Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86867/reason-for-rejoicing-how-to-handle-the-trial-of-your-faith/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] 1 Peter chapter 1. This morning I talked about Job and his suffering and his victory.! Likewise, this kind of follows on from that theme for us in the here and now, in the New Testament age.

[0:18] How to handle the trial of your faith. The trial of your faith. Who feels like their faith is getting tested? It happens for all of us, doesn't it? All the time, I'm sure.

[0:32] And Peter writes in this time to God's people who are very much in a desperate time of persecution where they were faced with quite dangerous times.

[0:45] In times of persecution, in the times of the Roman Nero and the Emperor of the day that were bent on killing Christians and persecuting God's people.

[1:01] As we know, through the book of Acts, we see that happening. And so Peter was writing to people that are staring in the face of persecution and trial and testing.

[1:13] And he urges them that, nevertheless, it's a time to rejoice. And so I put to you tonight some three things we can do to help handle the trial of our faith.

[1:29] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word, the truth of it, the message for our hearts tonight. Lord, let it be that despite me, you might use me to your glory.

[1:41] That your word would have free course and be glorified. Give me a boldness, an unction. Most of all, the word that you once said and heard tonight and acted upon by your people here that are hearing this and present tonight.

[1:56] Lord, that you would be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. A desperate time of persecution. A time of trial, of trouble. How are we to handle the trial of our faith?

[2:09] For some of us, it's in the workplace. It's in the school place. It's in the living place. As we rub shoulders with people, as we stand for Christ, as we witness, as we stand firm, as we stand fast, as we hold fast, as we hold forth the word of God, we will face it.

[2:29] The trial of our faith could be amongst family, friends, associates. Peter shows us how we can handle the trial of our faith. 1 Peter 1.

[2:40] We'll read through the first few verses here in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.

[2:57] 1 Peter 1.

[3:28] To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. For you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

[3:46] Wherein ye greatly rejoice. Though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. that the trial of your faith, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, ye love.

[4:16] Though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

[4:31] How to handle the trial of our faith. Number one, say, bless God, I'm saved.

[4:42] Bless God, I'm saved. Confess the truth of who you are in Christ. Confess the truth of what God has done and is doing in your life.

[4:52] We see in verse 3, Peter says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[5:12] Peter says, Confess this truth, you are saved. Confess this truth. Bless God, you are born again. Peter tells of a lively, living hope.

[5:25] It says there in verse 3, By his mercy, we are begotten again. We are born again. Born again according to his abundant mercy.

[5:39] Persecution or suffering is a way to identify with Christ. Peter says, Number one, say, glory to God.

[5:51] Bless God, I'm saved. I'm saved. You know, when we're facing the trial of our faith, it's that bedrock, that foundation stone of our salvation that holds us firm and sure and steady.

[6:07] That he has saved us. We are saved. Saved. Glory. I'm saved. Glory. I'm saved. There's that truth.

[6:18] And whatever befall us, whatever assail us, whatever that trial that we face, know this. Number one, I am saved.

[6:30] Glory to God for that. I'm begotten again. I'm born again. According to his abundant mercy. That's the starting point really, isn't it? To know him. To know his salvation. To know his saving love.

[6:43] And it says there, He's begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our Lord is not some dead prophet. He's a living saviour. Death could not hold him.

[6:55] The bars of hell, the stone could not hold him. It could not confine him. The mighty resurrection power of God. God was evident there.

[7:08] At the cross and at the tomb. And for us, he caused you and me to that same experience of dying to self. That nailing of the flesh.

[7:22] That has to happen, doesn't it? The flesh has to be nailed. And that mighty resurrection power, we can individually know that he saves us to the uttermost that come unto God by him.

[7:34] We come alive unto God in this new life, this new hope, this abundant life, this glorious salvation. So as we face the trial of our faith, we know this.

[7:47] Glory! I'm saved! I'm saved! S-A-V-E-D My name is written down in glory. My name is written down.

[7:58] A reservation has been established. My name is recorded in his book. So that when that time happens, we'll point back to that day.

[8:14] Whether it was today that we confessed Christ for the first time as our Saviour. Whether today is that day. Or whether it was many days ago. Or maybe for some, it's yet to happen.

[8:28] Don't leave it too long. Put your faith in Christ now. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time. So we see that same power that rolled away the stone.

[8:41] That raised Christ up from the dead. This same power sustains us. The resurrection power. And we read of a sure reservation. Not some shaky maybe so, hope so, think so, but no so salvation.

[8:56] I know. This is the record God hath given to us. Eternal life. There's that assurance, that surety. This is not a hope so thing. This is a no so.

[9:06] I know for sure. I am saved. I am saved. And of course we don't make that confession glibly that that is not a, that we don't pretend that we are saved as if we can confess something into existence that's not true.

[9:21] But if we've done what the scripture has said, if we put our faith in Christ, this is the record, it says. This is the record. That if we, as it says in Romans 10, if we confess with our mouth, if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, that we are saved.

[9:43] And I'm thinking of that scripture in 1 John 5. This is the record that God hath given to us eternal life.

[9:56] And this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son of God hath not life. If you have confessed Christ as Lord and Saviour, you can say, Glory, I am saved.

[10:10] When the trial of your faith comes, you can say that in the devil's face. Glory, I am saved. Even in this, in this time of heaviness, even in this time of trial, in this time of testing, that lively hope, that heavenly hope, that guaranteed hope for us, even as we endure for the meantime a season of heaviness, we have a know-for-sure salvation.

[10:36] A know-for-sure Saviour. And we've been saved from the top of our head to the tips of our toes. This knowledge of salvation is a great comfort and blessing for us. I see some who struggle.

[10:47] Now I've known some that struggle and numbers of people have come to me and said, Preacher, I don't know for sure that I'm a Christian. I don't know that I'm saved.

[11:03] This is the record. This is the record. This is God's record. God has given to us eternal life. 1 John 5, 11.

[11:14] And this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. If you've put your trust in Christ, you're saved.

[11:27] Claim it. Confess it. Believe God's truth that you are saved. How to handle the trial of your faith? Say, Bless God, I'm saved.

[11:39] Number two. Say, Bless God, I'm sanctified. It may not feel like it, but 1 Peter 1, 2 tells us that that is true. 1 Peter 1, verse 2.

[11:51] It tells of the saints of God here that Peter addresses their elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

[12:04] Peter says, Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Say, Bless God, I'm sanctified. I'm sanctified. Now, the devil might come to you and say, He'll point his bony finger at one of you, at all of you, including me.

[12:25] You're not worthy. You don't deserve it. You don't deserve heaven. What have you done to deserve heaven? Truthfully, nothing. Nothing at all.

[12:36] You're not good enough. Yes, I know. Because I need Jesus. I can't be good enough of my own. I can't be good enough of my own merit. I can't ever deserve heaven.

[12:46] I can't ever earn it or be worthy of it, of my own workings. The devil's right. You're not worthy. And you're not good enough.

[12:58] But Jesus is. He is my righteousness. Amen? He is your righteousness. He is my sanctification. He is your sanctification. God's Spirit has done a work in us.

[13:10] And He sanctifies us. It tells us, chapter 1, verse 2, through sanctification of the Spirit. Where does the sanctification come?

[13:21] God's Spirit does the work. God's Spirit. Bless God, you know the sanctification of the Spirit. When God's work is to do it, God's Spirit has done a work in us, He sanctifies us.

[13:34] Now, sanctify is a bit of an unfamiliar word in everyday lingo. To sanctify, it means to make holy.

[13:46] In other words, the Holy Spirit makes us holy. He makes us holy. Holiness. It's not something we manufacture by what we do or don't do.

[14:00] The sanctification is of the Spirit. It's God's Spirit at working in us. It's God's Spirit moulding us and shaping us and making us more like Christ. It's Christ being formed in you.

[14:12] It's Christ in you. And when the devil tries to condemn you, he's probably got a point if you're trusting in your own merit. If you're trusting in your own works, if you're trusting in your own feelings, if you're trusting in your own mind, in your own goodness, your own manufactured sense of how good you are, then you're rightfully condemned.

[14:38] You're damned without Christ. If your merit is your claim, if you think, somehow I, oh, I'm just the bee's knees, I'm better than others, so I'll get to heaven on my own merit, my own goodness, you're totally lost.

[14:56] To be almost saved is to be totally lost. Don't put any hope in yourself, in any of what you can do, but entirely in what he has done, entirely in Christ.

[15:07] And that's our sanctification. He makes us holy. He gives us his holiness as a gift, as his, a new set of clothing, as it were.

[15:18] He wraps himself around us and he becomes everything that is holy about us. Say glory to God, I'm sanctified.

[15:29] I'm sanctified. We see that truth in 1 Corinthians 6 from verses 9 through 11 where Paul writes about the unrighteous and he says, in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, he says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves, of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

[16:03] Now that wipes out pretty well a whole lot of people, doesn't it? But the good news is, verse 11, and such were some of you. But, but, but, ye are washed, but, ye are sanctified, but, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

[16:28] Thankfully, we can be washed. We can be washed. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[16:42] The blood of Jesus Christ. I know, an old friend of mine used to use that as a greeting as he would greet people. He would, he would confess that scripture because it meant so much to him. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[16:56] And what a claim, what a promise, what a confession. Ye are washed, ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, this Holy Spirit.

[17:09] So when the trial of faith hits you, know this, you are sanctified. You can claim it. The devil might say, but, you've got all that baggage. You've got all those sins you've committed.

[17:22] You've got all those areas of doubt. You've got those skeletons in your cupboard. You've got those things you're still struggling with.

[17:33] The Word of God says, ye are sanctified. Present sense, present sense, you're sanctified by the Spirit of God. That's not to say there's things that need some improvement. Of course.

[17:45] But it's God who makes us holy. Amen? He makes us holy. He does the work. And when the devil heaps condemnation on you, know the Holy Spirit leads and fills you.

[17:56] It's the sanctification of the Spirit. And Jesus is your sanctification, your holiness. Elsewhere, Paul writes that Christ is our sanctification. sanctification. It's Christ.

[18:07] It's Christ himself. So how to handle the trial of your faith? Say, bless God, I'm saved. Saved. Saved. For eternity.

[18:19] Bless God, I'm sanctified. No matter what is still going on for me, no matter how God's still working on me, he is making me holy. He's transforming me.

[18:29] He's shaping me. He's renewing my mind. He's helping me to walk in truth and righteousness. He's helping me to live wisely. And when I don't, to get right, he is my sanctification.

[18:42] Bless God, I'm sanctified. And thirdly, to handle the trial of your faith, know this, that you can confess truly, bless God, I'm safe.

[18:53] I'm safe. I am safe. Verse 5, who are kept by the power of God. Verse 5, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

[19:08] We know that salvation, ultimately, it's the glorification, that ultimately, there's still that process yet to happen where we will have that totally new body. Now, some of you probably don't need a new body.

[19:19] You're always all fit and healthy and strong and good looking. But I'm looking forward to one. I sure need one. I need to be glorified. One day, I will be. One day, we'll see his face and we'll be like him.

[19:31] We will be like him. Brother Mick will look even more like Jesus than he does now. You know, Alan, Barry, Jean, you'll look more like Jesus than you already do and you'll be even more beautiful in God's sight because he'll do that perfecting, that ultimate perfecting work.

[19:48] Amen? And glory, won't it be glory? And it says, for the meantime, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

[19:59] Doesn't life get a bit heavy? A bit, oh, a bit loading us down? It says, verse 7, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, shall be found, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[20:17] When we face heaviness, the power of God keeps us. He never fails. He never fails. Never, never, never fails. He is never failing.

[20:29] He shall never leave you, nor forsake you. He is totally committed unto you. What a blessing that is.

[20:41] Some people say they're committed to you, and they're not. But Jesus doesn't make a false confession. He's always true to his word. He never fails. And we are kept, kept, by the power of God, through salvation, through faith unto salvation.

[21:00] That word, kept, it's got the sense of protected, guarded. There's these great big, muscly men, as it were, in the, as you could picture it, that are standing sentry, standing guard, over your life.

[21:15] That we are protected, with 24 by 7 security, for you. There's that continuous sense, that's the, the sense of it here, that a continual sense, of being kept. A continuous sense.

[21:27] And we have reason, for rejoicing. Reason for rejoicing, even in heaviness. That, we've got greater than some, um, big, big bulky security guard, looking after us.

[21:39] We've got the, almighty, looking after us. The almighty. You know, what can compare to that? That the almighty, looks after you.

[21:50] He watches over you. And even in the very trial, of your faith, he's ever more precious, ever more present. We live in a hostile world, a world of heaviness.

[22:03] The heaviness will bog us down, it will drag us down. It, we get, irksome, weighted down, don't we? With life, and all its woes, at times.

[22:17] And when the pressure is on, everything gets tested. I know, um, just watering the garden lately. When the pressure is on, everything gets tested.

[22:32] The hose ruptures. Ruptures. And you've got to repair it. And life can be like that. The pressure gets such that we, pfft, we get ruptured, as it were.

[22:44] Not raptured, we still, we get ruptured. And what about faith? In these times of heaviness, when we're in heaviness, how do we handle the pressures? Sometimes, we have these little ruptures here and there.

[22:57] We've got to get God to put some, uh, repair work into us. And we've got the pressures of sorrow, the pressures of troubles, of affliction, of persecutions. And it's real for you.

[23:09] I know it's real for you. Imagine. This is not, imagine, this is not theoretical. It's the reality, isn't it? In the families we live in, the situations of life, the pressures.

[23:23] Sometimes it's intense. Many trials and testings. Some believers here are going through the, the darkest of times. And it's hard work, those hardships.

[23:34] How can we cope? Bless God, I'm saved. I'm saved. Whatever happens to me, I'm, in a moment, virtually of time, I'll be with Him forever, for eternity.

[23:50] And the sufferings of this present time will just be, just a shadow, just a, just a, a vapour just passed by. Just a, a moment, momentary affliction for that eternal weight.

[24:04] of glory. I'm saved. I'm sanctified. He's saved me and He's making me more like Him daily. He's helping me to walk in truth. And He is my salvation.

[24:14] He is my sanctification. He is my holiness. And I am secure. I am safe. I am kept.

[24:29] But yet, for the meantime, there's heaviness. How do we cope with that? Again, to use an analogy, and I'm, I'm the world's worst gardener, but I know a few little things that sometimes help with growing a garden.

[24:44] And, it's a truth that pruning promotes growth. Isn't it? I've planted some, some plants lately, and, you've got to strip some of those leaves off them before you plant that cutting.

[25:04] Don't you? You that are much more wiser than me in gardening know that you've got to tear away the leaves and get that plant to just a little, a little twig with maybe just a few little bits of green coming out.

[25:20] And you've got to prune it. But that is the plant that will live. The plant that is pruned will grow. Pruning promotes growth. And sometimes, life's like that for us, isn't it, as believers?

[25:33] We see John 15, we see how the master gardener, you know, the vine dresser of John 15, that he prunes the vine, that it can grow.

[25:46] And for the meantime, there's heaviness. It's time limited. And know this, it's only for a season, only for a season that we have such a time of testing of heaviness.

[25:56] Only for a season. As Paul said, expect it to come your way in Acts 14, verse 22. Acts 14, 22. It says, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God.

[26:13] Now, we know there's different views about when the tribulation is and how much of it we're going to see. But one thing's for sure, we must answer through much tribulation. We must answer through much tribulation.

[26:25] Don't think we won't see tribulation. Paul says, we will see tribulation. We will see trouble. And we must continue in the faith.

[26:37] in such a time through much tribulation. But our Lord assures us of tribulation that he is our peace in such a time as that.

[26:47] John 16, 33. A word of comfort he gives to his people. He says, these things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.

[26:59] But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. in me ye shall have peace. In this world you're going to have tribulation.

[27:11] But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So there's reason for rejoicing. Peter says this, surely of heaviness, we're in 1 Peter 1, he says, wherein ye greatly rejoice.

[27:25] Now that sounds a bit counterintuitive, doesn't it? Kind of, doesn't sound logical. In the times of heaviness, he says, in such a time, in such a time of the trial of your faith, he says, in that ye greatly rejoice.

[27:40] Greatly rejoice. How so? How can we rejoice in such a time? Because we have a heavenly hope. In the midst of earthly heaviness, we have a heavenly hope that holds us fast and strong.

[27:55] And our response when we go through the trial of our faith is to say, bless God. Bless God. As Peter starts there, he says, blessed be God. Blessed be God.

[28:08] It will all be to the praise and glory and honour of our Lord at his appearing. We look forward to that blessed hope, the glorious appearing. Verse 7, again, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold to perish it, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[28:31] Now, brother, sister, testing, trial could be very real for you. Maybe it's happening right now. Let us not shy away from it, this trial of our faith. Peter says it will happen.

[28:43] Peter says, get ready for it. It shows us what we are made of. Testing brings forth the gold, doesn't it? I know I've mentioned it before, but one time we lived in a gold mining town, Kalgoorlie, and we saw the gold.

[29:00] It was in this intense heat and it was glowing and radiant and just mind-blowing, the brightness of it.

[29:11] But it was the heat, the fire, that made the gold. And likewise for us, for Christians here today, don't shy away from the trial of your faith. Embrace it and go through it with God's grace, with the faith that endures, as we talked about this morning, as Job, he remained faithful and so can we.

[29:34] For the meantime there's heaviness, there's pressures. Pressures bring out what's really on the inside. As one preacher said, trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible and to drive us to our knees.

[29:49] Someone has said, affliction is the school of faith and trial is the school of trust. Another preacher said, it takes the grindstone to sharpen the axe.

[30:01] Maybe the grindstone's happening for you. God's sharpening you. God's making you stronger for it. And whatever betide us, we can truly know and confess, bless God, I'm safe.

[30:13] I'm safe. Not by any keeping of myself saved, but by entirely trusting his keeping of me. Not by any virtue of working of our own, but of resting and trusting entirely in his working on our part.

[30:29] It does not say we are kept by our own power. Now you might think, I'm pretty powerful. I'm a strong Christian. I know the Bible. I'm strong. But don't be strong in yourself.

[30:43] Be strong in the Lord. In the Lord. Strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. It's not our power that keeps us. It's his power that keeps us in this trial of faith.

[30:55] Who are kept, it says, by the power of God. Thank God his power keeps us. And what is his power? Almighty power. Almighty power that sustains us and keeps us.

[31:07] And he delivers us by his own power. In Psalm 34, 19 it says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psalm 34, verse 19.

[31:19] Now we like the second part of that verse. He delivers us from the afflictions. But sometimes we don't like the first part of Psalm 34, 19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

[31:40] May it all be to his praise and honour and glory. When the trial of your faith comes, Peter says, wherein ye greatly rejoice. Peter doesn't say we rejoice because we've got it easy.

[31:53] He says we rejoice because of the trial of our faith. He says we rejoice because of the heaviness. We rejoice because we're saved, we're sanctified, we're safe. We can thank him even in the midst of these times.

[32:07] In everything give thanks, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 19. For this is the will of God concerning you. There was a preacher telling of a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job and a sizable fortune, his beautiful home.

[32:27] He was really, he really hit the pits, this man. And to add to his sorrow, his precious wife died. Yet he tenaciously held fast to his faith the one thing that he had left.

[32:39] And one day while he was out looking for a job, he watched some men who were building a building and putting some stone work on a large church that was being built. And one of them was chiseling away at a triangular piece of rock.

[32:54] And the man said, where are you going to put that? And the workman said, do you see that little opening way up the top there on the roof? Well, I'm shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.

[33:07] I'm shaping this little stone down here so that it will fit in way up there. And that's what God's doing for us. The man who was told this, tears filled his eyes because the Lord had spoken to him.

[33:20] God's working on me down here, fitting me for up there. Even in that troubled situation he could find comfort. And we too, in the trial of our faith, in that season of trial, of testing, of heaviness, he's shaping you, he's making you, he's preparing you according to the master plan.

[33:45] Suffering produces character and hope. Some folk here, I look up to you, you've been through it. You've been through some tougher things than I have. And I look up to you and I see the testimony of your faith.

[33:59] It speaks to me. It speaks to my life. That God is producing character in you, in what you've been through. You're a testimony to me. You that are going through things.

[34:09] You that have had some struggles and battles. Yet you've got victory because you've got through it on the other side. The question is, do our lives honour our Lord?

[34:21] Do we depend upon the Lord? Do we trust him? Are we living our lives rejoicing in hope? Though we go through the trial of our faith, will we be found rejoicing, even in heaviness?

[34:34] Will our rejoicing resound to his honour and glory and praise? a missionary commenting on Psalm 46, 10. Be still and know that I am God.

[34:46] I was talking with a brother this morning. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46, verse 10. And he commented like this. He says, God has a sovereign right to dispose of us as he pleases.

[34:59] God can do what he wants. He's the boss. He is the king. He is the almighty. And secondly, we ought to acquiesce in all that God does with us and to us.

[35:10] In other words, we should just yield to his almighty will. Be still and know that I am God. He is sovereign. I will yield to him.

[35:22] To what he's doing with me and in me, through me and to me. Our faith is rejoicing. Yea, resting. Even though it be tried that in eternity it might be found, as it were, verse 7, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

[35:40] Whom having not seen, you love. In whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The context here is of rejoicing.

[35:53] It's kind of, it blows your mind really, doesn't it? That Peter says in this time of trial, the time of the trial of your faith, it's a time of rejoicing. Joy unspeakable and full of glory.

[36:08] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. So, to wrap up, I'm trying to tie it all together with really these simple yet profound confessions of faith.

[36:24] No matter what, rejoice. Rejoice. with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Confess these truths. Bless God.

[36:34] Glory. I'm saved. I'm saved. He has saved me. Two thousand odd years ago he saved me. He saved me by his work.

[36:45] Then and then for my part as I've simply trusted that. Bless God, I'm saved. Bless God, I'm sanctified. I know my frailties and my very many faults and I know the devil could accuse me of multiple things but God's word says I'm sanctified.

[37:06] He says you're sanctified, you're made holy, called to be saints, made holy, sanctified, made righteous in his sight by virtue of his saving work on your part.

[37:17] Sanctified, made holy and bless God, I'm kept. I'm kept. I don't need to keep myself. I don't need to struggle and strive and work for my salvation but I want to work it out.

[37:32] I want to work it out in my day by day. I want to work because I know he saved me. I want to work out my salvation and let it live, let it walk in my shoes, let my life be a testimony and count it all joy.

[37:46] James tells us when you fall into diverse many temptations knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. The trying of your faith strengthens you.

[37:58] It's making you like gold. It's making you have perseverance and patience and endurance. For the meantime, heaviness.

[38:10] No thorns, no throne. For the time, there's thorns, isn't there? Who's got some thorns in the backyard? Multiple, multiplied, manifold, thorns.

[38:22] No thorns, no throne. For the meantime, there's some thorns to suffer. For the meantime, there's some heaviness, but wherein you greatly rejoice.

[38:35] So, brother, sister, if you've got a heavy time, greatly rejoice in it. How do I do that? Just confess the scriptures. Confess what his promises are.

[38:46] His lively hope, even in the heaviness of the present season. And above all that we yearn for, is that it be to his praise, his honour, his glory, and his appearing.

[38:58] we'll look back in eternity and think of that momentary time. How could I have spent it more wisely? My season on earth, on this perishing planet, how could I use my time more wisely for his glory?

[39:15] That it be to his praise, his honour, his glory. we've got a lively hope in a time of heaviness. We can learn from the patience, the perseverance of Job, and of all the saints of God through the scriptures.

[39:33] And we can count our trials all joy. But to boil it down, I urge you tonight, I've said confess, I'm saved.

[39:45] If you're not saved, today is the day to trust him. Don't put it off, don't try to save yourself, trust Jesus Christ to save you. Trust Jesus to be your Lord and save you, to save you.

[39:59] Trust Jesus and what he has done. And knowing that you're saved, he'll help you through whatever life's journey throws your way. He'll help you through. He'll help you be strong in the Lord.

[40:11] He'll help you to trust his saving, his sanctifying, and his safekeeping. So be encouraged tonight. I pray you've been encouraged with these simple truths to confess the word of God and bless God.

[40:25]  Rejoice wherein you greatly rejoice. Great.