WEBVTT 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.839 Good afternoon, uh everyone. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.079 Thank you for joining us this morning. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:28.879 My name's, or this afternoon, rather, my name's Mark, and it's good to have you with us. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:30.719 I need you to know something. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:35.119 I need you to know that there is one thing this afternoon that I cannot promise you. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:44.159 There's one thing this morning that this side, or this afternoon, that this side of heaven I cannot promise you. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:49.520 One thing that I cannot guarantee that you will receive before you reach glory. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:58.399 In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is highly unlikely that you will get it this side of your death. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:08.560 The one thing that I cannot promise you today is this: escape from weakness. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:14.879 I cannot promise you that you will escape the weaknesses that you feel. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:28.719 Weakness from your own personal limitations, weaknesses imposed by the actions of others, weakness caused by tragedy or ill health. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.000 I cannot promise that you will be delivered from those things this side of heaven. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.159 I don't mishear me. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.159 There will come a day when those things will pass. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:52.480 Those things, your escape from them is kept in heaven for you. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:54.079 They are waiting. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:58.159 And in a sense, it is only a matter of time. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:04.959 But right now, right here, I cannot promise you escape from weakness in this life. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.439 But here is what I can promise you. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:15.439 Here is what I can assure you of this side of heaven. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:21.280 That there is power available to you in your weakness. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.960 I cannot promise you escape, but I can promise you power. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:31.520 This is the paradox of the Christian life. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:38.159 That in our weaknesses, Christ's power is perfected in us. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:54.800 The promise that I can make to you today is that dependence increasing weakness is how God shows his Christ-exalting spirit-wrought power in your life. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:06.000 Everything in the world is geared towards helping you escape your weaknesses. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:11.599 People want to escape their limitations. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.639 You feel physically weak, you get stronger. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.199 Intellectually weak, you get educated. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:25.120 You feel a weakness in terms of your identity, in terms of your sense of self, well, you reinvent, you redefine. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:34.560 But the way of the kingdom of Jesus is not to escape weakness, but to embrace it. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:53.680 Paul shows us here that when you escape, or sorry, when you embrace weakness, what he calls boasting in it, that is precisely when the power of Christ takes up residence in your life. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:01.199 Takes up residence is literally what he means at the end of verse 9 when he says, it rests upon me. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:08.479 Christ's power comes to live in you when you embrace weakness. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:17.120 The Corinthians, like our world, had rejected weakness, and so they had rejected Paul. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:31.040 He indulges their foolish obsession with spiritual experiences and comes to them with the most remarkable incident. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:43.839 The spiritual experience that Paul has, Paul had those fourteen years ago, eclipses that of the so-called superapostles. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:53.040 Paul's experience, as recounted in the first four verses, was that he was caught up into the third heaven. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:05:00.480 That is, the very presence of God, into the throne room of the universe. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:05.600 And there he saw and heard things that he cannot put into words. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:12.160 His spiritual experience so blows theirs out of the water. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:21.360 But the twist in the tale is this that he doesn't stop at verse 4 like the super apostles, but let me tell you what happened to me the other night. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:26.879 Let me tell you about how spiritual I am and the experiences that God has given me. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:32.240 No, the twist in the tale is that Paul says in verse 1, those things don't define me. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:36.800 In fact, they're of little value, there is little to be gained by it. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.079 So much does he believe this that he's almost embarrassed to tell them. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.720 That's why he talks about himself in the third person. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.519 That's why he says, I know him, I know a man. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:59.519 It's a way of kind of detaching himself from the, let me tell you what happened to me. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:03.680 He's quite coy to even bring this up. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.839 I mean, even imagine, he waited 14 years. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:11.439 Imagine if a spiritual experience had happened to you, you'd be telling it with it straight away. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.519 You'll never believe what just happened. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:17.759 Paul hasn't spoken about this, as far as we know, for 14 years. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:29.199 But we know that it's him because of verse 7, where he says, So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, to keep me. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.360 He was the one who was given these revelations. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.600 But he goes on to say that he is also the one who received a thorn in his flesh. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:45.360 So why does he tell the Corinthians about this vision? 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.199 Only so that he can go on to boast in his weakness. 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:55.120 This is the pattern of the Christian life. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:05.920 You see, we look to meet with God in those mountaintop moments, in those mountaintop experiences. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:13.040 But where God really teaches us is in the valley. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:19.360 He is present and unutterably beautiful in those mountaintops. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:20.720 I do not disparage them. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:32.639 I can look back to those moments where I have felt with great sweetness the joy and presence of God, as I'm sure many of you can. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:46.399 But it is in the valley that He walks with us, sustains us, comforts, and teaches us. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.399 And that's where this hits home for us. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:08.560 I've spoken to a number of you over these last weeks who have described this season as one of spiritual dryness, of speaking, or feeling distant from God. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:19.600 You're in the valley, you're in the place of weakness, and Christ stands ready to meet you with his power. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.279 This is what Peter and Duncan need to know as well. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:40.559 They have begun today, formally, their ministry as elders in God's church, and there will be moments when they stand upon the mountain and survey with cloudless clarity the beauty of God's purposes in their life. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:54.559 But most of their life, as with most of ours, and most of our ministries, will be conducted in the valleys of uncertainty, mockery, tragedy, pain, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:10.320 What they and we need to know is that God does not wait for us to climb again to the summit of some spiritual peak. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.559 No, Jesus descends to walk with us in the valleys of our weakness. 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:26.080 Let us look at what this text would teach us by asking three questions of it. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:35.279 First, what are the weaknesses that Paul is talking about here? 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:37.840 What are the weaknesses? 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:47.919 Paul summarizes them as weaknesses in verse 9, but he uh goes on to expound and expand on what they are in verse 10. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:57.919 He says, look at verse 10, for the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.720 For when I am weak, I am strong. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.200 What are the things that make him and us feel weak? 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:18.639 Well, they are first, they're insults, facing mockery and ridicule for being a Christian, being thought of as weird or foolish by family members, colleagues, and classmates. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.080 They are hardships. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:27.120 Things not going how you would have planned them. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:36.240 That sudden disappointment where you've had to re-evaluate and reassess. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.039 It's the dry seasons. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.600 It's feeling stressed or under pressure, like your back's up against the wall. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.279 Those are the hardships that make you feel weak. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.120 And there are persecutions. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.200 I guess those are hardships made physical. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:00.320 Those injustices or abuses for being a Christian. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:08.240 You think of our brothers and sisters in places like Darfur or Odessa in India. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.080 Or it is calamities. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:28.080 Those sudden crises, those unforeseen circumstances of life, the sudden illness, the sudden grief that leave you feeling utterly helpless. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.240 Those are the weaknesses that Paul is talking about. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:43.440 What these weaknesses are not are bad choices or sinful behaviors. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:49.279 Someone here might have a weakness for lust, for example. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:58.960 Paul is not saying, well, I'll boast in my weakness for lust, because that's when the power of Christ will be made most manifest in my life. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:08.000 No, these weaknesses are times and situations when the world might otherwise demand that you be strong. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:12.720 Because how does the world want you to react in the face of insults? 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.720 They say, Well, give it back to them. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:16.720 Respond. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:23.200 God knows that I have much to learn in that regard. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:27.360 The world would say, Well, in your hardships, what do you do? 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:28.960 You come up with a better plan. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.919 Pull yourself up out of this mire. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.080 Solve your own problem. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.840 If persecuted, take revenge. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:51.759 In crisis, the world would require you to use all of the resources at your disposal to minimize the impact of what has befallen you. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:13:12.720 But the reality is that we either do not have those means to be strong, or in those situations, because we are Christians, love constrains us not to repay evil for evil, and so we look and feel weak. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:18.240 So what are these weaknesses that Paul is talking about? 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:32.720 They are situations and circumstances that are beyond our control, or which in love, love dictates that we show mercy, grace, and forgiveness. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.440 Second question: Where do those weaknesses come from? 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:42.159 Where do those weaknesses come from? 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.840 What is their source? 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:50.960 Do the things that make us feel weak come from God or do they come from Satan? 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.679 Let us take Paul's thorn as an example. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.639 We know that it's a weakness because of Jesus' response. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.519 He says in verse 9, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.200 So we know that it's in that category of weaknesses. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.279 It was given to make Paul feel weak. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:15.200 Why was it given? 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:21.039 Well, because of the revelations, because of the surpassing visions that he'd received. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.039 That's what we know from verse 7. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:34.559 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.679 He describes this thorn as a messenger from Satan. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.879 Now we aren't sure precisely what the thorn is. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:48.399 There are some theories. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.679 The idea being that, you know, he's like peering at the he can't quite see. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.919 I can't see any of you right now. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:15.440 Oh, you're there. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:18.720 Maybe it was that. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.639 Or maybe it was the relentless opposition that he faced. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:38.080 He's already spoken about this just in the verses above that we looked at last week about shipwrecks and stonings, about how he received the five times the 40 lashes minus one. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.960 That is, that he was whipped 39 times. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:45.279 The idea being, or the thought being, that if you were whipped 40 times, that you would die. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.600 And so they took one off, and he received it five times. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:57.120 So maybe it was something physical in his own body, or maybe it was the relentless opposition. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.320 Either way, it's seen as a messenger of Satan. 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:02.960 It's worth bearing in mind. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:12.879 Some weaknesses are sent by Satan because Satan wants to harass and harangue you. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.480 Let me tell you a little bit about how the enemy works. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:24.799 If you're a Christian, if you're trusting in the Lord Jesus, the enemy cannot steal your salvation. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.799 But he can render you ineffective. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:34.240 He cannot steal you out of the hand of the Lord Jesus. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.480 He cannot take your salvation. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:45.279 But he can so harass and distract that he makes you utterly ineffective as a Christian, utterly ineffective in his kingdom. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:53.440 But Satan isn't the only one at work here, is he? 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:02.399 You see, the answer to the question of does this thorn come from Satan or from God is yes. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:11.519 This thorn, these weaknesses are sanctioned by heaven. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.000 How do we know? 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:20.400 There are two reasons from the text that we know that God stands behind this thorn. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:26.079 First one, the thorn was given to Paul to humble him. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:31.119 That's what verse 7 says, to prevent him from becoming conceited. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.160 He is puffed up with pride. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:45.119 Now we know that that cannot be Satan's purposes because Satan's purpose would be to arouse pride, to provoke and to stoke pride and conceit. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:47.279 Because Satan loves pride. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.480 It was pride that he aroused in Adam and Eve. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.400 Satan hates humility. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:04.079 No, God, you see, knew that these revelations made Paul vulnerable to pride. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:09.359 And so this thorn was a mercy, a mercy from God. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:19.680 The second reason why we know from this text that it is heaven-sanctioned is because Paul asks Jesus to remove it. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.519 He doesn't ask Satan. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.279 That would be weird. 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:29.440 He prays to Jesus and asks for it to be removed. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.240 The answer that comes back is no. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:46.000 But it is not because Jesus is content to let Satan destroy Paul, but because Jesus is using this to sanctify and to save him. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:53.839 A couple of things to note that are very important and you really should listen. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.200 Think of that weakness. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:05.680 When I talk about the weakness that you have, that thorn as you perceive it, what's the thing that comes to your mind? 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.160 Then let me ask. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:38.880 Paul begged. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:45.440 Have you asked him to take it away from you? 00:19:49.359 --> 00:20:11.119 But if he says no, like he said no to Paul, are you able to accept that answer and to embrace that weakness and say with Paul that I will boast in it because Christ's power will be perfected in it? 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:16.240 Are you able to say with Job, nevertheless, blessed be the name of the Lord? 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:28.319 The perception of our weaknesses and the feeling that the Lord will not remove them from us can lead us in one of two directions. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:36.319 He can either lead you to resentment and bitterness. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:44.480 Resentment that God has, maybe you think not heard your prayer. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.960 Or why would he answer no? 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.279 And it embitters you. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:13.440 Of saying to God, you know what? 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:15.680 I don't know why you've done this. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.720 I don't know why the answer is no right now. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:30.640 But the thing that I'm going to pray is I'm going to pray that you would give me the eyes to perceive the reasons why you would rest this thing upon me, in me, why you wouldn't take it away? 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:32.640 At least let me see why. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:35.920 At least let me see some purpose in it. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:41.119 That in seeing that, it might be easier to bear. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.880 And that leads us to my third question. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.599 What is the purpose in these weaknesses? 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.759 Satan's purpose is to. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:08.640 Harass you, but God, God does not delight in your pen. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:10.640 Let me say that again and listen to me. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:13.119 God does not delight in your pen. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:16.240 Satan does. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.599 And so it's good and right for you to pray for relief. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:21.599 Pray for relief. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:28.400 That is what Paul did until he received his answer from the Lord. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:46.880 Like some of you, many of you, I'm sure, I know what it is to ask God to take something away from me, to relieve me of it, to change me in some way. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:52.400 Those are good and right prayers to pray. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.000 But I also know what it's like to discern that heavenly no. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:08.880 And to have to learn to be content with that, and to strain to see God's goodness in the midst of it. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:21.440 You see, while Satan wants to harass and constrain you, God has purposes to humble and to sanctify you. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.160 And I know that this sounds strange. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:26.559 I know that this doesn't sound good. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:36.960 Because everything in our world wants to push self-exalt exaltation and self-promotion. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:42.319 It sees humility as weakness, but humility is what God prizes. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:52.559 Because humility is the place of greatest reliance upon him, and therefore the place of greatest power in your life from him. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:24:03.119 God prizes your humility and your dependence on him, because that is the place of growth in Christ's likeness. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:09.920 He prizes your humility and growth in Christ more than your comfort. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:15.119 I know that is hard to hear. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.799 But have you settled that in your mind? 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:27.599 Can you settle that in your heart and make your peace with it? 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:37.440 You see, God values your humility and Christlieness more than your freedom from pain. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:55.519 Because the more we are aware of our total reliance upon him, the more he is able to flood us with his power and grace and use us in his service. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:12.000 This is what is meant when Jesus says to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:25.039 You see, in your weaknesses, Jesus doesn't come and ration you some relief or drip feed some grace. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:30.480 No, he perfects his power in your weakness. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:42.559 That is why he encourages you to embrace those things that make you feel weak and so depend more fully upon him. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:50.000 God's design for your life is to showcase the power of Jesus. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:55.839 Sometimes that might be through miraculous deliverance, and we give thanks to God for them. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:58.960 It is right to pray for them and expect them. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:06.799 But often, what He gives us is the power to endure. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:14.400 The power to put one foot in front of the other, spiritually speaking, and to continue trusting. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:23.759 Even though our faith feels faltering and weak, that we continue to persevere spiritually speaking. 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:31.839 His power enables you to persevere as a Christian through the valley of suffering. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:37.680 As the eyes of the world watch on and they think, why won't she give up? 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:43.119 Why won't he, with Job, as he was encouraged, curse God and die? 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:50.880 Why do they keep on persevering as wave upon wave of uncertainty and anxiety and suffering and grief and pain break over their back? 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.680 Why don't they give up? 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.880 Because the power of Christ resides in them. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:04.720 And so they walk on. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:13.440 And so you walk on through that valley until you scale finally to that eternal mountaintop. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:19.279 And see with unending clarity the beauty and joy and goodness of God. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:27.119 And you look back down the valley of your life and you see, look how far I have come, and look how far Jesus has carried me. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:34.319 That is what commends Jesus to a watching world. 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:41.440 That you endure with his grace and walk with humble confidence. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:52.640 You learn in some way to kiss the wave that dashes you against the rock of ages. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.079 Christian. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:09.039 Do not slip into despair that God has forgotten or abandoned you in your difficulty. 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:15.119 See the valley of this season. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:42.880 See the valley of your life as the place where the power of Jesus comes cascading down from that eternal mountaintop to so infuse and saturate your existence to sustain you as you fight for joy, as you continue to trust. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:52.160 Let us point one another to that and journey together to that heavenly mountaintop. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:06.000 What we need in our life this side of heaven is not quick relief from the griefs and trials that we face. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:24.559 What we need is a deeper and more enduring confidence and trust that God both loves us and is good. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:32.079 It is this eternal perspective that motivated Jesus. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:41.279 It is this eternal perspective that took Jesus to the cross in all of its weakness. 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:46.720 That the power of God might be fully seen. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:51.119 That is where the power of God is put on display. 00:29:51.440 --> 00:30:04.559 That's what Paul told the Corinthians in his first letter, in the first chapter, in verse 18, that the power of God is laid bare in the weakness of the cross. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:07.599 Jesus understood this. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:14.000 Jesus understood this, and so in his high priestly prayer in John 17, how does that prayer begin? 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.839 It says, Father, the hour has come. 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:24.880 Glorify your son with the glory that he had with you before the world began. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.200 What's the hour that Jesus is anticipating? 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:32.160 It's the hour of his death, but it is also the hour of the glorification of his son. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:33.680 You want to see the glory of God? 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:35.039 You want to see the power of God? 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:37.599 You want to see the wisdom and goodness of God? 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:40.640 You look to the cross of Jesus. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:50.319 You see the Son of God with outstretched arms embracing weakness. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:10.720 You see power not to escape, but power to embrace that cruel cross and so defeat Satan who would harass. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:18.880 Sin that would corrupt, and death that would seek to subsume. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:31.440 Power to embrace that weakness that means salvation for all who would trust in Jesus. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:42.559 Jesus looked beyond the weakness of the cross, beyond its shame, and now enjoys the power of resurrection life. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:46.559 And that is the pattern of life that He calls you to. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.759 Suffering now, glory later. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:59.039 Valley now, mountaintop later. 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:19.839 Look, I pray that throughout your life you will continue to have those moments of sweet clarity where that communion with God is filled with joy, where you understand His in some small way, in some small measure, His love for you and His purposes in your life. 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:31.759 But do not do not mistakenly think that that is all there is in your Christian life. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:35.200 God is with you in the valley of your weaknesses. 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:39.440 That is where His power flows down like mighty rivers. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:45.519 I cannot promise you escape from weakness. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:33:18.960 But I can promise you, through dependence on Christ, the power to endure, the power to endure now and one day resurrection power in the world to come as we stand together on that eternal mountaintop and see the goodness and glory of the God who loved us and who has walked with us all these years long. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:25.279 Let us be silent for a few moments. 00:33:27.039 --> 00:33:29.359 It is good for you to pray now. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.759 Your own prayers. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:39.440 There might be particular weaknesses, insults, hardships, feeling like your back is up against the wall. 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:44.000 That you simply haven't come to Jesus and said, Would you take, would you remove this? 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:46.720 And maybe that's a prayer to pray now. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:54.160 But also perhaps it is an opportunity to pray also. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:11.599 That if the answer that comes from heaven is no, that you will be given the eyes of faith to see his greater purposes in your life and in the life of those around you. 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:16.400 Let's keep silence for a few moments and then I'm going to lead us in a prayer. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:25.199 I pray, Heavenly Father, for all my brothers and sisters here now. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:42.559 You are aware of their weakness, feel harassed and harangued by those insults, hardships, calamities, persecutions. 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:52.800 Those thorns that seem to reside so deeply in our flesh. 00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:56.239 We wonder will they ever be removed? 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:01.519 Pray for relief. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:06.159 For change, for growth. 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:13.760 Most of all, I pray for deepened trust. 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:23.119 May these weaknesses drive us like nails deeper into the love of God. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:36.400 Help us, Holy Spirit, to endure, to persevere in faith, enjoy. 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:45.599 I pray for those whose trust feels particularly feeble. 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:58.079 I ask that you would strengthen them, that you would uphold and guide them, that they would glimpse more of who you are, Lord Jesus. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:02.159 And what you are doing in and through them. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:11.599 Amen.