 So just quickly, I know that this will save you time if you want these resources for your ministry or for yourself for a discipleship That's great. If not, that's great too. So I just wanted to really quickly talk about first of all if you want to be put on the email mailing list, this will just let you know when I'm going to be speaking in your area and Debbie will let you know that along with any new books that come out and we do Lord willing hope to have Ephesians ready by the end of this year So and next after that Lord willing will be the sermon on the mountain and I'm not sure what will come out I have several I've written that haven't been published yet. So we're just Waiting to see the first one is Nikki mentioned was with the master in the school of tested faith And if you don't know anything about my studies, they're written in expository fashion, which just basically means verse by verse through books of the Bible I cover the entire book verse by verse explain its meaning a little bit like of what you heard last night with application and illustration for women and Then at the end of every chapter there are study questions There's a memory verse and there are application questions. So this one's on James The second one that came out was with the master on our knees. This is a look at prayers in the Old and New Testament There's also two chapters in here on fasting and praying. I believe this is something that we as New Testament Christians Don't do, you know, Jesus didn't say if you fast He says when you fast and so I look at every instance in the in the scriptures on when God's people fasted and prayed and in every instance God intervened except in the case of David with Bathsheba as we know God already told him You will not die, but the child will die David fasted and prayed for seven days but the child did die because God's not a liar and So that's a little bit different in that book, but it is verse by verse. I cover the prayer of Jehoshaphat I cover the prayer of Solomon for wisdom a lot of the Old Testament prayers a lot of the New Testament prayers The third one Bible study that came out was with the master is fullness of joy Which is on Philippians again written in the same fashion as the other ones and then the one that came out I think it's a year been over a year now is with the master in the mirror of God's word This is on 1st John great book if you struggle With assurance of your salvation Which a lot of people do John has 20 tests This John is written he these things I've written that you might know for sure you have eternal life And so he goes through a series of tests also deals with the terrible heresy of Gnosticism which by the way is in our churches today and Nothing new under the Sun It's just it's just bled a bread in a different way. It has a different title but so that's dealt with in in 1st John and then I took kind of the just the 20 tests from that because there is so Many it seems as I go around and travel a lot of women really struggle They wonder about their salvation are they genuinely saved and so I wrote a little booklet called 20 little tests for God's little children Not 20 little tests 20 tests for God's little children, and they're not little tests Believe me every once in a while go through these making sure you know examining my own self to make sure that I'm in the faith even though I'm a hundred percent sure as much as I can be that I am but I as Paul says He wants to beat his body into subjection least he himself is a castaway least he himself would go apostate and so we want to always be examining ourselves and so There's 20 tests here for God's children. I go through each one of those in 1st John and explain them This is another little booklet that's great if you're a pastor's wife or if you counsel or disciple This little book helping women put off life dominating sins It deals with the top seven sins that women commit I deal with depression is not a sin But it's the first thing that I usually see women in the counseling room for so that's the first thing I deal with seven top sins women commit seven biblical motivations for putting off sin and then seven practical tips on how To put off sin in your life. So that's a very helpful little booklet in the back of it Are also the 20 tests from 1st John along with all the tests in James James also is a great book if you want to examine yourself to see if you're in the faith for sure read James read 1st John and That should that should answer it for you I have a heart for discipleship as Nikki said and every time somebody asked me I don't turn him down I and I was like I when people say how many women do you disciple? I go I don't know till I start looking at my contact list in my phone and then figure it out but the Lord this is really truly a love of my life is to disciple and I I love discipleship. I love meeting with women. I love trying to help them in their walk with Christ and so This is an area that I think is really lacking in churches today We're I cannot tell you how many places I've been where there are young women and they say there is no Woman in this church that is willing to disciple me I had one young girl. She was in a church of a thousand She asked all three of her pastor's wives to either disciple her or help her find someone and they did not and So finally she said will you disciple me and a church of a thousand there has got to be a godly older woman and so Ladies you have you that are gray-headed like me and are you there a gray hair can color your hair, but you're still gray You need to be discipling you need to be discipling. It's a command In fact, I grabbed a lady in my church the other night And I said here's a new lady in our church and I said I'm really kind of to the brim right now So I said you can pray about it, but it's a command from God old women are to teach young women So Tuesday night I grabbed her again. I said well, what's your decision? She goes I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it and I said good because you need to be obeying God and you're ready to disciple So this deals with who should disciple when where how and all I give a lot of practical tips on discipleship and then Called a scripture memory. I do love To memorize God's word and I share in this little booklet the technique my husband shared with me when I met him over 41 years ago He had most of the New Testament memorized when I met him And so he's really the one that taught me his method and he's always teasing me when I throw those Bible verses at him He says I wish I'd never taught you to memorize scripture and He's joking of course, but anyway This is my little journey on scripture memorization again How do you do it when where and all those questions are answered in that little booklet? So that's kind of what's out there. We also have a lot of CDs everything that I've ever taught on is on CD You can also download several things from my website to listen to you can get on worldview weekend I do a weekly Bible study for ladies on worldview weekend right now I'm teaching Ephesians on worldview weekend this fall. I will be teaching the Sermon on the Mount. That's an internet radio www.worldviewweekend.com and So you can listen to that you can download the homework from my website if you want to a lot of churches will take the whatever I'm teaching on the radio and They will listen to that as a group of ladies and then download the homework from my website and do that in their Bible study so you can do that as well We have a lot of my teachings now on DVD. We have a lady in our church. I'll let you come get this We have a lady in our church that This is Debbie and she is definitely such a blessing to me. So you want to meet her at least but Anyway We have a lady in our church that videos all my teachings on Tuesday night and puts them all together And so she's in the process of getting all my teachings together But we do have quite a few of them and a few of them now in DVDs. So anyway enough of all that I am thankful. In fact, I was telling my husband the other day. I said, I can't believe we're gonna celebrate our 40th I said I thought we I didn't think we'd be married 40 years and he said why not and I said because I didn't think you'd live that long He's you know, especially the level he's diabetic and the last five years six years He's had a couple of brushes with death and he's always like the fall I mentioned last night This is like a common occurrence in our house now. There's I tell my son I said, you know every two or three months something will go wrong with your dad So that's just the way it is, but I am thankful for a very godly husband I I so thankful for his headship and his encouragement, you know, he really does love me the way Christ loved the church He one of the things that he has done is is as men are commanded to study their wives and to know their wives And he has pushed me all these years to excel in Spiritually in my spiritual gifts and he's not possessive He is not jealous and he wants me to be serving the Lord and using my my Gifts for the kingdom and so I'm so thankful for him and And blessed by God to have a very godly man and one that knows the Bible better really than anybody I know living so very thankful for him and anyway don't how he got off on all that but All right. Well, let's get down to business and now where we're done at 10 30, right or before 10 15 or something Okay, well, this will be interesting. Can you get up here and wrap with me? Did that I don't think I could do that now I have four adopted children grandchildren from Africa They could probably do that but Anyway, well, let's pray and Turning your Bibles to 1st Peter chapter 4 for those of you that weren't here last night I won't really go into where we're going. You know where we're going you have an outline there and the first two sessions this morning are gonna be on what to do in the fiery furnace and last night we looked at five keys to loving life and You can get that I think on a CD. They said if you were not here last night, but for this morning Let's turn to 1st Peter chapter 4 verses 12 to 14 and let's pray together Father thank you so much for this time and I do thank you for your word Lord, it is the delight of our heart for we are called by your name Oh God and I pray that this morning that the words your words would be more important to us Than our necessary food Lord that we would find them and they would be sweet to our mouth sweeter than honey Father, I pray that we would digest them and that we would Not just leave them there in our mind But Lord that we would take the things that are spoken in your word and that we would Go and obey and do your word Lord. James says if any man is a here, but not a doer He has deceived himself into thinking that all he needs to really do is here But not do anything about it and that man or that woman has deceived themselves thinking they're a Christian when they're not So God, I pray that we would be doers of your word and Lord that we would humble ourselves before you this morning and Say yes, Lord to whatever it is that you would have us to do that you might be glorified That you might be exalted in this hour. I pray in Christ's name. Amen Well, as you already know I've from Oklahoma even though I was born in Wisconsin, but I live in Tulsa area Tulsa, Oklahoma and When I tell people I'm from Oklahoma There's usually a couple things that come to their mind first of all is the musical, you know, Oklahoma we're the And or you know, they taught they talk about the federal building that was bombed You know, that was a terrible tragedy when that happened but one of the things about Oklahoma is we have these terrible tornadoes and in fact we were hit by an F5 back in May of 2013 and Done did some terrible. I mean just massive devastation And Oklahoma is different than a lot of states in that we have a bad weather even though you guys have your share of bad weather, too But but we do have terrific Thunderstorms and tornado we are known as tornado alley and many of these storms that come into our city come very unexpected Especially tornadoes the other night Debbie and I were taking a gal out to dinner for her birthday in our church And and we were in a restaurant and all the everyone's cell phone was going off saying tornado warning get out You know and my husband called and he said Susan get out of the restaurant get home And we had a 30-minute drive home and the tornado was following us all the way and that was really that was about the the weirdest out I've been in a while and Debbie said I wonder if this is our time and I said Well, it might be we're gonna be sucked up in this thing but You know in the spiritual realm all of us as Christians have tornadoes don't we in our life we have storms not not physical, but we have spiritual storms Much as our much of our life is filled with unexpected storms Some storms come in the form of a mist like a broken arm My husband falling and breaking his elbow a sick child Or a day in which everything goes wrong. We talked about that last night Some storms come in the form of a steady rain Like a child who is sick for days and days and days A betrayal by what you thought was your best friend An unexpected move Some of life's storms are a little more severe. They come in the form of thunder storms like an unfaithful husband A rebellious child who leaves home or a family member or a dear friend that gets sick and then dies I think probably the most frightening of all life storms are the tornadoes the hurricanes of life These storms perhaps might involve persecution for your faith Or separation from a friend or a family member because of your stand for what christ says and they reject you Or maybe a catastrophe of some sort which affects your city or the world that you live in like The supreme court decision of june 26 that will forever change the course of the united states Ladies life is filled with storms, right? That's a fact But when the storms of life come into your world, what's usually the first thing that you ask the lord? Why Why is this happening to me lord? And ladies sometimes we don't know why and sometimes it's we'll never know We will never know there's some things that have happened to me. I still don't know why I have no idea why But another question we should be asking we don't often ask but we need to be asking is how How lord do you want me to respond as I go through this storm of life? And ladies my question to you this morning is where do we go? For the answer to the wise and the house of life's storms, where do we go? Well for the believer in jesus christ, we go what to his word, right? That's where we should be going That's where we should be going and I can think of no better place To land when we ask the question why and how then first peter because as I mentioned last night These christians were going through storms that you and I cannot even imagine at least not yet Even though I believe some of us in this room will face similar things And so we're going to study this in this session in the session to follow And there are seven answers you have an outline there seven answers to the question why why lord is this happening? And then there are five answers to the how How do you want me to respond? So let's read verses 12 through 14 where we're going to be in our time in this first session first peter for 12 through 14 Beloved do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is sent to test you So some strange thing happened to you But rejoice in as much as your partakers of christ's suffering that when his glory shall be revealed You may be glad also with exceeding joy If you are reproached for the name of christ happy are you for the spirit of god and of glory resteth upon you On their part. He is blasphemed But on your part. He is glorified Now again, I want to remind you these readers that are reading this epistle their storms are different than ours. Okay They're being killed for their faith in jesus christ many of them have lost their homes They're much like the group in syria where they've been forced to flee their homes. They have no food They have no shelter many of them are being killed for their faith in jesus christ And yet ladies the message is still the same for us as it is to them no matter what storm you are facing this morning And so peter begins by saying beloved don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is sent to test you Ladies it's a great comfort to me And I hope it's a great comfort to you and it's a great comfort to these readers that we're living in that time That peter begins by calling them beloved. You know what the term beloved means It means loved ones and it reminds these suffering christians and it reminds you and I That god loves us He loves us if you are called by his name you are beloved And so anything that he's allowing to happen in your life this morning Is because he loves you He loves you And that love would help these christians. It will help us go through any storm of life Ladies it helps you and I to know as we go through trials to know our father loves us one man said What a sweet pillow upon which to rest our weary hearts just to know the father loves us end of quote Well after reminding them of the father's love peter them reminds them don't think your trials are strange In fact, literally it reads Stop thinking it a thing alien to you Don't think it's strange concerning this trial Now ladies we need to understand the context here the Gentile converts in this time Would not be used to being persecuted for their faith In christ this would be something foreign to them They would think it out of place And contrary to the blessing of being a christian In fact, you know, I've met people today that think the same thing They think coming to christ means health wealth Prosperity no worries. I'm like, are you crazy? Did you consider the cost before you became a christian? Jesus says consider the cross hard is the way it's hard. It's very hard Ladies Jesus already made it very clear attachment to his name would mean what? persecution hatred We need to consider the cross Jesus says if the world hates you, you know, it hated me before it hated you If you love the world, what the world loves its own. They wouldn't hate you If they've persecuted me, they'll persecute you Now when peter tells them don't think it odd that they're going through fiery trials The grint the greek tense is in the present imperative which forbids It forbids ladies listen very carefully A puzzled continued reaction of being shocked You know what this tells me when a trial comes into my life If I remain in that state of like whoa, why is this happening lord when I keep on doing that i'm sinning Because peter says stop it stop doing that Don't continue to be shocked at the trial that comes into your life You know what happens if you do that if you never accept the trial the storm as a gift from your beloved heavenly father You know what happens you can't deal with the test You start taking drugs or whatever it is to deal with your situation And you can't deal with it In fact in the 40 years that my husband has pastored I have watched people go through trials for long periods of time And I wonder how come they're not able to accept this How come they can't accept this trial as a gift from the lord? How come they're not in church anymore? What's happening to them? They struggle they fight against god And yet I have to tell you that in the those same 40 years I've watched other believers in jesus christ Received storms of life from the heavenly father that I can't even imagine myself going through And I'm encouraged by watching them and wonder susan Could you respond like they have responded if god were to give you that trial? And their faith and their strength encourages me So ladies the number first answer to why why is this happening lord? It's a promise and that what peter says Don't be surprised by the strange trial that's come to test you. It's a promise. It's to be expected It's part of the course you enrolled in when you signed up to be a christian. Did you think about that? You know some of us don't consider the cost but nonetheless it's a part of being a disciple of jesus christ In fact, I heard about a father whose son was killed in a car wreck and at the funeral he went up to the pastor and he said this He said I want to know Where was god? When my son was killed And the pastor turned to him and he said the same place he was when his son was killed Ladies god is still on the throne And we must not forget that as we go through trials. It's a part of life, right? It's a part of life Now notice peter calls these trials fiery. What does that mean? Well, the word fiery means a burning or a furnace Something that is ignited In fact, the particular greek word is used only here and in revelation Where it talks about babelon's destruction and it calls it the smoke of her burning And so many people believe this is a literal burning. It's a real real fire And it that's possibly very true because remember many of them as I mentioned last night They were being rolled in pitch or tar and then set to light They were set to fire To be lit for nero's gardens at night. I've just got finished reading a book by jc Ryle called in I think somebody in old times talking about those that were burned at the stake during the time of queen mary And you know, actually some of them they would be be burning and their arms would fall off and parts of their body would fall off While they were still living And they would still be begging people to repent So it could be literal when he says don't be surprised at the fiery trial because Many of them were being burned to death but not all of them were being burned to death So it could refer to being tested by fire as peter says the fiery trials which are sent to test you In fact in first peter one seven He's already talked talked to them about being tested as by fire And he refers to it there in first peter one seven as a refining process That gold goes through where it's melted and this hot hot fire until all the impurities Are skimmed off and then you have left this pure gold You know, that's what job says He says I know that he knows the way that I've taken and when he has tried me I will come forth as gold and ladies job went through a trial that you and I can't even imagine going through Losing all your kids losing everything you own having a lovely wife that tells you to curse god and die I mean having sores all over your body and yet he says he knows the way I take And then when he's finished testing me, I'll come forth as gold I'll come forth as gold. The psalmist says for you. Oh gord. You oh god have tested us. You have refined us as silver is refined You know, we might say today boy. She's really going through a fiery trial fiery trial So the second answer to why why lord is this happening? There's a purpose. It's to test you Peter says don't be surprised at the fiery trial which is sent to Test you in fact the word for try means here in the greek to try you For probation or a putting to the proof Trying to see if you are genuine Ladies god wants to test us to see if we're real He wants to test us. He wants to purify the sin out of our life Will I persevere will I deny the lord? You know the storms of life really show what we are made of don't they aren't they? I think as we as women go through the trials of life. It really shows who we really are It shows who we really are Are we really leaning on the everlasting arms? Are we really a child of the king? Are we leaning on our own strength? Have I been faking it all these years telling people I'm a christian? But then god decides to put me through a fiery trial and I I cater Ladies these things come out as we go through the trials of life Well, peter goes on to repeat what he just said. He says don't think it's a Some strange thing that happened to you Ladies, why do we think trials are foreign to believers? Why do we think god has promised us a life of ease and comfort? In fact, the greek here is it's a strong greek word that means god forbid God forbid that you would ever think that it's strange that he would try you or test you Ladies nothing just happens in the life of a believer. Nothing just happens nothing Persecution and suffering is not an accident. It's all part of god's divine plan for your life He appoints our days our times everything. He knows even when you're gonna die You know, I was talking to a gal the other day. I was just happy and she says, you know, I don't know worry Why worry about all that stuff? He she says god has an appointment for me and he knows when it's gonna be He's not gonna take me one minute before he's ready for me He knows all that So instead of spending time sitting around thinking it's strange that you're being tested with the trial Notice what peter says in verse 13 He says but which is a contrast but Rejoice Rejoice to the extent that you partake of christ suffering In fact, there's two words for but in the greek one is day one is a la This is the stronger greek word The strongest of the two so instead of sitting around thinking whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Lord. What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? You say no, but you rejoice So here's your first answer to how how lord you want me to go through this trial that i'm going through this morning He wants you to rejoice He wants you to Rejoice and the greek word there means be cheerful He wants you to be cheerful In fact, you know peter's gonna mention four times about the joy that we should have in the next two verses as we go through trials He uses words like rejoice be glad be exceedingly joyful be happy be blessed Now ladies when's the last time that you were presented with a fiery trial and you were rejoicing In fact, the greek indicates here. It's not a one-time rejoicing, but it's a continue attitude of rejoicing as you go through this trial Why? Why should i rejoice peter says notice what he says Because we're partakers of christ suffering Because we are a partaker of christ suffering One man says this faith realizes that the ground for rejoicing does not lie in the suffering themselves But in the fellowship with christ that they bring I was talking to a pastor's wife follow go out in the lobby and she was telling me about One of her years it was bad. She lost a great friend. She lost a baby And I said yeah, but I bet you grew very close to the lord and she said I did I did That sweet sweet fellowship that we have As we go through the sufferings. So ladies this would be number three on the why of suffering. Why do we suffer? So that we can be a partaker of his sufferings So that we can be a partaker of his sufferings And notice peter says something very interesting He says to the extent which means in so much or in so far as in the Measure of what peter is saying is listen very carefully All the readers of this epistle had not been called to the same degree of suffering And ladies you haven't either some of you in this room are going to go through trials that you can't even imagine It's good that god doesn't show us the the rest of our life, right? Because we might be one of those last night that we talked about that try to commit suicide But um Some of you in this room are going to go through trials that you can't even imagine And yet some of the you in this room are going to just probably go through life and have very few trials Now why god calls some of us to suffer more than others? I don't know I don't have the answer to that question But I have this I have seen in my almost 60 years now those that he calls to suffer in a great degree They are the ones that I think are some of the most godly believers that I know of Steadfast in their faith. I mean you mentioned last night Elizabeth Elliott now. There's a woman who's gone through a lot of suffering But you know what she was steadfast to the end And through those sufferings she was refined as gold in fact if you haven't looked at her funeral at I wanted to get there, but I had my seven grandchildren, so I didn't get to her funeral But it's very interesting you can youtube it and watch it very just like her You know, she's laying there in a pine box and you know, it's open You can see her body and it's a very simple funeral, but it's very honoring to the lord There's a woman that suffered But gave her much grace But ladies it doesn't really matter if god gives you a lot of trials great if he gives you a few great too Whatever degree of suffering he calls you to do It will allow you to partake in his sufferings his pain Which means to share in close fellowship with him Paul mentions in Philippians one time one twenty nine for it is given unto you in the behalf of christ Not only to believe on him, but to suffer for his name You know, we like the belief part, right? Yeah, I believe in jesus. I believe in jesus. I believe in jesus But paul says that's not only a gift, but suffering is a gift, right? Now I have to say I didn't ask for my 40th wedding anniversary from my husband, honey Could you give me the gift of suffering for our 40th anniversary? Even though he says, you know susan we said for better and worse and you got the worst. That's what he's always telling me you got the worst But peter says suffering's a gift paul says suffering is a gift It's a gift Remember what paul says in flippians three ten that I want to know him the power of his resurrection The fellowship of his suffering why so that I might be made conformable to his death I want to identify with christ in his sufferings Ladies paul's desire was to identify with the lord so much. He wanted to suffer So that he could understand what his lord went through You might say why would anybody want to do that? Are they crazy? Well, I remember many many years ago that that really hit home to me for the first time in my life My husband and I had some dear friends. They were our best friends We did everything together our kids did everything together and some things came to our attention And we had to confront them on a sin issue and They went south and we lost the friendship over it. My husband and I didn't sleep eat for two weeks I would go to bed at night and just stare at the ceiling couldn't believe this one of those times I I should have remembered first peter don't continue to be surprised And uh, but I was young then probably probably 30. It's something around there, but um I for the first time in my life. I thought lord, that's what that means I can identify that when peter denied you when judas Betrayed you and you know for the first time I could say thank you lord Thank you now. I know a little bit of what it was like when all the disciples for succu and fled And I could say thank you thank you My friend suffering allows us to identify with the lord. Do you want to know him? You know, we like to sing these worship songs. Yeah, I want to know you and raw raw jesus But you know and you have those tingly, you know goosebumps and all that but do you want to know him in the suffering in suffering It's a privilege. It's a gift. In fact paul says something even more crazy if you think philippians is crazy Colossians 124 He says I rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is lacking In the afflictions of christ for the sake of his body, which is the church, you know what paul says I'm pursuing a course of life Which will cause me to suffer so that I can fill up what what is lacking in my life In suffering I want to identify with christ so much No wonder we as we read those lists last night, you know beaten 40 times and or three times He was beaten, you know 40 stripes and he was out in the middle of the sea naked and I mean This guy was crazy, you know But he wanted to identify with his he'd loved the lord No wonder paul can come to come to romans and say I wish that I could go to hell for my kinsmen I mean ladies, have you thought through that passage? I would go to hell For you. I am sorry. I'm not there yet I'm not paul I know there's no spiritual giants. I agree with paul washer, but I'm not there with my brother paul I mean I I want to go to be with my lord. I I don't know that I could go to hell for anybody, but paul he wanted to pursue such that course so he could know the lord And ladies that should be the desire of all of us now Notice peter is not saying to rejoice in the suffering look very carefully He's not saying rejoice in the suffering in verse 13 But rejoice because you can share in christ Sufferings now I have known people that like trials and you know why? Because they want attention They want everybody to feel sorry for them. They want to tell their stories You know, they want people to bring them meals. They want to be pampered Ladies that is not godly that is selfish And it's wicked It's wicked But peter says no we so we can share In his sufferings the motive behind the rejoicing is the blessing of identifying with christ Not so that somebody will feel sorry for you and bring you flowers and candy Part of the blessings of partaking in his sufferings includes partaking in the results of his sufferings Notice what peter says he puts it this way that when his glory is revealed you'll be glad with exceeding joy Ladies when christ is revealed in glory. We're gonna share in his glory just as we've shared in his sufferings What peter is saying here that present rejoicing now during our trials prepares us to fully experience joy in the future in glory Paul says If we endure we will reign with him If we deny him he will deny us Romans 8 18 says for I consider the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory Which will be revealed in us Peter goes on to say we'll be glad with exceeding joy You know what this is a great burst of joy that will sweep over us at christ's return In fact exceeding would include jubilation skipping and bubbling over with shouts of delight Now ladies, I know that's going to be a divine intervention for some of you people You know some reformed churches I go to about the deadest I've ever seen I don't know it's going to be really hard for them to skip and be joyful when they get to heaven And that will be a divine intervention for sure But that's what peter's saying You will have exceeding joy. I know some of you, you know, you squelch all those emotions But when you get to heaven that's not going to happen. Can you remember being your glorified body? In fact the present tense here of the exceeding joy is enduring forever because it's forever and ever we're going to be with him forever and ever Exceeding joy You'll be glad you'll be glad number two on the answer to how to respond in trials is this Rejoice knowing that glory is going to follow Rejoice in your trial right now. Why because glory is to follow ladies Do you know life's trials are going to seem small when we see christ? It is not going to matter It's not going to matter what the supreme court did It's not going to matter that you know bruce geners now. Okay, it's not going to matter Even all that stuff is just nauseating. It's not going to matter paul puts it in second charentians four our light affliction Which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Well peter continues with this theme of being happy in trials notice what he says in verse 14 If you're reproached for the name of christ happy are you? For the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you The word if is not Really if it means sense Or in view of the fact that you are reproached for the name of christ In fact being reproached for the name of christ means to be insulted And so this would include attacks that were verbal or physical. We've all been there I had an unbelieving family member one time and she was Hemorrhaging and she thought she might die my husband. I drove all night in the middle of the night to go see her and And she told me later. She said I was praying if you were coming here To confront me that god would kill you on the way. I was like, whoa, you know And uh, this is just some of the stuff, you know, and so we've been there where people have Physically and verbally attacked us We've all been there And peter says if you're reproached because of your attachment to christ What rejoice rejoice peter says in verse 16 if anyone suffers as a christian let him not be a shame but let him glorify god in this matter peter says if you're attacked physically or verbally you're happy you're blessed you're spiritually well off That's a great deal. Whoa if all men speak well of you. Isn't that what jesus said? In fact, my husband has been attacked so many times and I mean he's had people want to kill him And literally we had one elder coming to our door in our first church with a gun ready to kill him And so I mean he and he's always saying this is great. This is great And uh, I remember the first one of the first times I went with him to speak at one of his former churches that he attended And when he was growing up and he was speaking on titus 2 and one of the ladies afterwards, you know Came up in the receiving line and she said oh, I hate you and I hate that message. I'm like And he goes in this grade and I go no, it's awful. What are you talking about? Now I'm you know, I've been a little bit longer in the faith. I'm yeah, bring it on. It's okay Jesus says Blessed are you and men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you Rejoice rejoice. He says and be exceedingly glad glad why for great is your reward in heaven And so they persecuted the prophets who were before you ladies read the old testament Look at the persecution of the prophets that went before us And the apostles and the disciples That should encourage us. Why should we be happy? Peter says why should we be blessed? Peter says for the spirit of glory and of god rest upon you In fact, the word rest here is an interesting greek word, which means to refresh The spirit refreshes you In fact, it speaks of a farmer resting his land by sowing light crops on it He relieves the land of the necessity of producing heavy crops and therefore gives it an opportunity to rest Remember in leviticus 25 it talks about that You know you harvest your stuff for six years and then what do you do on the seventh year? In leviticus. I know all of you have a leviticus memorized by now Who's going to take that book up that we talked about if we all go to prison But remember in leviticus it says six years you do that and then on the seventh you what you let it rest Why so it can recuperate and be refreshed? That's the greek idea here So the idea is that the indwelling holy spirit as we go through suffering He rest and he refreshes us Even though the world is persecuting us One man said he rests upon the christian as the shekinah Rested on the tabernacle and brings a foretaste of that glory, which is fully given at the revelation Lady he strengthens us. He strengthens us beyond our understanding. You've been there I've been there. If you're walking with the lord, you've been there. You've you've persecuted you've been persecuted You've suffered through Christ and you go, how come I'm feeling so great, you know just refreshed about this It's not you. It's the spirit In fact, this is probably the idea in matthew chapter 4 remember when the devil came to test Jesus over and over and over and over It says when the devil left him that angels came and ministered to him they refreshed him Also in acts we see this when steven was being persecuted for his attachment to christ It said that they looked at his His face as he was looking into heaven and it looked like a face of an angel I mean they're stoning Steven with stones like this. I mean not little pebbles big old stones in there, you know throwing them out He's probably about gashes coming out of his body and bleeding everywhere and he's just like He's refreshed. He's strengthened And ladies it is for many of you you could testify that just like christ steven They were refreshed and strengthened by the spirit. You've been there too I remember one lady told me when Um her son was in a car wreck he he was um His car hydroplained and his best friend in the front seat was killed and This was uh, she's now an elder's wife in our church But I spent many hours up at the hospital with her and We didn't know if her son was gonna live or die and that's probably been 10 years ago now But she said susan. She said I hadn't aware of christ's presence that I've never had and she said I I long for that I miss it I miss that The holy spirit strengthening and refreshing There's a closeness with our father that we don't have at other times But as we go through suffering he strengthens us And so we have a third answer when asking the question. How do I respond to life storms? How do I do this? With assurance knowing the holy spirit will strengthen and refresh me With assurance knowing the holy spirit will strengthen And refresh me Paul says most gladly I glory in my infirmities. Why so the power of christ will rest on me I glory in my infirmities bring them on Why so the power of christ will rest on me? And then peter ends these words in verse 14 on their part. He's blaspheme, but on your party's glorified This phrase here is not in the original manuscripts, but if it were in the original manuscripts What peter is saying is basically this They the persecutors blaspheme god But you on the other hand On your part by your life He is glorified So why do we have storms in this life? First of all, it's a promise. It's to be expected Do you expect trials? Do you see them as part of your being a child of god? Are you under the myth that trials are not for believers? Secondly, there's a purpose to test you What trials have you encountered in the past year the past week or even today? How have they been used by god to bring you one step closer to his image? Thirdly, we have trials in order to allow us to be a partaker or to participate in christ's sufferings Is this a comfort to you? To be able to fellowship with christ in his sufferings Secondly, how do we respond to difficulties? First of all with an attitude of rejoicing Is this your response to trials that god allows now? I understand it might not be the immediate response when my husband fell a few weeks ago and I realized how significant his injuries were. I can't say. Oh, this is so great You know, I I but again, but as the morning went on I I was at peace This is what god wants for me today. You might not be able to respond immediately with joy But eventually you have joy knowing that god is doing something valuable in your life for your good Secondly, we're rejoicing knowing that glories to follow When life hits you with a trial, do you let your mind drift to heaven? And what is to come which is glory? Do life's trials seem small to you compared to eternity and seeing christ? And lastly, we respond with an attitude of assurance knowing the holy spirit will strengthen and refresh in us How did the spirit strengthen and refresh in you in your last trial? Well, I know many of you are facing storms of life today For some of you it might be a mist Some of you a steady rain Some of you are going through thunderstorms Some of you are going through tornadoes and hurricanes But ladies whatever type of trial god's allowing whether small or great Will you Allow it to bring you closer to the master As he walks with you through the fiery furnace. Let's pray Father, thank you for this time in your word and I look forward to completing What peter shares with the readers these persecuted christians our brothers and sisters That are now with you And I pray lord that you will use This session and the one to follow to encourage my sisters here As they go through the sufferings of this life Whether they're trials or persecutions for being attached to you I pray that you will use these words to encourage them That you would be glorified through them in christ's name. Amen