay down long come up dry You know, I try not to preach too many sermons out of a chapter But like you'll get a chapter like 1st Corinthians chapter 15 where it's you know, I think 59 verses or something like that So if you figure you can run about 20 verses, you know for a Bible study, that's that's a good chunk But sometimes you do more sometimes you do less sometimes you do one verse sometimes, you know, it's just the way it is. So Anyway, the church so obviously we were jumping right from 1st Corinthians to 2nd Corinthians And I thought that'd be the best instead of coming back and revisiting that later But some time has passed and I'm not exactly sure how much time has passed since Paul wrote his first letter but he kind of talks about how he Went there and then he wanted to come back and he wanted to come back again and so It's possible that Paul, you know wrote more than one epistle now Here's the thing just because like in 1st Corinthians Paul talks about right? I wrote unto you in an epistle So obviously he wrote other Letters to them, but these are the ones that are scripture So there's a difference between someone writing a letter obviously not you know Some of the things that Paul wrote were were Scripture because otherwise it wouldn't be in the Bible. So God is the one that preserves his word God is the one that made sure we had a complete Bible that we could study and read and and take comfort in And so like I said, this is the second book to the Corinthians the second Epistle that's recorded in the scriptures and it's written by the Apostle Paul Probably through the hand of somebody else but he always puts his his key things that he says at the beginning of an epistle and he also Signs off on them. So people know that it's a genuine letter of Paul Now it's written obviously before 70 AD some people say between you know, somewhere around between I don't know 56 57 AD I don't know how they came up with that number, but the the the scholars have spoken. I'm just kidding I do know this it was written before 70 AD. So because He wouldn't He wasn't he wasn't writing at that time. So anyway And then so different concepts were brought forth in this book Remember the last book it would kind of focused on the church and the problems that they had because they had a lot of problems I mean you got 16 chapters of him correcting their problems But yet encouraging them and teaching them and at the end of last chapter is very obvious that Paul Loved that church. He says my love be with you all in Christ Jesus Great the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And so he did care about them I mean he started this church and so Paul, you know, he was like he was you know, a great missionary now The word missionary doesn't appear in the Bible. That's what we call it today But he was also an apostle so he had Power and authority given to him by Christ and but he wasn't the pastor of the church So there are no more apostles. So there's only you know, there was only a certain amount of apostles and they had to have seen the The resurrected Christ as one of their criteria for being apostle Paul was the last apostle because he was one born out of due time and As of course the scripture say and 1st Corinthians 15 So anyway So different concepts are brought forth in the second book and you can see that this church is a little more grown-up because he's writing a lot more Complicated concepts to them. He's also talking about Drama, he's also talking about battles and you're like, well, I didn't know that the Christian life had drama and battles at it Well, it does. I Assure you it does it has a lot of drama and a lot of battles and Paul's life was just drama battle after drama battle, but yet he had many open doors also and he was a you know, he was going out and starting churches getting people saved and He was probably the greatest missionary that's ever walked the face of the planet besides of course the Lord Jesus Christ He was the but he he's the apostle to the Gentiles as far as I know most of the people in this room are of Gentile stock so You know, he had a great impact on the world and he turned the world upside down for Christ. But so anyway Like I said, the theme of this book is a little bit different. There's a lot of it talks a lot about the ministry and things like that, but it also gives some pretty Challenging concepts when pastor Jimenez was here. He preached a sermon and was talking about how This book is a little more difficult than other books and it is and you know Like I said, I think last sermon maybe that Peter said that Paul said a lot of things that were hard to be understood And so when you sit down to read the book of 2nd Corinthians Sometimes you might just blank out and not realize what's being said you got to carefully go through it when you're reading the Bible sometimes Sometimes we just want to get our reading in and you don't stop and study the Bible But the Bible says the study to show thyself approved. So we should do some studying obviously You know get your times through the Bible if you haven't read the Bible cover to cover one time I would say get get the Bible read I think it takes about three maybe four times to read through the Bible before you kind of get the whole timeline and And you might not understand. Well, who's this person? When did this King reign all that stuff? But you'll get that as you read through the books As you read through me like, okay This is the same time period as this and you know, some of it takes deeper study to understand that but you know That's why you know, God wants us to be wise He wants us to have knowledge and we're gonna get our knowledge and wisdom from the Bible Then wisdom that Matt though the wisdom that matters the knowledge that matters So let's get into it tonight. And so the first thing we're gonna look at is greetings from Paul look at 2nd Corinthians 1 1 it says Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy our brother unto the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints Which are in all Achaia So right off the bat, like I said Paul, he always announces who he is Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ So he's making known what he is now if you remember in the book of 1st Corinthians They had there was people that were questioning his apostleship and and they do it later on here, too But I was thinking about that and people will will be like that with ministers. They'll question whether that minister is Is legit whether he's you know, the real deal and all that stuff And and so if they'll do it with the Apostle Paul, they'll dang sure do it with other people won't they? I mean the Apostle Paul he wrote half the New Testament and here you have people in this church Or questioning the fact that he had the authority that he did so It shouldn't surprise us when and I would say people that are like that Maybe they're misguided but a lot of times those types of people would be enemies that are trying to stir up Strife in the church and things like that. I mean they did it to John to John the beloved of the Lord You know, they they wouldn't even let him the outro fees wouldn't even let him come to church There and he was an apostle he actually wrote many books of the body he wrote John 1st John 2nd John 3rd John and the book of Revelation, so It shouldn't be any surprise That people are going to question the validity of some of these people and it's like Paul was getting arrested Paul was getting thrown in jail. You know, they said that he was a mover of sedition They they accused him of all kinds of stuff and so if my if Paul was here modern-day Paul would be called this bad guy. He'd be banned from all these countries I mean he he he would be maligned and talked bad about even worse probably now Then he was then and that's just the way it is in Christianity And if you're a bright shining star like Paul was then you're gonna draw the ire of a lot of haters and bad people So He starts off with saying who he is and it was by the will of God. It wasn't the will of man I mean Paul's conversion story. He was he was on a he was trying to go persecute people He was trying to persecute other Christians You know and then he's knocked off his horse the Lord appears to him tells him what to do You know, he just was picked by God to be the Apostle, you know he was told to go and and and get saved and get baptized and start to teach people and preach the gospel and Paul had a lot of things to be forgiven of but when you have a lot of things to be forgiven of you know Then it makes you More it seems like it makes people that are forgiven for a lot of things or really bad things like that that They they really they really get the grace of God if someone you know hasn't really been in that you know, and obviously everybody is different but You know, well if you would have just listened to me in the first place then, you know You wouldn't be going through all this, you know, they they probably know that They probably realize that and so we don't want to be a miserable comforter like job But you know when we're going through our problems and God comforts us through our tribulation Whatever it is that you're going through and a lot of times we don't really go through the trip kind of tribulation that Paul And his friends were going through do we we're not getting beaten We're not getting you know chased by people and people trying to kill us all the time That's not the kind of tribulation we're going through that trip Wouldn't that tribulation make you a little more leery about going door-to-door soul winning if you knew that at some point Somebody's gonna come out with a spear Someone's gonna come out with a sword. Someone's gonna chase you and try to kill you, you know It wouldn't that would be pretty scary, but that's the kind of tribulation that has happened throughout time There's hope there's there's stories about people that were slaughtered just because they wouldn't baptize their children in the Catholic Church You know that happened for a long time. So the Catholic Church weren't very saintly back then they weren't very saintly when they came in and conquered the Incas and the Aztecs and the Mayans and Mexico and whatever other place that they came, you know call the conquistadors came in the name of God and Instead of bringing the Word of God and missions to them and getting them saved they just massacred them all now again They were also Committing human sacrifice and doing all this stuff the baby was the got the judgment of God But ultimately people still did get saved out of that. So I'm not saying it was right, but sometimes God brings on a more nasty group of People to come and destroy a wicked nation like he did with the children of Israel but so but God God helps us he comforts us in our tribulation and So tribulation again is a state of great trouble or suffering turn to mark chapter 4 verse 17 mark chapter 4 verse number 17 now The the Bible sometimes will define words for us then it'll say You know, it'll it'll say the two words and give us the synonym for it and He'll say it one way He'll say the juice of the grape or wine and one in the same sentence So you understand that that's the Bible doesn't you know, the translators weren't really redundant with things So if they were saying the same thing, they would say it with a different synonym sometimes But here in March 4 verse 17 says and have no root in themselves Talking about the parable of the sower and so endure but for a time afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake Immediately they are offended and this is talking about people that they get on fire for God. They start going to church They start reading their Bible. They get serious about the things of God and then affliction or persecution come For the word's sake because the Word of God is a double-edged sword it pierces even the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints of marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and Intense of the heart and so when you use that sword You know with your family members that don't believe and you're just like chopping them up With the Word of God, there's gonna be some affliction there's gonna be some persecution with the ones that don't want to hear it and like People that get saved, you know newly saved they get on fire and it's it's cool to watch people That just first get saved and they start coming to church and they're on fire for God their soul winning and everything But just be warned about this that affliction and persecution come also and it's a test It's a test Do you have the metal to stick with it to stay with it and sometimes people don't and and what Jesus is saying right here He said when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately, they're offended They don't they don't they're not used to being persecuted for their faith If you go to if you go to your work and you go guess what last night I got saved Do you think that the people at your work are gonna be like, wow, that's great. That's amazing. No, they're not they're gonna go You're weird. What do you mean? What are you talking about? Because let me just let you in a little fact not everybody saved as a matter of fact The bio Jesus said few are saved He someone asked him are are there many saved? He's he's like no, I mean he basically told him no There's not a lot people say because people refuse to go the way that Christ tells them to go There's only one way to heaven. It's a one-way street. It's not His way and whatever way you think is best That's why a lot of people try to come at it They try to get saved in all these different ways and different religions and I just I heard the statistic just recently That said 70% of Christians Believe that you could be saved be from somebody else besides Christ that there's other ways to get into heaven that this was by Evangelical Christians now, I don't think very many Baptists would actually say that if you asked them that question They lump us in with the evangelicals, but that's a crazy Staggering number like if that's actually true that 70% of Christians, you know I say Christians believe that well, obviously they're probably not saved if they believe that because there's not other ways to heaven There's just one way to heaven Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me So Jesus is exclusive people get mad about that and they say well you just think Jesus is the only way to heaven Yeah, you got it, right. That's exactly right. He's the only way And so right here mark 417 it defines what that persecution is affliction affliction or persecution So when you're being afflicted when you're being tormented when you're going through a problem and it doesn't always have to be physical You know words can hurt, you know when we're growing up they say sticks and stones may break my bones But words will never hurt me. That's not true. People get hurt by words all the time. That's why they have bullying Anti-bullying at school and all that stuff because people it's not people just beating people up It's bullying people with their words You know and words do hurt when you're sitting there calling people fat or when you're sitting there calling people stupid or ugly or You know, you look funny. You have a funny looking at or whatever it is that they're saying about you You know, it's it hurts You know when when someone points out something that you're already embarrassed about and they just brought bring it abroad for everybody to hear It's it's embarrassing and when you're saved, you know, people are gonna attack you about your faith and they'll say they'll bring up some dumb Scenario and and try to make you look stupid in front a bunch of people, you know what I'm saying? It's like when unbelievers do that. They're they're intentionally taking a shot at you in front of everybody, you know So you believe in a sick six-day creation It's like what do you believe a big bang a big dud? The big bang never happened. They can't observe that scientifically they can't observe it Somebody I've been making these little brother Robert put together these little creation like minute things or whatever and somebody said I can prove Just prove everything you just said it's like he didn't disprove anything I said, but he thinks because he said it that it disproves it No, I could prove the big bang. Well prove it then. Let's see you prove it because he can't Let's see you prove, you know that you can make something in a lab that like creates life They've tried for many years. They cannot create life in a lab. You know why because God's the one that creates life so Anyway, I'm getting off the rails here. Let's turn to Acts chapter 14 verse 22, but People will just attack you blindly over all over your faith and they'll bring up things try to bring in Contradictions to you from the Bible. So it's important to know what you're talking about when you're newly saved You know people are zealous they want to get their family saved But in your zeal don't forget your lack of knowledge if you're newly saved, you might not know enough to contend with somebody so If you if you can learn how to lead someone to Christ then that's good but if you don't have all the answers, don't try to give an answer that you don't know the Don't answer a question You don't know the answer to and then end up looking foolish later on because you'll get persecuted for that too anyway, Acts 14 verse 22 the Bible says confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to Continue in the faith that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God so in the book of Acts here, it's saying that Paul would go and confirm these churches make sure that they were doing you know that they were standing in the faith and doing the what they were supposed to be doing and That they would continue in the faith. See that's the thing. That's hard as people blow They they they turn into Roman candle Christians. They they shine brightly for a moment They flash in the pan and then they're out. It's like wow, whatever happened to so-and-so Well, you know, they just they were a great light You know, they're they're they're fourth of July Firework went went up went up high and it was really pretty for a little while and then that was it they were done And so you don't want to get you know Paul's exhorting them hate encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through much tribulation we enter into the kingdom of God There's a lot, you know, we're gonna get a lot of things God's gonna make sure that we're blessed and all this other stuff, but he's also Promised us tribulation, you know, and we we're gonna have to go through it So when you start getting, you know attacked or start to suffer because of your faith in Christ or what you believe about the Bible Stand in there and stand strong Because you can take it. God's not going to give you more than you can handle He's not going to give you more than you get a bigger temptation than you can deal with at the time So just stand strong. Sometimes all you can do is to stand You know stand against the wiles of the devil, you know and if you if you do that the devil is gonna flee from you and You know, you're gonna live to fight another battle But if you will that's what the devil wants you to do is he wants you to quit the faith Now it doesn't mean if someone quits going to church or quits reading the Bible or all that doesn't mean they're not saved It just means that they can't handle the pressure of the Christian life They can't handle the fact that they're going through tribulation. That's what he was talking about mark 417 that because of affliction because of persecution for the word's sake that they immediately are offended and they're out They can't handle it I've seen people get saved and come to church and then their family starts attacking them and that's a legit persecution That's that's one of the first things that happens when you get saved you tell your family you got saved and wow They're just like, you know, someone could be the biggest drunkard in your family, but they still stick up for him all the time But you you were who were Something that was bad before you you clean up your life and try to live right and they're just like you're bad It's like okay. So the person is still a drunkard and a druggie and they can't get their act together They can't hold down a job and and I I've got saved and I'm trying to live my life good. I'm bad though But that's what families do they don't understand because they're not saved and so we go through one of our major persecutions that we'll go through is the persecution from our own families and I I'm not gonna ask for a raise of hands But I'm sure everybody in this room has had some kind of dealing where their family You know persecuted them or afflicted them in some way and even it was if it was just verbal That's usually how it happens and they try to make you feel bad And then eventually guess what they're gonna almost completely cut you out of their life Because the Word of God divides Jesus said I didn't come to bring peace but a sword and So, you know, we're gonna have to understand that we're gonna deal with that But the thing is that God is gonna comfort us in that tribulation. God's gonna comfort us when we go through these battles now Experience in tribulation helps us to show empathy and comfort to others as we have received comfort from the Lord So when we go through battles when we go through tribulation when we go and suffer loss in this world That's gonna help you to become a Christian that can come alongside and comfort somebody else See, isn't that what it's saying? That he wants to come for he that says who comfort us in verse 4 says who comfort us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble and Trouble is talking about the same thing affliction tribulation You know God wants us to comfort to take what what we've gone through and be able to help somebody else When they're going through it because isn't it true that it's hard to have empathy for somebody that you don't you don't get their problem You know, it's hard for someone that's never drinking a drink a drop in their life to help somebody That's a raging alcoholic because they just don't understand it And I'm not saying that that you can't help them The Bible gives you the answers and tells us not to even look at the wine When it's red when it move with itself a right in the cup. It says don't look at it So if you don't look if you're not supposed to look at it, how you supposed to drink it, you know God doesn't want us drinking alcohol. He doesn't want us doing drugs and So, you know, but when we're when we go through something say you go through the loss of a really precious loved one You go through the loss of an unsaved family member and then your family member dies You can comfort that person because you've gone through that before you've suffered through that before and you understand what it feels like and So God comforts us through our tribulation, but you know, he wants us as Christians to be able to comfort others also There's nothing wrong with comforting someone comfort is a big thing in this world, isn't it? You know, we have our comfort food You ever heard of that? We want the comfort food, right or you know people some some kids they they're comforted by You know sucking on a pacifier or sucking their thumb, right? It's a comfort thing to them There's special blankie right that they drag all over and get dirty and you know They have to have that specific stuffed animal if they don't have the specific with Amy doesn't have piggy then she gets upset and when Amy gets upset, no, I'm just good, but You know, whatever their favorite thing is. That's what comforts them You know when we when we even fall asleep, don't you try to get into a position of comfort? You know, if you're some people are who sleeps on their stomach, is there anybody that sleeps on their stomach in here? You're weird I just I can't understand that it's not comfortable. It's like being a left-handed or something I mean, I don't understand how people do that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that and then called you out But I'm just saying I'm a side sleeper I sleep on one side or the other and if I get uncomfortable in the middle, I guess what I do I turn on the other side But some people just sleep on their back, you know I mean, but however, you learn to comfort yourself and go to sleep at night when you're a child That's how you comfort yourself to go to sleep every single night of your life And if you don't get that special way that you like to sleep, guess what when when you get older you just don't sleep You can't you can't fall asleep properly and it's it's hard So enjoy the sleep young people while you have it, you know, you fight to stay up and I just want to stay up till midnight I just want to do that. You know, it's just like when you're old you're like Oh, I wish I could just go to sleep before midnight It's true but But the point the point I'm making though, is that when we go when we go through something We know how to comfort other people when we go through that ourselves And I think that that's and that's exactly what Paul is saying here Look at verse number five. It says for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us. So our consolation also Aboundeth by Christ and So the sufferings of Christ abound in us Paul saying hey We're suffering the same types of things that Christ suffered and you know what when you get tribulation in this world You're also going through some of the same things that Christ went through Now again, nobody's been beaten with rods in this room that I know of Maybe when you were bad when you were a kid or something But when you know We don't go through this the stuff that Paul is going through so it would be hard for me to comfort somebody that got beaten For Christ but back then at this time it was happening to them all the time And so when Paul got beaten he's like, hey, you know here here buddy. I know you got beaten But guess what? I was beaten with rod with rods all these different times I was beat, you know, I was whipped I was on a day and a night in the deep You know Paul could comfort people because he went through the same things. Like I understand how it is, you know, it sucks It's it's not fun to go through these kinds of things But but you can do the same thing for other people in your own tribulation So the sufferings of Christ and it says so our consolation verse 5 also a boundeth by Christ So we we suffer the things that Christ would suffer the mocking, you know, he was mocked wasn't he? So if you're mocked aren't you suffering what Christ suffered if you get mocked if you get teased if you get made fun of You know Jesus it says the Bible says that Jesus despised the shame It's a shame to get mocked. It's a shame to get made fun of it doesn't feel good You know, it doesn't matter whether you're right or not doesn't matter whether you know Because when a bunch of people are against you even though you're right It still doesn't feel good to get attacked by a bunch of people verbally or physically So but the consolation now, what does consolation mean? Well, you think about the term consolation prize, you know when I was coaching football You know, everybody had to get a trophy. That's the consolation prize, right? Even if they're there their kids sucked at football. They still got a trophy, right? So that's kind of the generation we're living in now, but when I played football they had the MVP trophy They had the best defensive player trophy. They had the most improved They had the best offensive, you know And now people just freak out about stuff like that When I started to coach my kids and I wanted to do that the parents freaked out and they revolted Because they didn't think it was right to single people out. Why not? Why can't we single people out when they're doing great things? That's the problem that ever they want. It's like this communist mentality. Everybody has to be the same You're all part of the same hive. You're just a worker bee. You're not any different than anybody else but Consolation means the comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment. Hey, you didn't get the MVP trophy Here's your cause here's a trophy anyway, you know, it's that kind of thing But when you're talking about comfort like the Bible is talking about here Consolation is is a comfort as you're received by a person See, you're you're the person that's giving that consolation. You're giving that comfort to them after a loss or disappointment Isn't losing your grandmother that you loved that's I mean that's a that you're suffering a loss there Yours and then if you've lost your grandma and someone else loses their grandma that they love Can't you just get alongside of them and help them through that pain? It's hard for me to not cry when I did a funeral not too long ago and I really started to choke up a little bit and I just I Just that feeling, you know when you lose some because miss Sarah she lost her mother and it really That it really hurts when you lose somebody that's really that close to you And I just was thinking about my grandma and all my other grandparents are alive, but my grandma died It's been probably I don't know six seven years now and it really it really messed me up because I never lost anybody that was that close to me and So just when I you know when I see someone that loses someone that's close to them like that I feel like you know, I Could come for them also when they're going through a loss and it was kind of hard for me to keep it together there You might not have seen that because I'm you know, I hide it. Well, but you know, sometimes I cry, you know There's nothing wrong with that And you could cry for other people weep with people when they weep rejoice with people when they rejoice, you know and we should be people that care about what other people are going through and Sometimes we can get a little cold. Sometimes we can be a little bit selfish and start just thinking about ourselves And what we need and what we're going through When other people are going through a lot worse things and we're going through and we should be able to be people that can comfort them look at verse 6 and whether we be afflicted it is for your consolation and Salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering. So and when you're enduring the same suffering So which we also suffer so he Paul saying hey when you guys are going through through the sufferings just know that we went through them too and When it's talking about enduring we that's what we have to do we have to endure the sufferings and not wilt away and Quit the Christian life because look the storm is gonna end at some point, you know Some storms are longer than others But the storm will end there will be comfort when someone you lose a loved one that person you're gonna start it's gonna Talk, you know, they say that that same time heals all wounds, you know It might not heal it completely but time does help with the passing, you know It helps when someone passes away or when you when you have a great loss time heals those things And so verse 7 says and our hope of you is steadfast Knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings. So shall ye be also of the consolation So, you know, he's saying and we hope that you're gonna be steadfast. We want you to be steadfast Our hope of you is steadfast. We were just like not moving on this issue and You know as you're partakers of suffering So shall you be of the consolation see because God is the God of all comfort and he's gonna comfort anybody that goes through Persecution or suffering for the Word of God for the name of Christ and he's gonna you know So that's something that you know This is something that we should grab hold of because when we're going through it Sometimes we feel like we're alone in these problems But really God is comforting you and he should take a look around and see Where he's comforting you how he's comforted you and Then as Christians we should look at the suffering that people are going through and if we've gone through something There's something we could do to help that person and help them along and help them and comfort them in their suffering Then we can do that also So we're supposed to be you know as Christians We're supposed to be Christlike And so if Christ is gonna is gonna help us in our sufferings if Christ is gonna help us when we're going through tribulation Then we should be like Christ and help others through their tribulations also look at Philippians chapter 2 verse number 1 Philippians chapter 2 verse number 1 The Bible says If therefore if excuse me if there be therefore any consolation in Christ If any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill you my joy That you may be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind see we're supposed to be Thinking about each other having one mind, but it says that there be any consolation in Christ There be any comfort in love there be any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels of mercies See God wants us to fulfill his joy, and that we're like-minded we think about other people We think the same way, and that's the way we should be we should be unified as a church when it comes to these things and You know we should be using our tribulation and suffering to help others go through the same thing So look at verse number eight it says for we would not Brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia that we were pressed out of measure above strength In so much that we despaired even of life Now I don't know about you, but I don't know if I've ever gotten to that point yet in the Christian life But if it happens be prepared be ready to stand in that now What does it say you know ignorant of our trouble? He's talking about the tribulation that he's gone through and he says that we were pressed out of measure What does that mean well? You know you're just pressured to the point where you can't really measure that pressure anymore There's only so much pressure a person can take and then they just kind of go into this feeling of anxiety This feel you know it's like an who's there if you've ever had an anxiety attack before That's when you're under like a tremendous amount of pressure, and you just can't deal with it and your body just kind of shuts down But Paul is saying he's pressed out of measure above strength see we have strength to go through hard times But sometimes you go through something that you don't even have the strength to stand in and that's where God steps in and helps you out but says Above measure or I mean excuse me pressed pressed out of measure above strength Paul was being pressed More than he could handle with his own strength and Paul could handle a lot in so much that we despaired even of life Have you ever been so persecuted that you just wanted to die? Well that feeling is a real feeling Think about Elijah the Prophet he killed all the prophets of Baal, and then what did he do? He got a letter from Jezebel saying that he was gonna be dead at this time tomorrow, and what'd he do he took off and ran so Then he's like asking God to kill him Why because he's being persecuted above what he could handle at that time he's like just kill me Lord Moses the same thing the people were persecuted wanting to stone him and they're freaking out and Moses is like just if you're not gonna help me with these people just kill me You know and sometimes you can get to that point if you're Going through a hard time, but see God is the one see when Moses said that then God came in and Comforted him and took care of the situation didn't he? So and it's the same thing with Paul Paul like he said all the all all people forsook me Everybody left me But God was standing with him and helping him through his hard time Now look at what it says in Verse 9 it says, but we had our sense of death in our self that we should not trust in ourselves But in God see when you're going through trials and tribulations, just remember that God is there for you And like I said, well you might not know that he is you might not feel like he is just because it's not gonna Take you necessarily out of the situation, but he's gonna give you the strength to be able to handle it and These are important concepts for us to get because a lot of people just leave church once the pressure gets too much You know when Pastor Jimenez is Church Verity Baptist Church got We had all the there was all these sodomites, you know going there was people in his church that were afraid to come to church They were afraid, you know of what was gonna happen, you know, and they lost a lot of people when that happened And You know, they went through a hard per that was a pretty heavy persecution being accosted every time you you know We haven't gone through that We had a couple queers show up and for a couple weeks in a row and that was it. It wasn't that bad. I Mean it was I didn't want to it was bad that I had to look at it. I Mean, what was that Ursula looking chick whatever from the Little Mermaid? She was worse but anyway We went through a little bit of a hard time but nothing near what Verity Baptist Church went through I mean I went down there and I went and listened to the sermon It was great and I was there to stand with Pastor Mendez, but I got to go home I got to go home and not have to deal with that but pastor a minute has had to keep dealing with it and looking for a building all that time and It's hard to go through that kind of stuff. But you know, we have to trust in God We have to let God be the one that helps us in this time It says who delivered us from so great a death and Doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet Deliver us so, you know, they had this death sentence that they felt like they had on us. They are on them They felt despaired even until unto death that they didn't want to live that's how bad they're being persecuted and You know, but the thing is is that God delivered us from a great death through the Lord Jesus Christ He delivered us from the from death, which is hell right it says and doth deliver You know, I preached a sermon about how God delivers Not too long ago. And and this is a great verse right here It says so great of death and doth deliver. He he's the one that delivers us He delivered us from death and how he did all the work and you know Whether we die in this world or not Whether we get persecuted or not whether times get so bad that you're afraid to come to church You're afraid to come and stand with you know this church because you're afraid of what would happen You know, God is the one is going to deliver us though, isn't he? And even if we get killed in this life Serving Christ, you know what we get a better resurrection We get a we get a crown that shines brighter than everybody else's It's like what you know what nobody wants to die early But you know, there's a lot of people that have had to a lot of people that had to go There's a lot of families that have been killed for the cause of Christ And then who was there to comfort that fan those last family members that were still alive I mean think about having to watch the horrible things that they've done to people's families before and yet they still stuck with it and they still Stuck with the faith, but somebody had to come for them. You know, that person was it was God And hopefully they had some Christians that were left that weren't too afraid and came along and comforted them also But God doth deliver It says in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us and when you know The the Antichrist the tribulation is going on the great tribulation is raging Saints are being overcome by Satan and by the Beast and you know that last Trump sounds and The dead in Christ are raised he's going to deliver each and every person that's left alive at that time and So it says he also helping together by prayer for us That for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons. Thanks may be given by Many on our behalf now look at I'm just gonna have I'm just gonna read turn to 1st Thessalonians 5 9 I'm gonna read John 16 33 and John 16 33 It says these things have I spoken unto you that you might have peace in the world You shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world See Jesus, he promises that we're gonna have tribulation Right, that's different than what the old Old life B's teaching that we're not gonna have to go through any tribulation But is that true? The Bible says we're gonna go through tribulation through much tribulation. We're gonna enter into the kingdom of heaven That's the opposite of what they're saying It's the opposite of what people are teaching that there's just some pre trip secret rapture that nobody sees Even though the Bible says that every eye shall see him and then them that pierced him The Bible teaches that everybody's gonna see him Jesus said I've you know, there's in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer He's trying to comfort you with that verse be of good cheer. I have overcome the world So regardless of what happens to us he's overcome the world and that that way we're ultimately winning anyway Because he's already overcome the world for you. You know, if we have tribulation still be a good cheer Leap for joy. Hey, I got persecuted great You know the the apostles when they got beaten they they went out saying hey, we got to suffer for the name of Christ But You're like it's hard for us to think about that because we haven't had to deal with that yet Have we but you know, I'm sure that it's coming And so sermons like this will help you when the time comes you might not remember it now You're like always just teaching about suffering and he's talked about this a lot of times. Hey, this is important stuff This is things that we need to grasp because there is a time of trouble coming and we don't know when that time's gonna be So, are you ready if it comes right away I mean look how fast the coronavirus thing came on us and now our whole lives are changed because of it Because you can't go anywhere without having a vaccine card or whatever now. I mean, that's where it's headed That's just the way the mark of the beast situation is gonna be too But it's gonna be worse Way worse like hey, guess what? You can't work. You can't buy you can't sell you can't support your family. What are you gonna do? How you gonna deal with that? Well, this is kind of a test run here You know who's gonna take the vaccine who's gonna not I mean and again, it's not the mark of the beast So I'm not teaching that Just so you know, but there's people that are and they're you know, that's ridiculous. Anyway, you're in first Thessalonians look of verse 9 First Thessalonians 5 9 says for God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ See these people will will say that tribulation is wrath tribulation is not wrath Tribulation is not wrath of God anyway So it might be the wrath of the devil. It might be the wrath of the world, but it's not The wrath of God because we're not we don't have to go through the wrath of God because we're saved But people that's what people say, you know God's wrath, you know is not gonna fall on us that way The tribulation is gonna happen before no That's not true. The tribulation does happen before who are all those people that are getting their heads chopped off Who are those people that are actually go all those are the tribulation Saints, what are they let the lesser Saints? You know all all they're just tribulation Saints They deserve it. You know, it's like what do you talk? I mean, that's kind of the conclusion you have to draw, right? They're just like oh, that's the tribulation Saints Well, the good ones get to go up on a fluffy pillow and don't have to go through any of this stuff. That's ridiculous That's garbage The Bible says that we must go through tribulation Period and whether it be at that time or whether it be now We're still going to go through it now in our lives that we live on this earth Turn to John 14 26 and you know the best thing that God's given us to help us to go through Hard times is that when we get saved we get a down payment paid on us of God living in us Okay, the kingdom of God is within you the Bible says and so when we get saved we have a comforter that comes and Resides in us and it's God. It's God the Holy Ghost right looking for John 14 26 It says but the comforter so he's actually called the comforter here by Jesus But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost so it makes no Mincing words about it. The comforter is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name He shall teach you all things and bring all things to remember to your remembrance whatsoever. I've said unto you Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you let not your heart be troubled Neither let it be afraid. So God, you know, here's some more comforting words He's saying I'm gonna give you my peace and my peace he's saying is the comforter which is the Holy Ghost So God is the God of all comfort And if the Holy Ghost is also called the comforter each and every one of us has The Holy Ghost in us if we're saved and so we have that comforter with us at all times, right? And so God and Jesus said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So he gives us that peace and he says let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid You know God says the fear not, you know It's set the words fear not appear in the Bible a lot of times But number three, I'm gonna make this quick and I'm gonna skip through some of these verses so I can finish the sermon but Number three the gift and sealing of the Holy Spirit the gift and sealing of the Holy Spirit So Jesus said I'm not gonna leave you alone. I'm gonna send the Holy Ghost to you. I'm gonna give you a comforter Now, let's pick it up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 Let's look at verse number 19 it says for the Son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us even by me and Sylvanus and Timotheus was not yea and nay, but in him was yea For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him. Amen Unto the glory of God by us so God's promises are always yes they're never gonna be no and That's what that's what he's saying here and in him. Amen when you say amen, it's like that's right You know when someone Amen's a sermon or says something what you're essentially saying is that's right. Amen. That's true. That's right preaching That's the truth And it's like that with God's promises. That's why he's saying the promises God are gay and in him. Amen Unto the glory of God by us now he which stab lisheth us with you in Christ and hath Anointed us is God So when you are saved you are anointed you might not have felt that you might not have realized it But every single person that gets saved is anointed by God in the Old Testament. They would anoint people with oil in the New Testament people are told to anoint people with oil and You know praying to God for them so that they could be healed from their From their illnesses and their sins being forgiven for them, but that oil represents the Holy Spirit being poured upon mankind And in Jacob he poured he poured the spear, you know He poured oil upon the pillars the pillars are the church the Holy Spirit on the church The kingdom of God is within you when we get together we formed the church Here in Vancouver but it says So he's anointed us So it says who hath also sealed us and given us or given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts so Jesus said I'm a lot what you know, I won't leave you comfortless. I will come unto you He's going to comfort us He's going to establish us and he anoints us it says who has sealed us again and given us Or given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts, so what does it mean to be sealed? Well, it means that you know when you when you when you seal something with a seal On a letter that's something that's not supposed to be broken right or if you seal You know a deck, you know, it's something it's like a barrier. That's that doesn't let that get harmed or hurt but when it's talking about the Holy Spirit sealing us, it's sealing the fact that we're saved and That there's nothing that can you can't the Holy Spirit cannot be taken from you in the New Testament the Holy Spirit indwells the believer And doesn't you know in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit would come upon people and they could leave people but now in the New Testament that promise that gift is that the Holy Spirit comes and Resides with you and you're sealed and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts Now the term anointed means to smear or rub with oil or pour oil on Typically as a part of a religious ceremony and earnest means resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction, so I'm just gonna roll through some scriptures because I got to be done here acts 1038 says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him? So God anointed Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost So if you know if we're we're like a picture or Jesus Christ is a picture for us to follow While Jesus Christ, you know, he was already saved, but he gets baptized he gets filled with the Holy Ghost But that's how it was in the first century Also that the apostles would lay their hands on people and they would receive the Holy Ghost, but now Once you're saved you just you get sealed by the Holy Ghost immediately the moment you believe Then you pass from life or from death unto life immediately So you're saved you can't lose it. You're anointed by the Holy Spirit Hebrews 1 9 says thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity Therefore God even the God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows Talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and the oil of gladness above thy fellows And in John 3 34 it says for he whom God has sent Speak at the words of God for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him So Jesus Christ was completely filled with the Holy Ghost At all times we get a measure of the Holy Spirit and then when we're filled with you know The Bible says for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit So that means we're not always filled with the Holy Spirit, right? There's times when we're not as full as we could be but we don't get the Holy Spirit without measure That's something that Christ got and you know There's times when the Holy Spirit when we're filled with the Spirit of God and we could do great and powerful things For the Lord so and then turn to Ephesians. I will have you turn to Ephesians 1 13 and we'll end here Ephesians 1 13 and so When we get saved This this process right here is explained how people get saved That's funny because Calvinists will say that they get they get regenerated before they get the faith then they get the faith That's backwards. You get the faith then you get regenerated. That's how it actually works Have you heard Calvinists teach that before where they they say that you don't even have to do anything God just you know, he just regenerates you and then he gives you the gift of faith No, no, you know, it's they read they read that verse wrong It's not you know, you believe and you get the gift of God. He doesn't give it to you Just for no reason, you know, you have to believe to be saved Look what it says in Ephesians 1 13 It says in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation So you hear the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed So after you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise So what does the Bible teach that once you believe you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise the comforter comes to you Is that what it says? It says which is the earnest of our inheritance So if you've ever bought a house before then you understand the the term earnest money You can't buy a house unless you have you pay an earnest then, you know this earnest money and what does that tell you? Well, you can't just back out of the deal at that point you have to you know, if you if you put that earnest money and I Remember that that if you bet if you back out then don't you lose the earnest money? So it tells the bank it tells the people you're buying the house from that you're serious about buying the house And you're not going to back out of it. So in the same way God gives us the Holy Spirit He's serious about the fact that he saves us and so he gives us the down payment of our salvation Because our salvation isn't really complete. I mean it is but I'm saying that physically and spiritually It's not exactly complete and tell the rapture now. You're still saved. I'm not saying that you're not saved I'm just saying that the redemption of our body is Going to happen, but it hasn't happened yet has it? But he gives us the down payment of the Holy Spirit So that tells us that God's serious that he bought us he redeemed us, but we don't get the body yet See you don't get that you don't get the deed to the mortgage either until you pay the house off, right? But Christ has already paid for our redemption but it's just we have to wait for that process of time to take place and Before the rat and we're not going to get it until the rapture happens, right? So it says the an earnest of the inheritance so we're gonna inherit something what are we inheriting the redemption of the purchase possession and That possession that was purchased as you Right, and so we get that earnest we get that down payment from the Holy Ghost and we get it When what's it say in Ephesians 1 says after that you believed you get the gospel preached to you After you believed you're sealed and then you're sealed with what the Holy Spirit of promise and the Bible says he will never leave thee nor forsake thee and You're you're it's the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession unto the praise of his glory So, you know the Bible teaches very clearly that once you're saved you get the Holy Spirit. It's not before you're not regenerated Look, if you don't have the Holy Spirit, you're not regenerated So, how can a Calvinist say well you're regenerated first and Then you know, he gives you the faith to believe and then you get the Holy Ghost They act like it's some, you know mystical thing that happens. You don't know when it happens. It just kind of happens That's not true folks. That is a lie from the devil. It's not true You have to put your faith in Christ Then you're saved then you get the Holy Spirit of promise and then you have that earnest of the spirit and you're sealed unto the day of redemption case closed and That means God is always gonna be with you He's never gonna leave you nor forsake you he promises to give you salvation and guess what that salvation is. It's everlasting life and So that's the end of second Corinthians. Let's pray our second Corinthians chapter 1. Sorry, not the whole book Anyway, let's pray order. Thank you so much for comforting us through times it's hard for us to perceive the kind of Tribulation that Paul went through and his friends and Lord we because we've never seen it and Lord I know that it's possible that we're gonna go through that in our lifetimes and Lord Even if we don't go through those types of tribulations and the persecutions and afflictions Lord, we know that there's other types of afflictions that we can go through Lord We thank you so much for being a comfort to us Lord Let us all remember in this room tonight that anything that we're going through Lord that you're the God of all comfort I pray that Lord that that would come to our remembrance as we go through hard times in our lives because they're surely gonna come And for some in this room, maybe they're they're here now Lord I pray that you comfort each and every person here that's going through some sort of tribulation and it might not be What Paul went through in his tribulation, but it might be bad enough for them That they're just hurting they need some comfort Lord. I pray you plus as their brethren to Reach alongside them and And comfort them Lord as they go through the hard times they go through Lord we thank you so much for the Holy Spirit and for the fact that we can just believe what the Bible says and Believe the gospel and be saved and Lord that you fill us with your spirit And that you give us your spirit as a down payment Lord We thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and we ask that you help us as we go home Keep us safe and until we come back on Sunday in Jesus name we pray. Amen You