Next Sunday, we're going to be dealing with the subject of adversity, suffering, problems. We began, of course, studying the word suffering and adversity, but we're going Continue that today, and then next Sunday, it's going to be giving thanks in adversity. You know, lots of times we're good at complaining when we have adversity, but the Bible talks about giving thanks when we have adversity. And today, that is our subject about adversity, and we're talking about Paul and his adversity. But let's pray and ask God to help. Lord, I need your help today. All of us daily need your help. Help us to be aware of that and rely upon you for strength, for help, for direction. And I pray that you'd help today that this study will be a real encouragement to our hearts and lives. I pray in Christ's name, amen. When we began our study of suffering in the Bible, you may remember one of the first times we started, I said this is your last opportunity to suffer because we're going to a place where we'll never suffer. Isn't that great? One day we'll be there, but right now we have an opportunity to suffer, and God will use that as a testimony to others. Throughout the Bible, saints of God suffered. Job suffered, Moses suffered, David suffered. All of these people went through times of suffering, and suffering is God's gift. It's not a punishment. Suffering is not something God does to punish us for something we've done. It is a gift to help us grow in the Lord. And God cares when we suffer. We sometimes might think, well, the Lord's sitting up in heaven unaware, but He knows. and he cares and you can see that from the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. So those are some of the things we have studied about this matter of suffering. Now today we're going to look at the Apostle Paul and his suffering. I was amazed to put all this together and to see there are at least nine times in the Bible where Paul talks about his personal suffering and there are nine places we're going to look at today. Paul had much adversity, Paul had much suffering he went through for the cause of Christ. You may remember that Paul was beaten several times, he was dragged out to the city, dumped. They thought he was dead. So they left his body there thinking the birds and animals would eat up the rest of his body. He was eventually beheaded. So Paul knew a lot about this matter of suffering. No one, no one of us would want to switch places with Paul. We read about his wonderful blessings and the people that got saved and the churches got started. But I'll tell you, there was a real price that Paul had to pay. Now, in this class, the Berean class, 65 and up or whoever you are, suffering is a very prominent part of our lives. Many of you go through suffering. You have suffering every day. I know we have a lot of folks watching on live stream every Sunday. People tune in for the live stream and some of you can't come because of suffering. The number one issue is probably with our class is going to be on the area of health. Another area is finances. Some of you suffer because of that. You're always wondering about your finances. Some suffer with our children. Things happen in their lives and they disappoint us, break our hearts. Some suffer with our loved ones. We still have loved ones that are still alive and on and on and on we can go in this matter of suffering. So it's a very real thing. And we talked about the word adversity. Adversity. Adversity is, I got to wondering, where does that word come from? How did we get the word adversity? Well, it was an old English Latin word, which mean opponent. So adversity is your opponent. It is that which opposes you. Some people get strong under adversity. There are some Christians I know adversity just makes them a stronger Christian, a better Christian, more victorious. But there are some folks that become bitter. in adversity. It really affects their attitude to life. Some folks live on pain medication. I won't ask you to raise your hands, but some folks do live on pain medication. Now, we're gonna look at someone today who really learned to live with adversity. It really, really affected him in many, many ways. And adversity can be a bridge or it can be a burden. And with you, it can be a bridge to the Lord, or it can be a real great burden in your heart. So with no further ado, let's go to Paul's life of adversity. And the first place we are is in Philippians chapter four, very familiar passage, beginning in verse 11. Paul says, not that I speak in respect of want, where I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Heard a man one time say the state was North Carolina, but I don't think that's what he's talking about. Whatever state I am, I'm content. Paul says, I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. I know how to be full and how to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. And then the heart of it all is 413. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. Paul knew that he could have suffering in the midst of adversity and he could rejoice in it. Let me ask you this question. Are you content? in any situation. Have you learned the secret of being content as a Christian, whatever adversity you are in—physical adversity, financial adversity? family adversity, whatever it is, have you learned, like Paul said, I have learned whatever state I am, therewith to be content. Paul could do this because Paul saw his adversity as from God. And if you're having adversity today, and probably many of you have, you have to look at it, it's from the Lord. God sent it, God allowed it in your life. The word Paul said, I have learned. You see that? I have learned in whatsoever state I am. Focus on the word learn for just a moment. Learning takes time. That's why we send our kids to school for at least 12 years. Learning takes time. And then you go past those 12 years, you go to college, you go to graduate school. And I was a slow learner. It took me 16 years not to get through high school. but I have to went to college and then I had to go to graduate school and it took me 16 years of learning and I never learned everything. You go to school, you learn. Paul was like a thermostat. You know, some people are like thermometers. Now, a thermometer will tell you what the temperature is. You can look and see, and, well, the temperature's so-and-so. We come into church today, and we saw it was going to be in the high 50s, and that's good news for us in Indiana. So we have a thermometer that tells us that. But a thermostat changes the temperature. A thermostat regulates the environment. And some Christians are thermometers. If they're up, they're up. If things are up, they're fine. If things are down, you can tell it on their face and their action. But some Christians are like thermostats, and whatever the situation, they can rejoice in the Lord. So Paul knew, and here's the first thing, Paul knew peace in adversity. You see that on your list, number one? Paul knew peace in the midst of adversity. You can look at any situation, And Paul could see it from God's viewpoint. He learned in whatever state he was in to be content. So Paul had peace in the midst of his adversity. And that's what we all need to learn and are in the process of learning because none of us are there. Adversity comes. and we need to learn to have peace in the midst of adversity. Second thing, number two, Paul knew God would give him strength in the midst of his adversity. Paul knew that God would help him in the midst of his adversity. His adversity, as I mentioned, was a bridge and not a burden. His adversity helped him. Now, the passage for that is 2 Corinthians 12. You want to turn to there, 2 Corinthians 12, verses 9, 10, and 11. Or 9 and 10, sorry. 2 Corinthians 12, 9 and 10. And he, that's God, said unto me, that's Paul, my grace, God's grace, is sufficient for thee. For my strength, God said, is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution, in distress. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul realized that when adversity came in his life, problems came, suffering came in his life, Paul said, I rejoice in that. He knew God would strengthen him. His weakness allowed God to work in his life. The fact that God God's power shows up in our weakness, shows us that we are weak people. Our weaknesses is a good thing. Your adversity is a good thing. Your problems are good things. They're not punishment from God. They're good things from God because our weakness brings about God's strength in our personal lives. If we were strong in our own ability, we wouldn't need the Lord. But because we are weak, we need the Lord. Let me give you a personal illustration. I don't often do this, but I thought this might be a good place to put it in. In our first church, Joan and I went up to Greenville, Tennessee, with Dr. Bill Hall. He's an evangelist, and you've heard him preach before. Dr. Hall had started a church in Greenville, Tennessee. It was, first of all, meeting in a Farm Bureau building. And then they were able to build the first floor, which became the basement. and he was the pastor of the church. I was his assistant. When he was gone, I would lead singing, I would preach, we would set up the chairs, bring in the pulpit, and just like you would do in the beginning of a church. And then Dr. Hall felt it was time he could go back into evangelism, so he asked if I would be willing to stay as the pastor, and I said, I'd love to, I will. But I still remember that first Sunday when Dr. Hall was gone, And it was all mine. And I can still remember right before I preached that morning, there was a little office back there at the back. And I got down on my knees and I said, Lord, if anything's going to happen, you've got to do it. It's beyond me. And I realized my own total dependence dependence upon God. We stayed there for 10 years and pastored the church and saw God bless it, God bless and God grow it, and people get saved, so we thank the Lord. But I still remember saying, Lord, I can't do this. I cannot do this. You, if anything's done, you've got to do. Well, now I've been pastoring about 60 some years, and I realize now with the MS and things like that and the limitations I have physically, God's got to do it. If anything happens in our class, anyone is blessed, anybody strengthened, anyone is used of God, you know, friends, God's got to do it. The Lord has to do it. So Paul knew that God would strengthen him in his adversity, and that was what Paul learned about in his adversity. That's in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. All right, let's go to the third point. The third point, he knew that God was the source of all his help. It wasn't Paul's intellect. It wasn't his ability as a speaker and organizer. He knew that God was a source of his help. And that's in Philippians 4.19. Here's the verse. My God shall supply all. all, not part, but all your needs according his riches in glory. He's speaking from personal experience. Paul said, God will supply your need. Now Philippians, as you know, is a thank you letter and the church at Philippi sent an offering, sent some money to Paul to help him in his ministry. And Paul wrote back what's called his thank you note. That's the book of Philippians, by the way, Do you still write thank you notes? You know, we text them today, I think, more than anything. But Paul wrote a thank you note. And I'm glad he did. I'm glad Paul didn't text the church at Philippi because we'd never have it. But Paul wrote a letter. And people enjoyed that letter. And finally, God said, put that in the in the New Testament. And we have the book of Philippians. So Paul was in Macedonia. He was there by himself. And here comes an offering from the church at Philippi. And Paul calls it a sweet smelling sacrifice. Well, pleasing to God. It was a wonderful testimony to this church. who took care of Paul, met his needs, and God did it through a church at Philippi. He knew the Lord was a source of that. God did it through Paul's life. Spurgeon mentioned this passage in one of his messages. He said the story of Paul and the church at Philippi is a lot like Elisha and the poor widow that is mentioned in 2 Kings chapter 4, 2 Kings chapter 4. In 2 Kings 4, there was a widow who came to Elisha, and she said, my creditors are banging on the door, and they're sending phone calls, and they're trying to get a hold of me, and I don't have anything to give them. I can't pay my creditors off. And so Elisha says, well, what do you have? She says, well, I have a little cruise of oil, just a little bottle of oil. That's all I have. And Elisha said, well, go to your neighbors, and get any empty vessels they have. All the empty vessels you can find, gather from your neighbors and take them to your house. So she did that. She got all these empty bottles and brought them to her home. Then he said, now take that little cruise you've got and pour it into one of the vessels. And she did. I said, now pour it again. And she kept pouring until every single vessel was full. From a little bottle of oil, all the vessels were full of oil. And then she took that use it as money to pay off her creditors. And Spurgeon says, Elisha was showing her God is boundless. God can fulfill our needs. And Paul said, God takes care of me. I want you to know the Lord is the one who has met all my needs. And I'm glad Paul had needs and glad the church had filled up by a cent to those needs. All right, let's go to number four. Number four, Paul knew he could depend upon God's faithfulness. Now in the midst of his suffering, in the midst of his adversity, Paul said, I know I can depend on God's faithfulness. And that passage is 1 Corinthians 10, 13. You know that passage. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will with the temptation provide a way of escape. But focus on three words there. God is faithful. And God is faithful. Right now, today, on what day is it, March 15th, 14th, right today, God is faithful. It's not God was faithful. It's not God will be faithful. It is God is faithful. And Paul had learned wherever he was, whatever was going on, God was faithful. And so I went through my New Testament this week and looked at the times where Paul went through some difficult, difficult adversity. In Acts chapter 9 verse 29, Acts 9 is the chapter where Paul gets saved on the road to Damascus. But in Acts 9 29, Paul goes back to Jerusalem as a new convert. And you know what they try to do? They try to kill him. Brand new person serving the Lord, rejoicing in getting saved, and they try to kill Paul. Then in Acts 13 and verse 50, you find that the leaders of the city plotted to kill him. In chapter 14 and verse 8, Paul goes to Lystra. There's a woman who had dealt in drugs and demonism, and he saves her. And you know what they do? They try to stone him. And in chapter 14 in verse 19, they beat him up so bad they thought he was dead and drug him out to the city dump and left his body there. That's in 14 verse 19. In chapter 16 in verse 22, there's a little girl who is demon possessed and used by her, I guess her captors to give Pardon me, I lost my train of thought. They use the girl as a demon possessed witch and telling people their fortune. And Paul got the girl delivered from her demonism and they tried to stone him because he delivered the girl. In 21, 36, Paul is put in chains and they say away with him. In chapter 22, they say kill him. In chapter 23, verse 10, the mob was so oppressing him that Paul thought he was going to die. So all of these things took place in Paul's life. And yet every time, he learned that God was faithful. Stonings, leaving him outside the city, dump. dragging him through the town, putting him in chains. Paul, every time his answer was God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. So Paul knew he could depend upon the Lord. All right, let's go now to the number six. Even in adversity, God would use Paul's life. Now, if you're going through adversity, you're going through problems, you're going through difficulties, God can use that in your life to be a testimony to others. And Paul said this in Philippians 1 and verse 12, the things that have happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of God. The things that have happened, the things that happened to you, God allowed those things to happen to you. It's sickness, it's a problem in your home, problem in your life, God has allowed that to happen. And let me tell you what happened in Paul's life. Paul was put in the prisons. Now I'm sure the leaders thought we'll stop this guy from going around preaching, getting people saved and starting churches, so we're gonna put him in prison. Did that stop Paul? No, it didn't stop him at all. In fact, Paul was such a good prisoner and high valued prisoner that they put Paul in chains and chained him to a Roman guard. Now think for a moment. chained to a roman guard so every few hours a new guard came on and the guard was chained to paul so that paul couldn't escape and the guard would come in he's probably a roman probably worshiped the roman idols and the guard would say well what are you doing here and paul says well i was telling about a man named jesus who died and was buried and three days later he rose again. Have you ever heard that story? Man said, I've never heard that. Paul said, well let me tell you the story. And Paul had an opportunity to witness to a man who was a captive audience to Paul. And so for several months, while Paul was in prison and men were being chained, one by one, they came to see Paul, probably several every day. And the men would come. Paul had an audience of one and a witness to them. He turned a bad situation into a good situation. And when the prisons came and the jails came, Paul was very, very excited. Lots of situations discourage us. We have things that happen in our lives physically, We have different things that happen and we get discouraged. Financial burdens, family conflicts, church conflicts, loss of job. But how we react shows whether we think that God is really sovereign. God is in control. God is doing this. And even in adversity, Paul used that adversity to praise the Lord. All right, let's go to number six now. Number six on your list. It's important to see everything as coming from God. It's very important for you to see everything as coming from God. All that happens in your life, all the difficulties, all the problems, all the aches, all the pains, God sent it to you. And Paul mentions this in 2 Corinthians 12. Here's a famous passage. Lest I should be exalted above measure, Through the abundance of the revelation that was given to me, that is Paul was caught up into the third heaven, there was given to me. Now, who do you think gave that? God did. It was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. Paul said this thing came. It was a messenger of Satan to buffet me. Now, who gave the thorn in the flesh to Paul? Did the devil do it? Or did God do it? God did it. Now we're never told what Paul's thorn in the flesh was. I've heard sermons where people thought they had somehow learned from some divine source what the thorn in the flesh was. We don't know. And the reason we don't know is so that we can put our thorn in the flesh in that spot. And the thorn in the flesh never mentioned by God. And by the way, your thorn in the flesh is not your mate. Your thorn in the flesh, ladies, is not your husband. Men, your thorn in the flesh is not your wife, and it's not your kids, and it's not your boss. Your thorn in the flesh, God knows what it is. And we may know what our thorn in the flesh was, but Paul had a thorn in the flesh. We'll talk a little bit about that in just a moment. All right, number seven. Are we on seven? Yes. Paul saw that God's ways are not our ways. God's ways are not our ways. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12, I will glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Verse 10, I take pleasure in infirmities. One of the great examples of this passage to me is a man named John Bunyan. Now you've all heard of John Bunyan. You've heard of Pilgrim's Progress. If you've never read it, I would highly, highly encourage you to read John Bunyan. And if you can get the book by Warren Wiersbe, Warren Wiersbe has a book out explaining all of John Bunyan's story about the Pilgrim's Progress, a wonderful, wonderful book to read. But in Pilgrim's Progress, Pilgrim, John wrote that, and when John wrote that, he was a nonconformist preacher. He was a Baptist preacher. and he was a nonconformist. Now what that meant was he did not have the stamp of approval of the Church of England. Now in our country, we have separation of church and state. They did not have that in John Bunyan's day in England. The Church of England was the state church and everybody was required to go and give their money to the Church of England. But if they did not, they were called a nonconformist and were subject to imprisonment. And John Bunyan was thrown in prison for 12 years. For 12 years, he languished in prison. He had a little daughter who was blind, who would often bring food to John, hand it through the bars to John. And then John was eventually released after 12 years and spent the rest of his life writing. He wrote many other books. And then he also spent time traveling all over England, but he never, ever conformed to the Church of England. But God's ways, were not our ways. We would have prayed, God, get John Bunyan out of prison. God said, no, I want him in prison. I want him to write Pilgrim's Progress. And he wrote Pilgrim's Progress in those years when he was in prison. All right, let's go to number 10 or 8. I'm sorry, that was 7, number 8. Adversity prepared Paul to comfort others more effectively. Now, this is a wonderful truth. When you go through adversity, God will use that so that you can be a blessing to others. Here's the passage, 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 3 and 4. God comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort others by the same comfort where we are comforted of God. I think the perfect picture of this is right here at Colonial Hills Baptist Church. I talked to Dr. Collins this week and asked her permission to tell you this, but Nell Collins, when she was 29, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. and she had to have surgery and her goal at that time was to go to the mission field. Nell was going to go and be a missionary but all of that had to stop and so Nell could not go to the mission field but God had much better plans for her. God gave her cancer And she will tell you, the Lord did this, and it was God's blessing. It was God's help. So then Nell thought, what can I do? How can I help others? And God gave her what is called today Hope and Crisis, which originates here at Colonial Hills Baptist Church. Nell has written two books. One is her testimony. The other is called The Valley is Bright. And if you haven't read that, I would really, really recommend that. She has written Bible study material that is used by hundreds of people all across our country. And she has trained hundreds of workers in churches all across the country and really now with the internet all across the world, they're using hope and crisis material. And God took that and adversity prepared Nell to train others who in turn have been a blessing and a help to many other churches. A perfect picture of 2 Corinthians 1, 3 and 4. All right, number nine, number nine. He saw God had specific purpose for his adversity. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. Now again, I mentioned the Bible's uncertain and unclear about what that thorn in the flesh was, but Paul had a thorn in the flesh. Now we think of a thorn. mostly as on a rose bush. You have rose bushes and you go to trim the roses and as careful as you are a thorn will get you, right? But the word thorn in 2 Corinthians 12 is not the word for thorn, it's the word for a stake and a stake was often used to kill somebody. They would take a stake and drive it into somebody's heart and would kill that person. So this was not a thorn in the flesh, it was a stake in the heart. And so Paul begged God three times to take that away. He pleaded with God three times, and each time God said, no, Paul, you need this, I want you here. And here was one of God's choicest servants. He was one of God's choicest men, and yet he had a thorn in the flesh. And the purpose of the thorn Paul said, lest I should be exalted above measure. Right before that, he talked about being caught up into the third heaven. Paul saw things and heard things in heaven. But God says, Paul, you cannot tell anybody about that. Now, I think that fits in, but people have asked me sometime about, what about this guy that went to heaven and came back and wrote about it? Well, I don't put any stock in that because God wouldn't let Paul tell about going to heaven. He saw golden streets. He saw the angels. He saw the gates of pearl. But God said, Paul, you cannot write about that. And Paul said, I'm going to glory in my infirmity. And he said, this was given to me. Now, we think of what God gives us a blessing, but this was a thorn in the flesh. It was given by God and it was a messenger of Satan. I've always thought that was such an interesting statement. Paul said the thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan. That is the devil is God's servant. Now we think of the devil as God's opponent, but the devil rebelled against God, was cast out of heaven, but he could not escape God's overruling. And God overruled the devil and made the devil be used by God. And so Paul said, I thank God for this. I besought the Lord. And most of us, I have really been blessed tremendously by hearing Ann Gibbs sing Three Times I Asked Him. That's a beautiful song. And now Ann Gibbs sings that so beautifully and gives her testimony. So I looked up the song to see what the words were. I knew some of it. Three times I asked him, three times I begged him, three times I prayed the prayer, Lord, relieve me of my suffering. Give me healing there. Three times he answered. Three times he said, My grace is more than you will need. I give it every day. And God said to Ann Gibbs, My grace is sufficient. God will say to you, whatever the situation is, whatever the suffering, whatever the adversity, God's grace is sufficient. So these nine thoughts all from the pen of Paul about suffering and adversity and how God will use this in our lives if we will submit and allow him to have his way in our lives. Next week, we're going to study something very similar but a bit different, giving thanks in adversity. Now, sometimes we endure adversity, but do we give thanks for adversity? Do we thank God for this problem? Thank God for this ache I have. Thank God for my bad back. Thank God for my cancer. Do we thank God for it? And that's what our subject will be next week, giving thanks. in adversity. So I hope it will help us and strengthen us, make us better in the service of God. Thank you for coming today. Let's pray together, Lord. Take these stumbling words and use them in our lives. Lord, we all are aware of the fact that we need God's help. And we do ask God to take certain things away, and God doesn't. But Lord, help us to see there's a reason for that. And so help us, we pray today, as we serve you. Bless the service that follows. Be with our pastor, we pray again. You'll use Pastor Phelps in a special way in all of our lives. So thank you for this gathering. We ask your blessing throughout the day. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Thank you for coming.