so so What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom. My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus. For my life is wholly bound to His. Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing all this time, yet not I, but through Christ in me. The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, For by my side the Savior he will stay. I labor on in weakness and rejoicing, For in my need His power is displayed. To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me, Through the deepest valley He will lead. Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me. No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future sure, the price it has been paid. For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon, and he was raised to overthrow the grave. To this I hold my sin has been paid. Jesus now and ever is my dream. Oh, the chains are released, I can sing, I am free! Yet not I, but through Christ in me. With every breath I long to follow Jesus For He has said that He will bring me home And day by day I know He will renew me Until I stand with joy before the throne To this I hold my hope is only Jesus. Amen. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. StSq3 3.30 (-0.99") Good morning. Welcome to Stanley Heights Baptist Church this morning. Delighted to have you here. Galatians 2.20, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And what a wonderful challenge for us the choir gave to live in the power of Christ and the things that only Christ can do in us. And thank you so much. for bringing us to that point as we begin this morning at 1030 choir. Very grateful for that. Well, this morning we are going to open the scriptures to Adversity University in the series that we've begun. And today we're going to talk about where does adversity come from and what do I do about it. and in the end you're going to have to decide what am I going to do in my life when I face adversity so I hope you'll think about this already and as we worship our Lord together today that will be on your mind and when we sing we're going to sing about the glory of God the redemption we have in Christ and then we'll the final song we'll sing will remind us of the that we are eternally secure in Christ and oh how uplifting it will be Tonight we'll close out this Lord's Day with the last of our three or the third of our four step ministries, Sunday night step ministries, and our kids Stanley Heights Academy as well. Our mission is to glorify God by developing disciples in this generation for the next. Would you stand with me as Pastor Alexander comes and leads us in singing today? Let's sing, let's give glory to our God, number 66, to God be the glory, great things he has done. Let the people rejoice! Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, And give him the glory we can take upon The perfect redemption, the purchase of and moment from Jesus the pardon receives. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. From crown to another through Jesus the Son, Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, and great love rejoiced Him through Jesus the Son. But greater and higher and greater He'll be, a wonder of chance, for in Jesus we'll see. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory. shall we pray together now Lord we're grateful for the good things that you are that you do everything you do is good because you're a God that is good even the things that we don't deem as good or realize are good you can use them for good and we praise you Lord to think that we can have lives that can live for such a high purpose as to bring you glory that Christ can be seen in us and it gives us cause for praise it gives us cause to strive in living for such a great calling and great purpose and on this day you've brought us together in this place because we believe that today you want to lift a vision that we have for our lives to a higher plane we believe that today on this day your spirit is working in lives as we've gathered in this place and we pray that you would have such great liberty to do so so we ask for you to help and we pray that this will be done for we pray it in Jesus name amen thank you be seated Well, if you're a guest for the first time at Stanley Heights, we have for you a connection point booklet. Raise your hand. Arshers will give you your copy of that if you're a guest for the first time. You'll see that with it there is a card there, a guest card. If you'll complete it and put it in an offering box, you'll see one behind you as you leave. You'll see one to your right as you leave. You can complete it with a street address or an email address. We'll send you a thank you note. Thank you for being our guest here at Stanley Heights. As you know, I don't sound normal. Do I sound normal to you? Okay, good, good. I mean that's not good that I don't sound normal I don't say that I'm glad you recognized it at least I don't know exactly what happened but during early service my voice went wonky really it's sort of weird so I preached a lot shorter not necessarily but so if you say something isn't right you're right something's not right and it'll all be okay we'll work through it and the Lord will get us through so just you set your mind at ease it's all good all right if you're we are learning this year about biblical ethics and this month particularly we are learning about the foundation of a disciples ethics which is the unchanging righteous character of God and we're learning that a disciples calling to live to the glory of God requires a disciples values and choices are based on God's character and God's word and there's a powerful scripture that we're learning from Isaiah's prophecy Isaiah chapter 5 verses 20 and 21 and I think especially in a world that lives with such moral relevancy in the world in which we live in the pressures that we are under as God's people to kowtow to the changing values around us to remember that God's truth is always true so let's say again Isaiah chapter 5 verses 20 and 21 lifting our voices woe unto them that call evil good and good evil that put darkness for light and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight well let's do children's worship so boys and girls come on take your seat down front and let's see what we find in the box today all right Had to fish that box out from underneath this oh My goodness, I don't know if this what was planned for but it sure is handy look here inside the box today You don't need to see the box look right there Here is a throat lozenge isn't that great? Just on time huh just on time that's really good who brought this today I That was impressive. Did you plan it that way? Or did you just have it in the box anyway? You don't know? Man. Hey, listen. How many of you know that I'm just on time. In fact, when I'm done doing children's worship, I'm going to put this in my mouth. Right? Just on time. Do you know, did you ever think sometimes that God was late? Did you ever think God was ever late? And you pray and say, Lord, would you come on and get this done? Let's go, Lord. Come on, Lord. Come on, Lord. Hurry up, Lord. Hurry up. Have you ever thought the Lord needs to hurry up for you? You haven't? How many of you have thought the Lord needs to hurry up for you? Okay, you have. Then sometimes I say, Lord, hurry up. And then sometimes I say, Lord, slow it down. Slow it down. Have you ever done that, Lord, slow it down? You know, here's the thing, is God is always on time. Always on time. And boy, Anna brought this thing in a perfectly timed manner. And you know, every time God does something, He always does so in His perfect timing. You know, there are things in life I haven't figured out yet. Maybe you've figured it all out. I haven't figured it out yet. But I am learning, and believe me, I am learning. I haven't arrived in this. I'm learning that I can trust God's perfect timing. You know the Bible uses this I've learned a scripture years ago wait on the Lord and be of good courage And he shall strengthen thine heart wait. I say on the Lord, and you know if you'll learn to wait on God and by faith Trust him that his timing is always right you will learn something that will help you so much in your life because God is always on time. Okay? Thank you for bringing that. I will use it today. In fact, I'll tell you what, maybe I'll do this. I'll preach until this runs out. What do you think? She's afraid to say, I think. OK. No. I might run out beforehand. Won't stop me. It'll be OK. All right? Hey, let me give this box away. Who's going to take this box? Who's going to take this box? You've got that box? There you go, ma'am. All right. Thank you, guys and gals. You can go back to your seats at this time. We'll sing together this morning of Christ, what he's done for us. We'll start singing of his redemption that he has given to us, that Christ has given. We'll sing 206, There is a Redeemer. Thank you. When I stand in glory, I will sing His praise. Thank you In John chapter 15, Christ is talking about the vine and the branches and he says, without me ye can do nothing. It's a reminder that we need, that we need his grace, we need his help every day. We'll sing 332 without him. O Jesus, O Jesus, without Him how lost I would be. Without Him I would be dying, without Him I'd be enslaved. Oh, Jesus, where art thou, dear Lord? We're so thankful for Christ and what he's done for us. And we'll sing one more song together this morning, singing of that knowledge we have of Christ. 2 Timothy tells us, I know whom I have believed. And we can be convinced of what he's done and what he will keep for us against that day. When we stand in just a moment, our young people, ages three all the way up to third grade, will be dismissed at Children's Church on second floor. Let's stand. We'll sing 409, I know whom I have believed. I know that my God's wondrous grace to me would not fail me, for I am worthy for I stand up with Him before Him today. But I know, I believe, to keep the cherubim gentle until they are mixed and clean. I know not how this saving can be done, nor how it can be done, nor ways of any kind. But I know I know not how the Spirit moves, but when I see Him, He moves with me. When He moves, He moves with me. When He moves, He moves with me. When He moves, He moves with me. Thank you. Please be seated. It's a wonderful thing to be saved and also to pray for and encourage our missionaries all over the world as they preach the gospel to every creature. We want to remember two of them families this morning, Clint and Rita Vernoy in Paraguay and they say that they went to that conference in Brazil and had a wonderful time and their church is doing well with many new families so we say praise the Lord for all the new families and they need to build so a foundation is going in pretty soon and then pray for some health problems for their brother and mom. And then Steve and Stacy, in a sensitive area, they are praising the Lord for being with them through some trials over there. And then praying for a new church location and for safety, if you would pray for them in that. And then more laborers, they need to have them in their church also. Let's bow for prayer. Lord thank you so much and we pray especially for these two families this morning that you be with them and answer their requests thank you Lord how you do show up and how you do protect and then lead and guide and supply and we pray for all our missionaries all around the world that they might be strong in the Lord and in the power of your might help Lord each one to be able to have the boldness to present Christ to every person around them in their sphere of influence. We ask Lord that the Holy Spirit would take the word to the hearts of people that many might be saved. Help us to be the witnesses and testimonies that we need to be to those around us Lord. We pray now this morning for the service, blessed Lord, in Jesus name we ask, amen. Man of sorrows, Lamb of God, by His own betrayed, the sin of man and wrath of God has been on Jesus laid. Silent as He stood accused, beaten, mocked, and scorned, bowing to the Father's will, He took a crown of thorns. Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where Your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Alleluia, praise and honor unto Thee. Sent of heaven God's own Son to purchase and redeem, and reconciled the very ones who nailed him to the tree. O that roguen cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Alleluia, praise and honor unto Thee. Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full By the precious blood that my Jesus spilled Now the curse of sin has no hold on me Whom the Son sets free, oh is free indeed O that rugged cross by salvation, where Your love poured out over me, now my soul cries out, Alleluia, praise and honor unto Thee. See the stone is rolled away. Behold the empty Jew. Alleluia, God be praised, He's risen from the grave. O that rugged cross, my salvation, Where your love poured out over me. Now my soul cries out, Alleluia, Praise and honor unto Thee. Well, why do I go through adversity? And what do I do about it? All of us have times of adversity and we ask ourselves and we ask the Lord why? And then we also ask, okay, Lord, I'm in a time of adversity. What do I do about it? Those are really great questions. We're in a series entitled Adversity University, Higher Learning Through Life's Difficulties. The theme scripture for this series is Isaiah 55, 8, and 9, where the Lord says that my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So today I'm going to preach to you on this subject adversity. Where does it come from and what do I do about it? And we will search the pages of the Word of God. looking for the sources of adversity, but God is a God who is a God of solutions, and we will also find in the scriptures the solution to dealing with adversity. And in the end I'm going to ask you this question, and it's the question you need to come to. What am I going to do about it? What will I need to do so that I face adversity in a way that honors God? So let's pray and ask God to work in our lives to give us understanding, but then to really make it clear for all of us when we're done today, what do I need to do to face adversity in a God-honoring way? So Lord, this is what we are asking you to do. And we want to become more aware and more wise, but what we really need, even beyond that, is we need your spirit to speak to us in a very personal way, to help us to think and to respond to you in the midst of the adversities of life. And so show us today, Lord, what you want us to do. and how you would have our lives to be transformed in some way. So we ask, Holy Spirit, for your enabling and filling to receive from you. I pray that as a preacher. I pray that as a hearer and on behalf of our congregation as hearers. And so we ask, Lord, for this to be done. We're praying it by faith in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, where does adversity come from? Or in other words, what are the sources of adversity? Well, adversity comes from, first, the consequences of a sin-cursed world. The consequences of a sin-cursed world. Let's go back to the beginning, the book of Genesis, early in the pages of the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 1, you want to find verse 35 when you get it. Did I say 35? I'm sorry, verse 31. The book of Genesis, those early chapters, is the biblical record not of just what happened, but it's a biblical record of, it tells us about sin, it tells us about adversity. It serves as a foundation of answering so many of the questions of life. questions of death and sorrow of disaster and questions that really were not God's original plan. In fact, verse 31 of chapter 1, God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. When God made the world, it was not his design for it to be a place of death and sorrow and pain and woe. It was made good But yet, you'll notice chapter three, after Eve and Adam both succumbed to the temptations of the serpent, chapter three, verse 13, the Lord God said unto the woman, what is it that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all the cattle. And then you'll notice the curse, not only to the serpent, but the curse to the woman, verse 16. And unto the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, and sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And then to the man, you'll notice verse 17 through verse 19. And unto Adam, he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake and sorrow. Thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field. And the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken. For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. So that with all the sorrow and the pain that comes into the world, even death, this was not God's original design, but sin entered the world, and when sin entered the world, all of us live in this sin-cursed world, and because we have a sin-cursed world, we have adversity. So we live with adversity because of the consequences of a sin-cursed world. There's another source of adversity. It's the consequences of self-imposed choices. Self-imposed choices. So Genesis chapter 3. Satan tempts Eve and you'll notice what happens verse 6 of Genesis chapter 3 and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes to the tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. Now you'll notice verse 12, and the man said, this is speaking to the Lord, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat. Who made the choice that brought sin and death and destruction and tragedy and pain and sorrow into the world? Eve and Adam. They individually made a choice. Do you know that every one of us individually makes choices that bring the consequences in our lives that bring adversity at times. I'm going to have you turn from Genesis 3. Would you go with me to the book of James chapter 1 verse 14 and verse 15. James chapter 1 verses 14 and 15. James 1 verse 14, but every, I'll start with verse 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, I'm tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Who makes the choice to sin? Well, it starts within me, and I have a desire, a selfish desire, and I want what I want, and I'm enticed with the temptation, and it draws and pulls at me, and finally I make a choice. And when I make that choice and I sin, brings forth death, the consequences of sin. When you read about death in the Bible, think of the consequences of sin, and it's true for every one of us. We make sinful choices, and each of us has the consequences of our own choices. Now, who's gonna be honest enough with yourself just to admit that sometimes I go through adversity because of my own choices? Right. Some of us are a little more honest than others, I guess. Yeah. We have adversity in life sometimes because of our own self-imposed choices. What's wonderful about Genesis chapter 3 is that God even then shows his grace when Adam and Eve sinned because what God did wonderfully was God restored fellowship to Adam and Eve, was reconciled to them again, and he shed the blood of an animal, a blood sacrifice was made, and then he clothed them. with the skins of that blood sacrifice. All of this pointing to the time when Jesus, the son of God, would come and would give his blood as a blood sacrifice that men could be reconciled. And as those garments covered Adam and Eve, so it is that those who put our faith in Christ, we are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ so we can be reconciled to God. Well, there's a third source of adversity. The third source of adversity is second-hand consequences. And again, this takes us back to the creation and the fall. Eve and then Adam sinned. The world had and has still consequences. But the book of Romans chapter 5 explains this to us. So turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Romans 5.12. The Bible tells us this, verse 12 of Romans 5, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have sin. Now we all live under the consequences of our own sin, but not just our own sin, because you're a sinner, I'm a sinner, I think we would acknowledge that, but look around you, look around you, look at all these sinners. They're everywhere. They are everywhere. And so not only do we have to live under the consequences of our own sin, we have to live under the consequences of all the sinners around us. Because those sinners make choices that affect us. Who has ever been in a car accident? Okay, maybe I'd put it this way. Who's been in a car accident that in no way, honestly, in no way was your fault? Who's ever been in one? It wasn't your fault, right? Okay. Now, you ought to see your faces. It's very entertaining to watch you. Right, you were in a car accident, in no way your fault. But even though it wasn't your fault, how many of you can think back of all the trouble that it was? You had to wait for the policeman to get a police report. And then the policeman comes and you're there on the side of the road and those blue lights flashing and everybody's looking at you just like you look at everybody else when you pass by them when they're that person. And you're saying, Lord, I hope nobody that knows me sees me. And then after the police report's done, then you've got to do the insurance and call the insurance company and file insurance papers. You might have to go to the body shop and get your car worked on to get it taken care of and to get that arranged, the time to do it. And then you've got to figure out how you're going to get to the next place and your car, if it works sufficiently or not. And then you've got to eventually figure out when to get it to the body shop. And depending on the insurance, if the rental car if you haven't and if you don't have a rental car, then you're gonna have to figure out what you're gonna do to get to all the places you need to do, all the things you need to do. And eventually, you'll get your car back and it's made whole and it's fine, but how many of you remember all the hassle? Because somebody else's choice. And when you live in a sin-cursed world, all of us know what it is to have trouble not for our own choices alone, but for the choices other people make. We can't help the choices they make, but how many of you know what it is to be stuck with the consequences of their choices and live under their problems and their consequences? Yeah. Every home knows what this is like. One person in your family can really be a problem that creates a challenge for everybody else. You know what it's like in a workplace to have one person or a few that really create problems for everybody else and you have to live on. This is just life in a sin-cursed world. So that's another reason for the adversity we have. Romans 14, and I'm gonna invite you to go with me in your Bible to Romans chapter 14. You wanna find verse seven. Romans chapter 14 is a passage that deals with the decisions you make in your life. And when things are not always black and white, and you know in life things aren't always black and white, And if you're going to make a decision when it's not black and white, it's thinking about how you make a decision, a wise decision when it's not always clear and when even good people can have a different view on something. Romans 14 helps us with those decisions. But I want you to notice what the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 14 and verse 7. For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself. Everybody's life affects somebody and everybody's choices affect others. Every choice you make in some way affects yourself and it affects others. No wonder then In the end, no wonder then in verse 16, the Bible tells us this, let not then your good be evil spoken of. Even if it's good, you don't wanna live in such a way that somebody can speak evil of you doing the good thing. Or verse 19 as well, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edify another. But in the end, In the end, verse 12 gives us the bottom line. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. And each of us answers for our own choices. And each of us answers for how our choices affect others and their lives. So may I encourage you, because our choices affect others, may I encourage you to choose wisely? Well, there's a fourth source of adversity beside the consequences of a sin-cursed world and self-imposed choices and second-hand choices. The third, or the next, rather, the next source of authority, adversity. I'll get the word eventually. The next source of adversity is satanic attack. Satanic attack. And I don't know what comes to your mind when you hear this, but there is one very clear and powerful example of a man who is under satanic attack. His name is Job. So turn in your Old Testament scriptures to the book of Job chapter 1 and the first verse Job chapter one, verse one, begins with Job's testimony. This is the story of his life and the kind of man he is. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. and that man was perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil. Later on, Satan appears before the Lord, and listen to the Lord's evaluation of Job's life. Verse 8, And the Lord said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect man and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil? And then I want you to notice the satanic attack that begins Job chapter 1 verse 9. Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from before the presence of the Lord. Verses 13 to 19 described a terrible day, a terrible day. On that day, Job gets word that he's lost all of his livestock, his wealth gone. His kids in an accident, all of them gone in one day. Now, how would you respond if you lost it all in one day? The Bible describes Job's response, verse 20, and Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. He said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave. And the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, neither charged God foolishly. Oh, the permission came from God, the limitations came from God, but the adversity came from Satan. And then in chapter 2, Satan's at it again, verse 4, I'll read through verse 7, and Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath he will give for his life, but put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job a sore boils from the sole of his foot onto his crown. And even in the end, the end of verse 10 says this, and all this did not Job sin with his lips. Adversity comes from Satan sometimes. I'm gonna invite you to turn in your New Testament now to the book of 1st Peter chapter 5 where this subject is addressed. 1st Peter chapter 5, you wanna find verse 8 and then verse 9. 1st Peter 5, verse 8. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Oh listen, our enemy is as a roaring lion, and he's seeking to devour and to destroy. But in this context, I want you to notice in verse 10 and verse 11, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Peter says, remember, there's an enemy, Satan, and he's on the attack, but I want you to know that while he's on the attack, beware that there will come a time when you are going to go through suffering, and don't miss what God wants to do in your life, even though Satan brings about the attack. Paul had an interesting testimony of suffering at the hand of Satan. We read about it in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 12. He had an affliction that God allowed into his life. 2 Corinthians 12.7, listen how it's described. And lest, Paul shares his testimony, I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. lest I should be exalted above measure. There's a fifth source of adversity though. The fifth source of adversity is the sovereign design of a wise God. The sovereign design of a wise God. I'm gonna invite you to take your Bible and go with me to the book of John chapter 9. John chapter 9 John 9, we'll begin in verse 1. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And when he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground. and he made a clay of the spittle and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay and he said to him go wash in the pool of Siloam which is by interpretation scent And he went his way, therefore, and washed, and came seeing." Well, this opened up a big controversy. It was on the Sabbath day. And some of the Jewish leaders were really upset about this. What right does he have to heal on the Sabbath? He must be a sinner if he would heal somebody on the Sabbath day. And they were all worked up about it. And they asked the mom and dad of this man about it. And they said, well, ask him. I love what he said. You look in your Bible, verse 24. They called the man that was blind and said to him, give God the praise. We know that this man is a sinner. That's Jesus. And he answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, I know not. The one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. Isn't that great? Well, later in the day, Jesus meets this man. And they have a conversation, you'll read about it in verse 35, and Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when they found him, he said unto him, dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. Then he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. Now you try to think what it would be like for this man has lived his life, a blind man, physical handicap. Imagine all those years earlier what it was for that family to have a son born blind. I don't know, I would guess they asked, I guess all of us would ask this maybe why the Lord would do such a thing, why? And even the disciples, did you catch their first response when they saw the blind man? Well, now Lord, when you read it, it's almost so silly. Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? Were his parents sinners and therefore he was born blind? In the womb, was he a sinner and therefore he was born blind because of the sins he committed? It seems silly. But what they couldn't understand is that the Lord planned that very day, the day that their family had a blind child born into their home. Even in the womb prior to it, the Lord had planned it all because He knew there was gonna come a day when the Son of God would walk behind a man. And the son of God would see him and would say, he was born blind because I'm going to magnify myself in that man. The way Jesus put it, with these words that the works of God should be made manifest to him. Why is it that sometimes God brings adversity into your life? Because God is wise. and in his sovereign choices, he wants to allow the adversity in your life because through it you can manifest the supernatural work of God in your life. It does not take away from the pain of adversity, but it does. mean that each of us have to be willing to say, God, could it be that your purposes are higher than my purposes when adversity comes? Well, there's one more reason, or one more source for adversity, and it's this. Sometimes adversity is the consequences of intersecting combination of any of these. They all come together and you can't say it's one or the other. In fact, oftentimes you'll find them working in conjunction one with the other. So there's Job. We looked at Job and Job was under satanic attack. But yet, what was God doing? God allowed it to happen. But what even God was doing was bigger than just the life of Job. In your New Testament, you're in the book of John. I'm gonna go in my Bible to James chapter 5. You're welcome to join me there. James chapter 5 and verse 11. James 5, 11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Now let me ask you this, how many of you have gone through times of adversity and have found the work that God did in Job's life to be an encouragement, help to you in times of adversity? so that God was working in Job's generation, but God had on his mind people far beyond his generation because in the New Testament, God, the eternal word was already settled so that God knew that the story of Job was gonna be further explained in the New Testament. And he knew that his people in countless ages would find comfort in the midst of their adversity as they watched Job go through his adversity. So God brings all things together and these combinations of sources of adversity fit together and in the end, how do we know where adversity comes from? And the answer is, it's not always clear. Sometimes when it's our own choices, the foolish choices we make, yeah, that becomes a lot more easy to see. Sometimes you see when we live under the consequences of other people's choices, that becomes as well pretty easy to see at times, but not always. But knowing the source of our adversity is not the most important question. Do you know what the most important question is? Here's what I suggest is a more important question. Rather than what is the source of adversity, the more important question is what do I do about it? In other words, how do I respond to adversity? Listen to this statement, I think it's very helpful. When you focus on your response to adversity rather than the source of adversity, you will not miss what God wants to do in you through adversity. Can I say that again? When you focus on your response to adversity rather than the source of adversity, you will not miss what God wants to do in you through adversity. And let's turn to one passage of scripture that answers the question, what do I do about it? How do I respond to adversity? Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. You wanna find the first three verses. And while you're turning, I'm gonna take a drink of water and my voice is moving quickly. So maybe I'll move quickly. We'll see. We'll see. All right. Hebrews chapter 12, the first three verses give us some great help to know how to respond to adversity. Here's the first of four responses to adversity. Number one, take heart. The God who has been faithful in the past is with you in the present. I'll say it again, take heart. The God who is faithful in the past or has been faithful in the past is with you in the present. So you read chapter 12 in verse one, wherefore seeing we are also encompassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. Who are the cloud of witnesses? Well, Hebrews chapter 11 is what? The Hebrews hall of faith. People through all the ages who believed God. And when you read Hebrews chapter 11, you read the stories of people that have great highs and people that have great lows. Of people that had victories and people that had defeats, but yet were faithful. And in their faithfulness, they found that God was also faithful. And now the author of Hebrews begins this 12th chapter and he reminds us that the God who in all those centuries was faithful and proved himself so has not left you alone in the midst of your adversity. That God is with you in the present. Take heart. Then there's a second response that God tells us about in this passage of scripture. God reminds us, get ready. The race is yours to run. Get ready! The race is yours to run. We read these words in chapter 12 verse 1 again. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Get ready to run. Now, how do you get ready to run? You get ready to run by removing the hindrances. Lay aside every weight. Hey, what's getting in the way of you running your race? What's weighing you down? Holding on to your past? It's just a weight that you're dragging along. You won't let it go. You have habits that are very powerful and they're just weighing you down. You have expectations that are holding you back and there's such a heavy weight. There are choices you've made in your life, choices that weigh you down. There's entertainment choices and there's value choices. So what's getting in the way of running your race? What's weighing you down? And God says, if you're gonna get ready to run, you have some things in your life you need to remove. All those hindrances, remove the hindrances. But then not only that, but you need to make sure that you're repenting of sins. So let us not just lay aside every weight, but then the sin which doth so easily beset us. What sins steal the power of God in your life? Could it be that in the adversity God's bring to your life, what God is doing is helping reveal sin that is a sin against God, it's a sin against you, and it's keeping you from running your race, and God wants to free you of those sins that are holding you back. Then I get ready to run by running and keep running and keep running. Let us run, verse two, or verse one rather, with patience the race that is set before us and we run and we keep running and we keep running. Sometimes you get stuck but you keep running and you keep running. Sometimes the sin that you set aside and you've repented of comes back on and it shackles you and you ask God to forgive you and you repent of it and say God forgive me and you restore fellowship and you keep running and you keep running and you keep running. Sometimes those things that weigh you down, that you've set aside, you pick back up and you keep running. And sometimes as you run, you look at the other runners and you let them distract you, but you need to keep running and keep running and keep running and keep running. And today, what God is reminding you of is this, in the midst of your adversity, get ready. The race is yours to run. So do everything you can so you can keep running and running and running the race that God has for you. Well, there's a third response that will help you to respond to adversity in a way that honors God. Here's the third one. Keep your eyes on Jesus. and he will guide you through adversity. So you look in your Bible, verse two, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. Keep your eyes on Jesus, look at his suffering. Two times in his scripture, the word endured is used. The first in verse two, that he endured the physical agony of the cross. And as a fellow human being, we can bear witness and have compassion for the kind of suffering physically that Jesus bore. But in verse three, when he describes this endurance, it is the spiritual agony of the, the Bible uses the expression, the contradiction of sinners against himself so that he who knew no sin for the very first time took the weight of sin upon himself. And he knew what it was to be separated from his father. He knew what it was to experience the pain and the guilt. As He took the sins of all mankind for all the ages upon Himself. What suffering. Look at His suffering. And as you keep your eyes on Jesus, look at His power. Is He in the grave, dead? No. He is indeed ascended. He is even now, verse 2, set before the throne of God. He is alive and living forevermore in power and victory. And when you look at Jesus, don't look at Him as a man who's dead and in the grave. Look at Him as a man who is living and reigning and ruling. He has the power for victory. He will see you through adversity. has taken the penalty of sin and overcome by supernatural power, and he has supernatural power to guide you in the midst of adversity. And look at His joy. Isn't it a strange thing when you read in verse two what Jesus is experiencing? Think of on the cross, the physical agony, the spiritual agony, but yet on the cross, we are told what Jesus is experiencing in His heart. Who for the joy that was set before Him. Joy on the cross. You see, Jesus knew what was on the other side. And while he goes through the agony of the cross, he knows that on the other side, there are many sons that he is going to redeem and bring glory to himself. Lies transformed. He could see what is on the other side, and so in the midst of his adversity, he had joy in his heart. Now, we don't see what's on the other side of our adversity, except by faith. And by faith, we believe that our God knows what is on the other side. And so we have joy in the midst of our adversity by faith as we keep our eyes on Jesus. And it could be that in your life, you need to come to the point that you've taken your eyes off Jesus and you're so focused on the adversity The pain of it, and I am not in any way, please, I am not in any way minimizing the pain of adversity. But it couldn't be that we take our eyes off Jesus, we're so focused on what's in front of us that we forget who is in front of us. Looking unto Jesus. He'll see you through. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Take heart, get ready. There's one final word that helps us to respond to adversity. Beware of where your mind takes you in the midst of adversity. Beware where your mind takes you in the midst of adversity. Look at your Bible, verse three. The very last phrase of the verse lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Boy, when you're in the midst of adversity, your mind will take you all kinds of places. They may not be accurate. They may not be true. But you have to be aware that my mind is not always my friend. I need to bring my mind in subjective, and bring it captive and subjective to Jesus, subjected to Jesus Christ. Take hold of your thoughts. Take hold of your thoughts. Galatians 6, 9 is such a wonderful scripture, and it brings together the truths of Hebrews 12, 1 through 3, in just a handful of words. And let us not be weary and well-doing. Galatians 6, 9 says, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. You might find yourself weary and well-doing. I'm gonna tell you, listen, don't faint. Don't faint. Where does adversity come from? And what do I do about it? Where it comes from is not nearly as important as what you do about it. So here's my question. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? Would you bow your head for just a moment? I want to give you a few moments to really think about this. What am I going to do about it? Do I need to take heart that God is a faithful God? Just believe Him, He's still with me. I feel like sometimes He's not, but He is. I need to get ready because there are some things in my life that I need to repent of. There are some things I need to remove from my life. And I need to keep running and keep running and keep running, patiently enduring in the midst of the difficulty I'm in. Get ready to run the race God has for you. It could be that along the way in the adversities of life, you've taken your eyes off Jesus. Today it's time to get your focus back on Him. Maybe you found that in the adversities of life that your mind has taken you places and your thoughts are out of control and you need to beware unless you be wearied and faint in your minds because your thoughts are not biblically accurate. So the question of this day is what do I need to do? I'm gonna ask you to stand with me and I'll pray. So Lord, you have made the focus very clear. I'm very confident that your spirit has made the focus of what needs to happen very clear. And for those that yet do not know Jesus and they need to be ready to face you, may today be the day that individual comes to Jesus to be saved. For those who are your children, even today, you're working and helping us and you are showing your compassion and mercy and your help to us in every way. And on this day, God the Spirit, we pray, that you would enable us by your power to respond in a way that brings you glory even in the midst of our adversity. And so we pray that you would do this for we ask it in Jesus name, amen. Well, this front, we have men here waiting to serve you and you want to respond to the Lord. This is a good time for you to do it. You can come to these front steps. You can come to the front chairs and have someone pray with you and be an encouragement to you. This altar is available for you. You say, I don't know Christ. I want to know Christ as my Savior. Well, this is the time for you to come. You say, I want someone to pray with me about some things. This is the time. I just need to have time with the Lord and I alone. This is the time for you. The song being played is, have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. And it's a prayer. Mold me, make me after your will. And that really is the prayer I hope of our hearts, or of your heart, that God would do his will and you're yielded to him as a vessel for him to do whatever he would choose to do. want to make note of several announcements this morning. Things you'll want to know about coming up this week. Of course, tonight we continue in our Sunday night step classes. You'll know about that. You'll notice the Wednesday night step classes that are upcoming. You'll see that in your bulletin. Today is the the final Sunday before our rummage sale. We'll be having a rummage sale this Saturday and the proceeds of that rummage sale are going to go towards our mission strip going to Brazil this summer. We'll be meeting with them this afternoon here but if you can bring donations back if you have them this morning we'll try to get them over there to the gym building. Bring them back tonight and you can bring them throughout this week just make sure that there's somebody here if it's outside of office hours you can bring donation items by that is this Saturday you can come and help buy up some of those donations as well but if you have your rummage if you want to get your rummage into our space and get it out of your space this week is the time to do that so you want to be aware of that you can read other announcements there in your bulletin let's go ahead and close our service this morning by singing the chorus may the Lord find us faithful May the Lord find us faithful. May his word be our banner held high. May the Lord find us faithful. Every day though we live, though we die. Thank you. You are dismissed. you Thank you for joining us. Jesus said to those who believed on him in John chapter 8, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. We join our God in desiring that you will know the liberating power of the truth of God's word as you apply it to your life. We would love to hear from you and find out what God is doing in your life. You can go to our website, stanleyheights.org. There you can contact us with your prayer requests. You can ask a question. You can find a free resource to study the Bible as a guide in your journey. You can get other sermons and other free resources that are available for you. While we're talking, may I ask you this question? Have you made the most important decision of your life to turn to Jesus Christ and receive Him by faith to be your personal Savior? Oh, if you haven't, would you do so right now? And if you would like some more guidance in that decision, you can go to our website, stanleyheights.org forward slash eternity, and you'll find some help that will guide you in that decision. Again, thank you for joining us. I'll look forward to hearing from you soon.