0:07 foreign [Music]
0:36 from Isaiah chapter 43
0:39 and then from second Corinthians chapter one
0:45 you will see the connection in these two passages
0:47 passages
0:50 in the presence of God with his people
1:01 but now thus saith the Lord who created
1:04 thee o Jacob
1:08 and he who formed thee o Israel
1:10 fear not
1:12 for I have redeemed thee
1:17 I have called thee by thy name
1:24 when thou passes through the waters I
1:26 will be with thee
1:28 and through the rivers they shall not
1:30 overflow thee
1:33 but now walk us through the fire
1:37 Thou shalt not be burned neither shall
1:41 the flame Kindle upon thee for I and the
1:43 Lord thy God
1:48 the Holy One of Israel thy savior
1:51 I gave Egypt for thy Ransom
1:56 Ethiopia and Siva for the
2:00 since thou was precious in my sight
2:02 thou Hast been honorable
2:05 and I have loved thee
2:08 therefore will I give men for thee and
2:10 people for thy life
2:12 fear nah
2:15 for I am with thee
2:18 I will bring thy seed from the East and
2:20 gather thee from the West I will say to
2:22 the north give up
2:25 and of the South keep not back
2:29 bring my sons from far and my daughters
2:31 from the ends of the Earth
2:36 even everyone who is called by my name
2:41 for I have created him for my glory
2:44 I have formed him yay
2:53 second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 3.
2:57 blessed be God even the father of our
2:59 Lord Jesus Christ
3:02 the father of mercies and the God of All Comfort
3:04 Comfort
3:09 who comforteth Us in all our tribulation
3:12 that we may be able to comfort them who
3:15 are in any trouble
3:18 by the comfort with which we ourselves
3:22 are comforted of God
3:24 for as the sufferings of Christ abound
3:28 in us so our consolation also abounded
3:30 by Christ
3:32 and whether we be afflicted it is for
3:36 your consolation and salvation
3:39 which is effectual in the enduring of
3:41 the same sufferings
3:44 which we also suffer
3:47 or whether we be comforted it is for
3:50 your consolation and salvation
3:53 and our hope of you is steadfast
3:56 knowing that as ye are partakers of the
3:59 sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation
4:01 consolation
4:04 for we would not Brethren have you
4:06 ignorant of our trouble which came to us
4:08 in Asia
4:11 that we were pressed out of measure
4:13 above strength
4:16 in so much that we despaired even of life
4:18 life
4:20 but we had the sentence of death in
4:22 ourselves that we should not trust in
4:26 ourselves but in God who raiseth the Dead
4:27 Dead
4:30 who delivered us from so great a death
4:32 and doth deliver
4:35 in whom we trust that he will yet
4:38 Deliver Us ye also helping together by
4:40 prayer for us
4:43 that for the gift bestowed upon us by
4:46 the means of many persons thanks
4:49 may be given by many
4:53 on our behalf
4:57 have you discovered that God is the god
5:16 if you are going through difficulties
5:23 the result will be
5:26 either that you will build walls
5:31 some people when they go through
5:38 walls of self-pity
5:41 walls of isolation
5:45 walls of resentment and bitterness and
5:48 envy of those that they think are in
5:54 and this leads to loneliness
5:57 it leads to emotional and spiritual immaturity
5:59 immaturity [Music]
6:01 [Music]
6:04 they build themselves into a box and
6:07 that box becomes a coffin [Music]
6:08 [Music]
6:11 the Christian does
6:13 shouldn't do it
6:16 the person who lives by faith in Jesus
6:18 Christ when he goes through the
6:21 difficulties of life
6:26 finds himself not isolated but involved
6:28 he finds himself not building walls but
6:31 Building Bridges
6:34 he discovers himself growing
6:37 instead of putting himself into a box he
6:42 finds himself expanding and enlarging
6:44 we've been talking these Sunday mornings
6:51 and today we've come to the fourth
6:53 answer that God gives to us companionship
7:00 our first answer was creation there is
7:03 suffering because the world we live in
7:05 is a suffering world
7:09 groaning and travailing in pain
7:14 god's second answer was conflict
7:16 there is an enemy in this world who's
7:21 the third answer God gave to us is character
7:23 character
7:26 tribulation is working patience and patience
7:28 patience
7:32 tried and proven character
7:36 and now the fourth answer companionship
7:39 God permits us to go through
7:43 difficulties and trials and sufferings
7:45 because he wants us to experience the
7:49 kind of companionship that can only be
7:52 experienced in the valley
7:55 now all of us if we are honest confess
7:58 that life is not always dark
8:02 life is not always in a minor key
8:05 God knows how to arrange the experiences
8:08 and the events of life to balance one
8:10 against another
8:12 when you read the
8:15 marching of the children of Israel from
8:17 Egypt to Canaan you discover that there
8:20 were times when they were hungry
8:22 there were times when God fed them
8:24 lavishly there were times when they were
8:27 thirsty there were times when God just
8:30 flooded the waters out at their feet
8:31 there were times when they were in
8:33 battle and there were times when God
8:36 gave them rest
8:39 oases in the desert God knows how to
8:41 balance life
8:45 and none of us can really complain
8:49 the master artist knows how to blend the
8:51 colors of life
8:54 for our good and for his glory
8:56 and there are times when God ordains
8:59 that we go through difficulty sorrow suffering
9:01 suffering
9:04 that we might learn to experience the
9:07 kind of companionship that Isaiah
9:10 chapter 43 talks about and the kind of
9:13 companionship that second Corinthians
9:16 chapter 1 talks about
9:18 because in the difficulties of life if
9:21 you're walking by faith
9:24 you will experience a two-fold
9:27 companionship that you can experience no
9:30 other way
9:33 Isaiah chapter 43 talks about this first
9:36 companionship that we experience a deeper
9:37 deeper
9:42 companionship with the Lord
9:46 when thou passes through the waters I
9:49 will be with thee
9:52 I'm not standing on the shore and saying
9:54 let me throw you a life preserver I'm
10:00 and through the rivers they shall not
10:03 overflow thee when thou walk us through
10:09 Thou shalt not be burned
10:11 prophet Isaiah had said back in chapter
10:15 41 and verse 10 fear thou not for I am
10:17 with thee
10:21 be not dismayed for I am thy God the
10:24 companionship the deeper companionship
10:28 with God now what is Isaiah saying to us
10:31 in chapter 43 well he's saying this
10:33 first of all
10:40 God is not against us God is with us
10:43 there was a time in our lives when we
10:45 were against God we were at enmity with God
10:46 God
10:49 we were at war with God God gave the law
10:51 we disobeyed it God said walk this path
10:53 we walked over there and then there came
10:55 a time when we trusted Christ as our
10:58 savior and we cease to be at enmity with
11:02 God we were reconciled to God
11:04 became children in God's family
11:07 we began to share in the very life and
11:09 nature of God
11:12 so he says look I'm with you not against you
11:13 you
11:21 well because we are his property look at
11:24 chapter 43 of Isaiah verse 1.
11:27 but now thus saith the Lord who created thee
11:30 thee
11:33 he formed thee
11:37 I have redeemed Thee I have called thee
11:41 by thy name we are his property
11:43 what father is there what mother is
11:46 there who would not endure the suffering
11:51 with the child and even for the child
11:55 now he created us he took clay and he
11:58 made us and during our lives he has been
12:01 forming us
12:04 and not only did he claim Us by creation
12:07 he claimed Us by salvation I have
12:11 redeemed thee and that means Jesus died
12:13 for us that means the blood of Jesus
12:16 Christ was shed for us and he goes on to
12:19 say I have called thee by thy name we
12:22 aren't strangers to God
12:25 when he spoke to little Samuel he didn't
12:26 say Hey kid
12:30 he said Samuel Samuel
12:32 when he spoke to Abraham he said Abraham Abraham
12:38 Jesus looked up and said Zacchaeus come down
12:40 down
12:42 Martha Martha Thou Art anxious and
12:45 worried about many things he knows your
12:49 name he created you he formed you he
12:53 redeemed you he called you and he said
12:56 having done all of this for you through
13:00 Jesus Christ I am not going to Desert you
13:06 verse 4 tells us that we are precious to him
13:07 him
13:12 since thou was precious in my sight
13:15 we look upon the word precious today as
13:17 somewhat of an effeminate kind of a word
13:20 the kind of a word that strong people
13:22 don't use all but it is the kind of a
13:26 word that strong people use who would
13:30 criticize or laugh at a strong man who
13:32 takes his little child in his arms and
13:35 says you're precious to me
13:37 that's not a sign of weakness that's a
13:39 sign of strength and God looks upon us
13:42 with our failures and our faults and all
13:45 of our weaknesses and our sins he says
13:47 you're precious to me
13:55 he tells me in verse 7 I have created
13:57 him for my glory
13:59 you see whenever the Lord permits us to
14:02 go through difficulty it's because he
14:06 has some glorious purpose to fulfill
14:08 we don't always understand it
14:12 we're like job we we see the action but
14:14 we haven't read the script
14:18 and we wonder what's going on
14:19 ever walk into the room in the middle of
14:23 a TV drama or a football game for that matter
14:24 matter
14:27 and you say hey what's going on
14:29 life is this way
14:32 and the waters begin to get higher and
14:35 higher and the fire begins to get hotter
14:37 and hotter and we say Lord we don't
14:39 understand he says I can't explain it
14:41 all to you and if I did explain it it
14:42 wouldn't make much difference to you
14:44 because you don't live by explanations
14:51 if you only used in your life those
14:54 things that you understood completely
15:00 I don't understand the electricity I'm
15:02 sure there are people who do but I thank
15:03 God for it
15:05 I don't understand the internal
15:07 combustion engine there are people who
15:16 a deeper companionship with God because
15:19 we are his that's what he says you are mine
15:21 mine
15:23 fear not
15:25 I am with thee
15:28 now how is God With Us
15:30 when he says don't be afraid I am with you
15:32 you
15:35 how is he with us does this mean that
15:37 that he forsakes the Throne of heaven
15:40 and comes down and walks with me does it
15:43 mean he sends angels to be with me
15:51 I am the Lord
15:58 thy God the Holy One thy savior he is
16:02 with us in his person he is there in the
16:05 person of the spirit of God he's right
16:07 there with us
16:09 now we've had people say well I'm with
16:10 you in spirit
16:12 which means they're not going to be with
16:14 us in presence
16:17 you're lying in the hospital bed and you
16:20 feel very very ill and the doctor comes
16:23 in and he attends to you but he can't
16:26 stay with you forever he has 27 other
16:28 patients in that hospital and he has a
16:39 but our God says I am there in my person
16:43 I am the Lord look at these names the
16:46 Lord Jehovah the God who makes covenants
16:52 and when you were saved you entered into
16:55 a new covenant with me and I'm going to
16:59 keep that Covenant I'm the Lord I am thy God
16:59 God
17:02 that word God is the word that speaks of
17:06 power the god of power I am the Lord thy
17:11 God the holy one that encourages me
17:13 when you're going through the waters and
17:17 the fire the Devil comes and says oh why
17:20 is this happening to you if God really
17:22 were the right kind of a God he wouldn't
17:23 do this
17:26 Satan is the accuser not only does he
17:29 accuse the Brethren he accuses the Lord
17:31 oh the only reason you've the only
17:34 reason that job is a good godly man is
17:37 because you've protected him
17:39 he's your favorite he's your teacher's pet
17:44 my Bible says that when I go through
17:46 difficulty and trial God is the Holy One
17:50 he cannot do anything wrong
17:52 I don't understand
17:54 and Satan May whisper to me God's
17:57 holding out on you God is not being true
18:00 to you that's not true Satan he's the
18:04 Holy One he cannot do anything wrong
18:07 this is what Abraham said to God when he
18:09 was interceding for Sodom he said Can
18:13 does not the judge of all the Earth do right
18:14 right
18:23 he is the Redeemer the Savior I am the Lord
18:24 Lord
18:28 thy God the Holy One of Israel thy savior
18:30 savior
18:33 he's with us in his person
18:35 now you don't always feel him there you
18:37 don't always see him there but he's
18:39 there how do you know he's there he said
18:42 he would be there
18:44 he didn't say a light would flash a
18:47 voice would sound a trumpet would blow
18:49 an electric shock would go through your
18:52 body he just simply said I am there
18:59 that's what the Incarnation of Jesus
19:01 Christ is all about when Jesus came to
19:04 this earth and wedded himself to human
19:09 nature God said call his name Emmanuel
19:14 Emmanuel means god with us
19:17 and all the way through the Earthly life
19:20 of Jesus it's God with us then he went
19:22 back to heaven but before he left he
19:27 said something lo I Am With You Always
19:29 even to the End of the Age though I am
19:32 leaving physically I can never leave you
19:40 he's with us in his person
19:44 he's with us in his Providence verse 2.
19:46 you're going through the waters I
19:49 control those Waters
19:51 you're going through the fire I'm in
19:53 charge of the fire
19:55 I'll see to it that the waters won't
19:57 drown you oh they may come up to your chin
19:59 chin
20:01 and you may have to do some real
20:03 Evangelical dog paddling to keep
20:05 yourself up there
20:07 that's all right you'll grow muscles
20:18 he's with us in his providences
20:21 we have forgotten I'm afraid in this
20:24 world of science and technology we have
20:28 forgotten that God still controls this world
20:29 world
20:31 now God is not to blame for the
20:34 wickedness of man God is not to blame
20:37 for the convulsions of nature as I said
20:39 we live in a world that is just
20:43 travailing in pain but God's in control
20:46 when they put those Hebrew children into
20:48 the furnace God was in control
20:50 they went through the fire and the fire
20:52 didn't burn them and more than that the
20:58 when the nation of Israel went through
21:01 the waters the waters didn't drown them
21:05 God Is With Us in his providences God is
21:07 still on the throne
21:16 he certainly is with us in his promises
21:18 I've noticed In this passage in Isaiah
21:21 43 how many times he says I will I will
21:24 I will I will
21:26 he doesn't say now if you do this I will
21:32 the mother puts the frightening child to
21:35 bed and the child says mother I'm afraid
21:37 I'll be right here
21:39 and if you call I'll be right by your side
21:40 side
21:42 the child turns over and goes to sleep
21:44 and says mother made a promise and
21:46 she'll keep it
21:49 you see we live by promises
21:51 recently someone was asking me for an
21:54 explanation of why certain tragedies
21:56 took place and my answer was very short
21:59 and simple I don't know
22:01 but if I didn't know it wouldn't make a
22:02 bit of difference
22:05 we don't live by explanations we live by promises
22:06 promises
22:09 God Is With Us in his promises and he
22:14 says I am with thee fear not I will I
22:17 will I will I will gather you Jewish
22:19 people from the North and the South and
22:21 the East and the West I'm going to
22:23 gather you I'm not going to scatter
22:25 you see the unsaved person and the
22:27 unbelieving person when he goes through
22:30 difficulty everything falls apart
22:33 but the Christian who trusts God
22:35 God gathers everything together he's
22:39 with us in his promises he's with us in
22:41 his power
22:43 I recall walking into a hospital in
22:45 Cincinnati Ohio
22:48 walking into a room and there in that
22:51 bed lay a precious girl it had the joy
22:54 of baptizing her and her father and her mother
22:55 mother
23:02 and she was dying
23:05 she was an only daughter only child
23:07 she was dying
23:15 why is this happening
23:24 I said get your Bible and she reached
23:26 for it I said turn to Isaiah 41 and she
23:28 found that I said look at verse 10.
23:35 fear thou not for I am with thee
23:38 be not dismayed for I am thy God I will
23:41 strengthen thee
23:45 yeah I will help thee yea I will uphold
23:47 thee with the right hand of my
23:49 righteousness and I said now it doesn't
23:54 doesn't say God's going to change here
23:55 but he might
23:58 he might in his divine power heal you
24:01 but if he doesn't here's what he says
24:03 I'm with you don't be afraid
24:06 I'm going to strengthen you for whatever
24:11 you have to have needles and poses and
24:14 machinery and Medicine and pain
24:21 I can still remember how many times
24:23 until the Lord called her home I'd stop
24:25 to see her and very often before I'd
24:27 leave she'd say
24:34 he's with us in his power
24:42 but Lord I'm going to sink
24:46 oh no my hand my arm is with you but I
24:48 can't make it I'll strengthen you
24:50 but I'm afraid don't be afraid I'm with you
24:51 you
24:54 my friend you don't learn that in a
24:57 theology book
24:59 you don't learn that
25:02 from a sermon you'll learn that going
25:04 through the water and going through the furnace
25:12 it's a great lesson to learn
25:15 it's a costly less it's a painful lesson
25:17 but I have discovered that the greatest
25:25 you say but that's just for special
25:27 people isn't it I notice that he calls
25:30 him Jacob
25:33 Isaiah 43 but now thus saith the Lord
25:36 who created the O Jacob
25:37 you ought to read the life of Jacob and
25:39 find how many times God said I'll be
25:41 with you I'm with you Jacob ran away
25:45 from home a liar a schemer he went to
25:46 sleep and God said you know what Jacob
25:48 I'm right here because I didn't know
25:50 that well I'm here
25:52 and I'm going to be with you
25:54 over and over again in the Book of
25:56 Genesis you find it says and God was
25:59 with Jacob and God said to Jacob don't
26:00 be afraid to go to Egypt I'll be with
26:02 you don't be afraid to do this I'll be
26:05 with you I'll be with you
26:08 happen to Joseph boy if anybody had a
26:16 sold as a slave and made into a prisoner
26:18 prisoner
26:19 yet it says in the word of God the Lord
26:23 was with Joseph the Lord was with Joseph
26:25 Moses said I can't do it Lord he said
26:27 don't be afraid I'll be with you the
26:30 angel shows up at Gideon's
26:32 side where Gideon is hiding and
26:35 threshing some wheat
26:37 the Lord is with thee with thee thou
26:40 Mighty Man of Valor
26:42 and God took that ordinary dirt farmer
26:43 who was scared to death and made a Great
26:46 Hero out of him why he was with him
26:49 God made the promise to Joshua Don't Be
26:51 Afraid as I was with Moses I'll be with you
26:56 the Apostle Paul was having a rough time
26:58 in Corinth
27:01 Acts chapter 18. he was ready to quit
27:03 the Lord Jesus showed up and said don't
27:04 be afraid I'm with you just stay right
27:07 here I have many people in this city
27:09 later on when Paul was arrested the Lord
27:11 showed up and said don't be afraid I'm
27:13 with you on that boat when they're going
27:15 through the storm God's angel comes and
27:17 says Paul don't be afraid you aren't
27:24 Paul wrote his last letter II Timothy
27:25 you get to chapter four he says
27:28 everybody's forsaken me everybody's
27:30 forsaken me you can't depend on people
27:33 everybody's forsaken me but the Lord
27:40 my friend there is a deeper experience
27:43 of the companionship of God when you go
27:45 through difficulty
27:51 but it's a kind of a blessing that I
27:57 now in second Corinthians chapter one
28:00 there is a second kind of companionship
28:02 that we experience in the sufferings of
28:05 life not only a deeper companionship
28:07 with God but a deeper companionship with
28:13 you see everybody is going through
28:16 suffering everybody unsaved people go
28:17 through it
28:20 new Christians go through it mature
28:23 Christians go through it everybody's
28:28 that's the
28:33 great Scottish preacher John Watson
28:37 used to remind his students be kind
28:39 for everyone you meet is fighting a battle
28:40 battle
28:42 that's true
28:44 that waitress was a little bit sharp
28:46 with you the other day but she's got a
28:48 sick baby at home she's worried about her
28:54 that neighbor in your building was a
28:56 little bit Curt with you in the laundry
28:59 room but that's okay she's about to lose
29:01 her job
29:03 everybody's got something
29:05 and in second Corinthians chapter one we
29:07 discover Paul was going through trouble
29:10 look at the words he uses tribulation trouble
29:17 suffering pressed out of measure
29:22 sufferings trouble despair it's an
29:24 interesting thing in verse 8 he says he
29:26 despaired even his life he was ready to
29:28 give up Paul since the end of my Ministry
29:29 Ministry
29:31 I don't know what trouble he was going
29:33 through some people think it was the
29:35 problems in Ephesus I don't know
29:37 all I know is that Paul had come to the
29:43 everybody's going through some kind of
29:46 suffering and everybody needs comfort
29:48 the word Comfort is used ten different
29:50 times in this passage
29:52 it's unfortunate that it's translated
29:56 comfort and consolation back in the days
29:58 when this was translated it had a little
30:00 different connotation to it today when
30:02 you talk about Comfort it's mother
30:04 picking up the baby and saying there
30:10 there it's all right pampering pitying
30:12 uh sentimental kind of a thing that's
30:14 not what that word means
30:17 when Paul says he's the God of All
30:20 Comfort when he says that Jesus Christ
30:23 abounds with Comfort he's not talking
30:26 about sentimental shallow kind of pity
30:28 that Pampers us and makes babies out of
30:31 us God never want to make babies out of
30:32 us he wants to make strong men and women
30:36 out of us the Greek word means
30:37 as you know
30:41 one who comes alongside to help you it's
30:42 the same word that's used for the Holy Spirit
30:44 Spirit
30:47 it's the Greek word paracaleo called
30:50 alongside and when Paul talks about comfort
30:52 comfort
30:54 he doesn't mean that God's patting us on
30:56 the head it means that God comes right
30:59 alongside if you're in the fire he's in
31:00 the fire if you're going through the
31:02 water he's going through the water and
31:05 he's there to strengthen you our English
31:08 word come for it comes from a Latin two
31:11 Latin words it means with strength fortification
31:19 so comfort means with strength that
31:21 psalmist said he strengthened me with
31:28 now why does the Lord Comfort us why is
31:31 he the father of Mercies
31:34 God has the all the market on Mercy if
31:35 you want Mercy you have to come to God
31:37 and get it why is he the God of All
31:39 Comfort all kinds of comfort you're
31:41 going through sorrow he has comfort for sorrow
31:42 sorrow
31:44 you're going through loss you're going
31:47 through disappointment someone near and
31:49 dear has stabbed you in the back and God
31:51 has comfort for that he's the God of all
31:54 Grace he's the God of All Comfort not
31:57 some comfort not some Grace
31:58 when you come to God you can get all
32:00 that you need now why does he do this
32:04 why does his comfort abound
32:06 Paul tells us that we might be able to
32:11 that's why
32:14 God's Comfort is never given that we
32:16 might selfishly say oh thank you Lord
32:19 for comforting me God's Comfort is given
32:21 that we might be able to say thank you
32:22 Lord for comforting me and I'm going to
32:25 go out now and comfort somebody else [Music]
32:27 [Music]
32:29 that's why you're going through
32:31 difficulty someone's going to come into
32:32 your life
32:38 now this doesn't mean that we have to
32:40 experience all of the difficulties of
32:47 a doctor does not have to have cancer to
32:50 be able to help a cancer patient
32:53 a dentist does not have to have a an
32:55 abscessed tooth to be able to help a
33:00 what he's saying is it's a marvelous
33:03 thing in verse 4 he says the Comfort God
33:06 gives you in any trouble you go through
33:09 he can take and help anybody else no
33:14 you don't have to be able to say well I
33:17 know what it's like to to lose a baby
33:19 but you can say I know what it's like to
33:25 you don't have to be able to say well
33:27 yes I've been through that
33:29 but you can say I have been through the
33:32 valley and I've discovered that God
33:35 meets my need
33:37 see we have the foolish idea and the
33:39 selfish idea that a person has to go
33:41 through exactly what we go through to be
33:43 able to understand us that's not true
33:46 human nature is human nature suffering
33:48 is suffering difficulty is difficulty
33:52 battle is Battle and God is God and when
33:54 you receive the comfort of God
33:56 regardless of what you've gone through
33:58 others can tell it there's a tenderness
34:00 about you there's a sensitivity about you
34:03 you
34:05 it's not that shallow sentimental kind
34:07 of a thing that says well keep a stiff
34:09 upper lip ever try that
34:22 no when a Christian comes on the scene
34:24 and puts his arm around you and he says look
34:26 look
34:28 God can see you through
34:31 that's why we're here for that deeper
34:34 companionship with others
34:37 suffering is not given to us to isolate
34:39 us it's given to us that we might be
34:47 some Christians get so selfish in their suffering
34:48 suffering
34:50 they think they're the only ones who've
34:52 ever been in a grave side they're the
34:54 only ones who's ever who have ever been
34:57 in an intensive care Ward they're the
35:03 and I'm here to tell you that
35:06 everybody's going through a battle
35:08 but the difference is this
35:11 there are some of you who have tasted
35:14 that deeper companionship with God and
35:16 you're able to reach out and have a
35:17 deeper companionship with other people
35:20 and there is a fellowship in the valley
35:22 that's different from the fellowship on
35:24 the Mountaintop
35:26 there's a fellowship in the darkness
35:28 when you're walking by faith that's
35:30 different from the fellowship out there
35:32 in the garden when the light and the sun
35:38 some people never taste of this because
35:40 they let their sufferings crush them
35:42 instead of build them they let their
35:44 Crush their sufferings defile them
35:46 instead of cleanse them they find
35:48 themselves getting full of pity and
35:50 resentment and they draw into themselves
35:52 instead of reaching out and saying look
36:06 that in order for you and me to
36:09 experience this deeper companionship
36:10 with God
36:14 Jesus had to die and lose the fellowship
36:24 if his own son when he went through the valley
36:26 valley
36:30 at that hour when my Lord bore my sin he
36:32 cried out my God my God why is thou
36:34 forsaken me I've heard people say to me
36:37 Pastor God's forsaken me
36:39 God's never forsaken anyone except his son
36:44 forsook Jesus that he might be able to
36:46 say to you
36:54 and for the Lord Jesus
36:56 to be able to help me have the deeper
36:59 companionship with others he was
37:04 he took the three disciples into the
37:07 garden they went to sleep
37:10 he's crying out to God he's he's bearing
37:13 his soul they're sleeping
37:25 this deeper blessing of companionship
37:28 costs Jesus Christ
37:30 his life
37:32 it's not cheap
37:36 this is why God sometimes doesn't allow
37:37 some of his children to go through this
37:39 experience because they would take it
37:42 too lightly too cheaply they don't
37:46 realize how costly is suffering
37:51 but if God has called you to go through
37:53 the valley and there's heartbreak and
37:56 heartache it's because he's trusting you
37:58 with a deeper blessing
38:02 a deeper companionship with God fear
38:04 thou not I'm with thee
38:08 a deeper companionship with others we
38:12 receive the comfort of God and we share
38:15 this comfort of God with others and they
38:16 look at us and say you know you understand
38:25 did you say
38:27 I have a father who understands and cares
38:28 cares
38:30 and I'm just sharing with you what he
38:33 shared with me
38:36 don't let the sufferings of Life isolate you
38:38 you
38:42 don't build walls let the sufferings of life
38:43 life
38:45 involve you
38:47 build Bridges
38:51 and move into that enriching enlarging
38:54 experience of a deeper companionship
38:56 with God
39:05 thank you Father
39:08 thank you so much for the comfort and
39:10 strength that you give
39:12 forgive us our complaining are criticizing
39:14 criticizing
39:17 forgive us our self-pity
39:19 forgive us O Lord when we have drawn
39:21 into our own little world to protect ourselves
39:23 ourselves
39:25 when there's a great big world that
39:28 needs our encouragement help us this
39:30 coming week tenderly
39:32 tenderly
39:35 understandingly lovingly to touch the
39:37 lives of others
39:39 and to be channels of your comfort and
39:41 let them know that you care
39:43 because we care
39:45 oh Lord
39:46 thank you
39:49 that you are with us
39:51 thank you so much
39:54 I pray that you will help us now
39:57 help those who have never trusted Christ
39:59 to trust him
40:00 help those who are going through
40:05 difficulty to trust and not be afraid
40:08 for Jesus said amen
40:09 amen [Music]
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