Seven Lessons of Survival

I want to begin by giving a little bit of personal background. When I was 14 years old, I was back in 1955. I can barely think back that far, but I attended my first funeral. I happened to have a very, very loving relationship with my great-grandma.

Not too many people of all people know their great-great-grandparents, but I had a great-grandmother. We affectionately called her Keek, and she lived down in the state of Washington, down by the Pacific Ocean. We go down there quite often to visit them. But she was 99 years old when she died.

She was born in 1855 and died in 1955. I thought, wow, I wish I had asked her some more questions when I thought about what was life like back in the 1800s. Because she actually was a young girl during the Civil War. Can you believe that? And lived in Ohio. They lived in Ohio at the time. They went that far from the Civil War. Civil War got right on almost to the frontier of Ohio before it was over.

And she did tell a story one time when she was a young girl. They lived on a farm in Ohio. And actually, there was one time where Indians were actually circling her parents' house. And her dad, my great-great-grandfather, I guess it would be, actually had to go out with a rifle and shoot over the Indians' heads to try to frighten them to scare them off. And they did scare them off.

So imagine that. She had an experience with Indians. But I never thought to ask her about her experiences as a child. I wish I had. But that was the first funeral I ever attended. I was 14 and it was an open casket funeral. And I remember seeing my great-grandmother, Keek, there, asleep. I didn't understand it. My parents both believed in God, but they weren't religious. I'd never attended church. And they didn't attend church, but they believed in God, but they were not churchgoers.

So I didn't really have any religious upbringing. But I looked at that and I thought, wow, I'm never going to be able to talk to her again. She's not going to be able to tell me any more stories again. I thought, you know, I'm not very old right now. I'm only 14. I've got a lot of years left, but someday I'm going to be at the end of my life.

And I thought, you know, when you die, what happens after that? I'm never going to see anybody ever again, or be able to talk to anybody ever again, or ever enjoy food or anything again. It's not going to be the end. It's just going to go into darkness forever and ever and ever. And as I thought of that, it scared me. I was actually fearful. I thought, wow. And then I thought to myself, at age 14, I said, what is the most important question that anybody could find the answer to?

And I thought, I said, the most important question anybody could ever find the answer to, does God exist? Is there a God? Is there... Were we created by a God? Does He have... Is there some kind of a purpose for us in this life that might go beyond this life? Of course, I didn't have any pros and cons or anything like that. I just wasn't raised that way.

So I was just asking this question to myself at that particular time. Seven years went by. Seven years later, a little over seven years later, in December of 1962, I'm a student at the University of Washington now, 21 years old, and I was up in my bedroom, and it was about 10 o'clock, and I decided before I go to bed, I just got to turn on the radio and spin through the dial.

So I turned the radio on, started spinning through the dial, and there was a World Tomorrow broadcast. And it was gone, or Ted Armstrong. And guess what subject he was covering? What the first thing that came out of his mouth? He says, does God exist? I thought, wow!

That's the most important question anybody can know! Boy, that caught my attention. He says, does God exist? And can you prove God exists? He says, yes, you can prove that God exists. And they advertise the booklets, does God exist, and seven proofs that God exists. So I ordered them immediately, and I received them later, all about three weeks later. I was living in Seattle, and it was a crisp, cold January day, when I received the booklets, and I received them late that afternoon.

And I had to go to some classes at the University of Washington. When I got home that evening, after eating, it was all of a sudden, because it gets dark early in January in Seattle. And so it was black, it was not dark, it was dark, and it was a real, crisp, clear evening. So I walked out in the backyard, and I looked up there to the heavens, and I saw the stars. And after I read those booklets, I knew the answer to my question.

It hit me like a bolt of lightning. There is a God. God exists. I have some kind of purpose for which He created me and created life. And it was so moving to me that I walked out in the backyard, I dropped to my knees, I looked up to the heavens, and for the first time in my life, I prayed. I didn't know anything about God, didn't know who He was, but I knew He was up there. And I just saw moving, and I had to pray, pray to Him.

That was a very, very moving, moving experience for me. And that was 52 years ago. Now I'm nearing the end of my life. I'm at that point, 75. But I want to think about the past 50 years of God's Church, because it wasn't long after that that I began attending God's Church and actually went to Vastra College. But that was over two years ago. But during the last 50 years, God's Church has gone through many, many trials, many ups and downs. A lot of you have been around for a long time, so you've been through some of those ups and downs and difficulties in trying times.

Sometimes it feels like trials will never end. That you get through one trial, and right around the corner is another one. What will it take to see us through to the end of our lives? What trials are we going to have to face between now and the end of our life, or now when Christ returns, whichever happens first?

Is there anything, any trial that could happen that could take you out of God's Church?

Because some have left, as we know many have. So what lessons must we learn, and always keep in mind, in order to make sure that doesn't happen? That's what we will focus on today. I want to focus on seven lessons of survival, and that's my title. My title is Seven Lessons of Survival. Seven lessons that can help us, help see us through any and all trials we may have to face between now and the end of our life, or when Christ returns. Now, this first one is undoubtedly the most important lesson for us to always keep in mind when we think about surviving trials and difficulties we might have to face. It's very simple, so basic, and I think we all know it. We need to keep it in our minds. The first lesson is this. Christ is the head of the Church.

Christ is the head of the Church. So, I was thinking by asking this question, upon whom is the true Church of God built?

You know, let's let Christ Himself answer that question for us. Turn to Matthew 21. Matthew 21. Begin at verse 33. This is the parable of the vineyard, or the vine dresser. Of course, Christ spoke often in parables that teach us very, very important lessons, even as Tom brought out in his sermon about the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 21, verse 33. Here another parable. There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vine dressers and went into a far country. And now, when the vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the vine dressers that he might receive its fruit. And the vine dressers took his servants and beat one and killed one and stoned another. So again, he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all, verse 37, he sent his son to them, saying, they will surely respect my son. This is obviously referring to Christ, the Son of God. The old, he sent his sons, saying, they will surely respect my son. But when the vine dressers saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and they killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine dressers? Christ is not asking this question. What will he do?

And they said to him, well, he will destroy those wicked men miserably and lease his vineyard to other vine dressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons. But Jesus then said to them, have you never read in the scriptures? And then he quotes from the Old Testament. He's quoting from Psalm 118 verses 22 to 23. He says, So Christ is quoting this prophecy concerning himself. It was given back in Psalm 118 verses 22 to 23. My original question was, upon whom is the true church of God built?

Who is the foundation of the true church of God? Who is the chief cornerstone of that foundation?

Christ himself tells us here that he is the chief cornerstone.

The true church of God is built upon Christ as the chief cornerstone.

The Apostle Paul understood that, that Christ had been given the responsibility. He understood that Christ had been given the responsibility to be the head over all things to the church by his Father. Let's read that in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, and we'll begin in verse 22, verses 22 and 23. Ephesians 1 verse 22, where the Apostle Paul wrote, And he put all things under his feet, referring to Christ, and gave him to behead over all things to the church. He gave Christ to behead over all things to the church, which is his body, body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ, spiritual body of Christ.

The fullness of him who fills all in all.

So the church here is the spiritual body of Christ. It is his body, and Christ fills his church by living in all of its members. Christ is filling all of us with this Holy Spirit. He's living in us, all those who have God's Holy Spirit have Christ living in them. And he's been given the responsibility, the Paul tells us here, to behead over all things to the church. He's head of the church. It's his church. He knows everything that's happening.

Things that we don't know and we don't understand, but he knows. Let's go to chapter 5 of Ephesians. Ephesians 5, same two verses, verses 22 and 23, different verses, but the same numbers. Ephesians 5 verses 22 and 23, he says, Why submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord? For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. And he is the Savior of the body. So here, the first lesson we all need to keep in the forefront of our mind is clearly stated. Christ is the head of the church. What else is also mentioned here? It says, he is the Savior of the body. And does Christ desire all men to be saved? Well, we know what 1 Timothy 2, 4 says. I won't turn there. 1 Timothy 2, 4 says, Christ desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, Christ desires to look at his body, his church, and all the members who comprise his spiritual body, all of us. And he desires that all of us should make it into his family. He desires that all of us come to the full knowledge of the truth and that all of us receive salvation to be in his family and his kingdom. And Christ is the only one that can do that. He's the only one that can save us.

No man can save us. And, you know, we can't even save ourselves. I can't save myself.

Only Christ can save me. Because he is the Savior of the body and he is the head of the church.

And Christ is also the head of each and every one of us. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11.

1 Corinthians 11, verse 3, where Paul wrote, I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. The head of every man and every woman is Christ. Christ is my head. He's your head. He's the one that we're responsible to. He's the one that loves us and gave himself for us. He's the one that wants us to make it into his kingdom, that will work with us personally at any time in our life, at any period in our life, no matter what we're going through, to help us get to where he wants us to be. He is the head who's trying to direct and lead every one of us individually, wherever we are at this particular time.

And this is the head of Christ, his God, the head of Christ is God the Father.

See, what does all this mean? I mean, here's a fantastic thing. Christ knows all of our faults and shortcomings. He knows where we are in our spiritual journey, from what he's called us to, and we're on that journey heading towards the kingdom of God, and where we are in that spiritual journey, and how much we have to learn to get there. And he's striving to make all of us into his image and likeness. That's his goal. He does that through the trials we go through, so what we can learn through those trials. He knows where we are, and he knows how to help us complete our spiritual journey towards the kingdom of God. And I want you to understand this. Something to really keep in mind here when we say Christ is the head of the church, that means whatever problems there are in God's church—and I'm talking the way we might look at it—Christ knows all the problems in his church. He knows how to keep us on the path we need to be on. And whatever problems there are in his church, Christ knows how to correct them. He knows how to work things out so that we can all learn what we need to learn on this journey. Sometimes the church may not handle something the way some of us may feel it should have been handled. Maybe sometimes it doesn't handle things the way they should have been handled. Sometimes that may be our perception. But if that is the case, if something is not handled correctly, Christ will correct it in his own way, in his own time. We don't need to worry about it. We just remain faithful. Stay the course.

Remember the Christ that they have at the church, and if there are problems, he will correct it in his own way, his own time. It's only he can, because he is the head of the church, which is the first lesson we need to learn and keep in the forefront of our minds for long-term survival in this journey we're on towards the Kingdom of God. Here's the second lesson of survival. Never confuse the truth with people problems, with perceived leadership problems, or with perceived church problems. Sometimes they can be real problems. Sometimes they're perceived.

But the thing is that you have to do. Always keep the truth in a separate category from perceived church or people problems or perceived leadership problems that you may have to be struggling with. You know, many who have not done that, they've not separated the truth from problems, because there have been problems. You go back 50 years, there's always been problems in the church, in leadership, whatever in the church. We've all been through that. But some who have not separated the truth from that have left. They say, well, this can't be God's church, because look at the problems that the home officer or headquarters or whatever, and they say, this can't be God's church. You wouldn't have all these problems. Sure it would. We're all people. We all have problems. You can't get away from it. None of us are perfect. Never mix the truth with perceived or real problems. You always want to keep this truth in a separate category. Why? Because the truth will never change. Why? Because the truth will never change.

But people will change, and leadership in the church will change.

Also, the truth will never let you down. You can always depend on the truth.

It's a sure rock of foundation you can hold on to.

But people will change, and leadership is going to change in the church from time to time.

The truth is always going to be there, but people and human leaders will come and go.

You know, sometimes human leaders die. Somebody else has to come in and take their place. Administration might change, but the truth doesn't change. It's always going to be there.

Now, our understanding of the truth may grow at times, and change slightly. We may grow in deeper understanding, but the truth itself will never change. And Christ will never change. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13, verse 8.

So, a second lesson of survival is never confuse the truth with people problems, perceived leadership problems, or perceived church problems.

Let's move on to a third lesson of survival.

Make relationships your number one priority. And I covered that last time, but our number one priority must always be the two great commandments of the law. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22, verses 35 to 40. Now, I covered that in depth last time, so I don't really need to expound on that again here. Other than I want to reiterate one crucial point where I just barely touched on that sermon last time, but it's so important when it comes to human relationships. When it comes to our relationship with one another, even with ones we dearly and deeply love, at times there will be unintentional hurts. Nobody intentionally wants to hurt anybody, but even marriage sometimes will hurt our partner sometimes, and we don't mean to, but we do. When that occurs, and however that occurs, we all need forgiveness. We all need forgiveness. When I hear somebody, I need to be forgiven.

When I'm hurt, I need to forgive the person that hurt me. We all need forgiveness, and it needs to be a two-way street as much as possible. Forgiveness is an essential tool for our survival when it comes to relationships. So make relationships your number one priority, and when needed, make forgiveness an essential tool to help you to do that. A fourth lesson of survival is never give up. Never give up, or allow yourself to get discouraged, because sometimes trials can just be extremely hard and difficult. Make you want to quit. Make you want to give up. They can really get us down at times if we allow them to. See, we're always going to have problems.

We're always going to have challenges we have to face. And God knows our every faults and weakness.

You know, here's the amazing thing. And I think back. See, I know myself back when I was a teenager. I still remember what I was like. And I thought, why in the world would God have called me with all things I did? Think about it. God knew our faults and weaknesses before He called us.

You know, if I look down and say, well, you don't call that person. Look at all the faults they have. Look what they've done. See, God knew our faults and weaknesses before He called us, but that did not discourage God from calling us and from working with us.

And He will never give up on us. God will never give up on us as long as we never give up on God.

Notice Hebrews 4. That's what's written in Hebrews 4. This is an amazing scripture to me. And I think that God called me.

Hebrews 4.13. He says, there's no creature or nothing that He created, no human being or anything else, no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. God knows everything about us. He knows more about us than we know about ourselves. He sees things in us that we need to change that we don't even perceive ourselves. God knows our every fault and shortcoming long before He called us.

All things were naked and open to His eyes. As I pointed out last time, when God called us, He wasn't looking at our faults. If He'd been looking at our faults, He probably wouldn't have called us. Wouldn't have called me, I don't think. I was not what you'd call a perfect teenager.

What was He looking at? He was looking at our heart. What's deep down inside that person's heart?

He was looking at our heart and He was looking at our potential. I know that person's got a lot of faults, but I see potential there. I want to call that person because I can see that I can work with that person. I can mold them and shape them and they can become an extremely valuable tool in my eye. I want them to be part of my family. I want to call them now. I want them to be the first fruits of my kingdom. They've got qualities there that I can use in those individuals that need a part of that elite group. Christ can make up the difference for our faults and shortcomings and weaknesses. Again, Hebrews 4 verse 13, There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. See then, verse 14, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession or our professional calling to be Christians. Hold fast to your calling.

Never give up and never allow yourself to be overcome with discouragement. Hold fast. Verse 15, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, and yet without sin. Christ gave up his glory, his God. He became a human being in the flesh, subject to all the pulls of the flesh and all the temptations that we're subject to. So he knows what it's like to be human. He knows our struggles. As it says, he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. We can thus have confidence, not in ourselves, but confidence in Christ. As the next verse tells us, verse 16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And remember, God's mercy never fails. His mercy endures forever. Read Psalm 136 again.

And that being the case, never give up and never allow yourself to get discouraged, no matter what happens, no matter how discouraged those things might seem.

A fifth lesson of survival is always remain positive and give thanks always for all things. Always remain positive and give thanks always for all things.

You know, there are always going to be things in the church that could potentially affect us negatively. Things are going to happen. Maybe we don't understand them, but there are always going to be things that happen that are going to affect some of us negatively, that we don't understand. And oftentimes, things can happen in the world. Why is God on all that? Why did all that happen? Why do you let that baby die or those kids die? Whatever. That can get us upset, get us into a negative way of thinking.

You know, all things in the church and the world are dynamic.

They're never static for long. They're always changing. Things in the church will change, things in the world will change. And sometimes you don't understand why that's happening, why God allows it. And all these things in the church and the world sometimes can affect our have a negative impact on us. And Satan will use anything he can to get our mind focused on things that he knows are affecting us negatively. He wants to get our mind into a negative groove if he can, because he knows that negative thinking can eat away at us. It can keep eating away at your mind, cause you to not be able to sleep at night, and you keep eating away at you. It potentially causes us to become bitter if we don't get a result. And bitterness, if we ever allow that to happen, that can destroy us. Satan desperately wanted to destroy the apostle Paul. Paul was becoming an extremely effective tool in God's hands, and Satan wanted to do anything he could destroy the apostle Paul, and Paul himself knew it. He knew that was the case. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 6. This is an amazing scripture. Just the first three words, or first four words. Ephesians 4 verse 6 Paul writes, Be anxious for nothing. Don't worry about anything. Don't worry or fret or have anxiety. Don't worry or overly concern yourself about anything. Now, do we understand the tremendous meaning behind these words? Would you lie if we'd been in Paul's shoes when he wrote this? If we'd been in his shoes, could we have written that and said that? Could we have written, say, Be anxious for nothing? Don't worry about anything.

When did Paul write this letter? Where was he when he wrote it?

What was the situation with the Church of Philippi at this time? If he was writing, too? Was there any cause for anxiety or worry? You bet there was.

You bet there was tremendous anxiety and worry was all around him.

This was around 63 A.D.

Where was Paul? He was in prison when he wrote this letter. He's writing this from a prison cell. He's a prisoner of Rome. He's a Roman prisoner.

And what was the situation with the Church of Philippi, to whom he wrote this letter?

Well, they've had anything to worry about.

They were being highly persecuted by the Roman government. The Roman government was coming down on Christians, and they're being highly persecuted. They didn't know what was going to happen today or tomorrow. Their church might be shut down, that may be all taken and put in prison. Or worse, they didn't know. It was a horrible time. There was tremendous worry and anxiety for everyone in the Roman Empire at that time. Let me ask you this. Who was the Roman emperor at that time? Any concerns about that? Nero was the Roman emperor.

He was the emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 AD. He became the emperor at the age of 16.

For the first few years, he had co-regions. But Nero became unstable, mentally and emotionally, beginning the late 50s AD, around 58 or 59 AD, became very unstable mentally and emotionally. And yet, you think of that, you have somebody who has unstable mentally, and yet he had the absolute power of life and death over anyone he thought was a threat to him, anyone who didn't agree with him, even murdered members of his own family.

Do you think they had nothing to worry about? And Paul, the prisoner of Nero, who at any time could just have him killed and put to death. It was a time of great anxiety for everyone in the Roman empire. And yet Paul, as a prisoner of Roman, as a prisoner of Nero who was going mad, he said, be anxious for nothing. How could you say that? Well, you could say that because Paul had a solution. And I want to give you the solution that Paul gave, because we sometimes face things where we're very anxious and worried, here is the solution. What did Paul and Masha's in the church of Philippi to do to thwart their anxiety? Philippians 4, verse 6, be anxious for nothing, but instead to thwart that anxiety in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. Take your anxieties to God. Hand your worry over to God. Put your problems on Christ's shoulders. He's the head of the church. Let your requests be made known to God. If we can do that, if we can turn all the weight of what we're trying to carry in the worry and anxiety and turn it over to God and to Christ, what will the result be? Verse 7, the peace of God, which the past is all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You can have peace. I'm in a situation I have no control over. If I'm going to turn all over to God, it would be his problem. I know he can solve it. He knows the answer. And I can then leave it in his hands and have peace because there's nothing more I can do. I'm just going to give it to Christ. And then the latter part of verse 7 says, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Guard our hearts and minds against what?

Against becoming negative and against the potential of that leading to bitterness.

What else did Paul tell the church of Philippi to do to combat negative thinking? Verse 8. And this is the one we should all, at least to have this, know where it is, may not have the exact word memorized, but we should all remember the Philippians 4.8.

Because this is what we all, in the years ahead, I don't know what we're going to face in the church or in the world. We're going to face a lot of things that are negative.

And always go to this scripture right here, Philippians 4.8.

Keep it in the forefront of your mind. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, and I'm talking about the bad things, I'm thinking the good things. Like what Paul was talking about in his sermon, it's the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is true. It's coming. Christ is going to come. God is sovereign over all things. That's true. Keep those things that you can focus on and hold your hands to that are true and solid. Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, what things are of a good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. And you know, in the midst of trials and difficulty, you're always going to find people that you can look through that have got a positive outlook, that are courageous, that are strong, that will try to encourage you. Be one of those people, because we're all going to need those kind of people in the years ahead. People that can encourage us, that are courageously being positive in the face of great danger.

So always remain positive, but focusing on things that are positive.

Another way you can do that is given to us by Paul in Ephesians chapter 5. Let's turn to Ephesians 5. Let's go back here to Ephesians just before Philippians. Ephesians 5 verse 20.

Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Give thanks always for all things. Well, you know, some things that happened to us, I'm not thankful for that. Paul says, be thankful for all things, good and bad. Why? Why should we give thanks always for all things? Well, for two reasons that I can think of, and maybe there's more. But number one, we'll guard our heart from Satan's attempted influence.

Satan cannot get to a mind that remains positive. The only he can get to us is by getting our mind in a negative mode. Just think negatively. If we remain positive, Satan cannot get to our minds.

That's why we should need to give thanks always for all things. If we're doing that, you're giving thanks for everything. How can your mind go negative? How can Satan get to you if you got that kind of an attitude? I don't care what trials come. I know there's everything I can learn from this trial. I'm thankful, God, for this trial. It's helping me to shape me into your image and likeness. It's helping me on my journey towards the kingdom of God. If you think that way, Satan cannot get to you. You've blocked it. Number two, all things good and bad can work together for good to those who love God. As Paul writes in Romans 8.23, turn there and read it. Romans 8, the Scripture we're all very familiar with, Romans 8.28. And we know that all things, good and bad, can work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

It doesn't matter what it is. There's something we can learn that's something that can help mold and shape us to become more like Jesus Christ. All things can work together for good.

A sixth lesson of survival is be willing to suffer wrongfully.

Of all the skills we'll need for survival, this is probably the most difficult.

Let's turn to 1 Peter 2. It's always difficult to suffer wrongfully. Or to think we've suffered wrongfully.

Or it's difficult, maybe if someone you love and you feel they've suffered wrongfully. That can be hard, too. 1 Peter 2, verse 17. Peter wrote, 1 Peter 2, 17, honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. All of them.

Even those you don't necessarily agree with, or see eye to eye with, love them anyway. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. All those in authority, regardless if they're using that authority properly or not.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. Not only to the good and gentle, that's easy. Also to the harsh. You have someone who's not treating you all well? Well, submit to them as well.

Why? Because this is commendable. Verse 19. Because of conscious toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, and you take it patiently, this is commendable for God. Why?

Verse 21. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, and he didn't just suffer for us, he suffered wrongfully for us, didn't he?

Leaving us an example that you should follow his tips. Christ didn't just suffer for us, he suffered wrongfully for us. It says in verse 22, he committed no sin. He didn't do anything to deserve suffering. Nor was the seat found in his mouth. He did nothing to deserve having to suffer at all.

Why then did he suffer wrongfully for us? I was opposed to the other end. It was part of his sacrifice, wasn't it?

It says here, he did it. He says, to leave us an example that you should follow in his steps. And I have to step back and say, why? Why should I have to follow in his steps? If he did it for me, that's part of his sacrifice. He paid him my behalf. Why should I have to go through it then? Why do we need to follow Christ's example by being willing to suffer wrongfully ourselves? Here's the reason.

Because in our Christian journey, all of us are going to experience a time we're going to feel like we have suffered wrongfully, or we will suffer wrongfully, or we'll perceive we've suffered wrongfully. You can't get through this life without going through those kinds of experiences.

It's going to happen to all of us. All those who have been around for years, it's happened, hasn't it? More than once. We'll either suffer wrongfully at times, or we'll think we have suffered wrongfully. It doesn't matter whether it's real or perceived. The result's the same.

When I was thinking about this, some lyrics to a song came to my mind.

So keep in mind these lyrics from the song in a New York minute. It was recorded by Don Henley, who was once the lead singer of The Eagles.

I'll have you remember the song in a New York minute. I just got one short line from that song, which goes like this. If you find someone to love in this world, you better hang on to the nail.

The wolf is always at the door. And in God's Church, we not just find someone to love. We should have Godly love towards everyone in God's Church. If we don't, the wolf is always at the door. Just waiting to try to devour us. 1 Peter 5, 8. Satan, like a raging lion, seeking to devour whom he can of God's people.

He'll try to do that through the nice ship problems.

And when we suffer wrongfully, or think we have suffered wrongfully, what should we do instead? What did Christ do? 1 Peter 2, verse 23. When he was reviled, he didn't revile in return.

When he suffered wrongfully, he didn't threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. He gave himself to God, his Father, who knows all things and knows how to rightfully judge all things. 2 Peter 4, verse 24. Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, speaking of Christ, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, and by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. So, 6 lessons of survival is to be willing to suffer wrongfully as Christ did for all of us. And I had to think a long time, what might a seventh one be to give number 7, number of completeness? Although there are probably others here you could think of. I thought of a couple others, even after I completed the sermon. But what might a seventh lesson of survival be?

This one is also very crucially important to understand. The reason it's important to understand is because it can happen to us often. And we've all wrestled with this at times. You can't be in God's church for 10, 20, 30 years without wrestling with this one.

A seventh lesson of survival is don't allow doubts to cloud your thinking.

And a positive way of expressing that is have confidence in God.

When you doubt what's happening, you doubt something, why is this happening? Why is God allowing this? Don't allow that doubt to eway at you. Have confidence in God.

But there are times we do have doubts about something, and sometimes we don't fully understand those things. We can have doubts about something we don't fully understand. But we can know this. God does understand. He knows. He knows all things. So having confidence in that can help us overcome doubts until things can be made clear.

We have confidence in God rather than harboring doubts.

Now I want to ask this question. Who would like to place doubts in our mind?

What was the first tactic Satan used in trying to tempt Christ? Let's go to Matthew 4. Matthew 4, verse 1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry. Actually, he was starving. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Notice the first word out of Satan's mouth.

The L2 letter word, if. Maybe a little word, but it could have gargantuan consequences by placing a doubt in our mind, if. Which in turn can cause us to lose confidence in God, or maybe lose confidence in God's word. So the first card Satan played in his attempt to tempt Christ was the doubt card, If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. How did Christ respond to that? Verse 4. He answered and said, It is written, He quotes the word of God very clearly, Man shall not live by bed alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

He responded by quoting scripture, by quoting the word of God.

Now let me ask this. I thought about this and I thought, well, what would have been wrong with Christ actually changing those stones into bread? Why didn't Christ instead just prove He was the Son of God by commanding those stones to become bread? Wouldn't that have proven that He was the Son of God if He had done that? See, what would have been wrong with that? If Christ had done that, He would have been playing into Satan's hand by trying to prove to Satan that He was the Son of God.

And if He had tried to prove to Satan He was the Son of God, it would have been admission He needed to prove it. Christ didn't need to prove anything to Satan. He was the Son of God and He knew it. He didn't have to prove anything. He didn't have to prove it. But Satan doesn't give up easily.

He tried two more times to play the same card. Verse 5, Then the devil took him to a... this time Satan carries it a step further. He's very shy. He understood how Christ answered the first one until he's going to carry it a step further this time so he could really try to trick him up. Then the devil took him up into a holy city, sent him on a pinnacle of the temple, said to him, if... big word, if again, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written... now he's going to quote Scripture. Christ has used Scripture. Now he said, I'm going to do that. I'm going to use Scripture. That's a good idea.

Throw yourself down for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up as you dash your foot against a stone.

This time, Satan takes it a step further and he tries to trap Christ by playing the same game by quoting Scripture like Christ did. Here he's quoting Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12.

There's only one big problem. Satan is twisting the meaning by quoting it out of context, which Christ immediately recognized. See, Psalm 91, if you go back and read it, it's talking about God's protection during a time of great trouble.

It's not talking about tempting God to save us if we jump off a high building.

Thus Christ responds, verse 7, He said to him, and it is written, again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Verse 8, again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you, if you'll fall down and worship me, you don't have to go through all that suffering, you have to die excruciating death. I'll give you all that now. And Jesus said to him, away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.

See, Satan tried to place doubts in Christ's mind to get him to begin to lose confidence in God. And to begin to lose confidence in God's word. And Christ responded by clearly and correctly quoting the word of God. So a seventh lesson of survival is don't allow doubts to cloud your thinking. Instead, have confidence in God and have confidence in the word of God.

So in conclusion, and let's all make sure we all survive whatever lives ahead of us by applying these seven laws of survival. Number one, remember that Christ is the head of the church. Number two, never confuse the truth with people problems, perceived leadership problems, or perceived church problems. Number three, make relationships your number one priority. Number four, never give up and never allow yourself to get discouraged. Number five, always remain positive and give thanks always for all things. Six, be willing to suffer wrongfully. And seven, don't allow doubts to cloud your thinking. Have confidence in God and have confidence in God's word. And if we apply these seven lessons, we will survive until the end of our life or until Christ returns, whichever comes first, because these are seven lessons of survival.