Beacon Sunday Service: March 10th 2024

Let's just take this time really briefly to greet one another with grace and peace to you. Grace is the free gift of God and peace, the result of that. Amen. Grace and peace to you. Um it was really funny. Last night, uh, I'm sure you guys are all enjoying the uh daylight savings and losing in now an hour.

Um but it's kind of funny. Last night uh we had told Titus he's gotta go to bed an hour early, and uh he was really upset that daylight savings was happening and that he was gonna the time was changing uh to the point of tears. Um but um you know we know that in a few months or however many months that it'll go back to the same, but um really the segue there is you know in Christ we have a God who is unchanging, our daylight savings may change, uh time may change because of you know certain policies, but in God he's unchanging, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Uh he is the one constant that we can look to uh because he is the one that holds all things together in the universe. He's the one that we can always rely on and trust, uh trust in and put our faith in.

And so uh may we just remember that truth and really just worship him today, knowing that he is the one that's just sovereign over all things, and he he really does truly love us and show us grace and mercy. And so if we could all rise today for our call to worship, it comes from Psalm one seventeen, and it says, Praise the Lord, all nations, extol him, all peoples, for great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Come let us praise the Lord. And again, we just see the great uh steadfast love of the Lord, his faithfulness which endures forever, he never changes. And so may we trust in his promises today and worship him. And great is your faithfulness, great is your faithfulness, great is your faithfulness, and you never change, you never fail, oh God.

True are your promises, and true are your promises, true are your promises. You never change, you never fail, oh God. So we race, so we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one is to come. Yeah, we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one is to come. What is your love? Why is your love and grace?

And why is your love and grace? You never change, you never fail, oh God. Why is your love? Why is your love and grace? Why is your love and grace?

You never change. You never fail, oh God. So we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one. Who is end is to come. Yeah, we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one who sends, and is to come.

You were you are you will always be, you are, you will always be willings be will always be, so we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one who was and is to come. Yeah, we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one who was and is to come sing again, so we raise so we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one who was an is to come, yeah.

We raise, yeah, we raise up holy hands to praise the holy one who was an ease, and is to come. He's a holy one. Let's continue our time of worship and just continue to sing of his faith and place our trust and faith in death by faith, by faith. We see the hand of God in the light of creation's grand design in the lives of those who prove his faithfulness who walk by faith and not by sight by faith, by faith our fathers will be with the power of his promise in their hearts of a holy city built by God's own hands, a place where peace and justice reign.

We'll send, we will stand as children of the promise, we will fix our eyes on him, our souls reward till the race is finished, and the work is done.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight. By faith, by faith the prophet saw when the long for Messiah would appear with the power to break the chains of sin and death, amen, and rise triumphant from the grave. Sing by faith, by faith the church was called to go in the power of the spirit to the laws to deliver captives and to preach good news in every corner of ears. We'll send we will send as children of the promise, we will fix our eyes on him, our souls reward till the race is finished and work is done.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight by faith, by faith the mountain shall be moved. Yes, and the power of the gospel shall prevail. For we know in Christ all things are possible for all who call upon his name. We'll stand, we will stand as children of the promise, we will fix our eyes on him, our souls reward till the race is finished, and the work is done. We'll walk by faith and not by sight, we'll walk by faith and not by sight, amen.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight.

In this question and answer, we'll confess why prayer is necessary. And here's the question. Why is prayer necessary? And together, we must pray to commune with God, recognizing him alone as God, expressing our dependence and orienting our hearts towards him at every moment. Amen.

Just to take him at His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know the safe Lord, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him or Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him. Oh how sweet. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus. Just to trust his cleansing blood. Just in sinful faith to plunge the healing cleansing for Jesus, Jesus.

How I trust him. How I've proved him all and so Jesus Jesus. Precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust him more. Yes, tis sweet. Yes, tis sweet to trust him. Jesus. Just from since to seem yes, just from Jesus.

Enjoy and peace. Jesus, Jesus. How I trust him. How I proved him more and so.

Oh, for grace to trust him more. I'm so glad. I'm so glad I learned to trust precious Jesus Savior friend. And I know that our with me will be to the end. Jesus, how I trust him. How I proved him more and Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust in Jesus.

How I trust him. How I proved him more and Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust him more.

This morning we're gonna confess our sin together corporately. And we're gonna do it with a very familiar confession that I it's sometimes forgotten, and I know that our children we learned this as kids, but even as adults, it means more as we read and we understand just God's saving grace. So as we go over this confession of sin corporately, um it be something that is continually in your hearts, and as you go over it, that it's not just something that we recite on Sundays together, that it's something that you recite regularly in your own private time of confession. So let's do this together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Please be seated. Let us now take in a personal confession of sin to our Lord and Saviorere's your assurance of pardon.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. But the Lord Jesus has laid upon Himself the iniquity of us all. Amen. As we're being reminded in this moment, our church is blessed with children. And today I heard some news about our brother from our brother Howard that his daughter, his youngest child, had an accident where she was jumping on her bed and fell and or jumped jumping on her bed, tripped over and knocked her face on the bedpost and got a laceration on her cheek.

Although it's seemingly minor and something that occurs every, you know, on the regular for parents and children, as a church, it's important for us to pray over these things still. So I would like us to pray over Abby for quick healing, that the wound would be clean and whatever procedure needs to be done would be taken care of with skillful hands, and that uh that we pray over Sarah as well, that even though it may be minor, she's still a mom that loves her child and cares over her for Howard as well and Titus Sue. So let's pray over the Huang family.

Um just this upcoming election. And it's an election year for us. Uh, and um also sorry, slight tangent, but thank you guys for praying over your leaders this week as we went to Shepherd's Conference. We were definitely fed very well physically, but more importantly, spiritually. Um, and we're really refreshed in the way that being surrounded by like-minded brothers who love the Lord and want to serve them. Um, just what a reminder it is that even though we are a small church, there's many like us all over the world, not even just in California and our country, but all over the world trying to faithfully serve um our Lord. And so I went to this one um breakout session led by Jesse Johnson. He was talking about how we as Christians can covet uh just being Christian and a nationalist in our country because we want um we want Christianity to prevail amidst all the corrupt politicians and everything that's going on, especially trying to choose a leader for our country.

And he says something that was really interesting that in scripture it says that Rome was at their strongest when when Christians were being prosecuted, and Roman Empire fell when Christianity rose. And so the kingdom of God will advance regardless of what happens in the city of man. Um let us be reminded that we can pray for a specific party to win. But we as Christians should just pray that the right person is put in place because God will ordain that. And ultimately, when Jesus comes back, he's not going to be getting voted into office. Because he's not coming to lead us in that way.

So as a church, it's important for us to pray just for the right leader to take place and that his work will be done in the way that the Lord ordains it to happen, to occur. And hopefully, changes will be made, that our families and our children, the way that we live in this country will be a blessing to us, however it may be. So let's pray that God's hand will be over this time and that whatever may be will be what's right for us, and that we as Christians, no matter what happens, we're not putting our hopes in whoever's elected, we're still putting our hopes in our Lord and J Savior Jesus Christ. So let's pray.

Father, we lift up this time to you in prayer. And we had just seen how the importance of prayer in our lives as Christians, that we are submitting to you, that we are depending on you. And there's things that we are just praying over at this moment that we are just asking, Lord, for your grace, for your mercy, for your healing, especially over little Abby and just the cut that she received on her cheek. Um, even though it feels like a minor situation, Lord, it's it's a big deal for us to pray over her for quick healing, that any procedure done over that wound uh would uh be done with skillful hands, and that would be that it would heal quickly and cleanly. We also pray for comfort upon um just Sarah, the mother who's with her right now, that you calm her heart, that you help her to continue to trust in you.

Uh for Father Howard and for Brother Titus, we just pray over their family, and that uh the situation uh just would be something that uh would end up being uh minor in the way that it is overall, but just that quick healing would occur. We also pray for just this upcoming election, and Lord, we know that there's so many debates going on, there's so much desire for us as as people feeling um prosecuted, uh persecuted in every kind of aspect of our faith and just how our children are being taught, or even just how we're uh being exposed to the laws that are being passed. But Lord, we know that we cannot physically put our trust in these things because we know that as Christians, it is our calling from you to share the gospel and to be faithful to your word.

And we know that in scripture it says that there is you are ordaining these leaders, even though we may not understand the process, Father, and and in your will, Lord, we know that it's what's meant to be is meant to be. So, Lord, in this process of election of just the president of our our country, we just pray that we trust in you, that what will happen will be what is supposed to happen, that the right person will be there, and and honestly, Lord, we just pray that your kingdom will come in lieu of what we perceive as just utter failure of the government, or just um just feeling that we're just things are not changing uh to our liking, Lord. We cannot put our trust in that Lord. We put our trust in you.

So Lord, we ask Father for your blessing upon this process, and even us as individuals to make the right choice and just trust in the process that is uh going to happen this year. We thank you for this time, and you pray that you continue to bless your people as we come to hear your word and lift up Pastor Madison, Lord, as he comes before you uh filled with the Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As as uh we're gonna be going over our announcements, children you dismiss for Sunday school. Uh and just uh just as a reminder, Easter Sunday is coming up March 31st, so in a few Sundays, uh, we are encouraging you to bring a friend. Um this is something that is important for us this year to be more mindful of sharing the gospel and the good news, and what better way to bring someone on the day that means the most to us in our salvation that our Savior not only died but he resurrected again, that he defeated death.

So please, uh if you have someone that you've been praying over or the someone that you really want to hear the gospel message, please bring them on that Sunday. Per usual, our offering options are Zell, Van Moe, Cash and Czech. If you're a member, we ask that you give as the Lord has blessed you. If you're visiting, please don't feel obligated to give. With that, I'm gonna welcome Pastor Madison. Pastor. That's a little loud. Isn't it? There we go. That's uh it's still a little loud. Um, hey, I have uh a couple of pictures. Um I want to get it on the screen here, uh, from this past week, uh, where the guys were uh at the shepherd's conference. Um but uh while you have your uh Bibles, I'm gonna ask you to turn at least to James chapter one while uh Alex is getting this set up in the back.

Are we ready, Alex? Okay, there we go. Um we're gonna talk about uh some trouble ahead at times, but just before I get into that, uh let me uh uh give you a couple of pictures from this past week. Okay. Uh this was on Tuesday uh at uh Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita for a missions conference, and we connected with John Kim, who is one of the pastors uh in the Glendale area, and he's working with us uh and we continue to look at calling uh a pastor here. And so this happens to be uh on Tuesday. This was the small church, okay. This they they see about uh a couple thousand or so, and there were eight hundred on Tuesday for the the Masters Advanced Institute, and so that was all about missions and about training uh national pastors.

Uh and one of the areas they're looking to start is in Korea to set up a uh a seminary in Korea uh in 2025, if that happens to work out for next year. And then here's uh another shot. Uh this is John Kim on the far left, and John is the pastor uh that heads up uh the area uh for churches and pastors that want to work together, uh that have uh the same solid biblical beliefs. And this was in the afternoon, and then in the evening, uh we were with Eric Weathers, Dr. Eric Weathers, and and he is uh one of the uh vice presidents of TMAI, and so we were there for that dinner time uh as well. So uh I will say what Phil Phil has already said, you know, thanks for sending sending the guys and making it possible uh for them to to be there for that fellowship.

Now, I'm gonna ask you to stand for the the reading of today's text, okay? James chapter two, chapter one, verses two to four. Considered a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, but let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given him, but let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

Uh, this is the word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. Let's go back here. I want you to look at this the picture on the screen for a moment. Uh, it's not exactly where you would want to be if you were on that sailboat. Obviously, this isn't a real picture. It's it's a picture that I could make up, that uh you hardly know whether to trust the pictures that you see today. One time uh I was at my wife's uh uh with her her parents, uh her dad is now with the Lord, but her mom is uh 92 now, be 93 in June. And so we were with their their her parents, and we had oh, probably uh ten of us or so uh at one gathering, and we took a picture of the group, and then I took her mom's face and put her mom's face on every one of us.

And I said, Hey, how do you like this picture? You know, I just put it down in front of her to look, and she's looking at it, and she's trying to figure out what's going on here, you know. I said, Well, you know, the family that hangs together, they start to look alike, don't they? You know, and so we can make pictures like this, but what I want you to see in this picture, what's interesting, if this were this could be a true picture, if it could be. Here are people ready to go off the falls, they're in the sailboat, none of them have life jackets on, and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, what would it be like if that were really gonna take place? Well, I want you to understand that that picture is a picture of what's gonna happen in your life and mine at times, because there will, and underline that on the screen, there will be trouble ahead.

There is nobody that will go through this life without facing some difficulty and trouble. Do you know who this is? Raise your hand if you know this is okay. A couple of you know who it is. This is Johnny Erickson Tata. Have you ever heard of her? Johnny Erickson Tata. Look at what she's got in her mouth. She's got a paintbrush in her mouth, a small little paintbrush, and the painting that's in front of her, she painted with her mouth. And the reason she painted that with her mouth, and well, is because a diving accident in 1967 left Johnny a quadriplegic, unable to use her hands and her feet, and she's been that way since 1967. Alex, there's some sound on here, so be ready uh for that sound.

Here is Johnny telling her own story. It began back in 1967. I was 17, athletic. One summer day I went swimming in the bay with my sister, took a reckless dive, and a shallow water. I knew then my life had changed forever. My doctor said, Johnny, you're gonna be paralyzed for the rest of your life. Without use of your hands, your legs. I knew I couldn't end my life physically, so I was tempted to end my life emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I wanted to just lay in bed, tell my mother to turn off the lights and shut the door. In the dark behind that closed door, I cried out, God, if I can hide them, show me how to live. God put Christian friends in my life who opened the Bible and showed me that God permits what he hates to accomplish that which he loves.

And eventually I wheeled out of that dark bedroom and began to embrace life. I discovered there's a world of other disabled people in dark bedrooms who like me need to embrace life and know God. I started writing about this and speaking, and before I knew it, my message gave birth to Johnny and friends. And that's the story behind her life in the difficult time that she had. And I want you to hear what she said. I discovered that God permits, let me highlight that. God permits what he hates. And what do you remember what the last part of what she said? God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves. Did you hear that? God doesn't cause and try to destroy us. Uh the thief comes for to steal and kill and destroy.

Satan is the one who wants to destroy you and your children and anything that's biblical. But God, you know, He He's He's permitting uh Satan to have some sway in this world, but God can turn it for good. We know that all things work together for what? For good. Romans 8 28. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. So let me just take you back to James chapter 1 and verse 2. Consider to great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials. Down below, I have the Greek text for that as well. And what I want you to see is Johnny had a had great problems. But what I've already told you is every one of us uh will face difficulties in our lives.

There's no getting around it. We're gonna be sick, we're gonna get hurt, people around us are gonna uh be in accidents, things are going to go that that aren't going to go our way. And what I want you to see is in verse 2, he says, look at this. Whenever you experience various trials, hotan is the Greek word for this. And let me put it this way on the screen. It's not if you experience trials. You get the difference there? It's not if you're going to experience trials. Look at the screen. It's when you experience trials. That's what the text says. He's not saying the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel churches. You know, you just trust Jesus, and everything's gonna be fine. Trust Jesus, and and he's gonna heal every one of us and restore us completely.

God never promised that. He didn't do it with Job, he didn't do it with others in scripture, and he's not gonna do it with us. He permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves. And it's not if it's gonna be a bad experience for you, it's when. And what we want to do is equip you based on the word of God. What are you gonna do when your trials come your way? Our lives are full of trials. In James 1, we have learned that trials do what? They produce patience, they perfect people, and they promote prayer. Let me show it to you in the text. Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you have these difficulties, because it produces endurance, so that you may be mature, and if you lack wisdom, you should do what?

Ask of God. So let's look at this kind of outline here. It produces patience. That's exactly what the text says there. It perfects saints, that you may be mature, and thirdly, it promotes prayer. Because when I have difficulty, what do I end up doing? Oh, dear God, would you? Oh, dear God, would you be, oh Lord, was you? What do guys do when they're uh in the military and they're in battle? And they're in the foxhole, and the bullets are flying by. What are they praying? Oh dear God, get me out of this. Get me through this. Dear God, get me through this. And when I go back home, I'll live for you. And when they get back home, what do they do? They often forget what they told God in that foxhole.

But look at it this way. The book of James begins with having problems. James, the servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad. Greetings. My brothers count it all joy. When you fall into diverse temptations and difficulties, problems.

But he ends not with having problems, but with having hope.

He starts out with the problems, but then he ends with hope. Bring up the Lord's return. Here's how it's worded in chapter 5. Therefore, verse 7, therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord's coming. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord's coming is what? It's near. So, yeah, you have problems, but in the end, we we know the end of the story. And they how you know, we as little kids, where I when I grew up, the storybook was always, you know, there was a difficulty, and and but then when it all ended up in the end, and they lived happily ever after. Now we know uh that for us as believers, that's exactly what's gonna happen. You know, when we're in eternity with the Lord, then we'll have glorious praise of God ever after.

But throughout scripture, here's what here's what God's word says. Matthew chapter 6, verse 34. Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Now, you certainly have some happy days, but each day can have enough trouble of its own. But there are other verses as well. John 16, verse 33. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have what in this world.

And I'll name uh, you know, uh, like a Benny Hen, uh, who is a is a preacher of sorts. But what does he tell people? You know that everybody can just be healed, and it's gonna be a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. And he'll go around the world with that, with his big plane, his own personal big plane, and he'll fly to areas, and in Africa, they'll get thousands and thousands of people that will come with a hope that they can be healed, and he'll take money from them by the droves. And after he leaves, you know, uh, maybe God has healed some people, but the majority of them go home without the money that they spent to get there, and without the money they gave him to go there, based on a false hope.

Can God heal? Yes. Has God been healing uh our granddaughter? Yes. But does God have to heal? No. I let my request be made known unto God, and God does what God wants to do, and I learn to rejoice with him. But in this world, you're gonna have what? Suffering. 1 Peter 1 6 says it this way. Now, for a short time, you will have had to struggle in various trials. In 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 9, he says this. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from what? Trials. So that's the hope I want you to be able to live uh leave with today. He's able to rescue the ungodly, the godly from trials. Let me give you a sermon in a sentence.

And his glory into triumph. Not necessarily. Remember what happened to Johnny Erickson. She has spent a lifetime in a wheelchair. I heard her share her testimony about this. And she looked at the audience of more than a thousand people. And she said, You want to know why I'm in this wheelchair? Because God wants me in this wheelchair. She would have never had the opportunities had she never had the accident. And you heard her say, man, she just wanted to give up. But she didn't want to think her life, but she just wanted to say, Wow, I'm going to be this way. I'm 17 and I'm going to be this way the rest of my life. She started, she was a painter beforehand, so she started to paint with that brush.

And they began to make it into cards because they obviously needed money to be able to pay for all this medical stuff and care that she was going to need the rest of her life. And as she did those cards, uh, and they were sent out to places, and she got a call from a book publishing company. And they said, Hey, uh, would you write your story? And she says, I've never written a book in my life. How do you go about it? And so they collaborated with her, and she wrote the book, Johnny. J-O-N-I. And then the Today program called with Barbara Walters. Uh, and said, Hey, we want to interview you. And once they interviewed her, then more opportunities started to come, and more people began to write because she was giving people hope.

And then the Billy Graham Association called her and said, Hey, we'd like to do one of our films about your life. And she said it just kept steamrolling from there. And she developed Johnny and Friends. And then she did a ministry for all the disabled around the world. And she gives wheelchairs to those people and brings them back here for conferences. And she the book that the guys were given this week on parenting, the war uh the world's having on your children. And one of the people that wrote the foreword for uh Dr. John MacArthur was Johnny Erickson Tata in the book. She would have never had that opportunity had that trial not come into her life. And God allowed her to yield that to the to him, and he turned it from all those trials to those triumphs.

She got married. And it became just serving the Lord. She was 17 in 1967. That put her at 1950 being born. She's 74 today. And she's still serving the Lord. Listen, let me say it to you this way. I want you to look at three commands that we need to obey in our trials, if our trials are to become triumphs. Let me give them to you. They're very simple. Consider. Now, these are the commands in the Greek in the first verses 2 to verse 8. Consider. Secondly, let.

But if we say it this way, with your kids, you might say to your one of your children, listen, Lucas, you're going to let your sister have that toy. And it becomes a command. It sounds like a request almost, but it's a command. Let me give you the third one. Ask. So he gives you three commands in this text that you need to obey if God's going to turn this into a triumph. This trial into a triumph in your life. So consider. Look at the screen. Here it is. Consider what? That your trials will produce what? Joy. I never like to see. I I don't, I don't say, Lord, give me trials. Let it happen. Did you understand that in Romans chapter 5, he says that tribulation brings about what? Patience.

And patience experience and experience hope. And hope makes that we're not ashamed. Look at look at me for a second. I would tell you, I never pray for patience. Why would I pray for patience? What gives patience? Tribulation produces patience. So if I'm praying for patience, what am I asking God to send me? Do I want to? I might say something like this, Lord, you know what I need. I'm gonna leave it with you. Make my life like you. Make my life like Jesus. But to pray for patience is to pray, Lord, would you give me some trials? I I really I'm not very patient right now. Give me some trials. And when it comes to having joy, I don't think of trials giving me joy. But Johnny Erickson has that opportunity.

Look at the text. Oh, well, let me first of all uh do you know this guy? If you Nick Wojciech, you ever heard of that guy? You have? Okay. Nick Wojciech, here's a picture of him. He actually had an office uh in the headquarters of Johnny and Friends. Look at him. He has no arms and he has no legs, and that's how he was born. My name is Nick Voichon. As you can see, I have no arms and no legs. And we know that God is a great God. We know that God is love. But the question that I had in my life, now 24, understanding the love of God in my life, when I was a child, I didn't understand his love for me. For if God loves me, then why does he let me go through pain? Why doesn't he not change our circumstance?

And we all have a cross to be. We all have something to carry. We all have a circumstance. But I want to share with you how we can have victory in Christ's grace and perfection for you and I today.

And they on their site, uh he does an interview, or he Johnny interviews him as well. But listen to what he says. Now, here's a guy born this way. You think he has anything but joy. I mean, if you were born this way, would you be thrilled about it? But because of his walk with Christ now, his opportunities to tell people, uh just unbelievable around the world. And listen to him again. Alex, turn it up a little bit. Before I get into my story, I uh want to open up with a couple funny things that have happened in my life. Obviously, having no arms and no legs, a lot of people look at me and maybe stare at me, and especially kids, it's really funny. There was uh, you know, this one little boy who saw me one day and he goes, What happened?

And I went up to him and I go, cigarettes. And uh we love freaking people out. Uh in our trip in Indonesia, my camera crew put me up in the overhead compartment of an airplane. We closed the door and waited for somebody to put the bag up there. Sky camera to go, you know, I freaked him out. It's quite funny. Do you understand? Listen to a guy that has no arms and no legs and able to have the joy of the Lord. We have arms, we have legs, we can talk, we can see, we can hear. And yet we're going around like, oh man, things are rough. What does the text say? You need to consider. This is a command. This isn't a request. He's saying, look, you need to stop. You need to count this out. You need to consider this.

That God is going to turn this an opportunity for joy. Your trials can produce an opportunity, for you have the joy of the Lord. And instead of just complaining about it, he's saying, I'll consider it. Joy. Here's one last uh verse that he gives. What are we talking about? Consider it all what? Joy. I want to focus on verse four at first of chapter four in Philippians. And it says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Again. Here's a guy. Can't walk, can't pick anything up. And he's gonna teach thousands of people how to rejoice in the Lord. What does God want? He wants to turn our trials into triumphs. And he's gonna use them in wonderful ways if we let him. Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials.

Here's the here's the command. Here's consider it. Here's how it's uh used in the Greek text. Hey, Gaelmi. Hey, Gaelmi. And it means to consider, to thank, regard, count. So what he's saying is, and this is how it gets translated. Listen, in the text, in our text, it's translated, consider. You need to stop and consider what God is going to do here. God has permitted it. Remember, God permits the things he hates in order to accomplish the things he loves. You need to stop and consider why is this happening? God, it's going to be for your glory. So consider it, excuse me. Consider it all what? Joy. Or think. Think about this. Stop. Regard this as something really great. Now, actually, the Greek word is an accounting term.

And that's why the last one is counted all what? Joy. So he says, look, open up your checkbook and assess. This is going to result in joy. This is going to result in a great dividend for you. But you gotta obey that command. This is not an option here. He's telling you, stop. Count over what you have in this. This is not the end. Oh, and if it is the end and you know Jesus, guess where you're gonna be anyway? In glory with him. And in the meantime, God wants to use whatever trials we have as great joy. When our granddaughter had her ablation and her heart per uh perforated, it was really hard. I I could I remember I was sitting in my uh seat at our house at our home praying for the procedure.

She went in at eight o'clock in the morning. She was supposed to be home for dinner with her with her other brothers and sisters, sisters, and everything went wrong. And ended up another hundred and seven days in the hospital. When I called my wife's parents to tell them, I just broke down and cried. It's hard to consider it at that moment. All joy, but they that sow in tears shall reap in. Do you know what the psalmist says? They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Yeah. So look at look at the screen. You're to this is the command. You're to consider and think and regard and count, count at what? Joy. You lose the job. God, what are you trained to do in my life? Help me to see this from your point of view.

Help me to know this is going to bring joy in the end. I need to count it all joy. Consider it a great joy. Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, verse 11. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute, persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Sound like a trial? Sound like a test? Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Why would I ever be glad and rejoice when I'm insulted and persecuted and falsely? Because God says that's going to bring him glory and give us joy if I see it from God's point of view. Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 10, the second part says, do not grieve. You got problems? You got sorrow? Do not grieve. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is your strength. And what's he want to do? When you have problems and trials, James chapter 1, verse 2, consider it what? Joy. And the joy of the Lord becomes your strength. James chapter 1, he says, consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces what? Endurance.

Endurance. When I turn to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, he says it this way. Keep keeping your eyes on Jesus. Let me give you verse one. Let us run with patience, the race that is set before us.

And you remember the guy was getting ready to score the goal, the touchdown. And what did he do that was wrong? He looked back. And he's saying he's saying, No, forgetting those things which are behind. The book of Philippians says this way, forgetting what is behind, I press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So keep your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith for the joy that lay before him.

Endured the cross. What does your joy enable you to do? Endure. What did it enable our Lord to do? Endure the cross. For the joy that was set before him, he said, Ah, by going here, I'm going to bring thousands and millions to eternity with me in glory. Philippians 3 10 says that this way my goal is to know him, the Lord, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his. Oh man. We don't want that suffering, do we? But the Apostle Paul was able to say it that way. Being conformed to his death. Where are we welcome? One guy, when he translated, when he paraphrased, like let me tell you the difference for a moment. When you open up your Bibles, there are so many different translations today.

It's almost, you go, wow, what is that? Sometimes they don't translate the text, they paraphrase the text. They say, well, let me put it, let me put it this way. And then they say it in a way that they almost translate it. I mean, they don't translate it, they almost interpret it for you. Just give me the text. Here's what the text says. Let the Holy Spirit apply it to my life. But paraphrases. The living Bible was a paraphrase example. But it was never meant to be a Bible that everybody used. Do you know how the living Bible came to be? There was a guy by the name of Ken Taylor, and he worked at Moody Bible Institute. And he lived in Wheaton. And he took the train every morning from Wheaton, Illinois to Chicago, where he worked.

And he had, I think he had eight children. The oldest was 16, and the youngest was just a little bitty one. And so he had he had devotions every day for his kids. Every night. And so what he would do is on the way in the train, he would take, like Romans, the first few verses. And he would just kind of paraphrase it so his children could understand it.

It was just a paraphrase. So that when he got home at night, he would translate in the morning, and then he would share it with a couple of the guys at Moody and say, hey, what do you think of this? You know, and they say I'd tweak it this way, and then he uh look at it on the way home, and then at night, when he was going to pray with his children, he said, Hey, this is Paul. I'm writing you this letter instead of the epistle to the Romans. This was, you know, it was just hi, this is Paul. I'm writing you. I want you to, and then he paraphrased it. So when you look at a text, you want to understand what is really the text saying here? And not to just paraphrase it, but he says here, I want the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to his death, because I want it to produce what in me?

Joy. I want to accept it as joy. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he says it this way. For our momentary light affliction. Is producing for us an absolute incomparable eternal weight of glory? Our light affliction, our momentary light affliction. I'll bet when Johnny Erikson reads that, she thinks momentary. I was 17, I'm 74. Is it momentary? Is it light? It is compared to what our Lord went through on the cross. And that momentary thing, what does what do our trials produce in us? It produces joy that can enable us to endure. What is he saying here? That light, momentary affliction, is going to enable us to endure for how long?

It's an eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary. But what is unseen is what? Eternal. It has endurance. It's never going to end. What does God want to do in your life and mine? Look, the Lord wants to turn our trials into his glory. In a processional glorious victory march. And he's going to give you three commands. Consider what? Your trials will produce what? Joy. Oh, this is a command, remember? So if you don't consider your trials, if you're not obedient to that command, what are you asking God not to give you? I don't want this joy, Lord. Is that what you want to say?

No, you want to be able to say, Lord, you commanded. I need to stop and count it out. I need to consider it all joy. That's what I'm going to do. You have the purpose. I'm going to receive the joy. The second command is this. Let's you need to let this happen. Okay. So the first one is I consider, consider that your trials. Okay. The second one's going to be let your trials produce what? Maturity. You ever seen a tapestry up on a wall, a beautiful tapestry hung and done. I wish this were a clearer picture, but this is the clearest one I could get of it. See this tapestry? Which would you rather have? Would you rather have this tapestry or that tapestry?

I hope you're going to be surprised at the results. Because this is the front side of that tapestry, and that's the underside of the tapestry. And what I want you to understand is this. Right now, right now, you can only see the underside. You don't see it from God's glorious heaven. You see this mess down here. And what is God doing in your life and mine?

That he wants to use for his glory and his glory alone. And he's going to allow trials to make that happen.

Mature and complete.

A child. When your parents, when you were little, and they said, hey, hey, hey, sit down. Hey, you need to do this. And you go, why? Why? Our little three-year-old grandson said to his dad yesterday, his dad said, sit down here. He said, Why? Where I grew up, my folks would just say, because I said so. And what you want those kids to hear is because right now you are out of control. And we want to have you learn how to just be quiet and sit. And ask God what you should be doing with your brothers and sisters. Give them the reasons. And what happens here is they are not mature. They don't want to sit and wait. And the older we get, the more we realize we start to hear ourselves sounding like our parents when we tell our kids what we didn't like about us.

And you go, oh my goodness, I just sounded like my dad. Because as you grow and mature, you realize that you're going to tell them things that they're not ready for yet because they're not what? Mature. So let endurance have its full effect so that you may be or you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Verse 5. Look at verses four and five. There are people, you know, when you when the Bible was first written, uh there were no verses. There were no excuse me, there were no numbered verses, and there were no chapters, right? It was just a letter, it was just a long scroll. And so then as people began to lay it out, they begin to give the verses numbers and chapters, so I could say to you, hey, in James chapter one and verse four, and you know where to turn.

Otherwise, you'd be unrolling this scroll and not knowing where you're going. Then, as they broke it apart like that, then people that translated the Bible, sometimes they would break it into paragraphs. There are some that break verses four and five, thinking it's a new pair, a new paragraph is starting because now he's going to talk about wisdom. And he hasn't been talking about wisdom in verses two, three, and four. But look at it this way. Let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete. Look at the screen, lacking nothing. Now, how does verse five start out? Now, if any of you lacks something, lacks wisdom. Do you see how it's just kind of flowing? I want you to be mature so that you don't lack anything.

But if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God to give everybody, and so they're just tying these together. This command to let endurance have its way. So uh lepo is this same Greek word that's used for verse boat verse verse four and verse five. And he's saying, Look, I don't want you to lack anything, I want you to have what you need. So the Lord says, I want to turn your trials into triumphs. Look, here's the command. Consider what? That your trials produce joy. Let what your trials produce maturity. Thirdly, ask what this is a command, too. This is not a request. This is not, hey, if if you need this, why don't why don't you just ask the Lord? He says, Look, if you lack wisdom, you need to stop right now and ask God to give it to you.

Ask that your trials produce what? Wisdom. Last was it last week? We kind of go together here. Our granddaughter was in Phoenix for uh stem cell injection. We had the other three grandkids at our house for the week, and the littlest one is three, and he likes to play in the backyard. I mean, he's just out there all the time. And it's it can be cold out, but he's out there without a jacket on and just do it doing his thing. So on the last night they were gonna be with us, uh I said, why don't I we have a chimney in our back yard? You know, it's a little kind of potbellied kettle kind of thing with a stack on it, and it's only about this high, and so you put uh little chips of wood in, and and so it was getting ready to darkness was starting to sit in.

I said, Hey, how would you like to go out and roast some marshmallows? You know, they're all excited about it. So they all get out there, and we're roasting marshmallows in the chimney, and the little three-year-old, he said one, I want another one, two, I want another one, three. Do you know how much sugar is in? You know, he's ready to bounce off the walls, you know, and he was running around, and all of a sudden he decides he's gonna run into the house in our sliding glass door, and he goes, yeah, BAM! And he hits the solid the glass on the the door. He because he's in and out all day long, he thinks it's open, but it was closed, and it was starting to get cold out, so we close the door, and then he goes, Nose bleed, and you know, it's just really, you know, because why?

Uh your trials give you what? Wisdom. I said, Oh, you just went to the school of hard knocks. And now will he be more cautious the next time? Yep, because he's learned what Grant Osborne says it this way. James begins by expressing the one need everyone has in difficult times. Wisdom to endure the trials. I need in my trials wisdom. Look at the screen. If, if in the phrase, if you need wisdom, is a first class condition, assuming the reality of the situation. Virtually, it should almost say, since you need wisdom, you need to ask God.

Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given him. He should ask from God. It's not uh, hey, would you like to do this? Hey, would you just remember to pray about this? The Greek uses it as an imperative. Stop. You need to ask God right now that you can see this from his point of view. It's not something you like to have happen. It's not gonna be happy, happy, happy, but you can have joy. Remember when we looked at Philippians, happiness depends on happenings, something outside you. But joy is a fruit of the spirit, and it's inside love, joy, peace, all the fruit of the spirit. So let me read it this way from understanding the Bible commentary, and let me even say this.

Uh most of you are you're not gonna have this book anyway, okay. But the guy that wrote this book, understanding the Bible commentary, is pretty liberal. Does that mean that uh he doesn't have something correct once in a while? You know, what do they say? Even a broken clock is correct how many times a day? Two times a day, right? You know, a broken clock is gonna be correct twice a day, and so this guy he says this the force of the imperative is probably not a mere urging or uh permission, but a command, in spite of the typical English rendering. It might read, if any of you lacks wisdom, he must ask of God. In other words, lack wisdom in the midst of trials does not give one the option of seeking God, but the obligation.

Did you hear that? It's a command. When your parents tell you what to do when you were little, you did it. It was a command. When God is telling you in his word what to do, he says, I want you to see this from his point of view. Wisdom, remember I gave it to you a week or so ago. Wisdom is the ability to see things from God's point of view, and we don't have that when we face trials, so we must ask God. James 1, 5. Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. You almost wish he hadn't thrown that in. You know. Just, just hey, I ask. But I'm not sure. Can you handle this problem?

Isn't that how we think?

Hey, would you pray about this? Uh all I can do is pray. What better thing is there to do? If I'm asking God, and in faith asking God, and not doubting whether he can handle my trials. Here's the Greek word that's used. Diakrino. Diakrino. You've seen me do this. Let me do it again. I'll divide this into the prefix and in the root word. Okay? The prefix dia we use all the time. It means through. And we use it in our English word, diameter of a circle. It goes through the circle. Dia. Within or through. Okay. The diameter of a circle is the line within the circle. Got it?

Let's go to crino. Crino means I am judging. Crino. You hear that Greek word? Crino? Look at me. The English word we get from that, crino, is critic. I'm a critic. And if I'm a critic, what do I do? I judge whether it's right or wrong. I'm judging. Now, if you put the two together, it says, I am judging within. This is the word for don't doubt. So if I ask God for wisdom, I need to be judging from within. And as to whether or not God is able to handle my trial.

When I, if I have a trial, I need to say, God, I know you can handle this. I don't know what you're going to do. But I need wisdom. Let me see it from your point of view. Let me not judge it from within. Questioning from within whether you can handle my trial or not. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, and an undecisive man is unable, unstable in all his ways. Did you catch that? The Greek word for this is double-minded. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. It's used only two times in scripture. And both times. Both times. Dipsukos is the Greek word. Only twice, both times, the book of James. James 1, 8, double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

And in James 4, 8. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners. Purify your hearts, double-minded people. You guys, he's saying you're dispersed abroad. You know, he's writing to the scattered people. And he's saying, you need to trust me. I know you don't have good homes. I know you're away from family. I know. But God can take care of those things. Romans, let me close with this. Romans 4, uh 18 and 19, talking about Abraham's belief. He believed, hoping against hope. So that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken. So will your descendants be. He considered his own body to be already dead since he was about a hundred years old.

And also considered the deadness of Sarah's womb without weakening in the faith. He did not waver in unbelief at God's promise, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, because he was fully convinced that what he had been promised, what had what he, God, had promised, he was also able to perform. Isn't that a wonderful thing? What God promises, he's able to perform. Three or four weeks and now this is for the fourth week and we're mercy. But are you ready for the trials and the troubles ahead?

Even in the midst of trials and difficulties that we can have joy and endurance, which is what he is producing in us.

The anchor it shall never be Christ the shore and steady anchor while the tempest rages on when temptation claims the battle and it seems the night has won Deeper still then goes the anchor though I just send accused I will hold fast to the anchor it shall never be renewed Christ ashore Christ the shore and steady anchor through the floods of unbelief hopeless um how my soul now lift your eyes to Calvary Miss my palace of a shore see his love forever brew all my hope is in the anchor it shall never be removed Christ ashore Christ the shore and steady anchor as we face the wave of death when these trials give way to glory as we draw our final breath we will cross that cradle rise and clouds behind life secure and the calm will be the better for the storms and we endure Christ the shore of our salvation ever faithful ever true we will hold fast to the anchor it shall never be got a few minutes over today but I hope that you see from the text what God wants to do in changing your life let me ask God's benediction on you now may the God of glory the Lord Almighty walk out these doors with you this week giving you the strength to live for his glory and his glory alone in Christ name we pray amen God bless