WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:03.919 I love Easter. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.559 It's such a wonderful, wonderful day. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:09.199 I love a lot of things about it. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.359 It is a day full of brightness and color. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.560 It's a day of celebratory songs and hymns. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.960 It's a day which seems to assume and even draw out of us joy. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:26.399 But for some people, Easter joy just seems a little bit out of reach. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.960 The songs that we've sung together are triumphant songs. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:36.000 The colors that some of you are wearing are bright and beautiful. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.079 Hope punctuates the air. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:46.079 The celebration that we had in our breakfast just in the last hour was filled with all kinds of laughter and encouragement. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:48.479 It was a celebratory breakfast. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.520 But real life, everyday life, sometimes just doesn't meet that kind of atmosphere. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:03.280 And I know that some of you have come into this room with heaviness in your hearts, carrying burdens that aren't pausing for the holiday. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:09.280 Some of you are dealing with medical cares that are still continuing. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:16.480 Some of you are dealing with strained relationships or financial pressures which are you brought into the room this morning. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:25.920 Some of you are here simply because it's Easter, it's a tradition, but you feel distant from the God that everyone else is singing about. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.560 And some of you are here wondering if God can ever meet you in that hidden ache of your heart that only you and he know about. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:41.439 Well, this morning I want to introduce us to a man who knows what it is to be in those kind of moments. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.760 So let's take our Bible and go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.400 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:57.040 And I want to introduce you to the Apostle Paul, who speaks about a situation in his life that was just as heavy as any of ours. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:10.080 And you can find 2 Corinthians chapter 1 on page 1023. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:24.319 The Apostle Paul, when he introduces himself to the church at Corinth in this second letter that he wrote to them, doesn't speak like a man who's got it all under control. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:34.319 In fact, he says about himself in verse 8 that he was so utterly burdened that he was beyond his strength. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.240 And he felt despairing even of life. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:45.840 And the situation was so bad that he felt like he had received the sentence of death. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:51.120 Now, those aren't the words of somebody who's having a bad day. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.400 Those are the words of someone who has actually come to the end of himself. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:08.719 And it's precisely there, at the end of himself, that the Apostle Paul recognizes the importance about something, the importance of something about God. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:16.560 And something about God that he probably couldn't have appreciated quite so well in any other circumstance. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:28.560 Because he realizes that the God that he serves is not just the God who helps the strong, he's not just the God who encourages the optimistic, he's the God who does this. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.520 The God who raises the dead, as he says there. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:44.159 And once you realize that God is the God who raises the dead, that literally changes everything. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:57.520 It changes how you face your sufferings, it changes how you think about deliverance, and it shapes for you a hope that is unlike any other hope in this world. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:01.280 So this morning, I'd like for us to listen. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:11.120 To listen to Paul as he speaks about this, about the God who raises the dead. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:25.120 And what we will be hearing this morning is not just a celebration of a past event, remembering that God raised Christ from the dead, but that he is a God who still works in human lives today. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:31.360 People who feel overwhelmed, stuck, empty, even. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.560 Because he's a God who raises the dead. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.759 And I want us to capture three points this morning. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:43.360 That because God is the God who raises the dead, we can face overwhelming suffering. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:51.279 Because God is the God who raises the dead, we can feel his delivering power even today. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:57.920 And because God is a God who raises the dead, we can live with confident hope. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:04:59.839 Those are our three points. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.240 And I want us to begin with that first one. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:09.199 Because God has raised Jesus from the dead, we can face overwhelming suffering. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.199 Well, let's begin where Paul begins here in verse 8. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:22.160 And contrary to how many of us would frame ourselves and our situations, Paul doesn't begin this letter with a success story. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:24.240 He begins it with a confession. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:30.959 He wants the Corinthians to understand what's been really happening to him in Asia. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:38.160 And he's not like some missionaries might be doing, giving the polished version, you know, giving the praise report. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:40.879 He's giving them the raw reality. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.360 Take a look at verse 8 again. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:49.439 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:55.279 We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:01.120 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:10.720 Utterly burdened. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.040 The scale has broken. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:15.120 It's so loaded down. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:22.000 Beyond the strength, no capacity left to bear any more. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:24.720 Despairing of life. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:26.800 No way out. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:31.120 No strategy, no escape, no solution. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.000 Now, this is an important point to remember. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.319 Paul is not a weak Christian. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.240 He's not a brand new Christian. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:41.279 He's not immature. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:43.120 He's not faithless. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.720 He's an apostle of Jesus Christ. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:53.279 And he's suffering these things and saying he despaired even of life itself. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:56.639 What does that tell us? 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:04.639 It tells us that when we deal with overwhelming circumstances, it's not an indication that we're second-class believers. 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:10.800 It's just the path that God brings some of his children through. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:17.920 Now listen to some of the biblical statements where other people mention exactly the same thing. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:24.319 Psalmist in Psalm 88 says, This darkness is my only friend. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.360 Now that's that's a pretty hard statement. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.319 Job sitting in ashes, his world shattered. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:40.560 And he goes to his friends, and even they don't give him an explanation, they give him an accusation. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:45.360 Elijah under the tree saying, It's enough. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.879 Oh now, Lord, please take my life. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:51.120 I want to die. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:59.120 And Jesus in Gethsemane, my soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:13.120 See, the Bible doesn't treat overwhelming suffering as an embarrassment to hide, but to treat it as a reality to bring into the presence of God Himself. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.000 And some of you are feeling like that. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.040 Where the diagnosis has come and it's not good. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:27.439 Or some of you are wondering what is the diagnosis? 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:41.759 When the relationships are fractured, when the job disappears, when the cares of this life gnaw away at any little sleep that you feel like you can have. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:54.960 When those things happen, you're not stepping outside the normal Christian life, but you're stepping into the place where many of God's people have been and many still are with you. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:57.360 Some of you are here right now. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:58.000 It's Easter. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:59.360 We've sung, He is risen. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.840 You've said it yourself, He is risen indeed. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:06.000 But inside your heart you're saying, I don't know if I can go any further. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.559 I really don't have any strength left. 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:15.440 Paul's honest words are meant to be your honest words. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:22.720 We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired even of life. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.840 Now, why could why could Paul be this honest? 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:42.159 Why could he write these things to a church who are actually in this very moment questioning his apostolic credentials and are definitely questioning his apostolic competency? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.960 Why could he speak that honestly about this? 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.159 Shouldn't he be protecting his image? 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.399 Shouldn't he be trying to tell them, hey, look, I'm I'm really am an apostle. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.279 I I can kind of deal with life well. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:04.080 Well, for Paul, his trust wasn't in his image. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:07.840 Look at what he says in verse 9. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:19.519 He said this so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:26.879 You see, the resurrection is what sustained Paul in the middle of all these moments. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:39.679 Because he knew that death wasn't the end, and he knew that weakness wasn't going to have the final say, and he knew that defeat wasn't going to be the last word written on his record. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:46.320 Because if God raised Jesus from the dead, then Paul didn't need to pretend. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.320 Paul didn't need to hide the despair. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:06.720 Because underneath, underneath of those honest comments is a deeper foundation, is this realization that he can speak with confidence. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.080 God is a God who raises the dead. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.960 Now lock this point in. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:22.320 The resurrection is not just a historical event that happened in the past, it's the turning point of all scripture. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:27.440 And it is for you the horizon for all of your existence. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:33.200 Listen to some of the Old Testament statements that talk about God bringing life out of death. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:42.639 Abraham and Sarah, where Abraham is described not just once but twice in Scripture, as good as dead. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.159 And yet Isaac is born. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:56.879 Or Israel with Pharaoh and his army behind them and the sea in front of them, stuck between a rock and the deep blue sea. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:01.519 And there in the midst of that moment, God acts to deliver. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:13.360 Or Ezekiel 37, where Ezekiel is brought into a place where he sees nothing but a valley of tangled and dissembled bones. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.720 And he's asked the question, can these bones live? 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.120 And the answer is yes. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:20.799 Yes, they can. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:30.240 And all of these in the Old Testament are whispers of a truth that God is able to bring life out of death. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.159 He's able to bring something where there is no hope. 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:39.200 And these are signposts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:45.679 And when we talk about Jesus being resurrected, we're not just adding another signpost there. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:57.440 That this is some sort of emblem of life out of death, you know, an egg breaking and out comes a new life, or flowers blooming out of a out of a cold, barren ground. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:03.519 No, we're not we're not talking about little symbols like that where, you know, you know, your days will get better. 00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:05.440 They just might get a little better. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:08.879 No, we're talking about a dead man that came out of a grave. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.320 Because one day we're all going to be dead people. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.240 And do we have a hope that we'll come out of the grave? 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:17.600 That's the question. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:27.360 And so here, Paul is saying that as believers, well, we can face overwhelming suffering. 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:35.840 And we don't need to deny it, and we don't need to hide it, but we also don't need to be despairing because of it. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:48.480 But we can live with a deep, steady confidence that God who raised the dead is our God. 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.679 Paul goes on to talk about this in verse 9. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:57.919 He said, We felt we had received the sentence of death. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:13:58.639 Yes. 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.120 The verdict has been handed down. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.440 There's no appeal, there's no reprieve, condemnation is coming. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:06.799 That's how he felt. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:17.919 And these overwhelming circumstances led him at the end of this verse to say this so that we wouldn't trust in ourselves, but in the God who raises the dead. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:25.200 You see, sometimes God brings us through overwhelming suffering in order to expose where we trust. 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.399 Not always, but sometimes to expose where we trust. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:48.879 Because when we're strong and when we're competent, and when things are good, we can trust our health, we can trust our financial planning, we can trust our relationships, we can trust our ability to manage and to plan and to fix. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:56.399 But when things get out of our control, none of those things will hold us. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:57.440 Not one. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:08.000 And Paul realized God had taken him into a place of life where the only thing he could trust is the God who raises the dead. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:19.279 And so one of the questions we have to ask ourselves when we face these overwhelming situations is Am I trusting the Lord? 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:28.639 Am I going to cling harder to what I can do or what someone else might be able to do for me? 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:36.080 Or am I going to begin to lean my full weight on the God who raises the dead? 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:51.679 If you're here this morning and you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you're going through circumstances that feel like utter chaos. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.639 Like, I want to tell you this. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:00.799 The universe is not random, it is not cruel, and it is not indifferent. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.960 It is controlled by a God who holds every single particle in his hand. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:15.360 And I want to tell you this: that your suffering is perhaps put into your life to awaken you to something. 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.480 That you can't control life, and you certainly can't control death or your eternity. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:42.799 You see, your career can't raise the dead, and your relationships can't raise the dead, and your moral efforts can't raise the dead, and your spiritual energies and efforts can't raise the dead. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.919 Only God can raise the dead. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.480 And he's given proof that he's already done that. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:58.799 And that can be the very source of a new life for you, even in the middle of the things that you're dealing with. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:04.559 Please stay with me as we go through the rest of this because you will understand more about that as we do. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:06.799 Let's look at the second point now. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:09.680 Because God has raised Jesus from the dead. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.880 Our first point said we can face overwhelming suffering. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:21.119 Our second point is this: that because God is the one who raises the dead, we can trust His delivering power. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:33.119 Like I said, we go through life and sometimes it feels very, very uncertain, pressing upon us in ways that stretch us beyond what we've ever, ever imagined. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:37.039 Some of you are waiting on medical clarity. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:43.039 Some of you are dealing with the slow ache of relationships that are held at a distance. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:48.960 Some of us are navigating financial strains that just gnaw away at every decision we make. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:55.279 Some are watching a child perhaps drifting away from the Lord that you raised them to love. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:58.880 And you're wondering if they'll ever come back. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.519 These are real pressures. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:06.559 But we don't need to interpret them through our fear. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:11.759 And we don't need to interpret them through our gnawing fatigue. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:20.799 We're asked to see them from a different vantage point, to understand them through the God who raises the dead. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.559 You see, that is the starting point. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:30.400 That is the lens through which we see our current circumstances. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.160 Now take a look at verse 10 and see how Paul talks about that. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:41.359 In verse 10, he says, We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:42.000 Why? 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:50.400 Because at the beginning of verse 10, he says, He's delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:53.200 What is he talking about? 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:55.359 He's talking about three deliverances here. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.200 He's talking about a rescue from the greatest death. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.640 He calls it a terrible death. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:07.039 What is he speaking about there? 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:13.200 Well, what he's talking about is something far worse than any circumstance we might be dealing with today. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:24.720 What he's talking about is the need of every one of us to receive God's salvation, to be rescued from the eternal judgment that our sins deserve. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:36.799 And Paul knows here that apart from Christ, a sentence of eternal death stood over him that was more severe than any earthly threat. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.400 And he knows that this terrible death God has already delivered him from. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:51.839 He knows that he has been rescued from the righteous judgment of a holy God. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.759 And that deliverance has come at a cost. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.799 The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:07.359 And this is why Paul says that he can trust God for present help. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:09.920 Look at what he says. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.039 And this is the logic of other places in Scripture. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.119 Romans chapter 8. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:45.839 God there did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:52.400 And how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? 00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:04.319 Also in Romans 8, those he foreknew, he predestined, those he called, he justified, and those he justified, he will glorify. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:13.680 If he's delivered us from such a great death, he will deliver us now and he will deliver us in the future. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:23.440 And this is why Paul says this, not with some vague optimism, but with a resurrection certainty. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:29.599 That the God who saved him from eternal death is one day going to raise him into glory. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.279 This God who justified him will glorify him. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:42.319 This God who brought Jesus to the grave for him will bring and brought him out of the grave, will one day bring his people out of the grave. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:59.440 And then he says, Because of that past and that future deliverance, right now, when I'm feeling overwhelmed beyond my strength with a sentence of death facing me. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.720 I know he will deliver us still. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:11.039 God can take care of today, just like he took care of my sin debt for eternity. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.200 Now, many of you, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:39.359 You could speak longer than I will this morning about how God has sustained you through grief, how God has provided for you when the numbers just didn't add up right, when God has taken care of you and restored relationships that you loved that were broken without any hope of reconciliation. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.119 You can speak about these things. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:49.119 And those memories that you have and those experiences that you've gone through, they're not accidents. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:23:04.319 They're meant to be cumulative reminders of you in your present moment, that what God has done for you already, and what he's promised to do for you in eternity, he is there to help you with today. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.200 God was loosening Paul's grip on self-reliance. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.119 What a great gift that is. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:21.039 So that he might weigh out and fully lean upon that eternal strength of God. 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.880 Because God is not limited by death at all. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:39.680 If you're here this morning and you don't know Christ is your Savior, what you're going through at this moment, if you're going through difficulties and troubles, they're not your worst problem. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:45.920 You may feel the weight of your life in such a way that you can't fully explain it. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:46.559 Yes. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:53.039 And you may one day sense that your foundations that you hold on to are not strong enough to hold you. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:58.799 And you might wonder what might happen to you that day when the strength runs out. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:23:59.920 Who will be around me? 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:01.119 What will be around me? 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.279 How well have I prepared for this? 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:08.720 But there's one thing that you need to bring into weighty consideration. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:13.680 The scriptures say it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:16.319 It is no joke. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:30.480 The God who created us calls us to love him with all of our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 None of us passed that test. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:36.319 None of us. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:44.319 And Paul says that what awaits us is a terrible death. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:25:00.400 I don't know about you, but I'm not going to have anything to bring to God that I've built that would convince him to release that sentence of a terrible death from my soul. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:06.720 Not a single thing would convince him otherwise. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.240 But I want to tell you something. 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:15.599 The God I'm talking about is the God who raises the dead. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:37.440 That he is the one who has raised Jesus from the dead as a declaration of the forgiveness of sins. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:43.279 That his work on the cross was sufficient to say. 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.279 You don't need to clean yourself up. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.720 You don't need to present yourself to God as if you might be acceptable to him. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:55.920 You don't need to pretend that you're strong. 00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:01.039 And you don't have to hide the fact that you've got a need before him. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:16.400 The scriptures say that if you come to Christ with empty hands, with a realization of your sin, with an acknowledgement that that sin has been committed against him, and that you trust Christ alone as your Savior. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:32.160 The scriptures are clear in saying that you have to all who come to him a pardon for your sin and life for your death and a security and a welcome for your condemnation and your banishment. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:36.559 Because God is the God who raises the dead. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:44.960 And the God who raises the dead can put spiritual life into you like you can't begin to imagine even today. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:50.160 Now let's go to the third point here. 00:26:52.400 --> 00:27:00.559 Our first point was it's because God has raised Jesus from the dead, we can face overwhelming circumstances with confidence. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:08.000 Our second point was because God raised Jesus from the dead, we can trust his deliverance. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:15.680 And the last point is because God is the one who raises from the dead, we can live with confident hope. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.039 We can live with confident hope. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:21.759 Take a look again at verse 10. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:33.119 He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us, and we have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:36.720 Hope is such a beautiful word. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:43.839 It's one of the greatest gifts that God gives people to have, to live with hope. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:50.880 But it's also something that feels in human existence in our lives very vulnerable. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:54.319 It can feel fragile sometimes. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:58.559 Our lives can be filled with uncertainty. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:02.880 Hope can dissipate whenever we feel fearful or unclear. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:09.119 Even believers can lose hope when their prayers don't seem to be being answered. 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:14.079 When the path in front of us seems very obscure. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:41.440 It comes from God's character himself. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.400 Now look at how this unfolds here. 00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:51.200 He says, On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:55.039 That's not wishful thinking there. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.640 That's not just simply optimism that pours out of this jolly personality. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:05.920 This is not Paul trying to convince himself that things are just going to get better. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:14.079 It's a settled confidence rooted in the character of God, in the activity of God who raises the dead. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:21.039 Paul looks back, he sees God's deliverance from such a terrible death. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:28.400 He looks at his present and he sees God's sustaining grace in the midst of his utter emptiness. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:37.119 And he looks to the future and he sees the same God who is unchanged, who is always faithful, and who is strong. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:44.559 And he anchors his future in God's character, not his circumstances. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:56.319 Scripture speaks to this with a relentless confirmation to our weak hearts. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:58.880 Peter had called it a living hope. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:00.960 Listen to what he said in 1 Peter. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:07.759 He said, God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:12.880 Paul calls it the hope of glory in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 27. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:17.599 He said, Christ in you, the hope of glory. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:29.599 The writer of Hebrews in chapter 6 and verse 19 says, We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:41.440 And the early church learned this lesson well to a very young church, the Thessalonians, among whom some had died, and some of them are wondering what's happening. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:58.880 Paul doesn't minimize their grief and he doesn't rush them past their sorrow, but he does tell them this since we believe that Jesus died and rose again in the same way through Jesus, God will bring those with him who have fallen asleep. 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:03.519 Their hope is not in the avoidance of suffering. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:07.279 Their hope is in the certainty of the resurrection. 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:12.640 Think about it this way life is a long journey. 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:23.200 A journey that's full of terrain that rises and falls, that's full of weather that shifts in all kinds of ways, sometimes pleasant, sometimes very, very difficult. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:33.119 And on a path that weaves and moves through that terrain and even disappears in a lot of a lot of places where you don't even know where it might be turning. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:44.000 But at the very end of it is your destination at a mountaintop horizon that never ever goes out of your sight. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:32:03.119 And so, with that fixed point in view, whatever the weather might be, or whatever the terrain might look like, or whatever, however winding the road and the pathway might turn, there's something always in front of you. 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:07.599 It is that certain point of final destination. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:20.960 And if you can keep that in view, weather and terrain and the turns of the path are just simply little steps along the way that will bring you eventually to that destination. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:26.799 This is what Paul's talking about when he says, He will yet deliver us. 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:35.599 He's talking about the God who raises the dead, and he's got it deep down in his soul that God will raise him from the dead. 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:46.400 So, this ditch of terrain, this turn of the path, this rainstorm that's pouring down on me, it's not the end of the story. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:48.640 It's not the end of the story at all. 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:52.720 Because there's a fixed point of destination. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:33:01.680 He whom God has predestined is the same God who will glorify his people. 00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:03.920 That's your end. 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:08.640 And so keep the resurrection in front of you on these moments. 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:14.000 Let it give meaning to these days that are filled with difficulty. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:18.480 Let it keep you moving forward even though the path is steep. 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:21.839 Let it steady you even though the way seems unclear. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:27.039 Let it remind you even when the story seems a bit muddled at the moment. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:31.359 God will take care of you. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:47.119 In the middle of your waiting, he will take you and shape you and hold you and sustain you, but he will also loosen the grip of your self-trust and your love of things for the love of him. 00:33:48.240 --> 00:34:06.480 And the day will come in the future when he will bring you into his presence, and there for eternity, those things will never ever be able to even be once compared to the sufferings that you're enduring now. 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:08.320 So great are they. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:20.159 Some of you are feeling as though you've got a sucking chest wound, and there never seems to be any spiritual breath that can hold deeply in those lungs. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:24.079 You're always gasping for the next breath of life. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.280 So draining and troubling are the difficulties. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:32.480 But the scriptures here say that those moments are not the end of the end of the book. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:37.199 They're simply a part of the page you're on right now. 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:42.719 And the God who raised Jesus from the dead will one day raise you. 00:34:43.039 --> 00:34:52.079 And he will present you to himself as a spotless bride without blemish or any such thing. 00:34:53.760 --> 00:35:01.840 Your spiritual dryness will be swept up by an eternal enthusiasm and glory and worship before God. 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:06.719 And some of you are discouraged by your own failures. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:09.840 And it's easy to do that. 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:29.119 But the scriptures tell us that God, who is already forgiven, restores, but he will make you fully whole, completely in his presence, blameless and without fault and with great joy, I think Jude says at the end of his letter. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:34.559 The resurrection means you have a destination. 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:43.440 Your sanctification, your troubles, your hardships, it's all going to come to that final point. 00:35:45.840 --> 00:36:00.000 And if you're not a believer this morning in Jesus Christ and you know that what you're dealing with are simply trying to match your troubles with your own abilities or circumstances or relationships. 00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:02.800 I want to tell you something. 00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:08.719 The Christian life is not something we manufacture, it's something we discover. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:15.760 And we often discover it most in the moments where we feel at the very bottom of ourselves. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.320 Just like Paul's talking about here. 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:25.519 He's telling the truth. 00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:31.440 That he was dealing with things that were so overwhelming he felt like he had the sentence of death already passed down on him. 00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:32.719 It's over. 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:39.119 But he also says, God raises the dead. 00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:42.480 And God took us through that. 00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:46.719 And it wasn't because we added something or just needed a little extra help. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:53.280 You see, without God, everything will eventually collapse. 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:55.119 Everything. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:00.320 Without God, you have no eternal hope. 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:01.920 You die then what? 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:05.199 Well, there's an answer to that question. 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:08.559 The answer is God raises the dead. 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:16.000 And with that hope, you recognize that death is the doorway into new life. 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:23.119 God who raises the dead is here today. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:26.400 He is speaking his word today. 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:29.360 He's among his people today. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:33.599 And his invitation is to you today. 00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:38.400 Look to Jesus Christ and live. 00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:39.679 And live. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:48.000 And find a hope that will anchor not only your present, but your soul in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:59.440 A God who's raised the dead, who can steady you in suffering, He can deliver you in your waiting, and He will give you a home in your eternity. 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:01.920 Let's pray together. 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:08.880 Father, we thank you for this glorious truth. 00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:31.280 This one declared through an inexperienced person, Paul, who told us with honesty and humility and transparency, not pretending it didn't hurt, and not minimizing the weight of his troubles, even describing he felt like if it was up to him, he was finished. 00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:35.599 But who also said he wasn't finished. 00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:38.320 Because he wasn't trusting himself. 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:39.039 He couldn't. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:40.559 There was nothing there to trust. 00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:47.280 But he could raise, he could trust the one who raised Jesus from the dead. 00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:53.119 And Father, I pray that we might live with that same confident hope. 00:38:53.840 --> 00:39:02.400 Not the kind of fragile hopefulness that's tied to circumstances, but with an eternal hopefulness that's anchored in the risen Savior. 00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:16.079 A hope that steadies us in the middle of our sufferings, who strengthens, that strengthens us through all of our waiting, and who assures us that you are a God who's already delivered us and you will carry us home. 00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:34.880 So, Father, I pray for those who perhaps have been hiding their real condition, who've been afraid to be honest and to say, I really don't have a hope, that they would bring themselves into the light instead of hiding it. 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:49.119 I pray, Father, for those who have held tightly to their own ability, their own wisdom, their own understanding, their own financial care, their own relationships. 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:58.480 Father, you'd loosen their group grip on those weak, fragile foundations that can't raise the dead. 00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:14.320 Father, I pray for those who would be receiving, perhaps today, for the very first time, the life of the risen Savior Himself, who offers eternal life to those who come with empty hands. 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:23.039 Father, may we all trust and depend on and worship you, the God who raises the dead. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:26.800 And we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:27.760 Amen.