If you were not with us last week, you missed an opportunity to hear how the Lord was speaking very, very clearly through an angel named Gabriel to Mary about her mission. And one of the things that we commented about the mission that Mary was on is that it was a very specific mission and that it was something that the Lord had planned and destined for her to do. But Mary did not really fully understand it. She couldn't conceive in her own mind and with her own wisdom of how this was gonna happen. So the Lord tells her this. He says, Mary, you're going, or the angel tells her this from the Lord. He says, you're gonna conceive a son and he will be the son of God. And Mary asked this question, if you remember and if you were here in Luke chapter one, verses 34 and 35. She says, how will this be? Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin. And the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Now, We talked about this last week, again, just trying to catch anyone who wasn't here up with this idea. Often we look at these stories in the Bible, and you and I will say, well, that was a unique way that God used that very, very unique person. And that is true, by the way. I don't think any of you are called to be the mother or the father of the Son of God. We know that. This is a one-time example. However, This is not the only way that God moves in the heart, in the life of an individual, right? This isn't a once and done thing and God says, okay, now the rest of you, you're on your own. What God does is he actually communicates to each and every one of us what his plan and purpose is in his kingdom's work that he has us involved in. Sometimes we don't look at it quite that way. We just think, okay, I'm saved, I'm good. when I die or should the Lord come back first, I'm gonna go be with him in heaven. So until then, you know, let's muddle our way through this life, so to speak. And that's not God's plan or purpose. Just as God had a very specific plan and purpose for Mary to honor and glorify God best with, so too does he have that for you. And I know you hear me say that a lot, but it resonates throughout the entire Christmas story. It really is astounding to me how you can almost take, almost any character and go, oh, that was God's plan for their life. And sometimes we look at that and we go, well, that's why they made the Bible. That's why they're in there because God uniquely took however many hundred people that we see throughout the Bible, God using, and we go, well, that was for them, but not necessarily for me. And it seems so obvious to me that God has a plan to use you and I in very, very similar ways, very unique ways that he planned for us before we were ever formed in our mother's womb. So again, we'll look at another example, but I want you to think about the consequences that came with that call in Mary's life. We mentioned these last week. For example, no one was going to believe that she had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Had never happened before, will never happen again, right? So when they discover that she is pregnant, they're going to assume that that's a poor excuse. In fact, it would be considered blasphemy. You say the Holy Spirit impregnated you? You will suffer consequences for that, young lady. Added to that, we know that Joseph knew that he wasn't the dad of this child, right? So how is that going to work in her relationship with him? And probably we know that the two families involved, Mary's family and Joseph's family, they knew that Joseph and Mary hadn't been together yet to consummate the marriage. And so they are probably at odds. There's probably some division between the two, right? Look what your daughter did to my son kind of stuff, which we've all kind of been through in our lives as well. And then lastly, this whole situation was gonna be, seemed totally impossible. You know, how do you parent incarnate God, right? So parenting is challenging without that being a factor, right? So this whole thing was never going to be easy. It seems impossible and it seems incredible, but it is true. And again, I wanna point you to Mary's response to all this. So the Mary tells Mary exactly what's gonna happen, and Mary says these words in verse 38. She says, okay, well, I am the Lord's servant, so may your word to me be fulfilled. She's like, I'm good with this. I'm ready to roll with this, even though it was gonna be incredibly hard. In fact, I'm gonna add to that, her life was never gonna be the same again. So, All these challenges being considered, Mary said, let's move forward. Now, I'm wondering, and this is kind of the question that we're asking throughout this series, I'm wondering how you would respond if God says, hey, got a message for you, and this is how I plan to use you. And it's not going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be extremely challenging. Your life is never going to be the same again. But above and beyond that, people aren't going to understand. There's going to be some ridicule and hardship. And some of you are even thinking, I already have enough of that in my life. I don't need anyone to add to that consternation that I'm going through right now. And to that, I agree. Amen. Unless it's God who's saying, this is all part of the plan. And I'm going to use you in this way. I think it's important for all of us to consider how God desires to use us once we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and follow him as Lord. I think it's important for us to seek that and to ask him, how is it that you want me to be used? I think it's important to do it on a day-by-day basis. But added to that, say to him, hey, from this point forward, when I place my faith and trust in you, from this point until that time comes that you either return or I go to be with you, I am yours and I want to be used the way that you want me to be used for your honor and for your glory. So let's turn to Joseph, because Joseph is facing an incredibly difficult decision, right? He knows he has not been with Mary, and it sounds really far-fetched to believe that the Holy Spirit has impregnated his fiance. So he is thinking about ending this relationship when suddenly an angel appears to him as well. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Matthew chapter one, We're gonna look at verses 18 through 25 together and see the decision that Joseph makes when God outlines the plan for his life as well. Let's start in verse 18. I'll read aloud, you follow along. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered to take Mary home, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. "'She will give birth to a son, "'and you are to give him the name Jesus, "'because he will save his people from their sins.'" The Bible goes on to say in verse 22, all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. He's gonna mention what the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 7, 14, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us. Watch what Joseph does. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife, but he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son and he gave him the name Jesus. Now here's what I'm wondering. I'm wondering if anyone listening to this message today has been going through hard times. Really, maybe not, hard is an underestimation of what you've gone through. Really super challenging times. And maybe they just started, or maybe they've been going for some time now. Listen, maybe some of you who are listening today, online, in person, maybe this hardship and these trials and these challenges have been going on for years and years and years. And because they have, maybe some of you who are listening to me today, you are wondering if that's ever gonna change. And you're thinking to yourself, you know what? I think I've been dealt a bad hand. This is just how my life is going to be, and I might as well get used to it and grin and bear it, you know, and just move ahead. There really isn't any hope for any change to happen anytime soon in my life. And the reason that you were thinking that is because it's been a while since you've been without hardship. and challenge, and you're growing weary, and you're kind of getting tired of it, and you're wondering this. You're wondering if there's any chance that anyone up there is even paying attention to you and even listening to you. Well, here's what I want you to know today. There is. There is a God who sent his son to die on the cross for your sins, which means, and he's alive, which means hope is here. and his name is Jesus Christ, and he came to save you from your sin and change you from within. That's pretty good, isn't it? That rhymes. I made that up. So the thing about that is, is that he didn't just die on the cross for your sins. That's not all he did, which is incredibly important to you and I for us to be saved. He's at work within you. And there is not a single thing that you've been going through for any length of time that he's not fully aware of and has allowed to conform to the plan and the pattern that he has for your life for you to be changed. and to honor and glorify Him better through your actions, through your words, and through your thoughts. So here's the deal. Anything that God has planned for you, He's also provided the power to fulfill. He's working within you to do these things, to make these changes. He gives you direction. He gives you guidance. He gives you comfort. He gives you wisdom and discernment. When to do, what to do, where to do, all of those things. He's doing that. So the only responsibility that you and I have is not figure out how in the world we muddle our way through this thing called life. The responsibility that you have is to turn our full attention and focus to the one who will do that for us. And muddle is an underestimation of the way that God plans to use you. God plans to use every believer for his good and great glory. that he has planned for you before you ever even believed in Jesus Christ, that was part of the plan that he's had for your life. Now, here's what I realized. I realized that someone listening to me today, maybe several people are listening to that, and you're saying, that is absolutely not true. That is a fantasy, that is a fable, and at the very least, some of you are thinking this maybe, you're thinking, that is so far-fetched. Why? Because there hasn't been any evidence of that in my life. Pastor Rick, you don't know what you're talking about when you're talking about me. I've gone through hardship after hardship, struggle after struggle, trial after trial. I've lived years trying to figure out what God has planned for me, and it is not working for me. Well, I would suggest to you that is why you are here today. Because I'm going to show you how it is working for you. And I'm going to tell you what God would have you to know in order for you to move forward out of the doldrums of disappointment and doubt into the wonderful expectation of fulfilling and living out the plan that God has for your life. So consider Joseph. Right? Joseph, the best that we know from Scripture, he never did anything to bring this challenging situation on himself. Right? Sometimes we do that, but Joseph, the best that we know, didn't. He's doing everything that he's supposed to do. He goes and gets engaged. Then he returns home. He's probably working a full-time job as a carpenter. We know him, that to be his trade. He's probably working evenings preparing his new home for his wife and himself to move into. And when we see all of that happening, we recognize that there is no indication in Scripture whatsoever that suggests that Well, you know, Joseph just is messing up, so this is his plight. These are the consequences of the sin in his life. It's not that Joseph is in the center, there's just no indication that he's bringing this on himself. So why is this happening? Because it's part of God's plan. for his life. And Joseph is a man of great character. You know, we'll see that in a moment. We'll look at it a little more closely from what we read. And he's doing everything that he knows to do. But you gotta know that he's wondering, why is this happening to me now? Why would this woman do this to me." He's having trouble believing that she's been impregnated by the Holy Spirit, because again, that's never happened, and it sounds like a likely excuse. And Joseph has followed the plan. So he went and got engaged. He goes back and prepares his home. He's doing all this work. Interestingly enough, the time of engagement, it's also referred to as the betrothal. That typically lasts about a year. And the reason it's usually a year is to ensure that the woman is not already pregnant by somebody else. So they wait a year before they actually get married to say, okay, you're saving yourself for your husband. So imagine what Joseph thought when he found out that she was pregnant. Right, it was like, wait a minute, this is not supposed to happen. Why is this happening to me? I did everything that I knew to do to honor you, Lord, with my life. And again, we know that he's a person of great character because he doesn't want Mary to suffer the consequences that according to the law of that day, she should suffer. In fact, that's what we read in verse 19. It says, because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, that's the Mosaic law. The Mosaic Law is actually the law that says if you've committed adultery, you can be punished by death. You can be stoned to death under the Mosaic Law of that time. And he wants to honor the law, he's faithful to the law, but it goes on to say, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, so he had in mind to divorce her quietly. I'm not certain what it means to divorce someone quietly back then, but obviously what it refers to is that he didn't want a lot of fanfare associated with the end of the annulment of this relationship. He was not going to pursue being married to her any longer, and he didn't want her to suffer the consequences of being accused of adultery, so he was going to do all of that quietly at that time. It's wonderful to know that this is a man of character. Because sometimes we look at that and say, well, listen, if that's going to happen to Joseph, then it can happen to anyone. The point being, God uses those difficult, challenging situations, those trials that you're going through, that you're wondering, why is this happening to me? He uses this to create even greater character and greater hope in our lives. We talked about that last week as well with Mary's life. So the idea behind all of this is that God knows that he's at his wit's end, he's gonna do something that's out of God's plan by divorcing Mary, so he sends a messenger. And note this as we read these words, that God knows perfectly well how to communicate with anyone that is his. I think he can communicate with anyone that he's created. But for the most part, it's unmistakable that if you trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God knows how to clearly communicate with you. And so that's what he does with Joseph, even through an angel here. That's what we read in verses 20 and 21 of Matthew 1. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, Son of David do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit and she will give birth to a son and you already give him the name Jesus which means the Lord says because listen to this Joseph you're gonna raise the Savior of the world he he will save his people from their sins Now, I'm guessing that some of you can relate to this predicament. Not necessarily in having a wife that is pregnant that you didn't impregnate, but maybe you've been doing everything that you know to do that's right. Only to be hurt or betrayed or disappointed by the people that you love, right? Maybe you feel like you just can't catch a break. Maybe you're at your wits end and maybe you've moved past being angry. at others, right? Maybe you've moved past being angry at God and all you want to do is quietly let this time pass because there is no indication that you see of anything changing anytime soon. And maybe you're asking this question, is there really anyone up there who cares? Is there really anyone who is willing to help and encourage me through this journey called life? And the answer is yes. And his name is Jesus. And he knows exactly how you feel. Consider Jesus's life, right? He was betrayed and rejected and killed by the very people that he came to save. In fact, that's what we read in 1 John 2 too. It says, Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, meaning those who believe now, but for the sins of the whole world, those who will believe later. Jesus died for the people who rejected him. And it was his desire for them to believe in him and have a change of mind, which leads to a change of heart, and believe in him and follow him and experience eternal life in him. And yet, the people who were closest to him, they denied his deity. Consider the religious leaders of that day. The religious leaders are called to teach the people of God the truth about Yahweh. And they know the Messiah is coming, and yet they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior or the Messiah. So this is what they do. They are so corrupt. that they want to kill the Son of God. We read that in Matthew 26, three and four. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. These were the religious leaders of that day. What about the government officials that are in place to protect the people of the province that they are in? The leaders in government are the very people who sentenced Jesus to death even after having found him guilty of nothing. to deserve it. Pilate is wrestling with this in Mark 15 12 through 15. He says, what shall I do then with the one that you call the king of the Jews? And they yell, crucify him. And he says, why? What crime has he committed? but they shouted all the louder, we said crucify him. Wanting to satisfy the crowd, the Bible says Pilate released Barabbas, he's a known hardened criminal, to them and he had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified. By Pilate's own words, we've not found him guilty of anything but Okay, we will crucify him, we will kill him. These are the same people of God that are crying, crucify him, who welcomed and celebrated Jesus walking in to the holy city a few days earlier, right? They're waving palm branches, and they're singing Hosanna in the highest to him, and they're laying their cloak down to pave a path into the holy city, and just a few days later, they turn on him completely and say, no, we changed our mind, crucify him. Now, He is not the Savior that we've looked forward to having come and to save us. So, the ultimate, to me, the gut-wrenching form of rejection that really hurts inside of us is when our own friends and our own family reject us or don't believe in us. Jesus' own friends and family denied his deity. They did not believe that he was the savior of the world. Mark 3, 21 says, when his family heard about this, the things that Jesus was doing that were very unconventional at the time, they went to take charge of him, for they said, he is out of his mind. We read in John 7, 5, for even his own brothers did not believe in him. Family members and friends did not believe in Jesus. Well, that is until after he rose from the grave, then they believed. But here's what you need to know about Jesus. Jesus was a perfect person. He was born with no sin because he was born of a virgin, no seed of man, only the seed of God. He never once sinned. I can't fathom that. None of us can stake claim to that, but Jesus can. God is the ultimate judge of that. And Jesus says that this is my son in whom I am well pleased. He never once committed a sin in his entire life. So there was nothing that he did to bring on the punishment that he was going to serve. However, the punishment that he was going to take on himself was part of the plan and the mission that God had for his life. And he walked in perfect obedience to that. So when you consider that, consider the fact that Jesus knows exactly how you feel. when you are rejected by the people who are supposed to love you. He experienced that himself, and yet he came and fulfilled the exact mission that God had for his life. Most of you know this verse, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world, that's you. that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish." You as a believer will never perish because of what Jesus did, but you will experience Eternal life. Eternal life is not life when you get to heaven. Eternal life is in the here and now. Eternal life is a life that's been changed and turned to focus on eternity rather than the temporary life that we're living as human beings today. All you are required to do to receive this gift is believe that Jesus is God's son. Jesus is the chosen one who was sent by God to die for your sins so that you can be reconciled, forgiven and reconciled with your creator. But here's how you do it. You must believe in Jesus despite all the attacks and all of the doubt and all of the disbelief that people bombard you with saying you are a fool for believing in this guy. You are a fool for committing your life to following him because it's all fable. It's not true. And you have to do this. You have to believe in him with never having seen him with your own eyes. You've never seen Jesus. You've heard from people who have seen him, but you yourself have never seen Jesus with your eyes. Many of us have never heard Jesus with our ears. And yet we're called to believe in that Jesus, despite all of that. And that's the essence of faith. Hebrews 11 1 tells us that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Now, granted, Mary and Joseph, they saw the angels. They heard from the angels the truth about their mission. But you and I have the power of God at work within us. And you and I have the Bible to teach us. And all of these examples that they had very little access to, we've got great access to, and we study and talk about at the very least on a week-by-week basis. So notice that Joseph doesn't have what we have in order to be obedient. The Bible says in verses 24 and 25 of Matthew 1, when Joseph woke up, obviously he was kind of in a dream state. He did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife. He did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. He didn't want anybody to think, oh, wait a minute, this is Joseph's son. No, it isn't. He did not consummate the marriage with her. He gave his son the name Jesus. Joseph and Mary believed in what was said before they saw. Just like you and I are called to do as well, right? You and I may not have the privilege of ever hearing or seeing angelic messengers, but we have the Word of God. We have the power of God's Spirit at work within us, and He's guiding us, and He's changing us, and He's creating in us a new us so that we can fulfill the plan and the mission that he has us to fulfill. And we're in a world that is constantly trying to convince us that we are wasting our time by believing that. We're being bombarded by doubt and disbelief and people saying you're gonna miss everything that this life has to offer you by seeking the Lord's leadership in your life and denying yourself and forfeiting all the wonderful luxuries that you can have in this life that you can pursue on your own by submitting yourselves to following God's will for your life. And so the Apostle Paul knew this. Paul knew that this was being taught, this is what was being said, that there were doubters then just as there are doubters now. And added to that, the hardship and the trials that God's people were going through, that was hard to explain. Like, why would God allow so much difficulty and hardship enter the lives of people who have given their lives to God? So Paul wanted to explain this to them. And this is what he says in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 6 through 12. This is an incredible passage. Listen to what he says. He says, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness, He quotes that from Genesis 1-3. God spoke and light appeared, right? Well, that same God made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. What he's saying is that same light that God spoke into existence in the dark world is now shining in the heart and the life of the people who believe. That same powerful entity, right? And it is God's glory being displayed through the face of Christ within us. And then he explains it. He says, but we have this treasure, this light of Christ in jars of clay. That's our body. to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. This isn't something that we conjure up and we just, come on, Rick, you can do that today, you can make this happen, you've got the power to do this. No, we don't. We've proven that we don't. We get weary with all this stuff that we're facing, but it's by God's strength and power that we get through it. So we don't rely on our own ability to make it through. We rely on the power of God at work within us to get us through these challenges, right? And so he explains that, what it's like in verse 8. He says, we are hard pressed on every side. but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body, listen to this, the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. Here's the first thing that we saw in that passage, and this is too important to miss. We have the light of Christ shining in our hearts. And the emphasis that we need to place upon that is so incredibly important because so often we depend on ourselves to get through the hardships and the trials. And we think that we've established the faith that we have, but we haven't really. God has established that faith. God is strengthening his people to believe in God's ultimate plan for our lives. He offers direction. He offers us guidance. He offers us hope. He offers us a strength. And he provides this steadfast Faith in the midst of all the adversity and trial and trouble that you're facing, right? So the key to all this talk about death is what we have to resign ourselves to is the things that we would naturally live for the things that we would naturally in our own human flesh do We don't pursue those things anymore, right? All the things that the world says you need to pursue, all the things that, you know, we were told, my parents used to tell me, you know, this, you're gonna be a person of success. You study hard, you work hard, you're gonna make some money, you're gonna provide well for your family, and people are gonna see you as a person of success. And listen to me, nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that pursuit, unless it goes against God's will for your life. What if God has more for you than that? What if, depending upon your own ability to achieve your own goals and dreams, cut short the incredible plans that God has for your life if you trust in Him? So the idea is you don't just not do those things, you can do those things, but you don't focus all your attention and all your energy on those things. You focus all your attention and your energy on the things that God is leading you to do by seeking Him and pursuing His will for your own life. That's the key to success in God's eyes. And so the key to making that happen is being willing to die for what you used to live for. You're changed now. God's in you, and you don't live for the things that you used to live for. And the Apostle Paul says, I have to do that on a day-by-day basis. He talks about that in 1 Corinthians 15, 31. He says, I protest, that word really means announce, or we boast on my brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. Listen to what he says next in the English Standard Version, Pastor Matt's favorite version. He says, I die every day. Paul wakes up in the morning from sleep and he commits to surrendering his life to the Lord so that he can follow him. That's what he says. Every day, I die to my own pursuits to live for the pursuits that Christ is leading me to live for. So the idea is this, we die daily to ourselves in order to live daily for Christ. You can't serve two masters. You can't serve self and Christ. It will never work. One will always win out. So Paul says, I got to live for Christ. And if I die, then it's gain. because ultimately I die living for Christ. Paul boasts about his fellow brothers and sisters in 1 Corinthians 15, 31, all who face hardship and persecution and even death on a daily basis, and yet they can't help sharing the gospel. They live for that. And back then they were facing death by doing so. There was such extreme persecution that they knew this sharing of their faith could cost them their lives. And yet they do that. And so Paul says, I die daily to remind myself that I must live for Christ. We must do the same. We must die daily. That I die daily theme echoes Jesus's command to those who want to follow him. You guys know this verse really well, Luke 9, 23. If anyone would come after me, what must they do first? Deny themselves, right? Then take up your cross follow him." Now the amazing thing about that statement is that back then any Jewish rabbi, which Christ was, any Jewish rabbi that would suggest that you take up a cross would be considered heretical because it was the Roman Empire that instituted the process of crucifixion there for anyone who would not worship and hail Caesar. And so they would put a lot of these Jewish people on the cross, and the idea was to humiliate them first, and the inevitable result of anyone being put on the cross was what? Death. Yeah, you get put on the cross, you die. And so why would a Jewish rabbi teach that we carry a cross with us? To remind us to die. to remind us to die daily so that we can live for the things that Christ leads us to live for. We must die to ourselves. We must die to our rights. We must die to being our own bosses. We must die daily and surrender our lives in order to fulfill following Christ. Paul continues in verses 13 through 15. He says, it is written, I believed, therefore I have spoken. He's getting that from Psalm 116.10. So he's quoting scripture. And he says, since we have the same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All of this is for your benefit. He's talking about all the hardship, all the trial, all the struggles. All of this is for your benefit so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. How can all the hardship and trial that I've been facing, Pastor Rick, possibly lead to glorifying God? Here's how. People are watching you. If you are professing with your mouth what you believe about Jesus Christ, then people are watching to see what difference that belief makes. And the greater the hardship and the trial that you go through and get through, the greater the power that is given to you by Christ appears to them. And the greater the believability of what you say to be true. And so the harder the challenge, the greater the power that's getting you through it, the potential greater confidence people have. And yeah, what you're saying looks true. It looks like you really are living what you say you believe. Then they too may believe. And the greater number of people who are saved, the greater praise and worship that's being offered to God. And the greater praise and worship that is being offered to God, the greater glory he receives from his creation. That's his desire, to be glorified by those that he not only created, but that he sent his son to die for so that they could be saved. So the point of all of that is we can't just quietly believe. We can't kind of cower in our own homes and go, well, yeah, anyone a believer? I am. No, the Bible says God uses our mouths to speak what our hearts believe. Do you know that just happens? You don't have to convince yourself of that again. You will speak what you believe. Many of you tell me what you believe about politics. I don't ask. I don't, well, I shouldn't say I don't wanna know, but many of you communicate to me what you think about this pandemic. You'll tell me what you think of masks, and you'll tell me what you think of vaccinations, and you'll tell me what you think of social distancing, and you'll tell me what you think about closing the church and opening the church, and you'll tell me that without asking, you'll tell me. That's okay. I mean, we have that kind of relationship that I wanna hear what you have to say, but I don't have to tell you to tell me, you tell me. You email me and you write me and you call me and you say, this is what I think that we should do. Well, the same is true of what you believe about Jesus. I don't have to tell you to tell other people what you believe about Jesus. If you believe it, you will. If you believe in Jesus, you can't help but talk about him because of what he's done and is doing in your heart and in your life. He's changing you and making you a new person, and he is far too great to be kept to ourselves. So the idea of what Paul is saying is just like they used to say in the old days, I believe, therefore I spoke, so too will we do the same thing. We're gonna speak the things that we believe. The privilege of making Christ known comes with the power to do so. He directs us to speak about him. It's not done in our own strength, and it's not well received by people who don't believe in the same truth that we believe, and yet we still do it because it presents an opportunity for faith. for them to believe the things that we believe, right? And so we embrace those opportunities and we welcome them, even though it may be faced with rejection and condemnation and persecution by people that we care the most about. There is nothing that should ever stop us from doing this. Not any hardships, not any illnesses, not any challenging circumstances, not even a pandemic. Nothing should stop us from speaking the goodness of Jesus Christ and about who he truly is. And we do that because God leads us to do so and he empowers us to do so. And we don't fall apart or abandon our faith when we're facing adversity. That's what Paul goes on to say in verses 16 through 18. He says, therefore, we do not lose heart Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Right? Paul realized that the more suffering that he endured by faith, the more amazing the power of God appears in his vessel, right? And people will believe, and people who believe will share with other people, and other people will share with other people. Despite all the hardship and the trial, they'll see a strength of faith that resonates to the people who truly believe. And so I wanna conclude with this thought. We have a lot in common, you and I. Sin is one of them. We have all sinned and we've all fallen short of the glory of God. We don't deserve the glory that is resonating within those of us who have believed in Him and trust. We don't deserve that. We can't earn it. On our best day, we still fall short. And yet God's love and God's grace is so powerful that he grants us that. And all he asks us to do in return is to seek and follow his leading. All he desires is for his work to be done in us so that it can be done through us and accomplish the goals that he has for our lives. And I promise you this, we have some young folks up in the balcony, many people who are my age will know this, we're falling apart. I'm saying that from firsthand experience, right? There's so many things I can't do that I used to do. And I used to do easily, right? I'm getting older and this facade, this tent that God has given me, it is wasting away. So young people, your time is coming. should the Lord not return first, you're gonna go through this process. And I remember being young, and I used to think, you know, you older folks just need to kind of get out of the way, because the young guns are moving in. And then I became the old gun, and I realized God still wants to use me, despite the fact that I'm wasting away. despite the fact that I'm growing weaker, not stronger physically, I've never in my life had greater faith than I have today. I've never believed any more than I believe right now in Jesus Christ. There is so little doubt in my mind that not only this is real, but that God clearly wants to lead me day by day to do the things that he's planned and purposed my life to do. I'm so sure of that. That's why I'm communicating this to you today. I wasn't always sure of that. I would talk about it and kind of think, I know this is what I'm supposed to say, but I'm not sure of it. I am 100% sure of that today and I'm surrounded by people in this room that are equally sure with me because we've walked this journey long enough and seen God work in our lives in such a way that we know we're new people. God's changed us and molded us and shaped us to be more like him and it continues despite the fact that I'm falling apart. So young people, that's the hope that we can offer you. That's the truth of the journey that we are all on. And the fact of the matter is there's a plan and a purpose to all of the chaos and calamity that we're surrounded by. God wants to use us in a fallen, sinful, carnal, dark world to be His light so that many will come to believe in the Jesus that He sent as Savior to die on the cross for the sins of the world. And it behooves us to follow Him. But that doesn't end the plan and purpose that God has for your life. That would be enough, but God has chosen this, that not only does He want to use you in this life, this is so good, He wants to reward you in the next. He will empower you to do the things that he would have you to do so that he can reward you later for it. Is that not amazing? God wants to reward you in all of eternity with things that will last forever, not the stuff so many people live for today that will only be temporary. God rewards our faithful service with his eternal glories. If that doesn't light your switch, then nothing will, right? You've got an opportunity to be the light and life of Jesus Christ, and he will reward that. The rewards that God grants in heaven will far exceed any temporary reward that you'll ever live for on this earth. So here's what we do, folks. We fix our eyes on what is promised, but not yet seen. We don't focus on the things that we see, because the things that we see are only temporary. But the things that we don't see yet but have been promised to those who believe, those things are eternal. They will last forever. And that is the plan that God has for your life. And he will get you through the hardship and trial that you're facing so that he can reward you for those things later. Let's pray. Father, I'm asking you now to move in the hearts and the lives of the people who are listening today. And I pray this, Lord, that by your power, the same power that allows light to be shown in the darkness of our hearts and in our lives, by that same power, may we believe, may we trust, may we learn to seek and follow, And Lord, may the fruit that you produce from our lives be honoring and glorifying to you. May the kingdom work that you planned for us before we were ever formed and fashioned in our mother's wombs. May it be fulfilled by your power and by your will and wake us up this morning to the truth of who Jesus really is in our lives. He is not something that we just think may be true. He is truth. He is not someone who simply says he's gonna offer us a new life. He is life. He is not simply a possible way to spend eternity with you in heaven. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And anyone who believes in him today and from this day forward they will be saved. Lead us to repent of our sin, to believe in the one who you sent, and to live for the one who calls us into eternity. And we ask that in Jesus' name, amen.