Life in God's Church

Good afternoon, everyone. I certainly appreciate that the sermonette, as we come to Pentecost tomorrow, we have a keen awareness of our need of the Holy Spirit for sure, as it gives us the ability to accomplish what's necessary. As we walk in this life as first fruits, we know that desire, keeping our desire, is key, keeping the heat of that desire, because there's one thing that we could say about being in God's church, and that is, it's difficult. Absolutely difficult. Turn with me to Romans 8, if you will. Romans 8, we're going to read about this essential truth about being in the fold of God's church. Romans 8, and we'll read verses 16-17. The beginning of verse 16 starts off wonderful. We're reminded here about the incredible offering we have in being as God's church, but then we get to the end of verse 17, and it's interesting to read this. So Romans 8, let's read verse 16 and 17. It says, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit. That's what has occurred here, that we are the children of God. That's wonderful, being a part of God's fold. Verse 17, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together. Let's stop there.

So a wonderful thing here, being a part of God's church, we're the children. We are the heirs, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And all these things, that incredible opportunity, if it says, and we could say only if, we suffer with Him. And by suffering with Him, if we were able to keep that desire up, if we were able to endure, then we will be glorified together.

Turn with me to 1 Peter 4 verse 12 now. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. We're going to establish something here with these first two sections of Scripture. 1 Peter 4 verse 12. And what we're going to establish and see here in 1 Peter as well is that struggle, struggle, struggle is to be a part of God's church. 1 Peter 4 verse 12 through 13. I love the way this starts off. He says, Beloved, what that means is those who are divinely loved, those who are in the fold of God's church, who have been brought in by the Holy Spirit, Beloved, do not think it's strange, concerning the fiery trial or trials we could say, which is to try you, as though some strange things was happening, but instead rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Let's stop there. Understand the fullness of this here in verse 13. We are to rejoice. This is counterintuitive, for sure. We are to rejoice in the extent that we partake of Christ's sufferings. We are brought into the fold of this church, brought into the fold of Jesus Christ, to for us to then partake in a measure of the very sufferings that Jesus Christ suffered. We are partaking the same sufferings, the same struggles that Jesus Christ went through as He walked this earth. We are to become like Him.

We are to walk in the same footsteps that He did. And in doing so, we will then be mimicking Him, and we will be experiencing some of the same sufferings that He did. And we will be experiencing those same things for the result to become like Him. Truly following Jesus Christ being a part of His church, we gear up. We step up. We put our shoulders back for this difficulty that we know that we are going to face.

In fact, it's probably the common thing that joins us all is the sufferings that we endure in God's church. We often live a life where we're facing one struggle after another.

Often when we get a little relief, there's another struggle that comes right behind it the moment we feel just as we're coming out of one struggle. Often another one is right behind it. But even though we know that it identifies us as a follower of Jesus Christ, it's difficult. It's very difficult, and it's very easy to allow suffering and worry to allow that to then cause worry in us and anxiety, even to the point where it can disable us in many ways.

If you're like me, our days and nights can be consumed with the weight that we feel. We worry about the troublesome implications of past decisions that we've made. We worry about looking to the future and often don't see a light in the physical circumstances that we face, the tough ones.

We worry about that future and those two things collide together and all together result in an inability in many ways to even move in the present. We can spend our whole life journey riddled with anxiety because it just feels like sometimes we're out of control and we have no control of the situations that are happening to us. So how can we continually cope?

How can we endure? How can we keep our desire to where it needs to be when we face this pressure and the anxiety as we walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? That's what we're going to talk about today. So the title of today's message is, Life in God's Church, Life in God's Church. We're going to talk about enduring to the end.

But before we get to some really tangible spiritual steps that will help us to endure, I want us to look first to start off here in our study to look at what the Apostle Peter says about some instruction, vital instruction of what we are to do when we face the suffering that we face as being a follower of Jesus Christ.

So turn to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5. Just one verse forward here in verses 6 through 7. What we're going to see here in verse 1 Peter 5 verse 6 through 7 is a stirring encouragement to the early Christians.

And look what he calls for here. He calls for humility as the means by which to set aside the weight of this world and the anxiety that it will bring. It says, just two verses here, 1 Peter 5 verse 6 through 7. Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care on him, for he cares for you.

What happens? What happens when we take that weight that we feel as a Christian and we put it on to God? What we're doing is we're putting it into the hands of the one who not only has the ability but also has the desire to help release it from us and the admonishment to cast off these cares, the worry, the anxiety that we feel in this walk. I can almost imagine it being like heavy work boots at the end of a day. You get home and you just cast them in the corner. You just throw them in the corner. That weight, that's what I see here. Because if we allow those worries to remain, you see what Peter goes directly into here. The very next verse here, he brings our attention to the fact that we're down here with the devil and that he is seeking to devour us. It's not coincidence that the admonishment to cast off these things that this world brings us as a follower of Jesus Christ is then directly tied to Satan the devil. Because if we don't cast these things off, that weight will bury us. It'll absolutely bury us. The devil will use those things to devour us, allowing those that anxiety and that heaviness to remain. It will absolutely destroy us. There's no doubt about it. So we are to cast our cares upon him. An anxious heart weighs down a man. It was a weight that we were never designed to carry alone. Never designed to carry alone. We're to cast it on to God. It's a load that we can't handle.

Often, and we can do this subconsciously, Satan will tell us that we can handle it on our own. We can handle it on our own, but without God, we can't accomplish any peace in this life. Without the help of that Holy Spirit. There's admonishment after admonishment to get rid of it. If we allow that weight to remain, it'll wrap itself around us and we'll sink to the bottom of the lake. So this is the admonishment here. So let's look at some tangible ways in which we can put these things that we experience in this walk with Jesus Christ into the hands of God. Keep moving forward. Keep that desire up. So turn with me to Ecclesiastes 11. We're going to spend really the majority of the study today in Ecclesiastes 11.

Ecclesiastes is interesting. Of course, Wise Solomon. We're going to read the words of Wise Solomon here. He does give the perfect admonishment here. He's the perfect person to listen to on these matters. God says that he was wiser than all men. There were kings and all kinds of people that would come to him to hear the words that he would give with regards to life. In this book, it is fascinating in that it answers those fundamental questions when life seems futile, when it seemingly things are happening to us, and it just seems I don't know how to handle these things, and keeping God foremost in my mind, when the cycles of life and the ups and downs, it gets so difficult sometimes. Well, Ecclesiastes is often the very perfect book to go to. So let's glean how we can move forward and be steadfast in this journey as we follow Jesus Christ. We're going to look at the first six verses. Ecclesiastes 11 verses 1 through 6. Let's read this. Verse 1. It says, Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. If a tree falls to the south of the north, in the place that the tree falls, there it shall lie.

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know what the way of the wind or how bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so that you do not know also the works of God who makes everything.

In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, either this or that or whether both alike will be good. Let's stop there. We're going to pull out five things from these six scriptures on how to move through life and not allow ourselves to be overcome in this journey and following Jesus Christ as part of God's church. So number one, number one, very important, be a generous giver. Be a generous giver. Verse one and two puts this truth forward here. It says again, cast your bread upon the waters. You will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, also to eight. For you do not know what evil will be on the earth. Be a generous person, no matter the circumstances that you face. Be a generous giver. Cast your bread upon the water, and you will find it once again. Society and Satan's influence will tell you just the opposite, and even human nature. When you are going through tough times in life, in this struggle to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, human nature will tell you to hang on to everything that you can. Hang on to everything. But why Solomon here? He says just the opposite. Throw your bread out. Cast it out. Afterwards you will find it. I don't know. This seems foolish. It doesn't make any sense. Really, it's going to float away. I've seen what happens when you feed ducks. It just floats away. I don't know. I'm going through a really tough time right now. It makes sense to hold on. What if I need it in the future? And Solomon acknowledges that. He says at the end of verse 2, cast it out. You don't know what disaster, what evil will come upon the land.

Solomon says be generous with it. You don't know what disaster is going to come. And your generosity, here's the key. Your generosity will be repaid to you in that day of great need. That is the key. It will come back to you. Again, in times of suffering, when we're walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and we're experiencing these trials, often it's the time that we recall. We turn inward. But Solomon is saying that is the time that you do just the opposite. You give.

Give all of yourself. It's the time to open up. Open outward. If you are generous with your life, Jesus Christ will be generous with you in times of evil when they come.

Be generous. Give of all that you have been given, and it will come back to you. Struggle and suffering will try to stifle a generous heart. Jesus Christ says it in John. He says if you love this life, you will lose it. He who hates his life, for my name's sake, will find it. What he's saying is you have to give all you can. If you give all, even when you feel like you have nothing more to give, the true life will be given back to you. Cast your bread upon the water. Be a generous giver. And it's not just monetarily. Oftentimes, we can close up emotionally during tough times and struggle. Give of yourself in that way. Share what you're going through. Who knows? You might help someone else that's going through the same thing. Don't let anxiety and worry to close you up. Give all you have, and it will be given back to you. Press down, shaking, running over. That's number one. Don't let suffering bring you inward. Be a generous giver in times of this struggle. That's what Jesus Christ wants you to do, and you're walking in his footsteps. Secondly, number two, with life in the church, there will be many things that are out of your control. Many things that are out of your control. I'm surprised I didn't hear an amen.

We know that, don't we? But do we accept it? Do we accept it? Don't be unovercommed by the fact that in the life in this church, in God's church, there will be many things that we cannot control. This understanding is found in verse 3 and 4. Verse 3 and 4. Verse 3, here it says, If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if a tree falls to the south of the north, in the place where the tree falls, well there it shall lie. What are you going to do about it? It's what this is saying. The trees fall where they fall. How much time do we spend dwelling on the things we have no control over?

Spending so much nervous anxiety and worry in that category. It's likened as if you stare up into the clouds and you wonder, huh, I wonder how much rain is going to come from that cloud there.

That's the usefulness of that kind of worry. It's utterly not useful.

Looking out, which, hmm, I wonder what direction that tree is going to fall there. And spending all your concentration, all your time on that. You'll feel as if you're just wrapped up in your worry and your mind over matters you don't have control over. You'll feel a tightness in your chest over those things. Don't find yourself in that position because what's going to happen is it will just destroy you again. What's going to happen? What's not going to happen? Focusing on those things that we can't change. This tree, that cloud, don't worry about the things you can't alter.

What's the admonishment? If you will humble yourself, if you will humble yourself, then let it go.

Put it into God's hands. Put it into the one, his hands. Cast it off. Let him have control of it. If you don't, it will destroy you. Don't do it. So that brings us to number three. Number three, and that's shown in verse four. Thirdly, with life in God's church, things might not ever seem ideal. Things might not ever seem perfect. And if you think about it, how can it be? We're walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in a world that is under a temporary ruler right now.

So how can things ever be perfect or ideal? So accept that understanding. And this is shown in verse four. He who observes the wind will not sow. He who regards the clouds will not reap.

You're watching the clouds. You're looking for just the perfect situation, the perfect condition. Whosoever watches the wind and is looking for the perfect conditions will not plant. You'll be frozen. If we live our lives waiting for favorable conditions, we'll inevitably find ourselves stuck. Stuck in a rut, not moving forward. Well, this has to happen first.

And then I'll do this. This has to happen before I move forward. I'm going to wait for the perfect situation. But here's a fact for you again. Life in God's church will never look favorable. It often will never look favorable.

Again, we're living in a world that is inherently opposed to what we're trying to accomplish.

So firstfruits living in a world that's largely influenced by an adversary. Firstfruits will never often live in a perfect circumstance. So what do we do? Do we freeze?

Or do we move forward with allowing God to provide our certainty, prayerfully going to Him, praying for His wisdom, but then moving forward? Keep moving forward. Don't get bogged down. Number four. Number four.

In God's church, we won't always understand why things happen the way they do.

That's a big one, isn't it? In God's church, we won't always understand why things happen the way they do and why they happen to us in certain ways. Verse 5 gets to that depth of understanding, as it says in verse 5. As you do not know what is the way of the wind or how the bones grow in a womb of her who is with child, so also you do not know the works of God who makes everything. There's so much that we don't understand.

So much we don't understand, especially when we're going through a struggle and going through a trial. It compares it to the this concept to the development of a fetus, the miracle of how a baby grows. We have the technology to observe certain things and watch the growth of a baby, but ultimately we don't know the miracle that happens in there. We don't know how this cell does that cell, how they all move the way they do and why they move the way they do or what way the wind will blow. We don't know why to its fullness, the struggle of why the wind blows in this struggle to me. Why it blew in that? We just know it keeps coming in sometimes. We don't always understand why Solomon says you don't understand the path of the wind, you don't understand how the body grows in the womb of a mother, and ultimately you cannot understand the fullness of the things that God places in your life. Accept that. We don't understand at all. The work of God and its fullness ultimately lies beyond our comprehension. We often do see fruit, though, don't we? After a trial, after suffering that we go through, often if you're like me, you can look back and think, man, I'm glad I went through that in a way. It sure was tough, but I can see how I'm a different man because of it. So we can see the fruit in a lot of ways, but there are certain things that will look at it from our physical eyes and think, wow, I don't know if I understand what just happened to me or what just happened to someone else, a death, a surprise death like we had over this last week. I don't know if we'll ever understand the fullness of those kind of things. We don't understand many things, but simply we are to trust the one who makes everything, as it says here. So do you not know the works of God? And He reminds us He is the one who makes everything. That's a statement in those three words. Who makes everything? We don't have to understand it all. Will we put our faith and our confidence? Will we continue to move forward knowing that we're worshiping the one who makes everything? And ultimately He's in control. He's always in control. He's in the control of the good. He's always in control of the bad. In our suffering, we don't find an evil one being victorious. No, never. God is always in control. And in the life of a first fruit, everything that happens to you is purposeful. It's absolutely purposeful. And it's purposeful to the next life. This is not the life. This will never be the best life we have ever. It's not supposed to be. It's not designed to be because it's preparing us for the life to come. It's a preparation.

Keep your place here, but let's turn to Deuteronomy 29, verse 29. We're going to come right back, so make sure you keep your finger there. Deuteronomy 29, verse 29.

This speaks of this understanding.

Familiar scripture to most of us. Deuteronomy 29, verse 29. It says, "...the secret things belong to the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed, well, they belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of His law." There's going to be secret things that will just reside in the secret counsel of God. Things we will not understand until we see Him face to face. We'll see it very dimly on those things. That's okay. He will reveal to us, though, things, other things. And we can focus on those revealed things. We can focus on those things that have happened that I understand. I can see why this happened. I'm a different person because of it. That's revealed things. Use those things to move forward and do the words of His law. Use those things that He has revealed, the why, and He has made it clear. There will be certain things in that way. Use those things to move forward. Keep walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Keep doing the words of His law.

But those things that He has kept secret, that we don't understand, the suffering, the trials, don't let that bog you down. Don't let that give you off track. Let them reside in the secret counsel of God until maybe He will reveal to you. But if He doesn't, that's okay. He's revealed enough to me. I know He's performed miracles in my life. I know He's with me, and we can say that, and you can say that too. So I'm going to focus on those things and keep walking and keep doing the words of the law. I'm not going to let the things that I don't understand to prevent me from accomplishing what I'm here to accomplish focus on what has been revealed and let it be through the words of the law. So that takes us directly into number five. Number five, and lastly here, in God's church, focus all your efforts on sowing. In God's church, no matter what happens to you, no matter what trial, no matter what suffering you're facing, focus all your efforts on sowing. And verse six says this, let's look. It says, In the morning, sow your seed. In the evening, don't withhold your hand either.

For you do not know which will prosper. Either this or that, or whether both alike will be good.

Sow in the morning, sow in the evening, and then put it into God's hands.

He produces the harvest. We are to sow, just sow, sow. God provides the growth.

Do you know that? Do you realize that? We're not even in control of the growth, but we are to sow. God provides the growth. You don't. We're so reliant on God. We are so reliant on God in this life, and that's a good thing. That's a very good thing. Nothing comes from us, but what is God looking for?

We heard it in the earlier message. Our part. Desire. Keep going.

Use the gift He's given you, this incredible opportunity to be an heir. Use it. Desire. Labor. Don't give up. Persevere.

And one day, if we focus on sowing, no matter what happens to us, no matter how we're knocked off, knocked back, if we keep going forward in sowing, one day He will sow eternity in us. Yes, it's His promise. For now, so God provides the growth.

What an interesting six verses, isn't it? From why Solomon? And it gets even more interesting. This isn't just Solomon. Even Jesus Christ really summarizes all that we've studied today in the Scriptures here with regards to the weight that we carry in following His footsteps. Turn with me to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 in verse 25. You know, the possibilities of disaster, the absence of total knowledge, the inability to have control. These are things that aren't to prevent us from walking forward. Instead, in actuality, these things are to be a stirring up. We're told these things are to happen. Expect them. How will you persevere? So let's read this. And even Solomon gets a nod here by Jesus Christ. Matthew 6. And let's read verse 25 through 34. He says, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body or even what you put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? He's speaking to first fruits here. It's much bigger. Everything we do here in the physical, there's something much bigger occurring. It's not about these things. Isn't life of a first fruit much more than these things? Verse 26. And he says, Look at the birds of the air. Let me remind you of something. For they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. I feed them, he says. Are you not more value than they? He's appealing to our logic here. He's putting it as plainly as he can put it.

And listen to this verse, verse 27. Which of you by worrying can add one cubic to his stature?

That's the uselessness of allowing these things to affect us and allowing these things just to overcome us with anxiety and worry. We are to expect these things in our life. Don't allow them to bog you down. Cast. The overall principle here is cast them off. Cast them off onto the Lord.

Verse 28. So why do you worry about clothing? Consider this. Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, like we do in bed sometimes at night.

And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not a raid like one of these. God's saying I did that. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, grass which is today and tomorrow is thrown into an oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

That's really what we're doing here. God is clothing us, not in physical terms. In fact, you know, it's hard to keep the shirt on our backs sometimes, going through money troubles and all of that. But there's a different clothing happening with a first fruit. There's a different clothing being put onto us so we can go from time to time without much food on our plate, without much clothing. And that's okay because we're looking to the future clothing that is going to occur in us, in eternity. Verse 31, therefore do not worry, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we shall wear. For all these things the Gentiles seek, you know, they focused on the physical things. God says this is spiritual. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. So what's our responsibility? What are we supposed to do when we face these things, when we don't have clothes, when we don't even know where our next meal is going to come from? What are we to do? What should you focus on? But you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

What do you focus on? Be generous. Don't worry about things you can't control. Don't worry if things don't seem ideal. Don't worry if you don't always understand the why of things. Just so.

That's the admonishment. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Yeah, you're a Christian. You're walking. There's going to be even suffering tomorrow. You're going to have suffering today. You're going to have suffering tomorrow. You don't even have to worry about it. It's going to be there. Don't worry. It'll come. It's sufficient for the day as its own trouble. A Christian is going to have trouble. These things are to be in this physical life. They're intended, and they're purposeful. You can even tell yourself sometimes that when you're going through a tough time.

I do that sometimes. I don't let people hear me. They'll think I'm crazy. But they're intended, and they're purposeful. They're intended, and they're purposeful. Bring my focus back to what I'm to do. Seek the kingdom. Seek the kingdom. That's the focus. Suffering with Jesus Christ. God says it's going to be tough, but I promise all these things to you. All these things will be added to you. Let's conclude by turning to Romans 5 in verse 1-5.

We certainly have to read this verse when we're speaking of trials and tribulations and the suffering that we go through as being a part of this church. Romans 5. We'll conclude by reading verse 1-5. The fact is, if you endure, you will not be disappointed. You will not be disappointed because there is a day coming, and it's coming. It'll be here. It sure is as gravity. It sure is the sun's going to come up tomorrow. The day is coming in which God is going to take His children, those that suffered in this lifetime, and He's going to give them everything. Everything will be added to them. Romans 5, verse 1-5, therefore, having been justified by faith, that's you. We are those to whom have been justified by faith. We have a peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access to faith and to grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope and the glory of God that is to come. And then verse 3 says, little ones, little ones, not only do you have this at the end, remember that? Not only that, but we're a peculiar people. We are a unique people because we actually glory in tribulations. Knowing, how can we glory? Knowing that tribulation produces the things that we will need to accomplish what's necessary here on earth. We glory in tribulation because it produces perseverance. That perseverance leads to character, and that character leads to hope. And you know something about hope? It does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us. And that's what we're going to come into tomorrow at the day of Pentecost, knowing that the Holy Spirit, it was just an act of love, an act of love that's been poured out in our hearts. And with that, we can keep going. As children of God, we glory in tribulations because they're making us like Him. We're preparing for His family. So approach this life, this Christian life, with that purpose in mind and with a hope that does not and will not disappoint.