 With that said, let's look at our study today. We're going to be in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 10. I chose to entitle this installment of our study of 2 Corinthians, the glory of the thorn. You'll see that in just a moment. So let's begin reading here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 10 and we'll get into our study, the glory of the thorn, beginning at verse 1. Paul writes, it is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know. God knows. Such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know. God knows how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth. But I refrain lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart for me, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. So as we enter into this portion of the letter of 2 Corinthians, Paul is finding it necessary to boast to glory. You see, false apostles have crept in, and they are boasting of their victories. And as they're doing that, they are belittling the ministry of the apostle Paul. And we saw in chapter 11 that these are infiltrators, according to verse 5, are looked at as the preeminent ones, the super apostles. So that's how they're looked at by the churches, the preeminent ones, the excellent ones, the super apostles. But in reality, Paul says, these are false prophets. And he took pains, Paul did, to identify them. And he let us know what they were. He said, these are mercenary Jewish pseudo-intellectuals who claim to have a superior ministry to him. That's what he said. And so from chapter 1, Paul has taken pains to begin to show us the various charges that they've been lodging against him. And up until this chapter, I've shown you no less than 23 of those charges. You see, the simple fact is this, if something is repeated often enough, it becomes truth to some. Today, that has been referred to as the illusion of truth effect. It's actually been studied and it's been labeled. It is the illusion of truth effect. Now somebody said, the illusion of truth effect is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure. Researchers established that people could already know the correct answer at the start of a study, but could be persuaded to believe otherwise through the repetition of a lie. And that's basically what we're seeing right now. A repetition of a lie, repetition, repetition, repetition, saying the same thing. We're seeing it and yet people don't want to admit it or perhaps they think it wrong to even point it out. The fact that they keep on calling the president of the United States a bigot is the repetition of a lie. That's a lie. But they repeat it often enough for people to say it's the truth. It's called the illusion of truth effect. It's well documented. You say something often enough, get people to believe it, even a few people before you know it, that illusion becomes reality. Even if you know from the beginning that that's not right, you can be persuaded that it is simply by having several people repeating the same thing. We're having that happen right now. It happens all the time. It's a method of propaganda. I learned that when I was a kid, probably seven years old. We already knew that if you repeat often enough certain things, it becomes truth to people. And once it becomes truth to a core of people, it's repeated often enough, it becomes substantiated as the truth for others. And in fact, it began as a lie. And these false teachers knew that repeating various charges against Paul would undermine his ministry because when a lie is repeated often enough, it becomes fact. So the Corinthians have begun to be influenced by the lies about the apostle Paul. So in defense of the gospel, Paul is now responding strongly because he's defending not only the gospel, but also his own ministry. And so as we've gone through this, the last time we're together in chapter 11, we saw how he began to rehearse his pedigree and then how he began to share his various trials and sufferings. We saw that in chapter 11, verses 22 through 33. So at this point, he needs to go deeper into his ministry in order to establish and strengthen his credibility. So he's speaking of something he had been silent about for around 14 years. He begins to share concerning, notice visions and revelations he received from the Lord. He says in chapter 12, verse one, it is doubtless, not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I don't want to have to boast. It's not profitable for me to, but I have to begin to share with you concerning these things. Now he was already, he had already stated in chapter 11, verse 30, that if he were to boast, he would be boasting about his infirmities. But now he needs to speak concerning spiritual experiences and their cost. If you take notes, remember that spiritual experiences also have a cost. We need to keep in mind that spiritual depth comes at a price. And that's what he's about to do. He's about to share with them concerning this spiritual experiences. And that's what he said. Verse one, he says, I'll come to visions and revelations of the Lord, spiritual experiences come at a price. You know this by looking at scripture at the age of 100, there's a man by the name of Abraham. And Abraham at the age of 100, think about that for a minute, receives a promise that his wife, who's 90 years old, is going to become pregnant. I don't even want to think about that. 100 year old man, 90 year old woman are going to have a baby. Amazing. Well, Sarah becomes pregnant and the child begins to grow. And at a certain point, God says, it's time to offer him up. Think about that for a moment. God had given this promised child to Abraham. He was as good as dead because at 100 years of age, it's just another way of saying that it's really an impossibility for a 100 year old man to be having babies, basically. But Hebrews 1112 says that Abraham was as good as dead when Sarah conceived. But then she gives birth. And then she has a son, Isaac. And God says to him, now it's time for you to offer your son, your only son in the place that I'll appoint to you. And we see this man, Abraham, this old man with his promised child going off to Mount Moriah to sacrifice the promise, to sacrifice everything. And so to learn that God is able to raise the dead and all Abraham had to learn it by first being willing to sacrifice his Isaac. And that lesson to Abraham came through great pain. Now, Jacob was Isaac's son. But Jacob was deceptive. As a matter of fact, when you look at the translation of the name Jacob, the name Jacob can be translated supplanter. My Bible professor at Biola said you could translate his name sneaky. And when you look at his life, he indeed was a deceiver. He was a supplanter. He connived to take his brother's birthright and to take the blessing of the firstborn son, because he wasn't the firstborn. His brother, he saw was. And he connived in order to take it. He took the birthright. The birthright was bestowed upon the head of the, upon the firstborn and gave them the head of the house status. The right to the father's estate went to the firstborn. That was the birthright. And then the blessing was a greater blessing that the father would be giving to the one who had the birthright. And so the great blessing and a birthright went to the firstborn. And yet what he did, Jacob, Jacob deceived his father into giving him his brother Esau's blessing, who was the firstborn and the birthright. And we know that by looking at his life that he learned many lessons because he was alienated from his family. He lived in a distant land. And as we read the story of, of this man, he, he decided to return, deal with the anger of his brother who, who, who was planning on killing him, who was, who was planning on the moment he sees him. I'm gonna, I'm gonna kill him. And, and we know the story of how when he was returning, Jacob was returning home that he wrestled all night with an angel, according to Genesis chapter 32. And the angel touched his hip socket and the muscle withered. And from that point on, he walked with a limp. And that served as a reminder of his encounter with God. We think of Shadrach and we think of Meshachan and Abednego. They spent the night in a fiery furnace, according to Daniel chapter three, they had refused to bow before the king's image. They were sentenced to die in a furnace. But they learned God's power to deliver when the flames did not consume them. And all of these men, and you can go through so many of them, all of these men experienced God in various ways. But each one of them, keep this in mind, each one of them paid a price. It would not have been easy to stand there, to look at a furnace that's being heated seven times hotter. And to think they're about to cast me in there. And, and, and they're being told, all you need to do is, is give homage to the image. And, and we will not, our God is able to deliver us. But if he doesn't, we will not bow to your image. These are men of faith. And so they got the, the king saw angry that they heated that furnace up and, and threw them in there. But there was a man in that furnace with them. They were preserved. They learned that God's power to deliver is, is real when the flames did not consume them. All of them experienced God in various ways. All of them paid a great price. It may be giving up on a promise. It may be walking the rest of your life with a limp. It may be entering into a fire. Depth comes at a cost. Never forget that. You want to be deep. You want to have strength. You're going to go through deep things. And you're going to be tried. That's what happens. That's how you get it. That's how it develops. You don't go to bed one night saying, Oh Lord, I just want to be used by you. I want to have deep faith. I want to be used by you in mighty ways. And the next morning, have a letter that comes in. Oh, we're making you the pastor of this journey. No, it doesn't work that way. You go through various things where God pairs, where God shapes, where God whittles, and God works. And through pain and time and trial, tribulation, affliction, through times of doubt, through times of tears, through times of stress, God shows you how great he is. And then you're used by him. And the thing is, is it creates a humility in your heart that you don't even realize what God is doing. It takes other people to notice that. Because your eyes are on him. Because you know that without him you can do nothing. And that's how it works. And Paul doesn't want to have to boast. He doesn't want to have to share these things. He's gone through things. His depth as an apostle has come at a great price, and he doesn't want to share with him. But he does anyway. Verse one, again, he said, it's doubtless, not profitable for me to boast. You see, my adversaries have undermined my character. I have to respond. I can't allow this to continue. It's not that I want to, but I have to. I don't want to boast about my experience. Now, he's already addressed this earlier in chapter 11, verse 12. He had said, what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. He had said in verse 18 of the same chapter, chapter 11, 2 Corinthians, he said, seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. I have to tell you these things. Well, you consider my opponent's super apostles. Let me speak to you of my experience. And that's what he's doing. He's sharing concerning visions and revelations of the Lord. And that's what he speaks of here. I will come to visions and revelations. A vision is visual. It gives spiritual revelation. And Paul had several visions. Remember, even at his conversion, he had had a vision of a man named Ananias who was to come and minister to him. It's found in Acts chapter 9, verse 12. It says that Paul had seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight. And Paul in Acts 16, verse 9, received a vision when seeking direction for future ministry. It says a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man in Macedonia and prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia, help us. So he had many visions. We could go through others, but we'll stay with those two. He also had revelations. Now the revelation, a revelation for those of you who take notes is it's the unveiling of the purposes of God. A revelation is the unveiling of the purposes of God. In Galatians 1, 11 and 12, he said, I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. It was the unveiling of God's purposes. And so he says, we're going to speak now concerning visions and revelations. It's not profitable for me to boast, but I'm going to have to share these things with you. Then he says in verse 2, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know, whether out of the body I don't know. God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven. I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know. God knows how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. And so he begins to speak in this way. I can't say if my body and soul was transported to heaven, my soul went temporarily. I really don't know. I'm not completely sure about this, but in verse 4, he was caught up into paradise. And notice, heard inexpressible words. The words caught up, when it says he was caught up, the words caught up means to be seized violently. It's a word that we use for rapture. I was suddenly taken into paradise. That's what he's saying. Now it's interesting in verse 2, notice, he says he was caught up to the third heaven. But in verse 4, he speaks of paradise. And they're not separate places. They refer to the same place. Paradise is a synonym for heaven. It's used in the New Testament three times, one of those times here in this particular verse. And he says he was caught up into paradise and he heard inexpressible words. What he heard and what he saw was not proper and wasn't even legal for him to relate to others because human words were inadequate. It was a revelation that he received, and it was for him alone in order that he might be strengthened. He says in verse 5, of such a one, I will boast yet of myself, I will not boast except in my infirmities. Instead of boasting of my spiritual experiences, I would rather speak of my weaknesses. You see, these weaknesses are what are being pointed out by his adversaries in order that they might undermine him. He doesn't see them, by the way, as negatives. He sees them as the road to a deeper love for Christ. He sees these things as giving him greater understanding of God's grace and God's provision, and to boast in infirmities magnified God's power at work in him. In Colossians 1, 28, and 29, he said, we proclaim him admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ, in this anti-labor struggling with all his energy, but so powerfully works in me. Verse 6, though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool. These experiences prompt a desire to boast to defend himself, but he refuses to do so. Only experiences that show his need for Christ are worthy of boasting in. He says in verse 6, I forbearless anyone should think of me above what he sees to me, sees me to be or hears. I want you to esteem me based on my labor among you, not my unusual spiritual visions. Now, I'll look at this for a second. This is something every minister should be concerned about. He wants to make sure that he gives glory to God. We can give in to temptations to present ourselves as extremely important, and we can forget who is doing the work, and we can begin as ministers to try to draw attention to ourselves. You see, our flesh desires attention, and we can use spiritual things to gain attention. When I was in high school, I believe I was a senior. They made us go swimming. I don't know how many of you had to go swimming when you were in high school. Have you even had a pool? We had a pool, and part of our physical ed class, we had to go swimming. I was not a swimmer. I've never been a swimmer. I'm a good drowner, but I'm not a good swimmer. We had to go swimming, and so they would put us in the pool. My friends and I would actually camp out in the shallow wind, holding onto the drain where the water laps into the pool, and we just would kind of hang there, and we were in the shallow wind. I can still remember this young guy, a freshman, who was standing on the high dive. He was on the edge of the high dive, and he began to yell. He began to yell out at the coach, hey coach, he was yelling, hey coach, look at me, I'm going to jump. Now this kid's 14 years old, he's standing on the edge of a high dive, and he's yelling for attention from the coach, and so as wonderful 17-year-olds, we were all very supportive of him, which we weren't. Because he kept on yelling, hey coach, look at me, hey coach, look at me. He kept yelling, and I'm talking about just kept going on and on, because the coach wasn't looking at him. And finally, my friends and I began to yell, and the shallow wind, hey coach, look at me, and we were splashing around, hey coach, look at me, and we were yelling out really loud, hey coach, look at me. Well, finally the coach looks up at him, and the kid jumps into the water and hits and swims, and that's all he wanted was some attention, but I've never forgotten that. Now as an older man, of course I look back and I realize that the little guy probably didn't get much attention ever, and now I have compassion on him, but as a 17-year-old I didn't, I thought, what a dork. What are you doing that for? Why are you drawing attention to yourself? You're going to jump off. So what? That's how I thought. I now think differently. Now I realize he was just in need of attention, but you know what? There are a lot of people like that, even in ministry. Hey, look at me, look what I'm doing, look what I say, look how I am, look how important I am. Ministers can do that too. We can call attention to ourselves. We can have people looking at us so that we become very important in the sight of man, but Jesus taught us to do things secretly because the things we do in secret, he said, I will reward openly, but if you're out there trying to get attention from man, you will receive your reward. We have to be really aware of that, and Paul is hesitant, he doesn't want to have to go to the place of sharing the deep things that he has seen God do. He doesn't want to necessarily go into that because he doesn't want to give in to or cave in to the flesh's desire. He doesn't want to draw attention because he doesn't want to create a cheering section that encourages us to it. See, sometimes when a pastor is saying things that people like to hear, they begin to cheer, and I am telling you that sometimes those cheers will go to your head. And before you know it, you begin to live for the sound of the applause of man instead of the applause of heaven. And there are many things that the Lord is going to reward in a secret way. Not so much secret, if we do things in secret, he will reward in an open way if we do them, not to be seen by man. And Paul doesn't necessarily want to say, look at me, he has to. We need to remember something that is very basic. We are vessels that God has chosen to use. It reminds me of John 3.27 where John the Baptist said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. And so Paul is about to share some of these things, and he's had tremendous experiences. He said again in verse 6, though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool. I will speak the truth, but I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me. I don't want the appreciation and applause of man, and I don't want to be looked at as being your superstar, your hero. But verse 7, lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. I had amazing spiritual experiences, and in these I could become proud. But a painful attack, the attack he's enduring has kept him humbly dependent on the Lord. Notice, he says in verse 7, it's a thorn in the flesh. He says it was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I be exalted. A thorn in the flesh. The word thorn is a Greek word that speaks of a tense stake. He's saying a tense stake has been driven into my body. A tense stake has pierced me. A tense stake has been given to me from God with the purpose of keeping me humble. God has impaled me with a thorn, not just a small thorn from a rose bush, but a tense stake. God has driven it into my flesh to keep me dependent on him because spiritual depth will come at a price. Spiritual depth comes at a cost. And he's had it. We don't know exactly what it is. It's unknown. Over the years people have said, what do you think this thorn in the flesh was that Paul is speaking of? Some will say it may very well be the illnesses that Paul combated because Paul did combat illness. We know that in the places that he ministered, there was something called malarial fever. And the malarial fever that he could have contacted could actually send him into delirium and give to him tremors. It's been said that headaches accompanied malarial fever and they're described as a red hot bar in the forehead. He could have contacted malaria on one of his many mission journeys. There are others who speak concerning his eyes. It is possible that he had diseased eyes. That's what he may have been referring to in his letter to the Galatians in chapter 4 when he said in verse 13, you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first and he went on to say in verse 15, whereas then the blessedness you spoke of, I bear your record that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. It's possible he had the diseased eyes because at the very end he says, see what large, with what large letters I write and he's speaking concerning his printing was large and many would say that's because he couldn't see. So it's very possible that this this infirmity of the flesh was the disease that he had in his eyes. There are those who contend that it's a demonic attack on Paul. Notice with me that the thorn is referred to as a messenger of Satan. The word messenger is angelos. It's used 188 times in the New Testament, but 180 of those times refers to an angel. It's possible this thorn in the flesh was a demonic attack on Paul and then finally it could very well have been a person that was attacking him. It might have been a demonized man, a ringleader in opposition and Corinth and he could have been used to undermine Paul's ministry to tear up the church and Paul would see this as a demonic attack extremely painful to him. But notice with me it was sent from God but identified as a messenger of Satan. So here's something for you. God can give permission to the evil one to come against a believer. We know that by just reading the book of Job in the first two chapters you see that in the day when the sons of God came to appear before him amongst them was Satan and God begins to interrogate Satan. Where have you been? What have you been up to? And I've been going to and fro throughout the earth. Have you considered my servant Job? It's a righteous man. All of this is in what it's called the interrogative. It's questioning. It's the authority of God speaking to a lesser and God is calling him into account. Tell me what you've been up to because I know you've been up to no good. Give a report on what you've been doing. I've been going to and fro. Did you consider, did you weigh him? That's where the word consider means. Did you look at him? Find a weakness in him? Did you weigh him? Did you consider him? Yes I did. It's all right there in Scripture. Yes I did. I've been up to no good. I've been going to and fro throughout the earth. Have you seen my servant Job? He's a righteous man upright. Nobody like him. Yes I have. What do you think about him? You put a head around him. You put a head around him and all that he has. And in chapter one and chapter two you see where God allows the enemy to take everything he has. He took his wealth, even his children and then the second chapter he took his health. He said you can have these things but you cannot kill him. The enemy was given permission to come against Job, a righteous man who hates evil and brings honor to God and the Old Testament and the New Testament. We remember how that Jesus was speaking to the Apostle Peter in Luke 22 verses 31 and 32. The Lord said, Simon, Simon indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me strengthen your brethren. Simon, Simon, Satan asked for you and has obtained permission to sift you. That's what the literal translation is. He has asked for you, obtained permission, he will sift you. He is going to work you over. The enemy can be given permission to work you over. You see it in the Old Testament. You see it in the New Testament. But this was sent from God. God gave him permission and he worked on him. Why? It was intended to keep him dependent on the Lord. Why? Because he had revelations and visions and it kept him totally dependent. What did he do? Verse 8, concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might be, it might depart from me. He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak then I am strong. I pled with the Lord three times. Please remove it. He didn't try to combat this at his own strength. He asked God to deliver him. God did not answer him according to his request. But God used it for good. And what did he learn? Verse 9, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. My grace is sufficient for anything you experience. And you never go through these things alone. Isaiah 43 verse 2 says, when you go through deep waters I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you. God uses it to produce a humble dependence on him through these things. And the result is you learn that you walk through that valley of the shadow of death but you fear no evil for he is with you. That's what you learn. Do you ever pray God? I want to be like you. Do you ever pray that God? I want to be on fire for you. God I want to be used by you. God I want to know you. My professor at Biola, I will never forget his words. I repeat them often. He said, for those of you who are saying you want to be on fire for God, never forget that fire burns and fire consumes. And if you want to be on fire for God, you are going to discover some things that are very deep so that you begin to realize that you're never alone, that he never leaves you nor does he ever forsake you. That your strength is made perfect in weakness. Somebody asked me what is the deepest lesson you've learned from the Lord in the years you've walked with him. I've said this to you again. I've said this before, but this is it. It all works out in the end. It all works out in the end. What appears to be my loss has always turned out to be my gain. When I'm going through it, I don't like it. I will get angry. I have cried out to God. I've said, remove this. I can't take it. The pain is too deep. I can't make it. God, please help me. I have been there so many times, so many times. God, I can't take this anymore. My strength is made perfect in weakness. When you come to the end of yourself, you discover where my strength begins. You've been relying on yourself the whole time. Let me show you what I can do. I've discovered I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I've discovered that. Have you discovered that? I've discovered that my God will never leave me nor forsake me. I've discovered who is on the throne. I've discovered that God is able, and I don't care what the government is saying to us right now. I don't care if they say you can't worship God. You can't sing to God. I say, yes, we will. Why? Because he's deserving of it. That's why we're going to shut down your church. Hey, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Now, I don't do that in arrogance. God knows I'm not thumbing my nose at the governor or anybody else. I'm not doing that. I'm simply saying, here I stand by God's strength. We will overcome. He is the King. He is worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our devotion. He is worthy of all of this, and I will do whatever I need to do in order to worship him. Why? Because he deserves it, and my strength is made perfect through him. He strengthens me, and he'll strengthen you too. We need to understand that today, because I'm telling you, and you know this, you're hearing this constantly. Oh, you know, we're not telling the church to be quiet. We're simply telling the church to practice in isolation. We're not telling the church not to sing to God. We're just saying, church, don't sing with other people around. But then you have riots that they're calling peaceful protests, and that's okay, because they are exercising their First Amendment rights. But you church people, you can't speak, because you're going to make everybody sick. But in fact, the people who are in these protests are the ones who are getting sick, who are spreading the illness, but they don't tell you that, do they? Because we are looked at as being the problem, when in fact, the church is the answer. And instead of us closing our mouths, maybe it's time for us to speak a little louder, and to let people know, here I stand, whether you think it's right for us to stop speaking about Jesus Christ, you decide. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We're going to follow Jesus Christ to the very end. Why? Because He went to the cross for me, I will walk to the cross for Him, and I'll bear my own cross too. Do I want to go to jail? No. Been there, done that, don't want it. I'm going to send David Bustamante. He's never been. He deserves some jail time. No, we're not thumbing our nose at anybody, we're just raising our hands to the Lord. That's all. We're going to serve Jesus Christ. That's what this church does. And so when they say, you can't do that, I say, well, that's your opinion. We can talk about that, if you'd like, as we worship the Lord. Because we will not stop worshiping Jesus Christ, just because you say we're supposed to. We're not going to. And no, no, I'm not, I'm not Mr, I'm not Mr, you know, I don't know, protester, I'm not. I'm just whining us to know the goodness of God. And I know it comes at a cost sometimes. I know that, I know that. But you know, some things, some things cost, some things you got to do, because you just got to do those things. And you discover that God's grace is sufficient and God's strength is made perfect in weakness. When we come to the end of ourselves, we discover the beginning of his provision. And I think that the church needs to stand up and say, this is as far as we're going to go. We're not, we're going to, we're going to worship God. And we're not afraid. We're not afraid. You know, I, I care for you. I care for you. You may not understand that and probably don't really. No, I, I, I don't have services in, in this building because I want to send a statement to Newsome. He didn't care about us. I don't do that. Why do we have meetings here? Because it's air conditioned. And because I want you to be comfortable. That's why. Oh, you're a rebel. No, not really. I'm just like a dad who loves his kids. That's what I'm like. And I want my kids to be, that's real. That's really it. You know, that's true. You know, it's not like, I'll show you. He doesn't care. He doesn't. So we gather because we've been commanded to. And we sing songs because he is worthy. And we trust him because he's worthy of our trust. And if they want to come to me and say, we're going to find you, all right. But we, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And you're not going to stop us. You're not, you're not this as far as I know. Last time, well, last, last time I heard, I, I live in the United States. I, I have the, the freedom to assemble. And I have the freedom to speak. And I'm going to use both of those. And if you want to be with us, bless the Lord, you're here right now. And you who are home right now, you show up next week. I'm tired of not talking to you face to face. You should be here right now. I'm going to slap your face. You need to be here. There's room for you. We love you and there's room for you. You know, in the end, you want to go deep with God, you're going to go through deep things. You want to be deep with the Lord, you're going to go through deep things. But when you go through those deep things, you're never alone. When you go through those deep things, he's with you. He never leaves you. He never forsakes you. And he reveals to you things you didn't know. And at the end, you're not going to regret the lessons you learned. At the end, you're going to see that the prayer you had prayed where you said, make me like you, Lord, make me like you, you're going to learn that's exactly how he did it. By putting you in a position to live out your faith, to have the things that are not necessary removed so that the things that remain are the things he's pleased with. That's how you grow. So I'm trusting the Lord. No matter what I go through, I know the end is good. Because guess I read the last page of the last book of the Bible. We win with Jesus Christ. I learned that. And because I learned that, I will live that. I am more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ. I am a victor in him, not a victim. And he will be with me as I walk, no matter where I go, and he'll be with you too. And Paul's simply saying, I had so many things that I've seen, so many things that I've done, that the Lord has kept me dependent on him. He said, because in my weakness, that's when I discover the strength of God. And that's what we do too, guys. When you discover how weak you are, it's exactly where you begin to see how deep and strong he is. Do you want to know how strong the Lord is? He's going to allow you to see how weak you are. And when you discover that, now you know how to worship this great God who is with you, never leaves you, and he won't forsake you because he loves you. And in Christ, we are more than conquerors because he loved us. Don't forget that. That's what it means for us to be a Christian. We follow Jesus first and foremost, forever. And one of these days, we will hear him say, well done, my good, my faithful servant. And man, when we hear that, it's all worth it. It's all worth it.