Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
[Music] truly lord it's going to be worth it all lord everything that we go through every attack every temptation every trial every test lord it's going to be worth it all god for those who endure to the end for those who endure temptation lord those who keep turning to you lord and going after you lord and and your mercy and grace in our lives your forgiveness that we need all the time lord your help that we need all the time lord help and grace mercy lord that we do not deserve we none of us lord there's none of us holy enough there's none of us good enough there's none of us smart enough lord we need you we need you jesus we need your spirit we need your blood to wash us and cleanse us continually we need your mercy and grace we need your strength we need your power lord all the time and especially lord in this day and hour lord father i just come to you this morning and i just pray that you will speak to us this morning and that you will speak through your people as well as through me and you'll speak to our hearts and that you will help us lord that you will help us lord to grow stronger spiritually emotionally physically stronger in every area lord stronger in jesus stronger in the word stronger in our walk stronger in our witness stronger go father we we pray this this morning in jesus name amen and amen you know i know that might be a little different but you know there's going to come times you guys when um that's all we do is worship the whole service but i just could not feel a release in my spirit and i don't know something's going on i'm just i'm just going to kind of go with it but i want you to i want you to turn your bibles to um to matthew i believe it's in matthew 26 changing everything this morning after all that last night and this morning not even doing it that's all right it'll it'll be used later on you know there's something i don't guess i've ever been able to do and that is kind of just act like
nothing's bothering me when it is you know what i'm saying i don't know what exactly is going on but i want to read something here and i don't know maybe this will help maybe this will help us this morning but matthew matthew 26 and we're going to start reading at verse 36 and it says then jesus or then cometh jesus with them unto the place called gethsemane and saith unto his disciples set you here while i go and pray yonder and he took with him peter and the two sons of zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy and then he saith unto them my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death carry you here and watch with me and he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as i will but as thou wilt and he cometh unto his disciples and he findeth them asleep and he saith what could you not watch with me one hour watch and pray that you enter not into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak and he went away again the second time and prayed and said oh oh father if this cup may not pass away from me except i drink it thy will be done and he came and he found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy and in another place it says that they were heavy or sorrowful because they they didn't really understand what was going on now i just want to say something this to me is something i think is probably the most overlooked um issue of the the story of the garden in gethsemane and that's where jesus said here that he said his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death and i i think sometimes we as christians we want to always you know feel good we want everything to be peaceful and joyful and blessed and everything to be going good and we always want to feel good and have everything going our way and we don't understand that sometimes that we have to be handed even by the father we have to be handed a cup of suffering or a cup of trials and this is what jesus even jesus you know being the perfect man the sinless man the the god man man god manifested in the flesh yet when it came time for him to do the will of god to fulfill the will of god right before the resurrection there had to come the cup of suffering and this is the process that us christians we just don't want to accept that sometimes it doesn't go our way that sometimes it doesn't feel good that sometimes it doesn't um you know we
don't want to smile we don't want to laugh we don't want to rejoice we don't want to we don't want to even do anything that has to do with god we don't want to do it and i just you know even jesus here says his soul now think about this his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death meaning i think and i'm just going to put this out there when he says his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto death he's almost saying i would rather die right now then go through what i am beginning to go through and what i'm about to go through and begins to pray even though he's known his whole life that his he's going to the cross i mean he told his disciples for three and a half years i'm going to the cross i'm going to suffer by these ungodly men i'm going to suffer and i'm going to die and i'm going to rise the third day he knew it but yet he gets this point where the cup is being handed to him the cup of trials the cup of suffering the cuff of the cup of of and we'll just even call it soul heaviness you know on his mind his will his emotions so much so that it began to affect his body his body it doesn't say jesus went and knelt down and said he went and fell on his face you ever felt like that you ever felt so emotionally and spiritually drained and attacked and oppressed and and trials coming at you and things coming at you it's you know when when you get out of sight of everybody else you just fall off you just fall down somewhere and in and can't hardly pray tears come out but you can't hardly and you see jesus doing this and this we just we just miss i remember years ago david wilkerson and he is a he's a precious and awesome man of god but i remember reading his newsletter i used to get his newsletter all the time and but classic message from him was was entitled the making of a man of god and he goes you know what you'll never become a man of god and for that matter a woman of god you never become that until you pass through he says the the night of confusion he said some some christian writer a long time called it the dark knight of the soul and you know it doesn't um it's not just one time you know jesus went through it here he went through it actually more than once i could show you but but this was the most severe because because this came to his most critical work his most critical work was going to be the cross and and his the resurrection and everything that was coming and so it was it was being handed to him this cup of suffering and trial and testing before the cross and before the resurrection and this is what we don't we don't want to really accept the fact
that if we are his disciples we're not better than he is if he went through stuff then we gonna have to go through stuff and sometimes i think the spiritual and emotional oppression or suffering or sorrow or attacks sometimes can be be worse almost i think than than if you were suffering physically in some type of physical persecution you know there's things i've gone through mentally and emotionally that i'd rather somebody punch me in the face then you know at least i'd have gotten that they would you know break my nose break my jaw that will heal and at least we know that's done right there's some of this stuff it just keeps beating on you and beating on you and beating on you and beating on you and you wonder you know i would just like for it to be over you know but here's the thing if jesus went through it and the bible says if we're his disciples we're not better than he is then we're gonna go through stuff like this times that there is exceedingly much attack much sorrow much oppression but do we know and here's the question do we know what jesus knew was he knew that the ultimate destiny was to do the will of god so that people could be saved and that he was going to be raised from the dead with a new body to never have to suffer again he knew there was there was hope and that's where what i want to say through any trial you go through that means the work just saying the word go through is mean there is a point you come out of that one you understand there is a point you come out of it but the key to it one of the keys to getting through these times is knowing where god's taking you knowing god's call knowing god's vision for your life knowing god's destiny for your life turn to hebrews chapter 12 real quick you'll see what i'm talking about jesus about enduring the cross because of the joy that was coming and this is something we christians are going to have to learn to get a hold of especially in the days that are ahead of us hebrews chapter 12. everybody there hebrews 12 verse 1. i'm waiting on you i still hear pages turn hebrews 12 1 we're going to read through about verse 4 here look what he says he says wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author and finisher of
our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross how did he endure how did jesus get through the cross which really his suffering began in the garden of gethsemane because that's when the the oppression became so great great did he sweat great drops of blood but he endured the cross he was able to endure the cross because of the joy set before him and what was his joy his joy was that he knew he was doing the perfect will of the father and that by doing the will of the father that people would be saved from going to hell and would go to heaven and that by doing the will of the father he would make it through that trial be resurrected have resurrection life resurrection power and never have to go through it again and and that he would have have fulfilled the will of god and pleased god see this is what i'm talking about joy the joy of the lord comes from being obedient to the lord the joy comes from getting through the trial maybe not perfect we're not going to be perfect and sinless like jesus but getting through the trial on the other side and and saying you know what i endured that temptation i went through that trial i had everything thrown at me from the devil including the kitchen sink i had everything thrown at me and i am still standing and god came through and god answered my prayer he didn't answer it when i wanted him to but god answered my prayer and now i'm a better person because i went through it he said that jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before him the other side of it and he said and this yet despising the shame meaning he didn't like it you know i'm sorry but there wasn't anything to like about it hanging on that cross god doesn't say you have to like your trials okay he knows we don't like it he knows that right but don't let them take you down don't let them take you out of the will of god don't let them take you to the point of falling to the point of missing the joy that's on the other side of it you hear what i'm saying and i can give you some examples i can give you a lot of examples let's keep reading this though he says for consider him this is verse 3 well it says of course despising the shame in verse 2 and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god for consider him that endured such a contradiction of sinners against himself lest you be wearied and faint in your minds anyway and what he's saying there is is consider the fact that jesus was
god perfect sinless always walked in perfect love always told the truth always did what pleased the father and yet people hated him cursed him spit on him beat him mocked him and crucified him and killed him you know we forget he was perfect and yet he suffered persecution he suffered um attacks he suffered because of evil men and women around him okay he suffered because of it so we look at that we say can just consider jesus had to go through this do you think that you will be any better and he's saying think about this jesus endured this you're going to have to endure some things people are not liking you people hating you jesus said the world will hate you it will love its own right for those who will live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution right anybody really living for god will attract continual attacks from satan from demons from witches from everybody else this is part of it he says but consider what jesus went through lest you be wearied and faint where your minds and your soul your mind your will your emotion remember what's the devil after your mind if you can get your mind believing things thinking things they shouldn't you're the rest of you your spirit and your body will follow it's all about the mind it's all about what you're going to believe what you're going to do what you're going to choose to do what you're going to choose to meditate on and think on and what you're going to choose to allow in this mind but he says think about this what jesus went through and consider that he went through this lest you be wearing faint in your mind look what he says in verse 4 he says you have not resisted unto blood yet striving against sin no one in this room yet has been striving against sin so much that finally somebody decided to beat you whip you put you in prison cut you shoot you there's a lot of our brethren in the world that are suffering these things what is he saying there it it hadn't got that bad yet yeah we might play that in a minute but it it hadn't got that bad yet but notice it's interesting doesn't he say striving against sin
meaning those who want to be holy want to be pure and why do you want to be holy and you want to be pure because you want to be close to god he goes it hasn't cost you blood yet so keep going right let's say go to first peter chapter four verse 1 for as much then as christ has suffered for us in the flesh arm yourselves likewise with the same mind for that he has suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin that means he's just saying there guess what if you're willing to get down to suffering taking persecution in the flesh standing up for jesus you've already dealt with the issue of sin you've already dealt with the fact that you don't want it you hate it you don't want it you don't want any part of it and you're willing to suffer and even die if you got to to stay out of it i mean there are people there are people that you know we doing this video this past week and doing researching through stuff i mean just seeing what people are going through in the world right now i mean you know islamic uh militants and soldiers coming up to people and putting knives and glass at their you know deny jesus or we we cut you apart had a boy had a little bitty boy go get go gather firewood for a fire and told him to deny uh jesus and become a muslim and he said he would not deny jesus become a little boy i mean nine ten years old little boy so they put him on the fire they built a fire out of the wood and threw him on it he and left him to die he but he survived and i'm sitting here going a little boy said no i'm not becoming a muslim i know jesus i love jesus let me tell you something about that little boy that little boy's already made up his mind he wants jesus more than life and let me tell you if you want jesus more than life you want jesus more than some stupid sin you know and so let's keep reading he says that he should no longer verse 2 live the rest of his time in the in the flesh to the lust of men but to the will of god and he says for the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness and lust and excess of wine and revelings and banqueting and abominable idols and idolatries rather and then he says wherein they think it strains that you run not
with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you and then of course he goes on to to talk about you know well they're going to give an account but the bottom line is you know people think it's strange but that we don't run with them anymore the world thinks it's strange that that we don't we don't run with them we're not going to do it anymore you know when god says don't think it's strange look over to verse 12. and he talks about servant he says beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you oh could everybody just say this with me i will go through some fiery trials don't think it's strange right it's not somehow out of the ordinary mental emotional physical sometimes financial relationships sometimes it can be all of them at the same time i think it said fiery trial huh i was wondering if it said trials i guess he just lump it all together there right and we could read on about this fiery trials turtle james y'all don't mind this do you none of this was on my mind even last night or this morning not not any of it but the lord must have wanted it for some reason this morning because he had to he had to bend me to do a complete about face james chapter one this is this i think some christians hate this verse i'm about to read i know i hate it sometimes when somebody tells it to me when i'm going through stuff verse two my brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trying of your faith works patience but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect or complete and entire lacking nothing but then he says of course in the midst
of this that you should ask for wisdom in verse five but count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations you're right is that not difficult to do but is that not what the word says to do right let me let me say kind of why i think he says this why would james say count it all joy when you fall into divers and i think some translations say many fold or manifold trials and temptations who's got that version various trials what does yours say various trials count it joy why i just got a little hint for you whenever you are being bombarded with many trials it is because satan knows that god has something for you right ahead of you and satan is trying to keep you from getting there that's what it's all about satan heard the prophecies that went over your life satan's been there when you were in prayer and god spoke to you and then you shared that with someone satan and his demons heard everything that god wants to do in your life that's been spoken out right and i want to tell you they the demons and satan can see when angels start moving toward you and when the glory of god starts coming on you and when god's spirit starts moving around sometimes you won't even be aware of it but the spirit of god is moving on you coming on you angels are starting to move toward your direction because god's getting ready to do some things in your life to fulfill some promises or fulfill some callings or fulfill some part of your destiny some something serious is about to happen so the devil throws everything he can to make you trip stumble fall get angry at god get upset with people so that you miss all he's about all satan's about is that you miss what god has for you because every time and i'll say this every time you get something that god has promised you or said to you or some miracle happens or some provision happens or some some encounter happens or or just you know some anointing comes on you or some gift flows to you every time that happens you get more faith and you get more joy and you get more secure in your relationship with god and that scares the devil to death he knows if you get more money you're going to use it for god he knows if you get more anointing that the gifts are going to flow more power jesus is going
to flow he knows if you if you see if god heals you or god blesses you with a miracle provision or something something happens that you're going to share that and testify that and give glory to god he wants to stop all of that he knows what's gonna happen and then he knows the only way he can stop it from happening can't stop god but he can stop you i want to get i wonder how many people how many people backslid fell away from god right before god was about to answer their prayers maybe a day or a week or a month and they got angry at god in their hearts there's a lot of people listen judgment day is going to be going a lot of people standing there weeping because they're going to see and know and understand how many things god wanted to give them and wanted to do for them that they missed that's going to be the saddest thing you know leonard ravenhill godly man godly one of the most godly men i think of of the 20th century prayed hours and hours a day led many revivals just a godly man wrote a lot of great books but you know what he said about the judgment seat he said it's not the things that i've done that scares me about the judgment seat he said it's the things that i ought to have done you know in the parable of the talents you know the one that got five went and did what he was supposed to and and got him and the other one went and traded and got the two and he got in and the one that had the one didn't get in because he didn't do anything he wouldn't hit his lord's money and he didn't make anything with it he didn't do anything with what god had given him he lived in fear and all this stuff but the sca my point's not to get into that but what jesus said to him you ought to have taken my money and put it out there and done something with it and then he said you knew what kind of man i am you knew oh i don't want to hear those words you ought to have done this you know see why did jesus endure the cross he knew it was the will of the father and then if he did the will of the father there was joy on the other side of it right
you gotta hear from god you gotta do what he wants you to do you gotta make it through even when it looks everything looks completely opposite of what god said how many of you know that the devil will make sure some things look completely opposite right i'm going to show you one thing about the devil confronting you on the way to a miracle go to john chapter 11. this is what we're going to end with this morning and i didn't even know it was 12 o'clock goodness i almost feel like a baptist this morning some good baptists out there though i got some liking my status reports out there on facebook [Music] we don't even need to talk about that do we john 11. now this is where jesus went to raise lazarus from the dead now i want to show you something here okay i want you to see something that maybe you've seen maybe you haven't seen but jesus hears and let's go over oh i guess it's 11 well just read verse one now it says a certain man was sick named lazarus of bethany the town of mary and his her sister martha and it was that mary which anointed the lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother lazarus was sick therefore his sister said unto him saying lord behold he whom you love is sick and jesus heard that and then listen remember jesus heard that and what jesus is about to say the devil hears as well and what did jesus say this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of god that the son of god might be glorified thereby now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus and we had heard that he was sick he abode two days still in the same place now you guys know the story and i know you've heard it and you've read it many times jesus waited and this is something we need to understand about you sometimes he will let things get worse before he intervenes you know yesterday the lord kind of spoke to nancy and i through the story of of zechariah and elizabeth who had john the baptist and you know it's a powerful testimony about those two they were very godly uh a very godly man and woman they're very devoted to god it said they were you know obedient and he was a priest and and the obedient to god i mean it says blameless you know i mean that you don't see that
in the word too much right yet back in that time boy if you were barren and did not have a child everybody around you looked at you like something is wrong with you right because they considered it the most important thing in the world just about to have children and bear children and and um and if something if you if you didn't have children i mean if male and female it didn't really matter if you didn't have children you were like something must be wrong with them right and what did the lord do how many years do you think that zacharias and elizabeth probably prayed for a for a child and god didn't answer and god didn't answer and god didn't answer and god didn't answer and now they're old it says and well stricken in years and probably in their hearts they've given up you know but when zechariah goes into the temple that day to perform his priest office in front of the altar of incense to offer incense it says gabriel appears oh man gabriel says you're going to have a son and he's going to be a prophet and i mean and what he said was too you go back and read this in luke what he said the angel said your prayer is heard your prayer the lord is going to answer your prayer can you imagine in zechariah's mind are you kidding me he and he doubted it it said he said how how how can this thing be how we're old i mean some of us i i was telling her yesterday i was sitting there going he had an angel standing in the temple of god in front of the altar of incense you know we have to just deal with a still small voice most of the time [Laughter] gabriel goes i am gabriel it stands in the presence of god i'm like i might listen yes sir speak on which god do you serve by the way okay we got that settled speak right but a lot of years of barrenness a lot of years of reproach a lot of years it seemed like the prayer wasn't going to be answered but what what what was the key for zacharias and elizabeth they just kept being faithful to god they hadn't gotten bitter you know still serving god i think the biggest stumbling block in
the church world to where people end up falling away from god is god doesn't do something when they want and they get angry at him and they fall away i know that when my trial happened years ago what i went through i know that deep down in my heart that what happened was that i got i got angry at god about it for a while because i i said god i prayed every day for my family i prayed every day for my church i prayed and fasted and believed and tried to do the right thing and it still all blew up in my face now i wasn't perfect of course and i know you know i didn't do some things right but i sit back and i go god i i you know i was trying to do do the right stuff and that's the way we are sometimes we think i'm trying i'm trying i'm trying i'm trying i'm trying where are you god sometimes he waits a long time i don't know why well jesus with lazarus he heard lazarus sick instead of running to the situation he waits why does god let it get worse sometimes exactly more glory out of it but i want to show you on on the way there he gets there of course we're not going to read about mary and martha and their and their doubts you know and struggling with doubt but go over to verse 38 i want you to see this oh well i'm sorry let's go back up to verse 32 and it says then when mary was come where jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying unto him lord if you'd been here my brother had not died and when jesus therefore saw her weeping and the jews also weeping which came with her he groaned in the spirit and was troubled now you just remember that and he said where have you laid him and they said come they said to him lord come and see and jesus wept and then said the jews behold how he loved him and some of them said could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died jesus therefore again groaning in himself coming to the grave and it was a cave and a stone lay upon it now i want to stop right here and i want you to the greek words here are interesting the word troubled where it says he groaned in the spirit and was troubled in verse 33 it means his spirit was stirred and agitated that's what it means stirred agitated like somebody like a puddle that's clear and taking a stick and stirring up and making it all murky but his spirit was stirred and agitated now and the word groaned here
is the greek word that means to snort with anger to sigh with vexation to be disappointed and to have sorrow and annoyance now let me let me explain this a little bit who do you think was opposing jesus in the spirit satan knew what he was going to do lazarus dies what had jesus said before he ever left this sickness is not unto death jesus lets him die the devil goes oh no he's going to go raise this guy from the dead and i want to have that to deal with so maybe i can create an atmosphere around the situation of unbelief and get where jesus can't do it because remember it says when he went to nazareth he said he could do no mighty work there because of their unbelief right so the devil's going if i can get enough unbelief maybe i can stop jesus from doing this oh now here's something i'm a little nugget i'm going to give you true that without faith it's impossible to please god i'm going to blow your mind with something right here mary and martha in a lot of doubt right here lord if you'd been here my brother would not have died right they're struggling with it i know and then i mean there was just a just a tinge of faith there when she said i know that whatever you ask god that he'll give you and then she goes he said your brother will rise again she goes well i know he'll rise against the resurrection not getting it i am the resurrection in the life you're not getting it right so jesus is dealing with satan stirring up doubt and unbelief right this is why jesus it says groan and snorted with anger he wasn't angry at mary and martha and he wasn't angry at the crowd he was angry because he knew satan was opposing him he knew satan was stirring it up and it was agitated right so jesus had to press through all this unbelief but why amidst all this unbelief did jesus do this great miracle here's a key let me show you something that's higher than faith
you know what can be higher than faith relationship you want to touch god's heart let me tell you the difference the bible says jesus loved mary martha and her brother lazarus well it only says that a few times about specific people and we know this that jesus when he would go to jerusalem bethany was near jerusalem so so jerusalem was a long way from where jesus lived it was about 70 80 miles from where jesus lived up in galilee right so when jesus went down to jerusalem for the feast when he went down there to teach or to minister or he was there for an extended period of time do you know where he stayed with mary and martha and lazarus he loved them okay they were friends they weren't just acquaintances they weren't just people that he knew they were friends and there's something about when you get close to god and you still love him and you still believe even when you don't understand everything that's going on see that's the difference between a relationship with god where you love him no matter what he does or gives you versus people that are just about faith well i'm believing god for this really see the faith movement a lot of truth in the faith movement but the faith movement got a little too focused on faith and not on relationship and relationship take is is takes it so much further because it's like god i don't understand it's like that rita springer song we just said i don't understand your ways sometimes i don't understand what you're doing i don't understand why you let me go through some of this stuff i don't understand but i love you anyway i'm not gonna be offended at you you know they didn't they didn't understand he was gonna roll the stone but have him remove the stone and bring him back from from decay they didn't understand but they they were trying to and that's what makes it different when jesus went to his hometown nazareth everybody had an attitude oh this is just jesus yeah we know he's doing some miracles and stuff but you know his brothers and his sisters are here we know his family they got issues you know we don't even know if he's a little you know we don't even know if he was a legitimate child or not
i mean this is that this is their attitude right it says they were offended no relationship so you mix no relationship with unbelief you get nothing right but you got relationship with god that says i don't care what i go through i don't care what trial i go through i don't care what cross i go through i don't care what i got to go through and you and you know one of the things i think sustained me through my confusion and trials and questioning of god is that every time i get down and i pray i mean for for several years i would just admit god i know in my heart deep down in my heart i am angry at you because things didn't work out the way i wanted them to work out and i can't get it out of my heart forgive me you're never wrong and i would just keep saying you're never wrong and i just kept on with it until finally god showed me how to let go and then he healed me he healed my heart so i don't even know quite what i'm saying except there's going to be many things that you go through that you don't understand why are you going to love god anyway or you can get angry at him bitter the fastest way down the tubes is to get better at god [Music] i mean and it's not even him doing it it's like it's like running and jumping off a cliff i mean you went and jumped off the cliff he didn't go anywhere but that is a that's a steep jagged cliff right there to jump off of we all have done it at one point or another amen faith faith and relationship what does the bible say about faith it works by who knows it the rest of the verse faith works by oh i have to make somebody turn to galatians faith works by love faith works by love galatians somewhere i know y'all looking at me i believe it's galatians 5
i think faith works by love what does that mean i love god first commandment love god with all your heart soul mind and strength i love god even when i don't understand i love god even when things aren't working out the way i want them to work out i love god even when i'm going through many many trials and i love god then faith can work what does it mean we say faith works by love it would be like me saying my car runs by the gasoline i put in the tank right whole car can be perfect but i got to put something in there to make it work faith works by love i love god i love his ways i love his word i love his commandments i love his i just i love god see this is it and this is what's going to get tested you know i guess i can refer to the end time since we're supposed to be doing a series on it this is what's going to be tested by in so many people's lives so many people who call themselves christians right now when economies collapse when savings and investments in the stock market are gone when someone in their family might be killed for the cause of of christ when they lose a house or a car or when they see the world caving in around them and everything that they they wanted it's not going the way they want it well they still love god when the antichrist begins to take over that they can't buy or sell he see it comes down to a buy they can't buy or sell until they take the mark of the beast and worship the beast they're going to be many people that are going to say that's no big deal you know god knows i've got to eat no to god's a big deal so when it's all not going my way and here's what's amazing you read revelation and it says that especially when the trumpets start blowing and the and the vials of wrath start getting poured out and the things that god starts doing to mankind scorching them with the sun turning the sun up on them scorching with the sun sending out these scorpion things to to torture them for five months i mean it's amazing that it says and yet
they will still not repent i just sit there and go he's beating them down showing them supernatural judgments and still they're not repented so the question is through it all you know we we don't we don't even understand what people are going through as a matter of fact we are gonna you got that video i i just want to play this video the imagine islamic soldiers force your ten-year-old son to gather wood for a fire the soldiers pressure him to convert to islam when he refuses he's thrown on the burning wood he collected and left to die they told me i would be released if i became a muslim i told them that was not possible i am a christian so they threw me on the fire your son escapes but the scars remain a reminder of his sacrifice imagine your teenage daughter goes to bible camp on the second day the students are attacked one of the attackers secures her hands behind her back while another holds a piece of broken glass to her stomach she's told to deny christ i did not answer him so he pressed the glass harder against me do you believe your god can help you he asked dripped with fear she cries out help me lord i do not want to deny you imagine your pastor has refused to register his church with the government during the service he's dragged from the church and beaten by the local police when the officers find a bible hidden in his shirt he's beaten with it after returning home i felt pain all over my body it was almost numb at the beginning but later became so painful that i could not sleep it is the fifth time he's been arrested if he's caught again the police say they will kill him every day thousands of christians are persecuted for their faith hundreds are martyred about one every three minutes they're not heroes or statistics they're family in over 40 nations around the globe our family is assaulted for their testimony of jesus christ in most instances the persecution could have been averted if they had simply denied christ but they didn't and they won't in sudan an islamic army set on jihad or holy war has systematically targeted christians death and suffering can be seen throughout the countryside countless christians are being displaced within their own country fleeing from persecution they've lost everything often arriving at refugee camps with nothing more than the clothes on their backs in spite of heavy persecution the church in sudan continues growing at astonishing rates many of the believers
bear the scars of their faith but they also bear a testimony to god's faithfulness over 500 churches have been destroyed in indonesia on the island of ambon christians have been massacred in a so-called religious cleansing by radical muslims facing increased persecution pastors in jakarta have encouraged their congregations to stand firm confident that their suffering is a prelude to coming revival with the fall of communism in eastern europe many have hailed its defeat but christians in north korea vietnam loss or china would disagree hmong villagers have been imprisoned in vietnam and laos after converting to christianity some have had boiling water poured down their throats for simply possessing a bible in their own language the hmong tribe is the largest in southeast asia numbering 10 million meeting secretly in homes more than 2 million have recently committed their lives to christ the persecution facing our brothers and sisters is not a human tragedy it's a spiritual reality facing the body of christ we may not be able to stop the attacks but we can ease their pain through prayer encouragement and practical assistance we can fellowship in their suffering we can show them that they are not forgotten it's hard to ignore their pain after you hear their cries