1 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,200 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,560 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 3 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,920 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live. 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:23,960 Man, it's so good to be back with you. 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,520 A couple of really exciting updates. 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,360 Connor and Tabitha were able to welcome their new baby girl, 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,240 Hadley Grace into the world. Both baby and mom are doing 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:40,760 great from what I've heard. Connor did great, but just so, 9 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,960 so excited for them. Really excited about the plans 10 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:49,360 that God already has for little Hadley and just love, love what 11 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,920 God's doing in their family. Last week, if you were with us 12 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,640 last week, we got to really just walk through with three 13 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,959 different people giving their lives to Jesus last week, which 14 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,800 was absolutely amazing, to where we'll get to celebrate that new 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,680 life in Jesus in a couple weeks through baptism. 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,600 So could not be more excited about that. 17 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,840 Here's my question to you though, is everything that we 18 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,800 just sang about was really about God's love for us and his love 19 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:31,080 exhibited for us through what Jesus did for us on the cross. 20 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,000 And you know, we do not serve CJ is absolutely right. 21 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,920 We do not serve a a dead God. We, we do not come here to 22 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:44,760 memorialize a good teacher. We serve a living God, a living 23 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,160 Christ, a living Jesus to where the Bible tells us if we 24 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,920 surrender our lives to him, that the Holy Spirit of God will come 25 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,200 in and dwell us and to begin to change us and transform us from 26 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,560 the inside out. And all of that is great, all of 27 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,200 that's true. But have you really thought, 28 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,040 have you really thought about the? 29 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,800 Cost of that? Have you really thought about 30 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:08,800 the cost? Of it. 31 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,240 Like here's here's one of the things, if you're, if you're new 32 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,720 to church or you grew up in church, either way, one of the 33 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,080 things that we all need to come back to and we need to realize 34 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,680 is that following Jesus, accepting Jesus, surrendering 35 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,440 our lives to Jesus, coming before God and saying, God, I 36 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,680 admit that I'm a Sinner, that I believe that you sent Jesus into 37 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:37,080 this world to pay the price for my sins and I need to surrender 38 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,880 my life to you. God, would you come in and take 39 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,960 control of my life and I commit to following you for the rest of 40 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,920 my life. That is absolutely free. 41 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,680 That's free. As a matter of fact, it is as 42 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:57,560 simple as the Apostle Paul wrote to where he says, if you believe 43 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,600 in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,400 you will be saved. That is free. 45 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,600 So last week we got to walk through, you know, leading three 46 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,520 people in surrendering their lives to Jesus, and that was 47 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,920 free for them. But here's the thing. 48 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:20,680 Choosing to surrender your life to Jesus and accept what He has 49 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:26,160 done for us, that's free. However, it'll cost you 50 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,000 everything. It'll cost you everything. 51 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:34,040 And I think that we live in a day and an age to where we don't 52 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:38,680 really, we like the free benefits of what it looks like 53 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,560 for us to follow God and, and follow the, the, the, the ways 54 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,240 of God. We don't really like to talk 55 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,080 about everything that it'll cost us and everything that we should 56 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,680 expect as followers of Jesus to be coming our way. 57 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,680 If you're, if you're new to Riverbend, if you're new to 58 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,440 church, and certainly if you're new to, to the series, this 59 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,920 series is called live well. And, and here's the overall gist 60 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,200 of the series is there's a God who created you and this God 61 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,200 that created you, he loves you and this God that created you 62 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,320 and loves you, He actually desires ultimate good for you. 63 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,079 He, he desires, he actually desires God actually desires for 64 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:23,760 you and I and for us and for we to live life well. 65 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:25,360 But here's kind of the disconnect. 66 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,200 A lot of times what we consider our definitions of what it means 67 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:34,360 to live well often include bigger, better, bigger, better, 68 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,680 newer. And I think that there's enough 69 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,160 of us in the room and online that we've kind of followed that 70 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,680 track. We followed that plan of what it 71 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,000 looks like for us to live well. We've, we, we've aimed our lives 72 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,520 at always pursuing bigger, better, newer, and we've just 73 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,840 ended up more stressed and in debt with a lot of regret there. 74 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:02,760 But God's way, God's way of us to live well, God's definition 75 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,400 for us to live well. There's a lot of hardship that 76 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,800 comes with that, but it also results in living a life to 77 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,520 where you and I know that we are free from shame. 78 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,560 We're free from from the guilt of our sin. 79 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,480 And we can actually experience true forgiveness. 80 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,920 We can experience true purpose, the purpose of which we were 81 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,680 created for. You see, there's, think of it 82 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:32,400 this way, My definitions of living well and God's 83 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,160 definitions of living well, a lot of times when they don't 84 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,680 match up, they're almost kind of like two different roads, like 85 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,040 our world's definition of what it looks like for us to live 86 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,320 well. It looks like it's a, it's an 87 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:47,720 easy road and it looks like it leads to life. 88 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,600 And God's definition of what it looks like to, to live well, it 89 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,200 looks like a really, really hard road and it looks like it leads 90 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,400 to death. When in actuality, the two are 91 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,360 actually opposite our world's definition of living well, even 92 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,920 though it does look a lot easier, it actually leads to 93 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,720 death. And God's definition, even 94 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,640 though it does look and is a lot harder, it actually leads to, to 95 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,680 life. And here's the beauty about God. 96 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,240 God allows us to choose. God allows us to choose, but he 97 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,880 doesn't want us to be ignorant about those choices. 98 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,000 He doesn't want us to be ignorant about those choices in, 99 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,560 in other words, what comes along with choosing God's way? 100 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,840 Well, I think we need to 1st come back to God's definition of 101 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,640 what it means to live well. If you're new to the series, 102 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,240 it's kind of the big idea or the main truth that we've been 103 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,320 revolving around since the beginning of January. 104 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,320 Here we are home stretch of the series. 105 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,480 We got one more week in the book of first Peter. 106 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,800 But to live well is to live God's way, firm in faith, steady 107 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,560 in trials and anchored in hope. And one of the things that any, 108 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:59,600 any follower of Jesus knows is that following the, the words 109 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:05,360 and the ways and the will of God will require us to remain firm 110 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,560 in our faith and steady in our trials and, and anchored in our 111 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,400 hope, no doubt about it. And I want to show you a 112 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,640 passage. I want to show you a passage in 113 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,840 the book of first Peter. And if you have a Bible with 114 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,160 you, I want to invite you to find First Peter chapter 4, to 115 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:28,600 where Peter's going to encourage us to live very, very much 116 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:34,680 aware, to be very aware of the cost of what it looks like for 117 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,080 us to follow. Jesus. 118 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,320 If you have a Bible with you, we're going to pick it up in 119 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,440 verse 12. If you don't, passages on the 120 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,360 note sheet that that you were handed on the way in and it's 121 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:45,880 going to be on the screen as well. 122 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,440 This is what Peter writes. Beloved, do not be surprised at 123 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,880 the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though 124 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,560 something strange were happening to you. 125 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,960 But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that 126 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,560 you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 127 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,720 If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed 128 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,880 because the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. 129 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,080 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief, or an 130 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,520 evildoer or a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a 131 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,960 Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God 132 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,360 in that name. For it is time for judgment to 133 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,640 begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what 134 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,200 will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of 135 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:35,600 God? And he's going to quote another 136 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,240 passage of Scripture? And if the righteous is scarcely 137 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,320 saved, what will become of the ungodly and the Sinner? 138 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:47,480 Therefore, let those who suffer according to God, to God's will, 139 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,680 entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing 140 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:54,280 good. Now let's just go ahead and 141 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:55,480 address the elephant in the room. 142 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,600 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trials when or fiery 143 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,280 trial when it comes upon you to test you. 144 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:05,560 I don't know about you, but I read that and I sit there and 145 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:07,560 go, man, what an uplifting verse. 146 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,680 What a way to start my Sunday right. 147 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,080 What a way to start my Sunday. I think it's really important 148 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,920 for us, however, to talk about and for us to look at what the 149 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,000 fiery trial that Peter's referring to here, what it's not 150 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,400 because there's a lot of confusion, especially in, in, in 151 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,360 in the United States to where there there's a lot of 152 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,040 prosperity, there's a lot of blessing there. 153 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,440 There's a church on every corner to where it's not hard for us to 154 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,000 practice our faith. There's a lot of 155 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,000 misunderstanding about what the fiery trial is, but I think we 156 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,240 need to clarify the three most common mistakes of what people 157 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,520 often assume the fiery trial is. So if you're taking notes with 158 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,360 us, let's look at three things. The fiery trial is not the first 159 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,040 one. The fiery trial is not the 160 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,040 consequences of my sinful choices. 161 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,880 The fiery trial, brothers, do we. 162 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,360 We don't want you to be unaware. We want you to be prepared. 163 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,000 There will be a fiery trial that comes to test you. 164 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,680 He is not talking about Peter's not talking about the 165 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:16,600 consequences of my sinful choices. 166 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,200 This is why check this out. Peter writes this If you're 167 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,560 insulted for the name of Christ, you would be blessed. 168 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,000 What is the if? If you are insulted for what? 169 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,080 For the name of Christ? And then he goes on as if that 170 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,640 wasn't clear enough. But let none of you suffer as a 171 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,440 murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 172 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,840 Here's the whole point is every single one of our sinful choices 173 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,680 and decisions, they all have consequences to them. 174 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,120 They all have consequences. And even though God can forgive 175 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:52,680 all of our sins, all of the sins that that that things that we 176 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,880 have done that God's word tells us not to do, things that we 177 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,080 refuse to do that God's word tells us to do, those are sins. 178 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,440 God can forgive all of our sins, but his forgiveness of our sin 179 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,880 doesn't necessarily mean that he eliminates all the consequences. 180 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:09,840 Let me kind of like put some feet on that. 181 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:15,680 God can forgive and does forgive past sexual sin, but that 182 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:21,280 doesn't mean that the remaining relational consequences for 183 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,480 relations, relational consequences later on in life. 184 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,320 It doesn't mean that those consequences of those sexual 185 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:33,040 sins don't keep lingering, but God can forgive the sins of of 186 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,200 substance abuse, but it doesn't mean that he automatically 187 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:42,200 eliminates like the the, the grip of of of addiction. 188 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,160 You you see? The fiery trial is not 189 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,040 necessary. It's not like the consequences 190 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,440 of our sinful decisions. Second thing that the fiery 191 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,880 trial is not, it's not really the common stresses of life. 192 00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,160 It's not really the common stresses of life. 193 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:03,280 We all have stresses in life. And isn't it interesting? 194 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,080 Isn't it interesting how the older you get, the bigger the 195 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,600 stresses become, the older you get, the bigger stresses you, 196 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,400 you, you become and you kind of look back over your life and 197 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,840 you're like, Hey, remember when the biggest thing that was 198 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,520 stressful to me was that, man, I'd sign up for that every day 199 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,800 of the week and, and twice on Sunday, Like to be able to go 200 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,800 back and have the stresses that I thought were like a really big 201 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,040 deal in my early 20s or when I was 14. 202 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,880 And I'm not saying that those weren't big deals or big 203 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,400 stresses when I was 14 or when I was in my early 20s. 204 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,480 I'm just saying that now as I get older, the stresses seem to 205 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,000 get a little bit bigger and a little bit hairier, right. 206 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,800 The fiery child is to come upon us that Peter's talking about 207 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:54,440 here in First Peter 412 are not the common stresses of life. 208 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,440 So parents, as challenging as your kids may be, they are not 209 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,000 the fiery trial. Wives, as challenging and as 210 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,800 stubborn as your husband may be, he is not the fiery trial. 211 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,840 As as much of A jerk as your boss or your supervisor or your 212 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,760 manager, maybe he or she is not the fiery trial. 213 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,760 We all have things that are really, really common stresses 214 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:27,560 of life that we don't like. Things like bills and vegetables 215 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:34,000 and taxes and dentist chairs, as much as we don't like them, they 216 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,560 are not the fiery trial, although they will. 217 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:40,600 They will make us look forward to heaven a lot more, right? 218 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,000 But the common stresses of life are not the fiery trial that 219 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,120 Peter's talking about. The third thing, third 220 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,680 misconception about these fiery trial is the culture's movement 221 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:54,760 away from Christendom. The culture's movement, our 222 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:56,520 culture's movement away from Christendom. 223 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:58,360 Let me kind of unpack that for a second. 224 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:07,320 We no doubt live in a country that was founded by Judeo, 225 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,880 judeo-christian ethics, no doubt about it. 226 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,480 We, we're a country that was founded with a, with a base 227 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,000 acknowledgement of our creator God. 228 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:23,760 We're a, we're a country that was founded on, on a, on a 229 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,720 shared morality of what was right and what was wrong. 230 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,320 For the most part. We, we are a country that was, 231 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,520 that was founded in a way in which I would say that 232 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,920 Christianity was, was viewed favourably in the marketplace 233 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,120 and, and, and in the public sector. 234 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,240 I would say that probably up until the the 1990s, there were 235 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,160 cultural pressures and incentives for someone, 236 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:57,320 especially in the South, to say that they were a Christian and 237 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:05,680 that they attended church. Now sitting here in 2026, a lot 238 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,520 of those cultural pressures and incentives, they no longer 239 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,840 exist. A lot of the movement that we 240 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:17,680 see happening in our culture is, is a rejection against 241 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,280 Christendom, the shared Judeo-christian values. 242 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:28,120 But I would even argue this, I would even argue this, that the 243 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,800 fiery trial that Peter's referring to here in First Peter 244 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:38,120 4 is not our culture's movement away from judeo-christian 245 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:42,720 values. It's just not you see, again, 246 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,960 we, we, we live in a day and age to where there's no cultural 247 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,200 incentive or pressure to say that you're something that 248 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,480 you're not. If you're not a follower of 249 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,040 Jesus, then there's no cultural pressure incentive to say that 250 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,520 you are. There's no culture incentive or 251 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:00,880 pressure to, to, to, to go to church if if you not a follower 252 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,480 of Jesus. So what's happening is, is we're 253 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,960 having people pull away. We're having our culture being 254 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,920 more authentic and more honest and more real about who they are 255 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,600 and what they believe. And they're actually living with 256 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,880 a sense of genuineness, A genuine lostness, but a 257 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,320 genuineness. This is why it's so important 258 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:25,320 for us to understand the fiery trial that Peter's referring to 259 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,200 here is not a City Hall's refusal to place a Nativity on 260 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,560 the front lawn. And the fiery trial that Peter's 261 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:36,360 referring to here is not a cashier saying Happy Holidays 262 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,560 rather than Merry Christmas. That's just cultural cultures 263 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,960 drift and unbelieving cultures drift away from or all out 264 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,080 abandonment away from a judeo-christian ethic or what we 265 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,480 would call Christendom. You see Christendom, it has the 266 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:54,440 has the fingerprints of Christianity. 267 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,720 It looks like Christianity. Sometimes it feels like 268 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,960 Christianity, but it's really just a cultural Christianity. 269 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:05,280 It's not the same as a I've surrendered my life to Jesus. 270 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:11,280 I've been born again, I've been forgiven of my sins and only and 271 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,480 purchased with the blood of Jesus type of Christianity. 272 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,560 It's going through the motions and and and Christendom that 273 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,359 that's what our culture is slowly but surely rejecting. 274 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,000 And I would even argue over the last 20 something years that 275 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,760 rejection has has rapidly increased. 276 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,640 But that rejection is not necessarily what. 277 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,440 The fiery trial that Peter's talking about here. 278 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:36,240 So if the. Fiery trial is not the 279 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,640 consequences of my own sinful decisions, and the fiery trial 280 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,600 is not the common stresses of life and the fiery trial that 281 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,000 Peter's referring to here in First Peter 412. 282 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,120 It is not culture's movement away from Christendom. 283 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:52,640 What exactly is the fiery trial? What exactly is the fiery trial? 284 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,760 And this comes back to the overall gist of the question 285 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,840 that we asked at the beginning. What will following Jesus cost 286 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:01,960 me? Here's a definition. 287 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,920 I gave you this in your notes. The fiery trial. 288 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,200 Is a suffering that is experienced due to my walking in 289 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,160 obedience to God's word will and ways. 290 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:20,760 It is a suffering that is experienced due to my walking in 291 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,120 obedience to God's word will and ways. 292 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:31,080 There is a direct correlation. I am obedient to God, therefore 293 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:36,360 I am enduring this trial. I'm holding on to the words, the 294 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:40,480 will and the ways of God. Therefore I'm experiencing this 295 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,600 type of suffering. It is a direct correlation 296 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:50,520 between my obedience to God and my suffering for that obedience. 297 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,520 And it's going to happen in two distinct ways. 298 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,480 The first one, again, if you're taking notes with us, jot this 299 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:58,960 down. It's going to be a personal 300 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,200 suffering. It's going to be a personal 301 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,120 suffering. When I am walking in obedience 302 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:08,280 to God's Word will and ways. There are some things in my 303 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:09,920 life. If I'm living my life in 304 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,320 accordance to God's word and God's will and God's way for me, 305 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,320 that's going to, that's going to be contrary to the Word. 306 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,520 The world's the unbelieving worlds like will and ways. 307 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,040 So there's going to be some things that I'm going to suffer. 308 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:28,880 Let me let me kind of give you some examples. 309 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,920 If you're single with us and, and you are living obedient to 310 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:41,080 God's word and his will and his ways for you, then you refuse to 311 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,880 lower your standards and you refuse and you completely reject 312 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:50,560 some type of like hookup culture because you know that it's 313 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,640 against God's word, it's against God's will and it's against 314 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:56,200 God's ways. Well, what's that going to cost 315 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,000 you? It's going to cost you at least 316 00:19:58,000 --> 00:19:59,840 temporarily. It's going to cost you 317 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:05,600 companionship. If you, if you're, if you're, if 318 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:09,760 you're an employee and you're, you're looking to walk in 319 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,960 accordance with Scripture and God's word and his will and his 320 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,360 ways and you refuse to compromise your integrity or 321 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:21,240 your character. It may very well cost you a 322 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,520 promotion and that's going to cost you some money if you're a 323 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:30,120 man or a woman or a student with us and, and you become convicted 324 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:33,600 about the things that you allow to kind of influence your 325 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,240 thoughts. Because we know that like what 326 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,080 goes into our thoughts, it's just human nature. 327 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,040 It starts to starts to like ping pong within us and because it 328 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,240 starts to change us and you become convicted about the 329 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:53,000 content that you allow into your thoughts with whether that 330 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:59,120 content is through reels or, or or or or websites or music or 331 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:04,880 movies or or TV shows. That may very well cost you 332 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,160 some, some popularity and it may cost you some, maybe even some 333 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:15,760 friends because you like we were talking about last week, you now 334 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,040 have a new master and that's Jesus. 335 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,000 And you want to honor Jesus in everything that you do. 336 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,560 So honoring Jesus in everything that you do, it will cost you 337 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,120 personally. There will be a personal 338 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,600 suffering, but there's also going to be a second category of 339 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,160 suffering, and that's what we call a shared suffering, a 340 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,960 shared suffering. What I mean by that is when a 341 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,600 body of believers like Riverbend Church, whether you're in the 342 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,920 room with us or online, you're following Jesus and we're all 343 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,320 looking to walk and sync with God's Word and his will and his 344 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,160 ways. There will be and we're joining 345 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,640 with other churches, other Bible believing Jesus loving churches, 346 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,800 not only in this area, but in this state and in this country 347 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,720 and around the world. There will be a shared 348 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:08,160 suffering. There will be a complete 349 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,080 misunderstanding of who we are and a mislabelling of who we are 350 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:16,200 because we're looking to live in accordance with what God says, 351 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,880 not what feels good or what culture says. 352 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:22,320 I'll give you I'll give you a couple of examples. 353 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,760 Not to spend a whole lot of time here, but we read in Genesis 354 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,240 chapter one that God created humanity is male and female and 355 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,720 he created both of them in his image of equal value, but he 356 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,760 created them male and female. So as Bible believing followers 357 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:46,480 of Jesus, we cannot get down with and we cannot accept a 358 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,520 culture's view of 54 different gender identities. 359 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:57,320 We just can't. But because of that, we're 360 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:03,120 labeled as a people that doesn't really love people or maybe even 361 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:11,160 bigotry. 2014, the founders of Hobby Lobby, both devout 362 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,360 followers of Jesus. They were sued and their case 363 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,840 was taken all the way to the Supreme Court of the United 364 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,840 States. They were sued because under the 365 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,880 Affordable Health Care Act, they were mandated as a company or as 366 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,920 a corporation that they had to provide health insurance, which 367 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,920 part of that health insurance included abortion. 368 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,240 And the founders of Hobby Lobby said, listen, based off of our 369 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:42,240 fear of God and our belief in Scripture that all, all life is 370 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,880 sacred, that from the moment of conception to the moment of 371 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,280 death, we are to protect all life. 372 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,600 We can't, we can't adhere by that that statute and that 373 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,240 mandate. And because they took that 374 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,000 stance, they were sued and their case was taken all the way 375 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,720 Supreme Court of the United States. 376 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,880 And in a narrow 5 four decision in the United States Supreme 377 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:11,800 Court 2014 the Supreme Court barely upheld those founders 378 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,000 rights not just to believe what they say they believe in but to 379 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,640 actually put it into practice. 2015 there was another Supreme 380 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,640 Court case Ozerfel V Hodges. And in Ozerfel V Hodges, the 381 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,920 Supreme Court ruled and it actually federalized same sex 382 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:33,600 marriage, citing using constitutional protections, but 383 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,680 then also citing portions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which 384 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:43,280 basically classified sexual orientation in the same vein as 385 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,880 a person's skin color, saying the Supreme Court of the United 386 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,760 States said no one can discriminate on that basis. 387 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:56,520 Now, most church scholars and historians agree that that has 388 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:01,680 now laid the legal groundwork for the federal government to 389 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,520 remove the tax exempt status of any church that does not perform 390 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,600 or refuses to perform same sex marriage. 391 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,360 Not because we're bigots, not because we hate people, but 392 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,560 because we believe that God instituted marriage, He created 393 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,480 marriage and He only blesses marriage is between a man and a 394 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,440 woman. So most legal scholars believe 395 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:26,480 that that now, that's 2015 Supreme Court case has now laid 396 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,000 the groundwork for the federal government to to remove tax 397 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,560 exempt status of churches, which means that tithes and offerings 398 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:39,720 will then become double taxed. You see what you and I, what we 399 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:43,680 give together to and through Riverbend Church, that money has 400 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,800 already been taxed. Well, if the federal government 401 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,720 then taxes ties and offerings again, that's a double taxation, 402 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,080 which will then lead to a lot of churches having to close their 403 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,240 doors. As your pastor, I'm very well 404 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:01,840 aware of the fact that following that vein out to its personal 405 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:06,600 conclusion, it could very easily mean when I stand on where God's 406 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,400 Word tells me to stand about marriage, that that could be 407 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:16,320 classified as hate speech. I, I, I don't tell you this, I 408 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,720 don't tell you this is your pastor to incite you, to get you 409 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,680 to wring your hands, to get you to go full on ostrich mode and 410 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:28,000 stick your head in the sand. I tell you this to give us full 411 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:33,200 context of what Peter is talking about and to give us full 412 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:39,440 context of what you and I have willingly signed up for when we 413 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,600 surrendered our lives to Jesus. So in full context, let me go 414 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,600 back and read first. Peter 413 In light of the 415 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,000 personal sufferings and the shared sufferings, rejoice in so 416 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,680 far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also 417 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,480 rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. 418 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,680 So here's the question to his church, How in the world, in 419 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,920 light of everything that I just said, none of us going to make a 420 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,200 Hallmark card, right? How in the world do we rejoice 421 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,680 in that? I think we rejoice by three 422 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,960 mindset shifts, which are also going to come accompany 3 423 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,400 promises from God. If you're taking notes with us, 424 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,600 here's the three mindset shifts that we have got to be aware of 425 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:24,320 in the day and age in which we're living. 426 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,960 Number one, I don't chase trials, but I won't be surprised 427 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,200 when they come. I don't chase trials, but I 428 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:32,680 won't be surprised when they come. 429 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:37,440 Listen, I have never met anybody that says, listen, I haven't had 430 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,880 a good trial in a while. I think I'm going to go chase 431 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,400 one down. If that's you two things, either 432 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,760 A, you've got way too much time on your hands or B, you ain't 433 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,040 right. And I know it's not 434 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,200 grammatically correct, but it's theologically correct. 435 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:54,720 You ain't right. I don't chase them. 436 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,880 I don't chase them, but I won't be surprised when they come. 437 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:03,480 I won't be surprised when they come. 438 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,600 What? What is our definition of the 439 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,360 fiery trial? It is a suffering that comes 440 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:13,360 upon me as a direct result of me living in obedience to God's 441 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:19,160 Word, His will, and His ways. So when I strive to be obedient 442 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,640 to God, do you know who takes notice? 443 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:27,760 My enemy, Satan, his demons, the forces of hell itself. 444 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:34,120 So when I strive to be obedient to God's Word and His will and 445 00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:39,120 His ways, my obedience places a target on me. 446 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,120 What is hell? What are the forces of hell? 447 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,080 What's their main objective for any of us? 448 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,400 Plan A Keep us away from Jesus. Keep us from surrendering our 449 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,760 lives to Jesus. If you've already surrendered 450 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,200 your life to Jesus, there's nothing that can ever separate 451 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,560 you from the love of God. Nothing. 452 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:02,120 I love how Paul ends the end of Romans chapter 8. 453 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:04,440 What can separate us from the love of God? 454 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,320 And he gives a whole litany of things that goes, Nope, not 455 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,560 that, not that, not that. There's nothing that can ever 456 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,200 separate us. Once you were saved, you're 457 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:16,400 always saved. But but once you're saved 458 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:17,960 doesn't mean that you're always be effective. 459 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,800 So if Satan can't keep you away from surrendering your life to 460 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,560 Jesus, he wants to keep you as ineffective as possible by from 461 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,880 leading other people to Jesus. And how does he do that? 462 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,440 By keeping us disobedient to God's word, his will and his 463 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,280 ways. You see, I don't chase trials, 464 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,960 but I'm also not going to be surprised when they when they 465 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,240 come. Jesus himself promised this. 466 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,560 He goes in this world. You will have happy times. 467 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,160 It's not what he said in this world. 468 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,240 You will have an easy time. It's not what he said in this 469 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,240 world. If you go to church every week, 470 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,000 life will always turn out the way that you thought. 471 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,320 Not what he said in this world. You'll have health, wealth and 472 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,920 prosperity. Not what he said. 473 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,880 Jesus said in this world you will have trials. 474 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,080 But fear not, I've overcome the world. 475 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,720 Jesus was crystal clear. We will have trials. 476 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,960 I'm not going to chase them. I'm not going to chase them. 477 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:19,960 But I'm not going to be surprised when they come as kind 478 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:25,160 of a side point of conviction. Here's a question that followers 479 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,040 of Jesus, we should be asking ourselves. 480 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,560 Am I walking in such obedience to God that I'm actually a 481 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:36,920 threat to health? I'm starting to wonder if the 482 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:41,280 lack of the fiery trial that Peter's referring to here, 483 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,520 direct suffering, shared suffering. 484 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,760 I'm starting to wonder if the lack of the fiery trial, if a 485 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:54,080 lack of attack, if an if a lack of attack on my life from the 486 00:30:54,080 --> 00:31:00,320 forces of hell, if that's not really a true indicator and a 487 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:04,680 diagnostic of my lack of a threat to hell, my lack of 488 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:08,520 obedience to God. You see us followers of Jesus 489 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,280 going through trials for Jesus should be a badge of honor. 490 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,600 Along the way, we've kind of got some twisted theology to where 491 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:22,040 we start to think as far as the Jesus. 492 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,520 Jesus, I read my Bible. I spent 15 minutes in prayer 493 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:25,840 with you. I gave to the church. 494 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,920 I serve once a month at the church. 495 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,640 Why are you allowing this trial to come in my life? 496 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:38,000 Well, the Bible tells us, he promises us you walk in 497 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,360 obedience to God. You will face suffering in this 498 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,760 world. We're going to come back to why 499 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:48,440 that's so important. Second mindset shift is I don't 500 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,520 like trials, but I won't be consumed by their fire. 501 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,160 I don't like trials, but I won't be consumed by their fire. 502 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,920 Here's what that means is when you and I, when we're facing a 503 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:04,400 trial in life that is directly tied to our obedience to God's 504 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,960 word and his will and his ways, you don't have to like the 505 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,720 trial. As a matter of fact, if you, if 506 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,520 you write in your journal like I am so happy, like, you know, I 507 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,080 love this trial, such a great time, you know, hashtag blessed 508 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,000 and in your journal. I'm starting to sit there and go 509 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,120 OK. You don't have to hyper 510 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,440 spiritualize things. You don't have to like the 511 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,600 trial, but you also don't have to fear it. 512 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:37,080 You also don't have to fear it. Let me ask you a question based 513 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,320 off of what we've just talked about, talked about where, what 514 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,320 is the ultimate source of the of the trials that's coming against 515 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:47,800 U.S. forces of hell? Do you really believe that God 516 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:49,280 is bigger than the forces of hell? 517 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:55,400 That means whatever hell can throw at you, God's protection 518 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,280 is bigger. We see that playing out all 519 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,200 throughout Scripture. You go to the book of Daniel, 520 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,120 you got three guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 521 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:08,560 They refused to bow down to to worship an image of the king as 522 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,280 a as a God. They refused to bow down and as 523 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,680 a as a consequence, they told him, like, listen king, like we 524 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,080 acknowledge your authority as our king, but we can't worship 525 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,640 you as God because we can only worship the one true God. 526 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,560 And as a result, King Nebuchadnezzar threw them 527 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:30,560 literally into a fiery furnace. That furnace was heated up 528 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,680 several times hotter than it normally was, so much so that 529 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:37,120 the Bible tells us that the guys actually heating the heating the 530 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:41,000 furnace actually died themselves because it was so hot. 531 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,280 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire. 532 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,120 No doubt the fire was hot, but God's protection was greater. 533 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:50,800 You can read on. Later on in the book of Daniel, 534 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,000 you got this guy by the name of Daniel who he. 535 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,280 Refuses to to. Obey the King's decree to stop 536 00:33:56,280 --> 00:34:00,520 praying to God. It's like, hey, King, like I 537 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:04,000 acknowledge your authority as my king, but my greater authority, 538 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:08,080 my greatest authority is to my heavenly Father, to the King of 539 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,400 Kings, and that's God. And I'm going to keep praying. 540 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:16,480 As a consequence, he was thrown into a den of vicious lions. 541 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:20,880 Those lions were no, no doubt vicious and probably no doubt 542 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,760 starving, but God's protection of him was far greater. 543 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,760 Whatever trials may come your way and my way, as a result of 544 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,639 us being obedient, faithful to God, Listen, they're big, they 545 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:38,199 are hairy, they are destructive. However, God's protection is 546 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:41,239 much greater. One of my favorite passages in 547 00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:47,840 the entire Bible is is Second Corinthians chapter 4 and right 548 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:51,760 there nestled in the middle of Second Corinthians chapter 4. 549 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,199 Love this passage. Paul writes this. 550 00:34:54,199 --> 00:34:55,960 We talking about followers of Jesus. 551 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:58,320 We're. Afflicted in every way, but not 552 00:34:58,320 --> 00:34:59,640 crushed. We're. 553 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,440 Perplexed but not driven to despair. 554 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,080 Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. 555 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,640 You see, you don't have to like the trial, but you also don't 556 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,880 have to fear it. Let come what may. 557 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,400 There is nothing that can ever separate us from God's love. 558 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:23,920 God always, always, always has protection of your soul. 559 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:31,000 Let come what may, He always has protection of your soul. 560 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,040 Third mindset. The way in which we can be 561 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:38,280 blessed in the midst of living in a trial. 562 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,280 I don't avoid trials, but I will be purified in them. 563 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:48,360 I don't avoid them, but I will be purified in them. 564 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:55,360 Two things about that statement #1 the trials that come our way 565 00:35:56,120 --> 00:36:00,240 are not things that we can go around, not things that we can 566 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,160 go under, not things that we can go over. 567 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,720 We have to go through them. Here's 2 words of encouragement. 568 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,880 When you and I, when we go through trials, Number one, we 569 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:12,640 never go through the trials alone. 570 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,000 If you're a follower of Jesus, that means you have the Spirit 571 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,120 of the living God living in you, that there is nothing that you 572 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:24,400 will ever encounter alone. This is why King David could 573 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,480 honestly and authentically write in Psalm 23. 574 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:32,040 Four, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 575 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,280 death, I will fear no evil. Why? 576 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,880 Because you, God, you are with me. 577 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:40,640 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 578 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:46,840 I'm never alone in what I go through and #2 with God, nothing 579 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,600 is ever wasted. With God, nothing is ever 580 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:55,800 wasted, ever. God will always use. 581 00:36:56,240 --> 00:36:59,800 If we come to God and kind of reframe our question, here's how 582 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,160 we got to reframe the question. In the midst of the trial, ask 583 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,480 what, not why. Here's what I mean. 584 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:10,360 When you may be in a trial right now, you may be on the verge of 585 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,960 going into a trial. When you're in that trial, ask 586 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:18,320 the question, what God, what do you want to teach me in the 587 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,560 midst of what I'm walking through right now? 588 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,720 Not so much God, why in the world would you allow this to 589 00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:27,040 happen to me? What not why? 590 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:32,720 There's a there's a profound, profound difference and that 591 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:36,640 question when we understand that we don't avoid trials, but we 592 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:42,040 will be purified in them. It gives us kind of a kind of a 593 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:47,000 strange confidence, right? A confidence that almost when 594 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:53,120 coming up on a trial, that fiery trial, hey trial, I don't like 595 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,360 you, you don't like me, but I know something that you don't. 596 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:01,880 Your intention for me is to tear me down, but God's going to use 597 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,600 you to build me up. So let's get this thing started. 598 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,920 You see, I don't avoid them. I would even argue I can't avoid 599 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,560 them, but I will be purified in them. 600 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:17,280 That's why whenever we go to another follower of Jesus and 601 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,280 say, hey, can I run a situation by you? 602 00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:22,480 Can I get your godly counsel on this? 603 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,600 More times than not, we typically go to the person that 604 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,920 we know there's been through the trials, don't we? 605 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,680 Why is that? Because there's a track record 606 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,320 of them relying on God and his faithfulness in and through 607 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,960 them. Here's a question I want to 608 00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:43,640 throw out there to you and especially if you're new to 609 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,160 church, It's AI think it's a very open and honest question. 610 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:52,080 Some people would even maybe even accuse this question of 611 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:56,920 being sacrilege. Here's the question, Ben. 612 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,440 If the fiery trials are going to come as a result of my obedience 613 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:04,280 to God, then why in the world would I ever want to be obedient 614 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:07,600 to God? That's a fair question. 615 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:15,640 Let me give you the answer. Do you want to be forgiven of 616 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,480 your sins? You see, I think what what has 617 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:25,800 so wrapped up our culture and its tightest grips is living and 618 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,840 walking with a sense of guilt and shame and secrecy. 619 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:36,560 Do you want to be freed up this morning or, or how about this? 620 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,160 How about many of us? We come in here, we're watching 621 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,920 online to where life has not at all gone the way that we thought 622 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,240 that it has, and it feels like all of our hope has been 623 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:49,600 stripped away. What would it look like for you 624 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:56,480 to know that if the worst that were to happen is you die, that 625 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,480 you would spend eternity with God in heaven? 626 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:01,280 How would that change the way that you lived? 627 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:08,320 How about this? How about a sense of peace and 628 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:13,640 love and purpose? That you've been striving to 629 00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:17,280 find elsewhere by going down a lot of different roads and 630 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:19,760 trying a lot of different things, but you find out that 631 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,520 they only leave you empty and hollow and probably worse off 632 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:27,640 than you were to begin with. I would argue this if you're on 633 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,200 the fence about whether or not to follow Jesus. 634 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:36,360 A life that follows Jesus will give you a life that you have 635 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,760 always been looking for. No doubt about it. 636 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,240 Yes, it will come with hardships, but the blessings are 637 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:47,840 much greater than the hardships. Yes, it will come with trials, 638 00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:52,560 but the eternal hope of knowing that you will spend eternity 639 00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:55,720 with Jesus in heaven is greater than those trials. 640 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:57,680 Yes, it will come with suffering. 641 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:04,760 However, that suffering dulls in comparison to the life that 642 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:09,720 Jesus wants for you. Like I said at the very 643 00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:15,000 beginning of our time together, and we had three people last 644 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,680 week that crossed over from death to life that know that 645 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:25,800 their greatest weapon against fear and doubt is a date, 646 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:33,200 February 15th, 2026. When the forces of hell try to 647 00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:39,360 diminish who they are, diminish their hope, or try to cloud them 648 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,680 with doubt, they can pull out that date, February 15th, 2026. 649 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,280 That's when I nailed things down and gave my life to Jesus. 650 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:52,760 Do you have a date that you can go back to? 651 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:58,000 If you do or if you don't, we would love to pray with you. 652 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,520 We'd love to talk to you in just a few moments during our time of 653 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:03,800 response. If you do. 654 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:10,120 If you do, I want to walk you through four really key quick 655 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,040 questions to end our time. Here's the first one. 656 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:17,520 What is faithful obedience to God costing me right now? 657 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:24,200 If we're not listen, we don't go chasing trials. 658 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:29,880 We don't like the trials. We don't avoid the trials, but a 659 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,800 question that we should really be pondering if you're, if we're 660 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:38,040 a follower of Jesus, what trial am I suffering right now for the 661 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:39,720 for the cause of following Jesus? 662 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:45,320 And if there's nothing that I can point to, in what areas do I 663 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,800 need to be obedient to Jesus? Not to be a jerk for Jesus, 664 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:51,840 you'll never find that in the Bible, but just simply be 665 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:57,000 obedient to Jesus. What's it costing me #2 Where's 666 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:00,280 God calling me to obey Him knowing that it'll cost me? 667 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:06,480 Is there a stand that He knows that I need to take, that I know 668 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,480 that I need to take, not because of my opinions or my 669 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:14,000 perspectives, but based off of what God's Word tells me? 670 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:18,560 Is there a stance that I know that I need to take based off of 671 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,480 following and being faithfully obedient to God's Word, His 672 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:27,080 will, and His ways that's going to cost me #3 What would it look 673 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:31,240 like for me to not run from the fire, but to be refined by it? 674 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,080 What would it look like for me to not run from the fire? 675 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:40,440 I often wonder what it'll look like when we know that our time 676 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,320 is coming to an end in this life. 677 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:50,480 I wonder how many times we'll look back if we're aware of 678 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:55,680 those final moments with regret. Wondering, I wonder what would 679 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:59,520 have happened, what God could have done in me and through me 680 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:03,680 if I had not run from that trial, but I actually chose to 681 00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:07,760 trust God to be refined by it. 4th question. 682 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:12,680 How can I prepare my heart now for the fiery trials that will 683 00:44:13,240 --> 00:44:16,080 come? This morning has been really 684 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:20,120 about being aware. Aware of the cost. 685 00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:28,040 Remember how I told you 3 mindsets also lead to three 686 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,960 promises? Fact of the matter is whether or 687 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:36,680 not you're in a trial right now and trial's pending, if you're 688 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:38,520 obedient to God, a trial is pending. 689 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:45,000 But guess what? God will protect you in that 690 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,200 trial. God will protect you in that 691 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:52,560 trial if you lean on Him. Here's what we want to do. 692 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:55,720 I want to end our time just praying over us this morning. 693 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:00,480 And if you were like one of those three last week that said, 694 00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:04,080 Ben, I don't know if I have a true relationship with Jesus, 695 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:06,160 but I don't want to leave here not knowing. 696 00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:10,080 We would love to talk with you. Maybe there's someone in your 697 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:13,560 life that you're not sure they have a relationship with Jesus. 698 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:17,440 The most powerful thing that we can do is to come down and to 699 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:21,040 pray for them by name. Maybe you're in here this 700 00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:22,680 morning, you've come out of a trial. 701 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:24,320 Maybe you're in a trial right now. 702 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:29,360 You may say, God, I need your protection of me in this trial. 703 00:45:29,360 --> 00:45:32,880 God, would you grow me? Would you refine me in this 704 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:34,040 trial? God, I don't. 705 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:37,400 Like it, but I trust that you're with me. 706 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,960 Maybe this morning is just another step of dependence on 707 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:48,200 God and where He has placed you. Maybe it's courage for you to do 708 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:51,200 what exactly what you know God is calling you to do. 709 00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:55,160 Maybe in a relationship, a personal relationship, maybe at 710 00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:58,920 work, maybe at school. Maybe it's something personal. 711 00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:01,840 Maybe it's some some some boundaries that you need to draw 712 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:06,160 in your own life personally, knowing that that stance will 713 00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:08,440 cost you. So you just need to come down 714 00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:12,240 and pray for some courage. Listen, God will grant it to 715 00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:13,960 you. You just have to ask. 716 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:17,960 So this morning we're going to open up this time after we pray 717 00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:20,720 to give us a chance to respond and to pray together. 718 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:23,360 God, we love you and we thank you for your word. 719 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:27,560 Again, we thank you for the fact that you do not keep anything 720 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:31,120 from us, God, you do not sugarcoat things for us. 721 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,760 God, I pray that you would forgive us of, of any, any 722 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:39,600 twisted theology or any twisted notion that if we surrender our 723 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:43,240 lives to you, then you're going to make everything a smooth road 724 00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:46,400 ahead of us. You're going to make it easy. 725 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:48,360 You're going to give us everything that we want. 726 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:52,640 God, would you bring us back to the reminder that you love us 727 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:57,160 far too much for that God? You are most concerned with who 728 00:46:57,160 --> 00:47:02,920 we are becoming, God, and we cannot become who you created us 729 00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:09,680 to be without depending on you. So God, I pray for the man or 730 00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:14,360 the woman or the student that is struggling with an assurance of 731 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:17,800 whether he or she is truly following you. 732 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:21,320 God, I pray that they would, that you would grant them a 733 00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,240 boldness to step out and to come down, talk and pray with the 734 00:47:24,240 --> 00:47:27,520 pastor this morning. God, that they can nail that 735 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:33,840 down. God, for those that already have 736 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:38,280 their salvation nailed down, God, would you help us to be 737 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:40,960 really, really honest with ourselves about ourselves and 738 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:45,040 about the presence or the lack of presence of, of trials in our 739 00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:51,160 lives as as maybe being indicative of our true 740 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:53,200 faithfulness or our true obedience to you? 741 00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:57,600 Help us to really look at God. What is it costing us to follow 742 00:47:57,600 --> 00:48:03,120 you, God, and help us to respond appropriately to that? 743 00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:07,400 God, there are people in in all of our lives that we know need 744 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:09,360 you. So God, we want to take this 745 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,000 time to lift them up to you by name. 746 00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:15,680 God, we pray that whatever you're calling us to do this 747 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,680 morning, God, that you would move in freedom, that you would 748 00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,920 move in power. God, that you would move in a 749 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:25,880 way that is undeniably you. And it's in Jesus name that we 750 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:27,160 pray. Amen. 751 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,880 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 752 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,320 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 753 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:41,720 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.