Now, if you notice, if you go to my website lately, you'll see that we have an ad, Wanted, They often cannot give up their jobs and take care of their families and relocate. And so what we've done here at the Institute of Biblical Defense, we've set up a two-year program that leads to ordination. Most of your courses will be in biblical studies or theological studies. There will be some apologetics training as well. And I head the Conservative Evangelical Association. that was founded because we found that many so-called evangelicals are starting to water down inerrancy and starting to redefine what an error is and introduce, you know, starting to deny biblical miracles, miracles in the gospel. And so through Trinity Bible Fellowship and the Conservative Evangelical Association, we want to country, help them to plant churches and all, but it's going to be a two-year program of studies, and biblical studies, and theological studies, but you've got to be strong on inerrancy. The doctrine that God guided human authors to record his word totally without error in the original manuscripts, and we're looking for, like the Marine Corps, a few good men. people out there ready to take a stand and defend the faith once for all, the Liberty of the Saints. You can start home Bible churches, and if they grow, rent bigger buildings beyond, that's all up to you. You'll be an independent church, but we want to help you get your credentials and work towards ordination. And for a time such as this, we need not just so-called evangelicals Father, in Jesus' precious name, I thank you so much, Lord, for the people that are here. The more I get to know the people that are here, the more I see that they love us, they love each other, they just love you and they serve you, and it's just such a blessing to be a part of a Christian family, a church that loves you and loves your word. And so I pray, Lord, that today, that your word would be preached, that you would cancel the man, that you would anoint me an imperfect vessel to proclaim your perfect truth. And so I pray, Lord, that I would not lead anyone astray, but that your word would be proclaimed. I pray, Lord, that you'd open hearts and minds including my own, to receive truth from your word. And then may your Holy Spirit empower us to apply these truths to our lives. I pray, Lord, that as we enter the Christmas season, the focus would not be on materialism and gift giving. The focus would be on your son, the Lord Jesus. But I pray that that focus will go throughout the entire year and not just during the Christmas season. And so we are so grateful that you sent your son to provide salvation for us, and you rose him from the dead to conquer death for us. And so as we study this passage today, Lord, just minister to our hearts, fill our minds with the knowledge of your son and of your truth, but just change our lives, Lord, make us more pleasing to you each and every day. We pray, Lord, for your peace, your order. We pray just for a blessed service and a time to seek your face and your word. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. Okay, so 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and so we're continuing the idea where Jesus removes the veil and that we preach Jesus, not ourselves. So You know, the goal is not for us to build our own kingdom and to get popular and things of that sort. We want to give the glory to Jesus. We want to proclaim Him. So we proclaim Jesus and not ourselves. And then last week we covered verse 7 which reads, but we have this treasure. in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So we have this treasure, the treasure of God's glory, the treasure of God's truth, and that resides in earthen vessels. And back then the earthen vessels were clay jars. And that's symbolic of our human bodies. Often, great treasure in ancient times would be hidden in ordinary, unimpressive clay jars. So, you'd break into somebody's house in ancient days and you'd look for valuable stuff and you'd see a beat up clay jar and you'd think, You know, I'd have to pay somebody to take that from me. I'm not going to make any money stealing that. So you just ignore it. So that was the idea behind it. Put your valuables in something very, very unvaluable, okay? And then people would just kind of pass it by. But Paul uses that illustration here that here we are, mere mortal humans. with mere mortal bodies, jars of clay, yet the all-powerful God indwells us and shines and reflects a little bit of his glory through us to others. And so the power is of God, not of us. Anytime you think your hot stuff. Anytime you think, man, I got it all together. Anytime you think, wow, I'm really it. Even if it's in reference to ministry and you think, wow, boy, what would God do without me? Well, God doesn't need you. You're just that earthen vessel. And the power is of God, not of us. It's not power of frail humans. The dynamite of God, the power of God, God chooses to use imperfect people. Right now you're listening to an earthen vessel. You're listening to a clay jar, OK? And so if that's all I am behind here, be honest with me, you're just wasting your time. But if God's treasure is in me, and his word is in me, and his glory is in me, and I'm proclaiming his truth, and I pray that I am, then there's power there. But that's not the power of Phil Fernandes. Some of you this past week You spoke to somebody. You encouraged somebody. You helped somebody out who was down. You gave them a few encouraging words. If you did that in the name of the Lord Jesus, that's powerful. But it's not you, the powerful one. It's the power within you. I mean, God could take a clay vessel. He could take a shepherd boy and he could whoop a nine foot tall Philistine blaspheming giant. Okay? The way we used to say it back in Jersey, I mean, they say it all over the place is that it's not the nation. You know, I'm not even five foot six, okay? I'm like five foot five and a half, and I'll defend that half inch with everything I got. But so my dad used to tell me, he was short too. He knew what he went through, but he always told me, It's not the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the man. Some people, they use the word dog. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. So you can get a little tiny shepherd boy and you can whoop a Philistine giant. as long as the power within that little shepherd boy is the all-powerful God of Israel. And so you might be sitting back and thinking, man, I'm just a jar of clay. I'm just a clay jar. I mean, I'm just an earthen vessel. I'm just a beat-up jar. Don't worry about it. That's not the issue. The issue is the glory of God in you and at work through you. Okay? So the issue is not how big you are or how big your problems are. The issue is how big is your God. And Paul is going to continue this. Now he's got this earthen vessels and now he goes from verses 8 to 12 and he talks about, he says, yeah, you know, How would you like this for a resume? Yeah, I'm persecuted. I'm constantly beat up on. I'm battered. I get whooped all the time. I mean, that doesn't exactly sound like, you know, what if you wanted to work for Paul? Well, what can I expect, Paul? Oh, people are going to beat us up. They're going to scourge us. They're going to spit at us. They're going to mock us. But that's the way it is. We're earthen vessels. So look at verses 8 to 12. And Paul says this, we are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. You know, you might say, man, I'm just getting dragged down. I'm just getting whooped. OK. But if you're not destroyed, you're still in the game. You're still in the fight. You're still in the battle. Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. As Jesus suffered for us, he calls us to a life of suffering. Carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. See, Jesus rose from the dead and then came back to life, and we can live that resurrection life. Verse 11, for we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake. that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you." And so what is he talking about? He's saying, look, we're persecuted, beaten, and battered for preaching Jesus, yet we are not crushed or destroyed. We're not crushed or defeated. We exhibit Christ's sufferings in our lives, that the life of Christ may be displayed in our lives. See, you can't have the empty tomb without Calvary's cross. You know, I know a lot of guys, like I lift weights, I know a lot of guys, they want to get big, but they don't want to lift. You know, we got an expression of weightlifting, no pain, no gain. And that's the way things are in this fallen world. The sufferings have to precede the glory. And Paul's going to touch on this more, but we exhibit Christ's sufferings in our lives that the life of Christ, the resurrection life of Christ, might also be displayed in our lives. No suffering, no resurrection life. Now, look at a couple passages here. Look at John 15. John chapter 15 and verse 18. In fact, we'll take 18 through 20. If the world hates you, if you're serving Jesus and you love Jesus, and then all of a sudden you just find out, he's like, man, everybody hates me. Well, stop and think for a minute there, because maybe everybody hates you. Let me tell you, if you're a jerk and everybody hates you, OK, I can't help you. Start being nice to people, OK? But if you love Jesus, and you're sharing Jesus with others, and you're serving Jesus, and then you find that almost everybody hates you, It comes with the turf, okay? And I don't know what Veronica, what all she's going through, but I know it's very, very tough to be a Christian who loves Jesus and then to teach in the public schools. You want to make enemies? You know, right now you can't even bake cakes. If you bake cakes and you don't want to provide the cakes for a gay wedding, you could lose your business. Same with florists and stuff like that. Right now, you know, I tell everybody, Christians are free in America. We're just not quite as free as anybody else, as everybody else. The only people group who have less freedom than Christians in America right now are unborn babies. Even their right to life isn't respected. So Jesus said, look, if you find the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. And so Jesus has basically said, look, it comes with the turf. If you're going to love Jesus and serve Jesus and shine your light in the darkness, There's people in the darkness who don't want the light shining on their darkness. There's people who hate the light. So don't take it personal. It's like when I used to write tickets in law enforcement, I never took it personal. I had guys who would curse me out, and I'd just say, yes, sir, yes, sir. Do you see your driver's license, vehicle registration? It was before that we required proof of insurance back then. But I'd just do my job. I never took it personal, because they didn't have a problem with me. They had a problem with the law and their inability to keep it. So there's a lot of people that treat you like trash right now. Well, if you are a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus, don't take it personal. We don't know all the factors why John Mark, as a teenager, left Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary trip. But Paul didn't want him back on the second one. Him and Barnabas got into a big argument. For all I know, maybe he took it personal. And Paul might have been one of those guys that's like, look, we served the King Jesus. Most people on earth hate King Jesus. They're going to hate us. They're going to whoop on us. Get used to it. It's not our job to be popular. It's our job to be faithful, to be faithful to our King. Okay? And if the world wants to laugh, the world wants to call us names, so be it. So be it. It comes with the turf. And Jesus said, look, the world hated me. What makes you think they're going to love my followers? Then look at 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 12. I remember I spoke one night, I can't remember which town it was, and two atheists showed up, two Seattle atheists showed up, not to heckle me, but to monopolize the Q&A after my lecture. These guys were hammering me, hammering me with questions and I was, you know, rebutting what they were saying and stuff like that. Then after everybody left, we still stayed around for two more hours talking and stuff. But these guys, Damien at Hope and Jersey Flight, those are their names. So if they're listening to this online, I'm saying hello to both you guys. You guys are my friends. I doubt you listen to my messages online, though. But whatever the case, but one of the things these guys kept arguing with me on, I kept telling them. I said, why are you arguing with me on that? I agree with you. And they just kept arguing. And it's like, no, I agree with you on that point. Their big point is that Christianity in America is a sinking ship. and it's a sinking ship in the West, in America and Europe, okay? And it's like, it's like, look, you don't have to, you know, you don't have to convince me the Titanic is sinking, okay? The Titanic is sinking. I know the Titanic's sinking. You should know the Titanic is sinking. So what these guys didn't understand was, it's like they're acting like, well because Christianity is being so persecuted and so suppressed and doesn't seem to have much of a future in America, I should abandon Christianity. I was like, no, no. The Bible teaches me this, okay. I mean look at 2 Timothy 3 verse 12. Paul says, yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. All who desire to live godly will suffer persecution. Do you desire to live godly? Do you desire to live godly lives? If you do, then God's Word promises you will suffer persecution. Now in America, For a few centuries now, it's just been people make fun of you, okay? But now we're reaching the point where people are losing their jobs and their careers and aren't getting hired for jobs because of Christianity, okay? There's certain things if you don't agree with a politically correct mantra, you're automatically considered a racist, a hater. Don't forget the early church, the most peaceful people in the history of mankind, they were arrested for being haters of mankind. All because they wouldn't say Caesar is Lord. And Romans thought, look, we conquered all your governments, we took over your nations, And now we brought in the Pax Romanis, the peace of Rome. Least you could do is pay taxes and say Caesar is Lord and burn incense to the Roman gods. And the Jews said, no, Yahweh is Lord. They got an exemption for a while, eventually they took off the Romans and lost the exemption. The Christians said, no, Jesus is Lord, because we know Jesus is Yahweh. And so whatever the case, this comes with the term. I'm not saying you should enjoy persecution. What I'm saying is, If you're shocked by persecution, and it catches you off guard, and you didn't expect it, it makes me wonder, what Bible are you reading? Okay? It is very, very clear, Jesus is saying, you could side with me, pledge your allegiance to me, the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in me for salvation, to the power of the Holy Spirit, obey my commands, or you can side with the world. But keep in mind, if you side with me with the Lord Jesus, you side with the Lord Jesus, you will be persecuted. So we've got to decide which side we're on. Some of us want one foot in the church, one foot in the world. If you've got one foot in the world, you've got both feet in the world. We've got to decide which side we're on. But Jesus said, you're on my side, boy, they're going to beat you. They're going to whoop you. And we've just been made fun of. Now we're starting to lose our jobs and our careers and not getting promoted. It's kind of like the book of Hebrews. There were people who were thinking of leaving Christianity, Jews, who had professed faith in Jesus, but then all of a sudden they were being persecuted where they were losing their jobs and their property, but they were not being beaten yet. They weren't being persecuted to the point of shedding of blood, the book of Hebrews says. But because of that, they were thinking of leaving Christian fellowship and going back to the Old Testament sacrifices. And the author of Hebrews is telling them, no, you got to stay with Jesus. Jesus alone saves. And, um, but the idea is that, look, um, if you're a Christian, if you're a believer and you're trusting in Jesus, you will be persecuted. You're not going to be crushed or defeated. Jesus gives us the victory. You know, you got all, you got all these people out there thinking that they're just going to, You know, Jesus, uh, you know, I could decide yes or no with Jesus. Let me tell you something. It's not like Jesus is going to come back and win. He already won. Okay? Through his incarnation, death, resurrection, he has already won the right to retake the planet Earth. now when the time is right you know that's why king david said the lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until i make your enemies a footstool for your feet when the time comes the lord jesus is going to come off the throne come back to planet earth he's going to rescue the jews and believers he's going to rescue jewish and gentile believers and he's going to defeat the forces that are invading israel So this idea is kind of like, hey, look, Jesus already won. So no matter how much you beat us, no matter how much you batter us, even if you kill us, we are not crushed or defeated because Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he has already won. So we exhibit in our lives Christ's sufferings. And we do that so that the life of Christ may be displayed in our lives as well. Again, no suffering, no resurrection life. Paul and his colleagues risk death to bring life to others. So you could see there in verse 12, so death is working in us. Paul's saying, me and my colleagues, we're getting whooped on a daily basis. Death is working in us, but life in you. See, with the outcome of them getting beaten up, was they were leading people to Christ and discipling them and it was bringing spiritual life to the Corinthians as well as many others. This is why Tertullian, the church father, in about 220 AD, Tertullian said that the seed of the church is the blood of the martyrs. The more Christians get beaten, battered, and killed, and executed, the more the church grows. The more people see that this Christianity must be real because people love it more than they love this life. But this idea of a Christianity without persecution, it is non-existent. It's just that we've had so little persecution in America that we didn't even think we were being persecuted. Now some of us, all it takes is a little bit of ridicule and we'll shut up. So some of us are going to say, you know, let's say we outlaw Christianity in this country, OK? Some of us are probably going to be doing just fine because once we get ridiculed, We just shut up, okay? And just go away. And then the world says, no, don't preach on this passage. Okay, we won't preach on this passage. Don't preach on that passage. Okay, we won't preach on that passage. So look, you just gotta be all that God called you to be and there will be persecution. Ridicule, now people are starting to lose their jobs. We know where that goes. How did Hitler attack the Jews in Germany? First they lost their jobs and their businesses, then their property was confiscated, then they were put on a ghetto, next thing you know they were taken to labor camps, then eventually they were being placed into ovens. We know where this leads. Am I saying this to freak you out? No. We're forewarned in the scriptures that everyone who desires to live godly lives will suffer persecution. The United States of America, all it's doing when it comes to Christianity, we're returning to a state of normalcy. The norm for Christianity is you get persecuted. The norm for Christianity is you get battered and beaten. Okay? Now, you might be saying, man, I didn't come Sunday morning to hear this. Well, look, I just got to preach the truth. Okay? I just got to preach the truth. Are you willing to count your blessings? Believe me, I don't like pain. I count my blessings, but I don't ever want it to be Well, I'm not getting beaten and I'm not getting in prison and nobody wants to kill me because I'm one of those Christians who keeps his mouth shut, okay? Now, if I'm preaching Jesus and nobody's beating me up and nobody's imprisoning me, well, I'm going to count my blessings. But I'm going to realize that's not a normal state for Christianity. Okay? And the Temboom family could have probably done pretty well, Corey Temboom and her family. They were Christians. They weren't Jewish. They could have just looked the other way, as when the Nazis took over Holland, looked the other way and just ignored the fact that innocent Jews were being killed. But instead, they did what Christians should do. And they hid innocent Jews in their home. And eventually the Nazis caught them, and they themselves went to concentration camps. But we are persecuted, beaten, and battered, yet we're not crushed or defeated because the Lord Jesus is the victor. Paul and his colleagues risked death to bring life to others. Now, verses 13 to 15, we'll look first at verse 13. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak. What in the world is Paul talking about? What you've got to do is you've got to go back to Psalm 116 to find out what he's talking about. And he's quoting from Psalm 116 in verse 10. So he says, and since we have the same spirit of faith, same spirit of faith as who? As the psalmist who wrote, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak. Then verse 14. of 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, he says, so he's saying, look, we got the same spirit as the psalmist who wrote, I believed and therefore I spoke, so we also believe and therefore we speak. And then verse 14, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you. And it's like, when I first read that, I'm like, All right, you got me, Paul. I have no idea what you're talking about here, OK? OK, you're quoting from Psalm 116, verse 10. I believe, therefore, I spoke. We're supposed to have the same spirit of faith that the psalmist had who wrote this. And then we're to know that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up and present us Present Paul and his colleagues with the Corinthians to the Lord. So Jesus' resurrection and his exaltation to the Father's right hand. What in the world is going on here? Well, you read the commentaries and what you find out is that Psalm 116 is one of the Psalms that were read on the Passover feast. Okay? the Jewish Passover feast. The Lord's Supper, we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper today. The Lord's Supper was the Passover feast that Jesus celebrated with the Apostles. So let's go back to Psalm So Paul quotes from Psalm 116 and then immediately starts talking about the father raising Jesus from the dead. So my question is this, does Paul see the resurrection as an answer to Jesus' prayer when he recited Psalm 116 at the Last Supper? So turn to Psalm 116. Now, Psalm 116. So, at the Last Supper, Jesus celebrated the Passover feast with the apostles and he would have recited or sung this psalm. At the Passover meal, Psalm 113 through Psalm 118 is recited or sung. So Psalm 116 is considered a messianic psalm. It gives little clues to the Messiah. Scholars agree on that. And it's one of the Passover psalms. So at the Passover meal, Jesus is going to be reading through Psalm 113 through Psalm 118. And now the psalmist cries out to God for deliverance from death. Look at verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 116. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pains of Sheol, that's the grave, laid hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul. So here is a prayer. As Jesus is reading or singing this psalm, He knows he's going to be arrested, beaten, and crucified. Okay? So as he's reading this psalm to the apostles, you know, they're thinking, okay, yeah, just another Passover feast. Jesus is thinking, man, this is me. Okay? Crying out to the Father, knowing he's going to die for mankind's sins, and crying out to the Father for deliverance. Verses 8 to 10. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. You delivered me from death, and I'm coming back to the land of the living. I believed, therefore I spoke. I am greatly afflicted. So that's where he's quoting right from this. And he's quoting something, Paul is quoting something that he knew Jesus read or sang the night he was betrayed at the Lord's Supper, okay? And then verses 15 and 16, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. You know, this young guy went to this island where the people hadn't even, the tribal people hadn't even invented fire yet. And this tribe, it was like 700 miles off the coast of India, and he went to these tribal people, even though everybody warned him, they're going to kill you. He went there and guess what happened? They killed him. And now there's people calling the guy a fool and this and that. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible tells me precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, the death of his holy ones. And it's not just the Lord Jesus, the ultimate holy one who died, and that was precious in the sight of the Father. But it's all the holy ones, all the saints. And then verse 16 is interesting. Oh Lord, truly I am your servant, I am your servant, the son of your maidservant, you have loosed my bonds. And it's very interesting that Mary, now the New Testament's in Greek, the Old Testament's in Hebrew, but we translate it the same way, where Mary, when she finds out that Messiah's gonna be born to her, She refers to herself as the maidservant, like in Luke 1.38. Hold that page in Psalms. Look at Luke 1.38. Then Mary said, behold the maidservant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. And so it's, I would not be, you know, Mary's got to hear this every Passover too. I would not be surprised if she said, I'm the maidservant. I'm the one that's going to carry and bring to birth the glory of Israel. the Savior of mankind, the Son of God, become a man. And so Jesus would have read all of this, and we don't have time to look at it, but there's other Psalms where, we'll just look at one other Psalm, Psalm 86 verse 13. Psalm 86 in verse 13, for great is your mercy toward me, and you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol, from the depths of the grave. And you find passages like this throughout the Psalms. The most obvious of all is Psalm 1610, where God will not allow His Holy One's body to see decay. And it just so happens in that part of the world, When you put, when someone dies, you can put their body in a tomb and it won't start decaying until after the third day. We even see this in the scriptures. Lazarus, he had been dead four days. So what did they tell him when he wanted the stone rolled back? They said, no, he's, you know, King James says he stinketh. His body was rotting, his body was decaying. So right there, Psalm 16.10, King David says, God will not allow his Holy One's body to see decay. So the Holy One's body has got to be raised on the third day or before. Now, Peter, a fisherman who just happened to study at the seminary of God incarnate for three and a half years, Peter says, when he preaches on the Feast of Pentecost, David could not be speaking about himself, because we could go right now to his tomb and see his bones. If David wasn't speaking about himself, he must have been speaking about another. And since David was the king of Israel, if he's not talking about himself, He's talking about Messiah. I mean, Peter's almost, he's actually implying to them, go check the tomb. Nicodemus' tomb is empty because Jesus, his body, isn't there. So throughout the Psalms, I have some more Psalms listed there, Psalm 18, 4 to 6, verses 16 through 24. But whatever the case, you see hints in this Psalm is that if Jesus is praying through the Psalms 113 through 118, there's portions of this Psalm where Jesus is like, wow, this stuff is talking about me. There's parts in Psalm 116 where Jesus is basically I think he's calling out to the father and saying father Deliver me from the grave because you know, that's where I'm going okay, and And then Psalm 116 verse 13 Says I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord okay, and Pat Fitz just turned me on to a really good book by Joseph, Joe Amaral, Portuguese guy, so I like him already. He's out of Canada. I won't hold that against him. But he's got some interesting thing about his work, understanding Jesus about the Jewish feast. Don't agree with everything that he says, but he mentions that during the Passover feast, there were four cups. that you would drink during that feast Luke mentions two of the cups by the way he mentions the cup before the cup where he says this is my blood okay and the first was the cup of sanctification setting yourself and your household apart for the Lord then the cup of thanksgiving then the third cup was the cup of redemption or the cup of salvation Amaral believes that may have been The cup there was the cup of salvation that is mentioned here in Psalm 116 verse 13 where Jesus is saying, this is salvation. This is my blood shed for you. He broke the bread. This is my body broken for you because Jesus is our Passover lamb. And then the fourth cup, the cup of acceptance, Some scholars think that Jesus got to that cup as well. Others think maybe that's when he said, now I'm not going to drink fruit of the vine with you again. until I come back in my kingdom. And maybe the cup of acceptance was when the Jews finally accept the Lord Jesus and he returns to rescue them. But whatever the case, all of this imagery is taking place and it's at the Last Supper when Jesus is about to be crucified. I mean, even read from Psalm 118, look at Psalm 118, because you read Psalm 113 through 118 at the Passover feast. verse 22 and Jesus would have read this the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone that's Jesus that's Jesus the chief cornerstone of the temple He's the most important, the one that if you don't build your house on the foundation of the Lord Jesus, you will be eternally toast. And Jesus comes up to this and reads, the stone which the builders rejected the Jewish religious leaders has become the chief cornerstone. They're going to kill me. They're going to kill me within hours, and yet I am their Messiah and their Savior. And so Jesus read through Psalm 113 through 118. Now let's go back to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And so let's look at verse 13 again. And since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believed and therefore I spoke, we also believe and therefore speak. Why? Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you. In other words, the whole context is Jesus praying to the Father, Jesus as the Passover lamb praying to the Father to raise him from the dead and so he's saying hey we ought to join Jesus and the psalmist because we believe therefore we speak. You know it's like you know in the history of philosophy there's been like some profound things that have been said Like Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living. Rene Descartes. tried to be skeptical about everything, suspend judgment on everything until he could find something he couldn't doubt. Then the more he doubted, the more he understood, they acknowledged the existence of the doubter. And doubting is a form of thinking, so he said, I think, therefore I am. That's some pretty profound stuff. But our rallying cry ought to be this, I believe, therefore I speak. Excuse me, Tim Tebow, you're a good quarterback, you win most of your games, but you keep talking about Jesus during the press conferences. What's your response to that, Tim Tebow? His response, pretty much in his actions, if not his words, was, I believe, therefore I speak. You know, it's amazing how many Christian quarterbacks stated that, you know what, he should just play football and keep his mouth shut. It's like, look, Tim Tebow's thinking, look, I'm like the guy at McDonald's, you know, I do my job, but when I'm on my free time, you know, and so you're going to stick a microphone in my face after a game, I'm going to preach Jesus. So it's I believe, therefore I speak. There's going to be people, there's going to be times when when people are trying to shut you up. Are you going to have the courage to say, even if it costs me my job, even if it costs me my freedom, even if it costs me my safety, even if it costs me my life, I believe, therefore, I speak. We're going to need to get T-shirts. Okay? This is the Lord Jesus on the Passover. feast, he knows he's going to be crucified, he's crying out to God to rescue him from the grave, but he says, I believe, therefore I speak. So there's some people, I bet there's people out there right now that say, you know that Phil Fernandez, I really like that guy. I like the way he talks, I like the way he acts. He's a guy who tells funny jokes sometimes. Okay, now keep in mind, there's also a lot of people who think I'm the most obnoxious idiot that ever came onto this planet. But there's people out there probably saying, you know, I really like the guy. I wish he would just shut up about Jesus. I believe, therefore I speak. Well, what do you do then, Pastor Phil, if you believe so you speak and then they beat up on you? Okay, just hold this page and look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12. Paul's about to die. And why is Paul about to die? Because he was speaking. Because he was preaching Jesus. They told him to shut up. They told the apostles in Acts chapter 5 to stop preaching Jesus. And they said we must obey God rather than men. In other words, we're not shutting up. OK? Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 12, Paul tells Timothy, Paul's about to die, for this reason I also, he's in prison, for this reason I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day." You see, what Paul's saying is, look, I'm not ashamed to die for preaching Jesus. I'm not ashamed to die for speaking. Why? Because I believe. What, do you just believe in an idea? No, I believe in a person, and his name is Jesus. Okay? I believe, therefore I speak. What do you believe? I believe in Jesus. Oh, you don't understand, Fernandez, that's not cool anymore to believe in Jesus. I don't care, I believe in Jesus. Okay, well then that's fine, but that's just for you and your household? That's just for you and your church building? Don't bring it out into the public area, in a public square. No, no, excuse me, I believe, therefore I speak. It doesn't happen for a while because attendance is up at the Men's Bible Study on Wednesday nights. We can have anywhere from 6 to 18 guys. And I love you, some of you guys go, I love you, but we don't look like the nicest bunch of guys in the world. We look like a bunch of old grouchy military vets when we walk in there. And so maybe that's why nobody messes with us anymore, okay? But I could tell you times when I've been in Barnes & Noble and I have been scolded. by people. You know, one time I was just doing premarital counseling, and I was sitting right next to, it used to be, the old Barnes and Noble used to be one bench, but it was different tables, so at the next table, but the next person on the bench was a Muslim lady in full garb, and she was not offended in the least, because she was sitting down thinking, well, guy's a Christian, obviously he's going to perform the wedding for those two, that couple, they must be Christians, so he's going to teach them the Bible. So she's a Middle Eastern Muslim, and she wasn't offended. But I guess some American lady thought she's got to come on and just scream at me, and this and that, and this and that, saying, you're not supposed to talk this stuff. It's supposed to be in your church, in your house, blah, blah, blah. You're not supposed to share your religious views in public. So I just let her go on. You've heard her story before. I let her go on for about five to 10 minutes until she needed to come up for air. And so once she stopped to take a deep breath, I said, you know what? I want to thank you for sharing your religious views with me in public. I only wish you would give me that courtesy. And as you know, she's freaking out. And this is the lady that I looked at her husband and said, hey, you want some of this? And I looked at him, and he just. smiling, reading the paper, so I don't know what was going on in their marriage. But whatever the case, I told her, I said, are you a manager here? Do you work here? And she said no. And I said, OK, well, then just report me to the manager. I believe in private business. They want to kick me out. They can kick me out. I'll go. But if you don't have any authority here, I'm just going to ignore you. So go report me to the manager and all. And the last time, Somebody reported me to the manager. They got kicked out, but I'm just saying you know just anyway so they kicked her out and then and then after When I was leaving we got done with the counseling so I was leaving and some other lady runs out into the parking lot and I thought oh no come on Lord not two in one day and But the lady said she said no don't please don't don't leave You're welcome here, and and I said no. We just got done counseling. She said okay. Well. I just want to let you know you're always welcome here Because why? One thing about the American church, we might be waffling on biblical issues. We might not be the most obedient Christians are. We drink a lot of coffee. So Barnes & Noble knows a good deal. And so she apologized to me and stuff like that. But we haven't had that hassle in a long time. Now, we might move out of Barnes & Noble someday. We get our own building, we'll probably turn it into a midweek service, because the background noise, you know, especially if you've got hearing aids. We lost a lot of guys with hearing aids picking up all the background noise. And so, but whatever the case, the fact of the matter is, you know, I could have said to that lady who was screaming at me, you know, she could have said, why do you speak? Why do you even talk? I could have said, I believe. Therefore I speak. I believe in Jesus. Therefore I speak. You know, the Bible talks about, you know, taking care of your pastor so he can devote his life to studying the Word of God and preaching. And the way he spells it out is, don't muzzle the ox while he's eating the grain. Don't muzzle the ox. Okay? I want to preach God's Word. I believe, therefore I speak. So you want to try to muzzle this ox? You really think you're going to muzzle this ox? Okay. You throw me in prison, I'll start a prison ministry. You throw me in solitary confinement, I'll have a devotional life off the charts. Yeah, you wanna shove me up, you gotta take me off this planet, but it's the same for you. You might say, well, hey, hey, hey, Pastor Phil, God didn't call me to preach. Oh, yes, he did. He may not call you to be a preacher, but he's called you to preach, okay? And I'm telling you, when you're raising your kids and you're teaching them about Jesus, you're preaching. You're proclaiming the truth. When you talk to your friends on a job site, it's getting tougher to do that. You're preaching, okay? But each and every one of us, you know, I mean, on your tombstone it should read, I believed, therefore I spoke, okay? That should be the motto of our lives. I believe. Believe in what? I believe in the Lord Jesus. I believe, therefore I speak. Okay? I don't care if there's a guy in the White House, the Senate, Congress, Supreme Court. I don't care if it's the military. I believe, therefore I speak, and let that be the motto of each and every one of us. And you might say, Pastor Phil, you're way out to lunch today. You know, this doesn't make any sense, you're going way overboard, things aren't that bad. What am I supposed to preach when Paul says, we're hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus. That's what I'm preaching, I'm just preaching Paul. I'm just preaching God's word. Okay? We got a soft church. We don't want to suffer. We're so comfortable in America. I get a sore throat and I think it's like the end of the world. Okay? We're soft. Paul can say, you beat me. You pummel me. You throw rocks at me. It doesn't matter. I believe and therefore I speak. And he's like, man, that is stupid. You're just saying, Paul, you're just telling us that we're just supposed to proclaim Jesus while people are bouncing rocks off our heads? Yeah. Why? Well, I believe there, we also believe, therefore we speak, verse 14, knowing this, knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will present us with you. So what he's saying is, say, wow, man, they're persecuting me. They just might kill me, but I'm still gonna speak, why? Because my God has conquered the grave. You want to beat me? You want to batter me? You want to kill me? That's okay, because I serve a God who raises the dead. And if he raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, since I trust in the Lord Jesus, he's going to raise Phil Fernandez from the dead as well. So you think you can shut me up? No, I believe, therefore I speak. I'm going to be proclaiming Jesus long after I'm physically dead. I'm going to be proclaiming the Lord Jesus. All of us are going to be proclaiming the Lord Jesus. Now, your speaking might look a lot different than mine. Your voice probably sounds different than mine. You might not be as loud as me. You might be louder than me. I don't know if you are. I haven't met you yet. But whatever the case, you might speak more with your actions than with your words. But if you believe in the Lord Jesus, You can't keep it in. You've got to let it out. You've got to speak. How are people going to believe if they haven't heard? Paul says in Romans 10, and how are they going to hear if there isn't a preacher? And how is there going to be a preacher unless he's sent? God's sending us. Why are we so quiet? Why are we so quiet? We believe, therefore we speak. Then verse 15 in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, For all things are for your sakes that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. And so Paul's saying, look, this is all for the Corinthians' benefit. If we got to be battered and beaten to preach Jesus, so be it, because God's grace is reaching increasingly more people, and for this we ought to be grateful. Can you imagine all the Christians All the Christians that suffered and died for preaching the gospel, if each and every one of them said, look, I believe, but I'm not going to speak because I might get hurt. That's what you call adding to the word of God. I believe I'm supposed to speak, but I don't want to get hurt, so I'm just not going to speak. I'm telling you, this room would be empty today. If it wasn't for the blood of Christian missionaries preaching the gospel going all the way back to Paul and the original apostles, this room would be empty if people said, you know what? I want to preach Jesus, but I don't want to get hurt, so I'm going to be quiet. How come Paul said that? All these things are for yourself. They're beating us up. They're battering us. But we believe, therefore we speak, because we know the Father raised Jesus from the dead. He's gonna raise us from the dead and present us as a beautiful offering to the Father. And so all these things, all the beatings that I've taken, Paul's saying, all the batterings I've taken, it's for your sake, Corinthians, and it's for our sake, too. so that God's grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. We're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper now. And I want us to remember, think back to Jesus celebrating the Lord's Supper. And he said a lot of stuff there. But he was crying out to the Father, I know I'm going to die. Raise me from the dead. I'm the son of your maidservant. I'm the cornerstone rejected by the Jewish religious leaders. But Jesus said, I believe. Therefore, I spoke. When we pledge allegiance to Jesus by celebrating the Lord's Supper and saying we belong to him, what we're saying is, Lord Jesus, I believe in you. And therefore, I will speak. I will proclaim your name until you return in glory, even if they beat me. the President of the Institute of Biblical Defense, and Senior Pastor of Trinity Bible Fellowship. Now, you may have seen on my website lately that we've got an ad, WANTED, 100 Certified Christian Apologists. What's that all about? Well, with the high cost of Bible colleges and seminary, and often the need to give up your job and relocate, for apologetics ministry. And so we don't think it should be an economic issue. We think if God's called you to defend the faith once for for a thousand dollars or less over the course of a year. So it's something that's affordable and we will train you in defending the faith once for all delivered to the saints. If God's calling you to be an apologist and you cannot afford traditional Bible college or seminary, institute of biblical defense,