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Power Point with Jack Graham

Jack Graham - Another In The Fire

February 8, 2026 | 27:29

Jack Graham - Another In The Fire
Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ to as Lord to all people.
#WordofGod #TrustGod #Glory #Suffering #Shame #Judgement #Tribulation #Overcoming #KingdomofGod #Righteousness #JackGraham

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Power Point with Jack Graham | Jack Graham - Another In The Fire | February 8, 2026
  • ♪♪♪
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  • There is no person that god cannot save!
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  • There is no promise that god will not keep!
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  • There is nothing that our god cannot do!
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  • Take your bibles now and turn to 1 peter chapter 4... 1 peter
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  • Chapter 4. i asked for the song we sang earlier another in the
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  • Fire. it's one of my favorites because it is a reminder to all
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  • Of us that fire is a fact in the life of the believer. and
  • 00:00:54.277 --> 00:00:59.215
  • Peter recognizes this fact as he writes at the beginning of
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  • Verse 12:
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  • 12) beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial
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  • When it comes upon you to test you, as though something
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  • Strange were happening to you. 13) but rejoice insofar as you
  • 00:01:11.227 --> 00:01:16.266
  • Share christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be
  • 00:01:16.266 --> 00:01:20.770
  • Glad when his glory is revealed. 14) if you are
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  • Insulted for the name of christ, you are blessed,
  • 00:01:25.675 --> 00:01:29.913
  • Because the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you. 15) but
  • 00:01:29.913 --> 00:01:34.651
  • Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or as an
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  • Evildoer or as a meddler. 16) yet if anyone suffers as a
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  • Christian... (either because you're a christian or as a
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  • Christian), let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
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  • God in that name. 17) for it is time for judgment to begin at
  • 00:01:52.635 --> 00:01:57.607
  • The household of god... (it starts here) and if it begins
  • 00:01:57.607 --> 00:02:04.147
  • With us, what will be the outcome for those who do not
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  • Obey the gospel of god? 18) and "if the righteous is scarcely
  • 00:02:07.917 --> 00:02:12.188
  • Saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?"
  • 00:02:12.188 --> 00:02:17.193
  • (verse 19) 19) therefore let those who suffer according to
  • 00:02:17.193 --> 00:02:22.999
  • God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while
  • 00:02:22.999 --> 00:02:31.040
  • Doing good.
  • 00:02:31.040 --> 00:02:33.109
  • Why do bad things happen to good people? and even more
  • 00:02:33.109 --> 00:02:44.387
  • Specifically, why do bad things... sometimes terrible,
  • 00:02:44.387 --> 00:02:48.524
  • Tragic things happen to godly people? it's an age-old
  • 00:02:48.524 --> 00:02:55.665
  • Question. philosophers and theologians have wrestled with
  • 00:02:55.665 --> 00:03:01.804
  • This question of suffering through the millennium. and
  • 00:03:01.804 --> 00:03:07.377
  • There are many things we don't know this side of eternity
  • 00:03:07.377 --> 00:03:11.014
  • Regarding suffering. why do people suffer? why do i suffer?
  • 00:03:11.014 --> 00:03:16.619
  • Why do you suffer at times?
  • 00:03:16.619 --> 00:03:20.089
  • What we do know is that christians are not exempt from
  • 00:03:20.089 --> 00:03:24.827
  • The problems of pain and suffering. in fact, jesus said,
  • 00:03:24.827 --> 00:03:31.034
  • “in this world you will have tribulation. but be of good
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  • Cheer. (he said, take heart) for i have overcome the world.”
  • 00:03:37.006 --> 00:03:42.445
  • And when christ rose from the dead and ascended and reigns
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  • And rules until he comes again, he forever declared that he has
  • 00:03:48.384 --> 00:03:52.188
  • Conquered sin, death and hell, and that includes ultimately
  • 00:03:52.188 --> 00:03:55.758
  • Suffering. but in this world, there will be “a world with
  • 00:03:55.758 --> 00:04:01.464
  • Devils filled” as the hymnwriter put it. there will
  • 00:04:01.464 --> 00:04:04.267
  • Be tragedies and accidents and disease and disasters and
  • 00:04:04.267 --> 00:04:10.773
  • Deplorable things that happen in this world.
  • 00:04:10.773 --> 00:04:13.409
  • Now, the recurring theme of 1 peter is the subject of
  • 00:04:13.409 --> 00:04:19.415
  • Suffering. and what we have in front of us today is really the
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  • Summit scripture of the entire book. remember, that peter was
  • 00:04:25.154 --> 00:04:30.693
  • Writing to scattered and suffering christians. people
  • 00:04:30.693 --> 00:04:34.597
  • Had problems; people had pain inflicted upon them. they were
  • 00:04:34.597 --> 00:04:37.300
  • Facing injustice and unfair treatment and undeserved
  • 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:43.172
  • Suffering... undeserved suffer and pain!
  • 00:04:43.172 --> 00:04:53.015
  • So the question is to them and for them and for us, how do we
  • 00:04:53.015 --> 00:04:57.453
  • Have hope in a hurting world? we are living in a world of
  • 00:04:57.453 --> 00:05:03.126
  • Hurt. the very groan that is cursed by the power of sin is
  • 00:05:03.126 --> 00:05:09.999
  • Groaning, according to the book of romans. and so many people
  • 00:05:09.999 --> 00:05:15.171
  • Are living without hope. or if they're living with hope, it's
  • 00:05:15.171 --> 00:05:20.676
  • A... so often a false hope. many false hopes among people
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  • Today.
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  • You know, hope is spiritual but it is also medicinal. it is
  • 00:05:28.951 --> 00:05:36.058
  • Biologically and psychologically essential for
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  • Everyone. you cannot live in this world without hope. and so
  • 00:05:40.229 --> 00:05:47.203
  • In this broken world, how do you have it? in a broken
  • 00:05:47.203 --> 00:05:51.040
  • World... in a painful world, in a world in which we all are
  • 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.876
  • Subject to this kind of pain, what are we to do? well, one
  • 00:05:53.876 --> 00:05:59.849
  • Thing you can do is react in rage and bitterness; turn away
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  • From god. or you can accept suffering as a part of life and
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  • Surrender your suffering and your pain to a god who loves
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  • You.
  • 00:06:21.637 --> 00:06:23.306
  • Peter begins this passage as a pastor. you see the pastoral
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  • Heart of peter here because he begins these sentences with the
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  • Word beloved... beloved. and it's the way that i want to
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  • Speak to you today as a pastor, beloved. you are any pastor's
  • 00:06:40.923 --> 00:06:48.998
  • Beloved, and i get to be your pastor and so i say to you
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  • Beloved ones... loved ones, more importantly than you are
  • 00:06:53.703 --> 00:06:57.907
  • Loved by peter or your pastor, is that you are beloved by god.
  • 00:06:57.907 --> 00:07:03.513
  • And before we go into a deep dive of the struggles and
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  • Sufferings in life, start with this: you are loved... you are
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  • Beloved, and nothing can separate you from the faithful,
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  • Fervent love of god. his love will never let you go.
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  • And therefore, we have in this world of hurt, in a world full
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  • Of pain and problems we can persevere and even know peace
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  • And the presences of god in our lives in times like these.
  • 00:07:32.808 --> 00:07:40.983
  • Because there is another in the fire. we can be triumphant in
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  • Our trials... our fiery trials, as we face the fire because he
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  • Is with us.
  • 00:07:50.893 --> 00:07:52.795
  • So peter begins by telling us how we face the fire, and that
  • 00:07:52.795 --> 00:07:57.400
  • Is, number one, we anticipate painful trials. look again at
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  • Verse 12... we anticipate painful trials for he says
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  • After beloved he said, alright you don't sugarcoat it. none of
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  • Us are fireproof. not one is exempt from what he is about to
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  • Say. "don't be surprised... don't be stunned or shocked at
  • 00:08:20.222 --> 00:08:25.628
  • The fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you."
  • 00:08:25.628 --> 00:08:34.036
  • The fiery trial. the word that is used here in the new
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  • Testament is a word that literally means burning,
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  • Painful fire. it is describing, of course, the pain of
  • 00:08:42.778 --> 00:08:48.351
  • Suffering. and the point that peter is making is be prepared
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  • For this pain. don't let it take you off-guard, because in
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  • Life... because life is hard and we live in this broken
  • 00:08:58.928 --> 00:09:02.598
  • World, pain is inevitable. there is no escaping... don't
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  • Be surprised at the fiery trial that will come upon you and you
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  • And you and you and you and you... all of us.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • In a time of rage, anxiety, uncertainty, chaos. it is
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  • Absolutely essential that we go to the source of all truth and
  • 00:09:29.725 --> 00:09:33.195
  • That is god's word. the bible. during intense persecution in
  • 00:09:33.195 --> 00:09:37.299
  • The early days of the church, the apostle peter wrote a
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  • Letter all about hope and encouragement, encouraging
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  • Believers and giving hope to christians who were navigating
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  • A world that was dead set against them. this is a message
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  • That speaks directly to christians in every generation,
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  • Including our own.
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  • [announcer] drawing from peter's letter, doctor jack
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  • Graham's latest book speaks to the challenges every believer
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  • Faces. how do we live faithfully for christ in a
  • 00:10:01.090 --> 00:10:04.126
  • Hostile world? today, we want to equip you with jack graham's
  • 00:10:04.126 --> 00:10:06.796
  • New book, “living hope in a hostile world” as our thank you
  • 00:10:06.796 --> 00:10:10.066
  • For your continued support of powerpoint ministries.
  • 00:10:10.066 --> 00:10:12.735
  • Simply text feb that's f-e-b to 59789.
  • 00:10:12.735 --> 00:10:18.007
  • Use the qr code on the screen, or visit jack.graham.org.
  • 00:10:18.007 --> 00:10:23.345
  • [jack graham] this is not a book about hype. it's a book
  • 00:10:23.345 --> 00:10:25.214
  • About hope. it's not positive thinking. it is biblical truth.
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  • It's the living hope, the kind of hope that anchors your soul
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  • When storms rage and that holds you when you can barely hold
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  • On. this is the hope that never fades because it's a living
  • 00:10:36.459 --> 00:10:39.628
  • Hope. this book is for every believer in the midst of life's
  • 00:10:39.628 --> 00:10:43.332
  • Greatest challenges, and it will encourage you that there
  • 00:10:43.332 --> 00:10:46.368
  • Is real, lasting living hope that is found in christ and
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  • Christ alone.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • When the disciples were arrested in acts chapter 5 for
  • 00:10:59.315 --> 00:11:03.352
  • Preaching the gospel, peter and john were put in jail and that
  • 00:11:03.352 --> 00:11:09.158
  • Wasn't god's plan, so god sent an angel to get them out of
  • 00:11:09.158 --> 00:11:12.027
  • Jail. what did they do? rather than run and hunker down and
  • 00:11:12.027 --> 00:11:14.597
  • Hide, they went back to the very same place where they were
  • 00:11:14.597 --> 00:11:17.933
  • Preaching and arrested before, and they preached again all the
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  • Words of this life, as the angels told them to preach. so
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  • They're out there preaching jesus who is the light of the
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  • World, and they're called in again.
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  • [they] said, "did we not strictly warn you not to speak
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  • Of this jesus and here now you are filling our city with this
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  • Doctrine... with this teaching!" and that's when
  • 00:11:37.853 --> 00:11:41.557
  • Peter said, "we must obey god and not man." and so they
  • 00:11:41.557 --> 00:11:49.999
  • Strictly warned them in acts chapter 5 to never speak the
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  • Name of jesus again under threat of jail or even death.
  • 00:11:54.770 --> 00:12:03.479
  • And they said, "we cannot help but speak of those things which
  • 00:12:03.479 --> 00:12:07.917
  • We have seen and we have heard." "we can't help but tell
  • 00:12:07.917 --> 00:12:11.687
  • You about jesus!" so we anticipate it. and they were
  • 00:12:11.687 --> 00:12:19.728
  • Beaten and flogged, and they went on their way. and the
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  • Bible says "they were rejoicing that they were accounted worthy
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  • To suffer for name of jesus."
  • 00:12:30.306 --> 00:12:35.444
  • Yes, you may face the fire; you may face the flack to be a
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  • Follower of jesus.
  • 00:12:39.815 --> 00:12:41.283
  • And that brings us to the second point. anticipate fiery
  • 00:12:41.283 --> 00:12:45.688
  • Trials or painful trials, but number two, peter says
  • 00:12:45.688 --> 00:12:49.358
  • Celebrate painful trials! what? what on earth can that mean?
  • 00:12:49.358 --> 00:12:58.534
  • Who celebrates suffering? who is joyful in the midst of
  • 00:12:58.534 --> 00:13:04.573
  • Horrendous hellish pain. look again at verses 13 and 14. it
  • 00:13:04.573 --> 00:13:09.511
  • Says: "but rejoice insofar as you share christ's sufferings,
  • 00:13:09.511 --> 00:13:13.449
  • That you might also rejoice and be glad when his glory is
  • 00:13:13.449 --> 00:13:17.887
  • Revealed." and if you're insulted for the name of jesus,
  • 00:13:17.887 --> 00:13:21.056
  • You are blessed. that word means happy... fully happy,
  • 00:13:21.056 --> 00:13:23.692
  • Because the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you. how on
  • 00:13:23.692 --> 00:13:29.064
  • Earth can we keep on rejoicing? because we know that god has a
  • 00:13:29.064 --> 00:13:34.336
  • Purpose and a plan even in the pain.
  • 00:13:34.336 --> 00:13:36.939
  • He says rejoicing here and keep on rejoicing. it's written in
  • 00:13:36.939 --> 00:13:43.145
  • The present tense so it means rejoice always, again and
  • 00:13:43.145 --> 00:13:47.383
  • Again. do not stop rejoicing. and when we are suffering, and
  • 00:13:47.383 --> 00:13:51.854
  • There is suffering that is not a result of something inflicted
  • 00:13:51.854 --> 00:13:55.524
  • Upon us, but some suffering comes to us because we're human
  • 00:13:55.524 --> 00:14:02.364
  • And we have illnesses and we have pain and we have emotional
  • 00:14:02.364 --> 00:14:06.902
  • Struggles and so we suffer in this way. but in the midst of
  • 00:14:06.902 --> 00:14:12.942
  • This suffering and pain and affliction, whether there is
  • 00:14:12.942 --> 00:14:15.945
  • Rejection or persecution or anything the devil throws at
  • 00:14:15.945 --> 00:14:20.983
  • Us, in the middle of this what did jesus say about it?
  • 00:14:20.983 --> 00:14:25.321
  • Look at matthew chapter 5, verse 10 through 12... matthew
  • 00:14:25.321 --> 00:14:30.893
  • Chapter 5: "blessed are those... happy are those who
  • 00:14:30.893 --> 00:14:33.395
  • Are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
  • 00:14:33.395 --> 00:14:36.365
  • Is the kingdom of heaven. and blessed are you when others
  • 00:14:36.365 --> 00:14:39.301
  • Revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
  • 00:14:39.301 --> 00:14:42.471
  • Against you falsely on my account. rejoice and be glad
  • 00:14:42.471 --> 00:14:47.910
  • For your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted
  • 00:14:47.910 --> 00:14:51.680
  • The prophets who were before you."
  • 00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:53.215
  • Peter, remembered the words of jesus that he heard at the
  • 00:14:53.215 --> 00:14:59.688
  • Sermon on the mount which is what we just read at the close
  • 00:14:59.688 --> 00:15:03.826
  • Of the beatitudes. "happy are you... blessed are you when you
  • 00:15:03.826 --> 00:15:08.464
  • Are persecuted for righteousness' sake...", when
  • 00:15:08.464 --> 00:15:10.766
  • You suffer. he said be happy.
  • 00:15:10.766 --> 00:15:15.270
  • No, this is not just put on a happy face; grin and bear it
  • 00:15:15.270 --> 00:15:19.942
  • And tough it out. to rejoice in the midst of suffering and pain
  • 00:15:19.942 --> 00:15:24.279
  • Is to experience the presence of god, the one who is in the
  • 00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:29.151
  • Fire with you. like shadrach, meshach and abednego, those
  • 00:15:29.151 --> 00:15:34.289
  • Three hebrew boys who refused to bow down to king
  • 00:15:34.289 --> 00:15:37.659
  • Nebuchadnezzar's idol. they refused to bow; they refused to
  • 00:15:37.659 --> 00:15:41.263
  • Bend, and according to the new testament... or the old
  • 00:15:41.263 --> 00:15:44.166
  • Testament story, they refused to burn, because the furnace
  • 00:15:44.166 --> 00:15:47.703
  • Was heated, the fire was extreme. they threw those
  • 00:15:47.703 --> 00:15:53.542
  • Three... tied them up, threw the 3 boys in the furnace...
  • 00:15:53.542 --> 00:15:58.047
  • The fiery furnace, and expecting them, of course, to
  • 00:15:58.047 --> 00:16:01.116
  • Perish in the fire. i love the response of those 3 guys when
  • 00:16:01.116 --> 00:16:04.987
  • The king threatened them. he said, "look, maybe you didn't
  • 00:16:04.987 --> 00:16:07.122
  • Hear. we're going to give you another chance. you know, if
  • 00:16:07.122 --> 00:16:10.059
  • You'll just bow down... you know, if you'll just do it...
  • 00:16:10.059 --> 00:16:13.028
  • Just do it, then, you know, you can escape here." and those
  • 00:16:13.028 --> 00:16:17.633
  • Guys said, "no, o king, we're not going to bow down to your
  • 00:16:17.633 --> 00:16:21.637
  • Idol. we're not going to do it. and our god is able to deliver
  • 00:16:21.637 --> 00:16:32.314
  • Us from your furnace, o king." but then they said, "but if
  • 00:16:32.314 --> 00:16:40.355
  • Not... but if not... if we burn to a cinder, we're still not
  • 00:16:40.355 --> 00:16:49.198
  • Going to bow down to your stinking idol, nebuchadnezzar."
  • 00:16:49.198 --> 00:16:52.835
  • And so they were thrown into the fiery furnace and the king
  • 00:16:52.835 --> 00:16:56.438
  • Goes as close as he can. the heat even killed those that
  • 00:16:56.438 --> 00:17:00.375
  • Were standing by the furnace. the king gets as close as he
  • 00:17:00.375 --> 00:17:02.744
  • Can. he said, “wait, wait, wait! what's happening here?
  • 00:17:02.744 --> 00:17:06.615
  • Didn't we put those 3 in the furnace. but there is another
  • 00:17:06.615 --> 00:17:10.719
  • One in there, one that looks like the son of god. there's
  • 00:17:10.719 --> 00:17:18.160
  • Another in the fire.”
  • 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.129
  • And when you are in the fire, he's there with you. he didn't
  • 00:17:20.129 --> 00:17:22.998
  • Promise to keep you out of the fire, but what he promises is
  • 00:17:22.998 --> 00:17:26.535
  • That he will be with you there in the fire. and i love what
  • 00:17:26.535 --> 00:17:30.005
  • Bible teacher warren wiersbe says about the furnace. when
  • 00:17:30.005 --> 00:17:33.041
  • We're in the furnace... when we're in the fire, then god
  • 00:17:33.041 --> 00:17:37.579
  • Keeps his eye on the clock - he knows how long, and he keeps
  • 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:42.651
  • His hand on the thermostat - he knows how much. and so trust in
  • 00:17:42.651 --> 00:17:48.190
  • This.
  • 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:49.391
  • So in this we can rejoice, knowing that his presences...
  • 00:17:49.391 --> 00:17:53.228
  • How many people have said, "when i was in a trial... when
  • 00:17:53.228 --> 00:17:56.431
  • I was in a painful trial... maybe the most painful trial of
  • 00:17:56.431 --> 00:18:01.770
  • My life, god was nearer to me than any other time in my
  • 00:18:01.770 --> 00:18:08.744
  • Life." we experience the fellowship of his sufferings;
  • 00:18:08.744 --> 00:18:12.014
  • He is with us.
  • 00:18:12.014 --> 00:18:13.982
  • And then he says we rejoice, not just because here and now
  • 00:18:13.982 --> 00:18:19.154
  • He is present with us... that's enough... but we look forward;
  • 00:18:19.154 --> 00:18:23.192
  • It's about the future. but here's how we can really
  • 00:18:23.192 --> 00:18:26.261
  • Rejoice... because christ is coming again. when he speaks of
  • 00:18:26.261 --> 00:18:31.200
  • The revelation of christ in his glory, he's saying one day
  • 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:36.538
  • Jesus is coming again, and we will escape the fire... the
  • 00:18:36.538 --> 00:18:42.778
  • Fires of tribulation and the fires of judgment because
  • 00:18:42.778 --> 00:18:46.114
  • Christ has taken that for us and he's coming for us. and
  • 00:18:46.114 --> 00:18:50.719
  • When we see him in his glory, then it will be inexpressible,
  • 00:18:50.719 --> 00:18:56.959
  • Undeniable joy and joy forever!
  • 00:18:56.959 --> 00:19:05.267
  • The revelation is the return of christ, the second coming in
  • 00:19:06.435 --> 00:19:09.304
  • Great glory. it says when he comes, he's going to wipe away
  • 00:19:09.304 --> 00:19:13.175
  • All those tears. there will be no more suffering, no more
  • 00:19:13.175 --> 00:19:16.712
  • Sorrow, no more death and no more pain; no more separation,
  • 00:19:16.712 --> 00:19:20.549
  • And no more funerals, and no more crying. we will rejoice
  • 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:24.586
  • With rapturous joy. that's what he says. i love the phrase...
  • 00:19:24.586 --> 00:19:27.823
  • He says, verse 13, look at it. it says: "but rejoice insofar
  • 00:19:27.823 --> 00:19:30.659
  • As you share the sufferings, that you may rejoice with
  • 00:19:30.659 --> 00:19:33.996
  • Exaltation, (or it says here) rejoice and be glad."
  • 00:19:33.996 --> 00:19:38.467
  • I wish i had more time to talk about my last point, but that
  • 00:19:38.467 --> 00:19:41.536
  • Is we anticipate painful trials... we celebrate our
  • 00:19:41.536 --> 00:19:44.840
  • Painful trials, and then not only that but we evaluate the
  • 00:19:44.840 --> 00:19:50.345
  • Painful trials. and that's really the rest of the chapter
  • 00:19:50.345 --> 00:19:55.851
  • Because god allows suffering and redeems suffering in our
  • 00:19:55.851 --> 00:19:59.488
  • Lives for a purpose. isaiah 48, verse 10 says, "see, i have
  • 00:19:59.488 --> 00:20:05.627
  • Refined you, though not as silver; i have tested you in
  • 00:20:05.627 --> 00:20:09.031
  • The furnace of affliction." and then he says in verse 11: "for
  • 00:20:09.031 --> 00:20:12.167
  • My own sake..." for my own purposes. i have plans... plans
  • 00:20:12.167 --> 00:20:17.673
  • That we don't understand, perhaps this side, never will
  • 00:20:17.673 --> 00:20:20.108
  • This side of eternity, but we will understand it better by
  • 00:20:20.108 --> 00:20:24.246
  • And by.
  • 00:20:24.246 --> 00:20:28.083
  • How often do we hear people say the presence of god and the
  • 00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:33.522
  • Power of god was so strong... the peace of god so present in
  • 00:20:33.522 --> 00:20:37.993
  • My life during my deepest pain. suffering helped us strengthen
  • 00:20:37.993 --> 00:20:42.464
  • Our faith. i just wrote down some things. i'm going to
  • 00:20:42.464 --> 00:20:47.436
  • Hustle through them. suffering... and so you're
  • 00:20:47.436 --> 00:20:50.038
  • Examining your faith. so when i went through some surgery
  • 00:20:50.038 --> 00:20:54.609
  • Several years ago, someone said to me, "jack, i'm praying
  • 00:20:54.609 --> 00:20:57.312
  • You'll learn everything in this that god wants you to learn."
  • 00:20:57.312 --> 00:21:00.215
  • It's a good call to prayer.
  • 00:21:00.215 --> 00:21:02.017
  • So what do we learn? what do we learn in the examination when
  • 00:21:02.017 --> 00:21:05.687
  • We have one of these pop quizzes, when we have one of
  • 00:21:05.687 --> 00:21:08.290
  • These tests that seem to show up out of nowhere. i hated pop
  • 00:21:08.290 --> 00:21:11.793
  • Quizzes in school because, you know, you had to be prepared
  • 00:21:11.793 --> 00:21:14.830
  • For the pop quiz. and so be prepared. so what do we learn?
  • 00:21:14.830 --> 00:21:18.233
  • He conforms us into christ's likeness to make us more and
  • 00:21:18.233 --> 00:21:20.936
  • More like jesus. he uses pain to curb sin in our lives and
  • 00:21:20.936 --> 00:21:27.442
  • Call us to repentance. that's why peter says in this passage:
  • 00:21:27.442 --> 00:21:33.782
  • Let judgment begin at the house of god. it starts with us. see,
  • 00:21:33.782 --> 00:21:37.686
  • The world's going to be judged; the world will have hell to pay
  • 00:21:37.686 --> 00:21:40.722
  • For their unbelief. but we need to know that in times of
  • 00:21:40.722 --> 00:21:45.961
  • Struggle, god uses pain to purge us, to deepen our faith,
  • 00:21:45.961 --> 00:21:49.998
  • To teach us to depend upon him.
  • 00:21:49.998 --> 00:21:54.336
  • He also uses pain and suffering in our lives to bring us closer
  • 00:21:54.336 --> 00:21:57.472
  • To one another, doesn't he? to bring us to church, to be
  • 00:21:57.472 --> 00:22:03.745
  • Around the people of god for their support.
  • 00:22:03.745 --> 00:22:05.614
  • He uses pain in order to help us discipline our minds and
  • 00:22:05.614 --> 00:22:09.751
  • Discover wisdom.
  • 00:22:09.751 --> 00:22:11.920
  • He uses pain and suffering to increase our hope, to cause us
  • 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.824
  • To know christ more and more.
  • 00:22:15.824 --> 00:22:18.026
  • He uses pain and struggling and suffering in our lives to
  • 00:22:18.026 --> 00:22:19.361
  • Humble us, at times even to break us in order that he might
  • 00:22:19.361 --> 00:22:20.695
  • Put us back together again stronger than before.
  • 00:22:20.695 --> 00:22:22.030
  • He uses pain and struggles in our life in order to help us to
  • 00:22:22.030 --> 00:22:26.168
  • Praise god any way, any time, under any circumstances, to
  • 00:22:26.168 --> 00:22:35.210
  • Give praise to god and thanks to god always! and once we see
  • 00:22:35.210 --> 00:22:42.751
  • What god does, we can't help but count it all joy. [applause]
  • 00:22:42.751 --> 00:22:46.588
  • So the bottom line here... literally the bottom line in
  • 00:22:46.588 --> 00:22:53.862
  • Verse 19... he says: "...we entrust our souls to a faithful
  • 00:22:53.862 --> 00:22:58.533
  • Creator and to keep on doing good." we don't give up. we
  • 00:22:58.533 --> 00:23:04.639
  • Don't quit on life. when we're suffering, we just keep, by
  • 00:23:04.639 --> 00:23:08.143
  • God's grace, doing what we do. do the good things; do the
  • 00:23:08.143 --> 00:23:12.013
  • Right things. and that word entrust is such a great, great
  • 00:23:12.013 --> 00:23:16.251
  • Word. it means to give. it's the very same word that jesus
  • 00:23:16.251 --> 00:23:20.689
  • Used from the cross when he says, "father, into your hands
  • 00:23:20.689 --> 00:23:24.292
  • I entrust... i commit my spirit." and so jesus is the
  • 00:23:24.292 --> 00:23:28.497
  • Perfect living example of someone in the midst of
  • 00:23:28.497 --> 00:23:31.433
  • Terrible suffering and excruciating pain and
  • 00:23:31.433 --> 00:23:33.468
  • Suffering, he committed his soul to the father.
  • 00:23:33.468 --> 00:23:41.076
  • He calls him here in verse 19 "faithful creator... faithful
  • 00:23:41.076 --> 00:23:47.849
  • Creator." the only time this is used in the new testament, or
  • 00:23:47.849 --> 00:23:50.418
  • The bible, for that matter. faithful creator. we know god
  • 00:23:50.418 --> 00:23:53.221
  • Is faithful, but... think of him as a faithful father and he
  • 00:23:53.221 --> 00:23:57.092
  • Is, but faithful creator? what does that mean? think about it.
  • 00:23:57.092 --> 00:24:02.230
  • The god who made the world, you would think, "oh the creator of
  • 00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:05.534
  • The universe; he wound it up and let it go." no! our god is
  • 00:24:05.534 --> 00:24:09.971
  • A creator! and he holds the whole world in his hands, and
  • 00:24:09.971 --> 00:24:15.310
  • Everyone in it! it's like that old gospel song which says,
  • 00:24:15.310 --> 00:24:19.481
  • "he's got the whole world in his hands" and then it says,
  • 00:24:19.481 --> 00:24:22.717
  • "he's got you and me, brother... he's got you and me,
  • 00:24:22.717 --> 00:24:26.922
  • Sister, in his hands." and so we commit our lives, our souls
  • 00:24:26.922 --> 00:24:34.896
  • To him.
  • 00:24:34.896 --> 00:24:36.464
  • That is what connor and mary bales have done. they have a
  • 00:24:36.464 --> 00:24:42.837
  • Beautiful family of five. it's a magnificent family. two of
  • 00:24:42.837 --> 00:24:48.276
  • Their children are severely disabled. a rare, rare, birth
  • 00:24:48.276 --> 00:24:58.086
  • Disease was discovered, an abnormality in both the
  • 00:24:58.086 --> 00:25:02.324
  • Girls... same thing. it's like infinitesimal chance of it
  • 00:25:02.324 --> 00:25:05.427
  • Happening once, much less happening twice, back to back.
  • 00:25:05.427 --> 00:25:09.531
  • And i asked conner to send me a message. he's written a book,
  • 00:25:09.531 --> 00:25:12.200
  • It's a powerful book called “counted worthy.” and i said,
  • 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:14.536
  • “send me a quote either from the book or give me a quote
  • 00:25:14.536 --> 00:25:18.573
  • About what it means to be counted worthy when you
  • 00:25:18.573 --> 00:25:20.775
  • Suffer.” because this is suffering at a level that many
  • 00:25:20.775 --> 00:25:26.581
  • Of us do not know in many ways. i mean, it's a blessing, every
  • 00:25:26.581 --> 00:25:29.284
  • Child is a blessing. but there's suffering that goes
  • 00:25:29.284 --> 00:25:33.254
  • With this. there's pain with this.
  • 00:25:33.254 --> 00:25:37.225
  • So here is what connor bales said: “when we received
  • 00:25:37.225 --> 00:25:40.962
  • Hannah's diagnosis and discovered that she had the
  • 00:25:40.962 --> 00:25:43.531
  • Same exact genetic abnormality as her sister libby, god spoke
  • 00:25:43.531 --> 00:25:48.870
  • Clear to mary and me that he counted us worthy. and right
  • 00:25:48.870 --> 00:25:54.242
  • Then my whole perspective on suffering changed in an
  • 00:25:54.242 --> 00:25:57.579
  • Instant. and not in any way because our circumstances did.
  • 00:25:57.579 --> 00:26:04.052
  • No, we still had two daughters with very severe special needs
  • 00:26:04.052 --> 00:26:07.856
  • And a massive amount of medical complications and a very bleak
  • 00:26:07.856 --> 00:26:12.160
  • Prognosis for their lives. my perspective changed because my
  • 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:17.899
  • Privilege was found. it's overwhelming to know that god
  • 00:26:17.899 --> 00:26:24.139
  • Would do his work, entrust the care of these rare gifts to us
  • 00:26:24.139 --> 00:26:29.544
  • And the phrase “count it worthy” changes everything.
  • 00:26:29.544 --> 00:26:32.480
  • God's glory being seen in our story, yes, even in our
  • 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.319
  • Suffering.” [applause]
  • 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:41.389
  • So anticipate painful trials and celebrate, because christ
  • 00:26:41.389 --> 00:26:57.539
  • Is with you in the fire, and christ is coming again.
  • 00:26:56.337 --> 00:27:01.676
  • Celebrate painful trials because you will be rewarded
  • 00:27:01.676 --> 00:27:04.679
  • According to jesus, especially when you stand up for him
  • 00:27:04.679 --> 00:27:09.584
  • Against the crowd. and evaluate... what is god
  • 00:27:09.584 --> 00:27:16.658
  • Teaching me? what are you learning in the midst of fiery
  • 00:27:16.658 --> 00:27:22.363
  • Trials.
  • 00:27:22.363 --> 00:27:23.798
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:23.798 --> 00:27:23.798