Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] You ready for a good word?
[00:00:04] The response was pretty good in the first service, so I think it'll go all right in the second. Would you stand? As we honor the reading of God's word, You can go ahead and begin to turn to Acts, chapter 14.
[00:00:14] Before we do that, let's go ahead and read our theme verse. I always feel like a game show host when, you know, what's that, Jeopardy? Or Are you ready? Let's read this together. 1, 2, 3, go. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I want you to turn now to Acts, chapter 14. If you're taking notes, write it down. Acts, chapter 14 and verse 21. I'll put this in context in just a little bit, but watch here. The ministry of Paul, when they had preached the gospel to that city in and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, Antioch. This is Paul, Barnabas, a few others.
[00:01:01] They were strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God.
[00:01:17] We must, through many tribulations, entertainment the kingdom of God.
[00:01:23] So when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
[00:01:33] One more verse. Galatians, chapter 6 and verse 17. This is powerful, powerful passage. Look at what the apostle Paul says. He's writing all these things. He's combating people that are accusing him. Listen, I've earned my stripes and this is what he says. So let no one trouble me. For I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. I bear in my body. I carry in my body. Literally. He's talking about the scars.
[00:02:02] Very similar to what Jesus bore in his body. I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. And this Trinity Church is God's word.
[00:02:13] We believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:02:20] I've simply titled this message marked.
[00:02:24] I want to talk to you today about what it is to be marked by the Lord. When he calls you, he marks you. He has placed a call, a destiny, a purpose on your life.
[00:02:37] And we're going to deal with that. Next week I'll be preaching as well. And we'll be dealing with how we can endure storms by faith.
[00:02:47] By faith. It's going to be a great message. But this week I want to deal with what tribulation produces in our life.
[00:02:57] What does tribulation produce in our life? And Let me just say, before I get into this, even my process in building this message has been very fun.
[00:03:10] I.
[00:03:12] About three months ago, I'm not sure exactly what it was, my wife and I began to come under some pretty intense warfare in the natural, in the spirit. And I know that I'm not alone, because even listening over the last number of weeks, Pastor Tim talked last week about some of the struggles he's had, some of the trials he's endured.
[00:03:32] Reggie Dabs the week before that was talking about the torments by night. Pastor Jim the week before was talking about trials that he's experienced. And even after the first service, I had dozens and dozens of people saying, that's what I'm going through in my body, in my finance, in my marriage, in this. In this, in this. I'm going through trials. I'm experiencing tribulation.
[00:03:55] So I know what I'm bringing you is a timely word, and I have begun, just to give you a glimpse into my preparation process over the last month. I'm reading, I'm studying, I'm preparing. And typically, what I do is I'll put into my notes app on my phone a verse or an illustration or I'll have a phrase, and I'll just write it down. And then on usually Friday or Saturday, I'll sit down and I begin to piece together my final draft. I'll take it, I'll cut it, and I'll drop it into my Word document that I, you know, send to the media guys. And all of this.
[00:04:30] Well, last night, I'm taking. And my goodness, I had a great message.
[00:04:36] It had some quotes, one liners, great illustrations, all this kind of stuff. I mean, I've been cogitating on this for a month.
[00:04:44] And last night, when I had finished my final draft, I press save on my Word document and the window disappears.
[00:04:56] Now, I'm not technically illiterate. I found the Recover file folder. It wasn't there.
[00:05:04] I looked here. I tried to. I mean, guys, I tried for the better part of an hour to find this document. I could not find it. It. And. And I didn't know if it was spiritual warfare. This kind of stuff tends to happen. Like, why does the live stream never work when I'm preaching? I don't know, but I think YouTube's working. Thank you for joining us. But I look at this stuff and I'm like, is this the devil? Is this God? Anybody ever have these kinds of conversations? Why is this happening? You know, this great message on tribulation, and I'm experiencing It. You don't know the stress of being a pastor and losing your sermon less than 24 hours before you have to preach.
[00:05:42] So I get in the car, and I'm driving to the church because my computer's about dead and I need to start this sermon from nothing.
[00:05:52] And in that time, I'm so thankful for my wife.
[00:05:58] What can I do for you? How can I help you? Do you need a coffee? Do you need an energy drink? You should eat something before you go. No, no, no. Thank you, Leah.
[00:06:06] But what she did as soon as I left is she began to reach out to all of our intercessors and prayer warriors. And one of our intercessors sent us back something that I felt was the Lord, because I'm wrestling with God as I'm driving to the church.
[00:06:20] God, do I preach something entirely different? Did I miss it somehow?
[00:06:24] Is this the devil? And I just need to get the same message. And all of this.
[00:06:29] And my opening illustration had to do with Moses going up the mountain.
[00:06:36] And one of our intercessors said, I don't know why this, but I got this picture of Moses, and he went up on the mountain, and he got the word of the Lord, but then broke the tablets. He lost the message. So he carved out new tablets. He went back up the same mountain. God gave him that and gave him more.
[00:06:56] And so to me, I'm like, that was my opening illustration. The intercessors hit it right on the mark. And so I did. I began to put this together together, and it came together. You see, I don't know where you're at right now, but these last number of months have been pretty intense.
[00:07:20] I have been gripped by back pain, which I've not experienced since early in my walk. I literally had to be helped out of a service just a few weeks ago.
[00:07:30] I've had friendships assaulted. I've had words against my family, against my wife. Most of this is not from anybody in the room, by the way.
[00:07:41] We've had things like plumbing problems.
[00:07:45] Our dog got a bacterial infection and was losing fur and cost us hundreds of dollars. Hallelujah. We had sleepless nights. And even a few weeks ago, I was in the service. And Cindy Jacobs looks at me. Aren't you thankful for a prophet? She looks at me and she's like, how are you? I'm like, I'm good. She asks again, how are you?
[00:08:12] She begins to prophesy her and Mike about the exact trial, some of the things that I just outlined to you right there. And she then says, you need to walk your property. There have been cursing words, there have been curses spoken against you, and you need to break that.
[00:08:29] So my wife and I, we didn't even go to lunch that day. We go straight home, we grab the anointing oil, and I'm like, leah, let's start at the front of our property. I walk out to the front of the property, and there I see a dead snake that's been draped over my mailbox.
[00:08:44] Intentional witchcraft.
[00:08:47] We get rid of that thing, we baptize our mailbox in oil, and we walk the line. I ran out of the oil in my bottle, had to refill it, and we just kept going through every room in our house. My wife and I just poured, praying, interceding, and, and it's been wonderful. And so listen, I, I'm coming to you today. I'm not here complaining because I, I stand here today, my back, a little over a week ago, 100% healed. Other physical things, we've come through it. The money I had to spend on the dog came right back to us. Hallelujah. I, I, I can look through. And I'm telling you today, not as a sob story, I need your help. I'm telling you today, I have gone through the trial. I'm still saved and married and loving Jesus. Hallelujah. And what I have come to do today is, I don't know if you're in trial. I don't know if you can relate to any of the things that I'm talking about here today, but I saw a picture in Exodus, Moses encountered God on a mountain.
[00:09:49] He encountered a burning bush.
[00:09:53] And we know the types of things that I'm raising you up. I've heard the cry of my children, the children of Israel. I want you to go and be a deliverer. I want you to be my mouthpiece. You're gonna go, and you're gonna bring them out. I've got a promised land for you and boy. We hear messages about the promised land, and we hear messages about, you know, the plagues and the miracles that God worked there in Egypt. But I saw something this last week, and this is how I knew this was a message for today.
[00:10:20] God did not tell Moses to get the children of Israel and take them into the promised land.
[00:10:26] He first said, I want you to get them, and I want you to bring them to this mountain where they will worship me, Moses, where you encountered me. I want you to bring the people so they can encounter me as well, so they can worship me as well. So I'm standing Here today. Not as Moses, who's going to go up on the mountain, hear the word of God and tell you the word of God.
[00:10:52] I am one who has had an experience with God.
[00:10:57] And what I want to do today is bring you to the mountain. I want to bring you to the place of grace where you can encounter God. And if you are in trial, I'm here to tell you as a testament of my own walk as of late. You can can come through trials and experience the glory of the Lord and come through stronger on the other side.
[00:11:21] So are you ready to go to the mountain? All right, here we go. The Bible says in First Peter, chapter four, and verse 12, Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you're going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
[00:11:42] This is straight Bible. I did not edit this.
[00:11:45] Don't think it's strange when you go through trials. I can't believe this is happening. God. Instead, be very glad.
[00:11:54] These trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering. So you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
[00:12:08] Here's a good memory verse for you. 2nd Corinthians 4:17. Our present troubles are small and won't last very long.
[00:12:23] Hallelujah.
[00:12:25] Our present troubles are small.
[00:12:28] That fight in your marriage, it's not going to last long.
[00:12:33] That infection on your dog is not going to last long. That fight in your church, it's small. It's not a big deal. I'm telling you. You just fill in the blank, whatever you're going through right now. Our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever.
[00:13:02] Oh, my goodness. Anybody ready for glory?
[00:13:05] Anybody going through hell?
[00:13:07] Come on. There's glory on the other side.
[00:13:10] Don't stop in the storm. See, the apostle Paul, he was marked.
[00:13:16] And from that day forward, you just look at his life. Everywhere he went, he had a revival and a riot.
[00:13:27] It wasn't just frolicking through the blue bonnets with Jesus. And now I got saved. Oh, it was so awesome. On the Damascus road. No. In fact, the first prophetic word that the apostle Paul receives. God came to a man named Ananias. And he says, ananias, you're gonna go. You're gonna lay hands on Saul. He's been blinded because he saw my glory, wasn't ready for it. But you're gonna lay hands on him. He's gonna be filled with despair, spirit. And I'm Going to show him everything that he's going to suffer.
[00:13:59] Acts, chapter nine. I'm going to show Paul the things that he must suffer.
[00:14:06] That doesn't sound very encouraging. Pastor Jacob, you're talking about suffering. This isn't very encouraged. I think you're going to be very encouraged, actually, because every one of us go through trials in this life.
[00:14:18] Every one of us experience tribulation. It's part of being in a fallen world that is dominated by rulers of darkness. Darkness that are looking to wipe you out. But the encouragement is you will make it through the storm. God will produce glory in the midst of your trials. You will survive this and you will have a testimony on the other side of your test.
[00:14:43] Every miracle you'll see in scripture is connected to a trial.
[00:14:49] Something had to go on before God showed up with his miracle power. For every testimony, there is a test.
[00:14:55] The anointing requires crushing. And for every revival, there's sacrifice.
[00:15:03] Every sacrifice there is.
[00:15:06] For every revival, there is sacrifices. So I want to challenge you today.
[00:15:10] We're going to change our perspective.
[00:15:13] Sometimes we have trouble persecution trials. And our default is God's not gracious towards me.
[00:15:21] I must have an open door. Something's wrong. There's sin in my life.
[00:15:26] The devil's after me. God doesn't care about me.
[00:15:30] But I've come to see things from a different perspective.
[00:15:34] Through trials, Christ is being formed in me.
[00:15:39] When I'm being attacked, it's not because I am weak. I am being attacked because I am highly called of the Lord. And I'm just here to tell you so some of you, you gotta realize the devil has more confidence in your calling than you do.
[00:15:59] We question the moment something bad begins to happen in our life. I must be out of the will of God. It's the exact opposite. No, you are right where God wants you and the devil sees. Oh, man. This person's about to bring heaven to earth. I better shut this down.
[00:16:17] So don't quit.
[00:16:19] Don't quit in this walk. Trials are not your end.
[00:16:24] Trials are your entrance to glory.
[00:16:30] This is what the Apostle Paul said. Through trials, we enter the kingdom of God.
[00:16:36] Through trial. Everybody say trials.
[00:16:39] This guy knows what he's talking about.
[00:16:42] You see, he was blessed in Antioch. He got saved, got plugged into a church.
[00:16:49] He was anointed at Antioch. It's a great church. They pray for him and Barnabas and they send them on a mission trip. We're gonna go plant churches all around the world. So they go.
[00:17:00] And one of these occasions, Paul and Barnabas are preaching powerfully. You can read about it in Acts, chapter 13 and chapter 14. I'll summarize it. Today, Paul is here preaching the gospel of the kingdom. It's powerful. And all of a sudden, faith hits the room.
[00:17:18] All of a sudden there's a. It's just like the room is energized for the miraculous. And he looks up into the crowd and he sees a man the Bible says he had been paralyzed from birth.
[00:17:29] He locks eyes and the Bible says that he perceived he had faith to be healed.
[00:17:34] And he says, stand straight on your feet. And the man leapt up and began to walk around and oh my goodness, the place went crazy. You just imagine somebody comes in this place lame from their mother's womb and all of a sudden gets healed. We would go nuts too. They go crazy. And the problem was these guys aren't even just a couple days old in Jesus. So they think this is. These are the gods who have come down to us in the flesh. They actually say, this is Zeus and this is Hermes who have come down to us and is now working miracles. And so they went out and they gathered animals and they were about to make animal sacrifices dedicated to Paul and Barnabas.
[00:18:17] Paul and Barnabas, look at this. And they, they come in and they say, listen, no, we're not gods. We're just regular people, just like you.
[00:18:25] The Bible says they stop them from doing this.
[00:18:30] And then that's revival. Everybody say revival.
[00:18:34] What did I say is often connected to revival?
[00:18:38] Riots.
[00:18:41] There were some Jews, Pharisees, who were friends and co laborers with Paul.
[00:18:48] These were his brothers.
[00:18:50] He had done ministry with them for years. And the Bible says they came from Antioch, where he had come from.
[00:18:57] They came in fueled with jealousy and envy because of the crowds that were being drawn to the Apostle Paul's ministry.
[00:19:06] The Bible says that they grabbed Paul and drug him outside of the city and began to hurl stones at Paul.
[00:19:15] He's being beaten with these stones. They're smashing his skull, they're breaking his ribs. These rocks are now piling up around him. And the Bible doesn't say that Paul even spoke a word.
[00:19:29] In fact, I can imagine Paul in that moment watching these rocks come his way, Is probably remembering what it was like to be on the other side of the stones.
[00:19:40] If you remember before he met Jesus on the Damascus road, the Bible says that he consented to the stoning of one of the first apostles. Stephen Paul knew what it was like to be a part of a stoning.
[00:19:57] So he's there receiving these blows.
[00:20:01] Corinthians says in chapter 11 that the apostle Paul had faced death on numerous occasions. I believe, and many scholars agree, that the Apostle Paul died in that stoning.
[00:20:14] His brothers, his accusers leave and then his friends gather around his fellow disciples.
[00:20:25] They gather around the Apostle Paul. Well, you need some friends in this life church.
[00:20:30] You need some people that will stand with you in hard times.
[00:20:34] You need some friends who will stand with you even when your family, your friends, people you thought were co worshipers with you, even when they leave you, accuse you, hurt you.
[00:20:44] He had some disciples come gather around, they circle around him and they began to pray. And the Bible says that Paul was raised up.
[00:20:53] He was raised up either from the brink of dead or possibly from the dead.
[00:20:58] He was raised up in that moment. And the Bible says he went straight back into that city. And within 24 hours he's preaching again. He's preaching again.
[00:21:09] And what is his message?
[00:21:13] The Bible says that they were making disciples and elders from all of the churches in all of the area had come and gathered around. And I can just imagine the Apostle Paul sitting on a bench with all the church leaders around him. What would you look like a day after you'd been stoned to death?
[00:21:32] He would look at them through swollen, blackened eyes and with cracked lips.
[00:21:42] Through many trials we enter the kingdom of God.
[00:21:49] Through great tribulation we will see the kingdom of God.
[00:21:56] If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down.
[00:22:00] Number one.
[00:22:02] Trials are a door to the kingdom of God.
[00:22:09] Trials are a door to the kingdom of God.
[00:22:13] We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. This was his sermon in Acts, chapter 14. And it's a big statement. But let me define a couple things for you because the question comes to us. What is the kingdom of God?
[00:22:29] I will tell you first what it's not. The kingdom of God is not when you die and go to heaven.
[00:22:36] The kingdom of God is anywhere God himself has dominion on the earth.
[00:22:43] This is where God is given authority, rule and reign. This is why it's important for us to have campuses and own properties. Because everywhere we go we say, this territory doesn't belong to the devil or whatever demon powers are in this area. No, this belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, this is a place where heaven can come down.
[00:23:03] And so this is what Jesus did. The Bible says Jesus, he declared, if you see me casting out devils, if you see me working miracles, you will know that the kingdom of God has come to you. In Matthew 12:28. The Bible says in Matthew 4:23 that Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds kinds of disease among the people, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and the result, healing of sickness and disease.
[00:23:42] Matthew 12:39. Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel, the good news of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. In Luke chapter 9 and verse 2, he sent his disciples to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick.
[00:24:06] Jesus instructed us to pray in Matthew chapter 6. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven. My friend, this is not just some cute prayer that grandma taught you to pray before Thanksgiving dinner.
[00:24:24] We are literally praying. Whatever demon power, authority, whatever lies are in this atmosphere, I don't care what the, what the strongholds of this region are. No, we're saying that is coming down and new power is coming. Your kingdom come, Lord, your will be done on the earth just as it is in heaven. And when they preached and carried that message, heaven came down.
[00:24:52] Miracles began to happen, demons began to flee. So this is the question.
[00:24:57] Is there sickness in heaven?
[00:25:00] No.
[00:25:01] On earth as it is in heaven. If there's no sickness in heaven, we should not receive sickness here. Is there poverty in heaven?
[00:25:11] No. They're walking on streets of gold they don't talk about. I'm preparing for you a wonderful place in my Father's house. There are many shacks, there are many mats for you to lay on under the bridge. No, I'm preparing a mansion for you.
[00:25:27] That's prosperity, that's blessing. More than nobody's going hungry up there. You think there's depression in heaven? No. You think people are getting harassed by Satan in heaven? No. You think there's division, bitterness, backbiting? Judas is. No, none of this is in heaven. And so we pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Is there cancer in heaven?
[00:25:56] No.
[00:25:57] But what begins to happen is through trials, we gain authority to see the kingdom come.
[00:26:06] You know, talking about cancer, a couple months ago we were in prayer.
[00:26:11] And every time, every week in prayer we will highlight there's a prophetic word over this house that we will be a cancer free zone.
[00:26:20] And we'll ask the question, who has cancer? And that particular week, a number of individuals stood who had cancer concerns. And normally we would just release people to pray for them. But then I asked this, who in this room has overcome cancer? God has healed you.
[00:26:37] Or through Treatment. You have overcome cancer, and you are now in remission. And it was wild. Almost the same exact number who had a cancer concern stood up in that moment, who had overcome cancer. You know what? They have. They endured the trial and now are walking in kingdom authority. So I said, you who have overcome cancer, I want you to lay hands on these who are in the midst of a battle right now, and I want you to pray for them, your trials.
[00:27:03] Oh, my goodness, are you getting this today? I'm trying to help you because we're all going to go through stuff, all of us will. But if you endure it, you are gaining glory. You are gaining kingdom authority. You will have the rights to say, jesus, your kingdom come, your will be done on the earth, in my house, in my business, just as it is in heaven.
[00:27:31] So that's what the kingdom of God is. He says, the way that you see the kingdom come is through trials.
[00:27:39] I wish we could just have nice prayer meetings read out of a prayer book, and then revival comes.
[00:27:49] But, I mean, Tommy, Miriam, you guys are revival historians. Tell me a revival that did not come out of turmoil in the midst of a world war, or a person out of great anguish, you won't see it.
[00:28:08] Great healing anointings. Think about John G. Lake, a man riddled with sickness in his body. But he overcame and walked in authority the rest of his life.
[00:28:19] You look at individuals, I mean, the list goes on and on. This isn't. I'll get sidetracked if I start talking revival, so I won't. I'm gonna stay on, on track here. What are trials?
[00:28:28] What are trials, you say, Pastor, am I going through trials? Well, see if you're on this list. Paul said he had been assaulted by Satan.
[00:28:36] He said there was a messenger of Satan that came to buffet me. 2nd Corinthians 12. A thorn in my flesh. So he had experienced something in his physical body from the devil that was assaulting him.
[00:28:51] Do I think my back pain over this last month was demonic? Absolutely, I do.
[00:28:56] Absolutely, I do.
[00:28:58] I gave the devil a black eye. Hallelujah. And we had intercessors who helped me do that.
[00:29:05] Paul had emotional and psychological distresses. Second Corinthians 11 said he had the constant burden of the church.
[00:29:12] One translation actually says he had the anxiety of concern, concern of concern over the church that weighed upon him. 2nd Corinthians 7. He said my body had no rest, no sleep.
[00:29:24] And he was afflicted at every turn, fighting on the outside in fear that he battled in his heart.
[00:29:33] He had emotional and Psychological distresses. He had frustrations in his journey. He had in his heart, I want to go and minister at the Church of Thessalonica. But in 1st Thessalonians 2:18, he says this. I wanted to visit you, but Satan hindered me.
[00:29:50] You ever wanted to get to a meeting, get to a workplace, and your car breaks down or your tire goes flat, something goes wrong, something eats up finances that you were going to use to go on that trip?
[00:30:05] I don't know what happened with Paul, but Satan hindered him from doing what he wanted to do. He was persecuted by his brothers. I already mentioned his fellow Jews and Pharisees who came against him. Even after his conversion. You imagine he gets saved, tries to go to church, but the disciples say he's not one of us.
[00:30:25] Prejudice. We know the kind of stuff this guy does. He's not welcome here, persecuted by his brothers.
[00:30:34] Second Corinthians 11 summarizes it. And I like how he begins this whole passage. He says, I've worked harder than all of you, and this is what I've received.
[00:30:45] I've been whipped, I've been imprisoned. I have faced death from my brothers, the Jews. 40 stripes, minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep. That means you was floating out in the ocean for a night and a day. That's freaky. Man journeys. Perils of water. Perils of robbers, perils of my own countrymen. Perils of gentiles, perils of the city, perils of the wilderness. This sounds like a country song. Somebody needs to write it. Perils in the sea, perils among false brethren. I've had weariness and toil and sleeplessness, often hunger and thirst, fasting. I've been cold, I have been naked. And I have the anxiety of the Church that weighs upon me.
[00:31:35] If you ever feeling sorry for yourself, just read that passage right there. And you realize, God is so bad, this guy has the right to talk about trials.
[00:31:47] And you know what gets me?
[00:31:50] He's writing these types of things. I've got quoted Galatians and Corinthians and the church at Iconium and Acts. And what gets me is Galatians. I've been through hell.
[00:32:02] Corinthians. I've been betrayed, I've been beaten.
[00:32:05] Tells his son Timothy. I was abandoned, I was imprisoned.
[00:32:10] He says in Acts, I was stoned, I was left for dead.
[00:32:16] And he's still here to tell the story.
[00:32:19] He's been through all of this, and he's still here.
[00:32:26] He's still here. And I'm here to tell you today, my friend, if you have been assaulted from Satan, but you're still sitting here in this room, you're still here.
[00:32:37] You're still here. You may have had emotional and psychological distresses, but you are still here. You've had frustrations, broken plans, but you're still here. Hallelujah. Maybe you've been persecuted, betrayed, but you're still here. Come on, tell your neighbor I'm still here.
[00:32:59] You're still here.
[00:33:02] You're alive.
[00:33:04] Your trial is not the end. You're stepping into greater levels of kingdom, authority and manifest glory.
[00:33:15] Come on, some of you need to hear this. Glory does not avoid tribulation. Glory is born in tribulation.
[00:33:26] I'm changing perspective here. Why am I going through this? Praise God. He must have big plans for you.
[00:33:33] Why am I going through this? God's going to do great things through your life.
[00:33:38] You start thanking God for your trials. Seems so backwards, but it's Bible.
[00:33:45] Rejoice and be exceedingly glad you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
[00:33:53] Eventually, Paul will go on to say, I bear in my body the marks of Christ.
[00:34:00] Not only was he marked with a call, but he physically carried in his body the scars, the evidence of that call I bare in my body.
[00:34:15] Every mom understands what I'm talking about.
[00:34:20] At that moment. You found out you were pregnant, probably got so excited, and you begin to dream about what that child is going to look like. And you're dreaming and you're prophesying over that child. You pray over that child. You imagine what their life is going to be like, but you bear it.
[00:34:39] Morning sickness, the weight, the growing child in your womb, Back pain, foot pain, your emotions going all crazy. Come on. Just crying for random moments. It's been like 16 years for me. That never happened in our household. I just would just lay there and cry. I'm like, what happened? And I wasn't being a jerk in that moment. I knew, but it's just. She's burying it. She's burying it.
[00:35:08] Mom. Some moms got. Got stretch marks. You're literally. You bore something and you birthed something, and you literally carry in your physical body the evidence that you bore that child. And this is what the Apostle Paul is saying. He said, I received the call of God. I got a mark on my life. I'm going to use you for the ministry.
[00:35:29] But here he's saying, I bear in my body the marks.
[00:35:35] I earned my Stripes, you know, that's a military term.
[00:35:39] Earn my stripes. They give stripes. They give awards to individuals, feats of valor. You went through the battle and now you got something to teach somebody. You finished the training and now you can show somebody. You've been through some stuff and you have earned your stripes.
[00:35:56] There's so many ways that you can apply this. Nobody but a business owner knows what it took to get that business off the ground.
[00:36:04] Sleepless nights, investing your last dollar, working beyond 40 hours a week, way beyond.
[00:36:12] You've earned your stripes. You bear in your body you don't know what it takes to birth a ministry or to plant a church or to see a move of God. You know when you see a couple that's been married for 30, 40, 50 years, look, you guys are happy and you look wonderful.
[00:36:29] But you got some scars because you carried this thing. You've got some wounds and some battles, but you're still here. This is why I have Hattie and Leon Buss pray for me every day. Didn't you guys just celebrate 50, right?
[00:36:44] 50 years.
[00:36:45] Now, listen. I know, yeah, it's amazing.
[00:36:51] Now, I love some of you newlyweds, but if you come try and give me marriage advice.
[00:36:57] What are you talking about?
[00:37:01] But someone who's got scars, someone who's walked through some stuff, someone who's earned their stripes. Oh, I'll hear you guys all day. I'll listen to the newlywed. Maybe they'll. I don't know. That's fine, too.
[00:37:14] Do you understand what I'm talking about, though? There's a difference. When you know somebody. Somebody's paid a part price.
[00:37:20] Somebody's earned their strike. This is why when Paul would say what he had done, oh, my goodness, they hear what he's talking about. They look at this man who's black and blue, this guy who's just gone through the fire. How'd you see that guy? Paralyzed, Healed. How did this happen, Paul? How did you see this move of God in Iconium?
[00:37:41] Trials, suffering.
[00:37:46] They look at a man who's carrying stripes and look at what happens. Oh, my goodness. I just. I can't even believe this. If I didn't read it out of the Bible, I wouldn't believe it. Acts, chapter 14. In verse 21, this is the same text, says they made many disciples.
[00:38:02] And then in verse 23, it says they appointed elders in every church.
[00:38:10] Imagine Paul being in this church.
[00:38:13] He's just been stoned to death.
[00:38:17] If you're going to do anything significant for God, you're going to suffer for it.
[00:38:22] And then he says, who wants to sign up?
[00:38:27] And they do what?
[00:38:31] They sign up for it. They made many disciples and elders were appointed in all of their churches. Churches. I want to be a part of that. I don't know if this is like Misery Loves Company. I don't know what in the world got into people. Maybe it was the anointing. But when they saw what happened to Paul in the fruit of his suffering, they said, I want to be a part of that.
[00:38:54] I want to be a part of that.
[00:38:56] And it's mind boggling. But here's what you need to know. Some fruit only comes after fire.
[00:39:06] Some fruit only comes after fire. I want you guys to put up this picture here.
[00:39:11] This is a sequoia tree.
[00:39:14] This is. I mean, this thing is huge. You can go and see these. I mean, they've got some pictures. Like some of these have been opened up. You can drive a car right through. That's a person at the bottom there. If you can't tell, do you have another picture? Look at that. I mean, that's why it looks like magic right there. I mean, that's incredible.
[00:39:33] Those sequoia trees produce a seed that is encased in a cone.
[00:39:38] And it's hard, it is almost indestructible. You plant that seed, nothing will happen.
[00:39:45] Look this up online. You want to know how those seeds are open and how those seeds can begin to reproduce.
[00:39:53] Forest fires.
[00:39:56] That seed literally has to be burned in order to release itself life in order to multiply.
[00:40:06] Some fruit is only born through fire.
[00:40:14] Have you taken notes? I want you to write this down.
[00:40:17] Trials multiply covenant relationships.
[00:40:24] Trials multiply, covenant relationships. Paul's sharing.
[00:40:30] His haters have just left.
[00:40:32] But the disciples and his leaders and elders after his own heart are raised up. We'll do this, Paul, and I'll walk with you. There's nothing like trials that'll show who's really with you.
[00:40:48] Nothing like difficulties. Who will show who's really in covenant with you.
[00:40:53] This is why a man like Dave Reaver. Dave Reaver, if you don't know, is a. He's a great evangelist who's blown up in Vietnam. He'll stand before you, one piece of scar tissue over his entire body, ear fell off, has physical deformities all around him. But he will stand in front of a group of soldiers who have no idea who he is and talk about, I know where you are and I know what you're going through.
[00:41:19] I know what you're about to enter. And every person will listen to him, because he's been through it.
[00:41:26] He bears the scars. He bears in his body the marks.
[00:41:32] You better believe they heard Paul. He bore in his body the marks of Christ. And there's something about going through battles. You form a bond. I want to run with you.
[00:41:44] You've been through some battles. You've endured these fights. Never forget meeting a student.
[00:41:50] Christ for the Nations. I was like 25 and I was teaching an evangelism class. I don't know why they asked me to do that. I had no experience in evangelism. But I was there and I was teaching a class and I met a student, international student from Sri Lanka.
[00:42:04] Can't say his name because, you know, still there's. There's persecution there.
[00:42:10] He was coming on an outreach with me on one occasion. We were driving to a church, we were going to do street evangelism.
[00:42:17] And he begins to tell me his story. How in Sri Lanka he'd planted many churches, how he had started prayer towers, he had purchased these buildings, and he would start 24 hour prayer in all of these locations.
[00:42:31] And for his work to see the kingdom come, he was arrested, he was imprisoned and he was beaten for his faith.
[00:42:42] I saw as he told me the story, he lifted his shirt and he had deep, thick scars from where he had been whipped, where he had been beaten.
[00:42:53] And all of a sudden this student, I mean, it made me want to give him every single class. What the heck am I talking about? You come tell us. I mean, he would. He was in a Bible study. I was running this goofy little home life group in my house. And you know, we're talking Bible and sharing our great revelations. And then, and then we'd come to him and he would just say one word.
[00:43:16] And the weight and the fear of the Lord. This, I mean, I'm telling you, it would just. It would literally he begin to talk and the authority of God would hit the room.
[00:43:27] It's incredible. Why?
[00:43:30] He went through some trials and now he's walking in a kingdom authority. He had been tested and he had been proven. And he had the marks to prove his faithfulness to the Lord.
[00:43:45] I'm telling you, it drew me to him. You think about this. How many of you fall into. Yesterday, my wife went to an outreach.
[00:43:55] Our church partnered with some of the local police officers and a ministry out of this church, our Single parents ministry, to receive donations for school, helping students who are getting ready to go to school in just a month or so. And I'm telling you, it was awesome. Our church bus was out there you drive by, you'd see it. And even Chick Fil A, they would do donations to this outreach for every person who would come through. The people who organize this, our single moms, our single parents ministry.
[00:44:31] I want you to think about this.
[00:44:33] I don't think many of those single parents had thought when they got pregnant, I want to be a single mom.
[00:44:42] I want to be a single dad.
[00:44:44] But every one of them have a story.
[00:44:49] Maybe their spouse passed away, maybe they went through a horrible divorce, unfaithfulness, maybe somebody left on them, maybe they had it out of wedlock.
[00:45:02] Whatever the story is, they all had gone through trials.
[00:45:06] And now when they find there's some other people who've gone through the same trials that I have, and what is immediately formed is this covenant bond. We can still do something for Jesus.
[00:45:19] We can still do something that will see the kingdom of God extend into our schools and something that'll bless our police officers. We can still do something of significance for the Lord.
[00:45:31] And they're doing it. They're doing an awesome job. This is what happens. This is why coming together as the people of God is so important. I was hearing a story about a parent, parents who had lost one of their children, had died, sickness.
[00:45:50] They never talk about it, didn't want to share it. It was too tender in their heart. They didn't ever want to talk about it because it was just too painful. I don't understand, God, why you would allow this to happen until they met somebody from this church who had also lost their child.
[00:46:07] And you'd never know it because they've been healed and they share the testimony and they gather around others who have experienced tremendous grief. And they're ministering the heart of God in each of these situations. And all of a sud, the very same comfort that came to them, they're able to share with others. And there's this covenant bond that is formed. Oh, you went through a battle too.
[00:46:33] Your faith was tested, too.
[00:46:36] And you're still here.
[00:46:38] You still love Jesus and you're still serving him. And wow, your marriage survived. Oh, my goodness. And wow, you're still serving and doing something significant for the Lord. I'm telling you, friend, trials will show who's really for you.
[00:46:54] Everybody wants to be your friend. When you got money, when you've got influence, oh, the spotlight's on me. I'm healthy, I'm attractive. Of course, everybody wants to be my friend.
[00:47:08] But who stays with you when you're broke?
[00:47:12] Who sees you when you're in the hospital bed?
[00:47:16] Who comes around when you've been broken or afflicted or maybe you've backslidden. Oh, my goodness. We can't even associate with them anymore. Who shows up when you're at your lowest? Who shows up when you're in your trial? You'll see who the covenant ones in your life are.
[00:47:36] I'm telling you, friend, you're never alone.
[00:47:42] All praise. The Bible says to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is Second Corinthians 1:3. The God of our merciful Father and the source of all comfort, always the God of all comfort.
[00:47:56] He comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others when they are troubled. We will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. The more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort. Through Christ, I want you to say this with me. My trials don't disqualify me.
[00:48:21] My trials qualify me.
[00:48:24] God cared for me so I can care for others.
[00:48:31] Come on, you've got a story.
[00:48:33] You've got a testimony.
[00:48:36] God wants to use your story.
[00:48:39] God wants to encourage others through you.
[00:48:42] Second Corinthians 7:5. You're not alone. When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside, fear on the inside. But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.
[00:49:04] When Paul was discouraged, the God who encourages sent Titus.
[00:49:12] I can't tell you how deeply my heart was stirred when my back began to move into spasms just a few weeks ago when I was sitting right here in church.
[00:49:22] And all of a sudden my wife and some of our prayer workers show up to lay hands on me and pray for me in the car.
[00:49:32] I can't tell you how thankful I am that when my stinking dog has to go to the hospital, God put it in the heart of somebody to give us the exact dollar amount that we needed to cover that veterinarian bill.
[00:49:48] I can't tell you how much that stuff is means to me or to get a message. As I'm driving to the church, frustrated.
[00:49:55] What am I going to do? I need a sermon by tomorrow.
[00:49:58] No, no, no. God's going to give you a word.
[00:50:02] I'm telling you, we need these covenant relationships.
[00:50:09] I have trouble looking on this side of the room, even though there are these last months. It's like, Pastor Tim, I'm coming over 11 o' clock at night. Where I'm gonna be right there. Okay, I'll pray with you.
[00:50:22] Jones is. I'm Showing up. We're coming over.
[00:50:26] They're there.
[00:50:27] They receive.
[00:50:29] You need some covenant relationships, my friend. You need some people in.
[00:50:34] I'm with you, and I'm for you. And I'll kill somebody for you if you need me to. You got anybody in your life like that?
[00:50:43] I won't tell you which of these guys said that. But you need. Nobody said that.
[00:50:51] But you need some people like that.
[00:50:54] Covenant relationships.
[00:50:57] One last encouragement, worship team. You can come. I'm almost done.
[00:51:03] You say, nobody's been there for me.
[00:51:06] I don't have a pastor. I can go to the church. Didn't show up when I needed him.
[00:51:11] What about me, Pastor? That's good for you. Somebody showed up, gave you a word. Wonderful.
[00:51:18] I don't know Cindy Jacobs. She didn't give me a word.
[00:51:24] This is what the apostle Paul wrote in second Timothy, chapter four.
[00:51:29] He said, everyone has forsaken me.
[00:51:34] Demas has forsaken me.
[00:51:36] Backslidden.
[00:51:38] Titus is gone. Mark is gone. The church has not shown up. I'm here in prison.
[00:51:45] Says, alexander the Coppersmith did me much harm. That's second Timothy 4:14. Who the heck is Alexander the Coppersmith? I don't know, but he got called out right there.
[00:51:56] He did me much harm. The Lord will repay him.
[00:52:04] Everybody's left me.
[00:52:07] Nobody's with me. My sons are gone.
[00:52:10] The church isn't there.
[00:52:12] But in verse 17, he said, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
[00:52:22] The Lord stood with me and strengthened me.
[00:52:25] I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. You're not alone.
[00:52:41] You're not alone. Your family may not show up. Your church may not know what you're going through. Your friends may leave you that spiritual son you poured into. They may not show up when you want them to, but the Lord will never leave you or forsake you.
[00:52:57] The Lord will stand with you. The Lord is for you. You are never alone. You are never alone.
[00:53:04] You're never alone.
[00:53:07] Here's the. Here's the third one. And I'll handle this quickly. And we're going to pray. We still have plenty of time, but I want to give a moment to pray here in this service.
[00:53:15] Number three. Trials allow us to fully experience God's grace.
[00:53:20] Trials allow us to fully experience God's grace. Grace.
[00:53:29] You all know how great grace is until you experience it.
[00:53:37] Look at. So after this whole episode, the healing, the miracles, the stoning, the appointing of elders and disciples.
[00:53:46] This is what the Bible says. It concludes this story.
[00:53:50] Acts 14:26.
[00:53:52] And from there they sailed back to Antioch, the place where they had been sent from.
[00:53:59] With their mission complete, they returned to the church where they had originally been sent out as missionaries.
[00:54:06] For it was in Antioch where they had been handed over to God's powerful grace.
[00:54:16] They had been handed to God's powerful grace.
[00:54:24] And they go back after their mission is complete to the place they encountered God's grace.
[00:54:32] If you pay attention to this, guys, I don't think there was ever a time they were out of the grace of God.
[00:54:39] But he got stoned, he got betrayed, he was hurt, he was assaulted.
[00:54:46] And God brought him through it all.
[00:54:50] God brought him through it all. Grace allowed him to endure the storm, not avoid it.
[00:54:58] And so don't think for a second if you're going through a storm, fiery trials must be out of God's will, no?
[00:55:08] Probably exactly where he wants you to be.
[00:55:12] But what you need to do is anchor yourself in that place of grace.
[00:55:17] Guys, I can't tell you how many times, especially over this last month, Leeah. What do I say all the time?
[00:55:26] God, this wasn't my idea.
[00:55:30] This was your idea.
[00:55:33] Every phase of my ministry has felt like that. I'm in over my head, I'm not qualified for this.
[00:55:40] But everywhere I go, I remind God, Lord, you're the one who. This is your idea. I didn't sign up for this.
[00:55:48] So when your business is frustrating, or your marriage is going sideways, or your kids are backsliding, or your health is whatever, like God, I didn't ask for this.
[00:55:59] And you go back to the place where you experienced grace.
[00:56:04] This is where you called me.
[00:56:06] This is the promise that you gave me when you gave me this wife, when you gave me this child. This is what was happening, God.
[00:56:15] This is your grace.
[00:56:17] And I'm in the hands of your grace.
[00:56:21] So carry me, sustain me, walk with me.
[00:56:26] Yeah.
[00:56:28] Come on. Praise Jesus.
