Scripture: Matthew 2:10-18; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Psalm 63
Theme: What if things get worse?
Title: What if?
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
It all started so well didn’t it, 2020 was our year, a new decade, and didn’t it just sound so amazing - 2020, a year we could accomplish anything! It was to be a year of great new adventures, new discoveries and new opportunities.
But it wasn’t so amazing by the time we got to March, April, May and June. The rest of the year wasn’t so amazing either.
Co-vid 19. Infection rates sky rocketing. Lock-downs. Stay at home orders. Ventilators. Riots. Job losses. Toilet paper shortages. Stock market plummets. Church doors closed. Sports venues canceled. Election results confusing. Second wave. Delays. More closings ….
There is a general mood that once the clock strikes 12 am on January 1st we can all put 2020 in the rear view mirror and things will magically return to normal. We lived through it and now things have to get better and better.
I really hope that they do. I pray that they do. I anticipate that things will get better. I want them to not only get back to normal but be better than normal.
But what happens if they don’t?
What happens, if, like in our story baby Jesus is born but then a madman (King Herod) demands that babies and toddlers are put to death?
What happens if the crops don’t grow?
What happens if people’s personal economies don’t come back?
What happens if the church in-house numbers and finances don’t return to normal?
What happens if the New Year is just a repeat of last year or turns out to be an even worse year?
None of us want to think about those things.
But we have to understand that it could happen. The Bible tells us that this is what happened to the Early Church. When things started going bad under Roman Emperor Nero ( full name - Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) they went bad for quite a while.
Nero’s persecution of the Church started in 64 AD and it did not end for years. And while we think that we have had to endure some tough days, what those Early Christians faced was almost unspeakable. Listen to one report:
“In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights.”1
I am sure that those living at that time thought that the persecution would only last for a few days or a few weeks. But week after week went by as families were hunted down and put to death by the sword, crucified or used as human torch lights. Week after week they hoped things would change but it took years before Nero was removed from the throne.
The same story could be written for people like Joseph and Job. The same story could be written by those Israelites that lived before the Exodus, those that lived in the times of the Judges and those that lived in the time of the Exile.
For the most part those of us living today are far removed the hardships that faced millions of people during WWI and WWII. We are far removed from the hardships that faced the people of the Great Depression of 1929.
That is not to say that we have not endured our own time of suffering. For we have many that are dealing today with the left over tragedies of the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars. We have many that are still suffering from the effects of the global financial crisis of 2007- 2008 and now we have some that have suffered and are still presently suffering great loss.
But what will we do if the years 2021, 2022, 2023 are not better?
Hopefully, they will be and this message is quickly tossed to the side. But then again, for some 2021, 2022, 2023 etc… will be a tough year as all years can be tough years. So, what does the Lord have to say to us when things do get tough? How can the LORD help us endure tough times; times of suffering, trials and persecutions?
I. We have to acknowledge tough times/trials are a part of life
Jesus tells us in John 16:33
“In the world you will have tribulation.”
In other passages Jesus warns us that the last days would be filled with war, famine, earthquakes, diseases and other disasters. The last days would be filled with empty promises, false messiah and corrupt governments. The last days would see trials and tribulations coming to everyone.
Jesus wasn’t trying to throw cold water over the Abundant Life but was just telling us the truth. Jesus wanted His followers to understand the situations that they would have to face. Times of trials and suffering are a part of this present age.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we should embrace trials, disasters and persecutions. We shouldn’t. That is not what the LORD wants us to do. He doesn’t want us to develop either an escapist or a defeatist attitude.
At the same time, He also doesn’t want us to believe that suddenly we can name it and claim it and poof - we will continually have rainbows, blue skies and butterflies.
What I think He wants us to do is to look at things with eyes of truth, hear things with ears of truth and accept things with truth.
When things get bad we need to acknowledge them. We don’t have to let them overwhelm us but we do have to acknowledge that things like viruses cause sickness and even death. Really bad virus and disease can lead to pandemics which can lead to millions and millions of deaths.
Shut downs can cripple our economy. Shut downs can close factories and retail stores. Shut downs can cause stress that leads to panic that leads to depression and sadly sometimes leads to suicide.
We don’t want to gloss over the truth. And these things are truths that we may already be facing or may have to face in the future.
But in saying all of that doesn’t mean that we simply give up on the next few years. It doesn’t mean that we go into hiding. It doesn’t mean that we stock up on bullets and biscuits. It doesn’t mean that we lose our love, our joy and our peace. It doesn’t mean that we give up on life.
So, what do we do during troubled times? What do we do when we faced with trials, sufferings and persecutions?
II. Look toward the LORD
You and I were divinely created to live during this time. Our being here on earth at this present moment is not by accident. It is not by fate that we find ourselves living in 2020 – 2021 – 2022 etc…
We are here because God chose for us to be here at this time. We are here to fulfill God’s promises and to be His ambassadors. We are here to fulfill the Great Commission. We are here to live out the Abundant Life. We are here to reflect God’s Image and bring Him glory and honor with our lives.
In fact, Jesus tells us that not only can we live victorious during times like this but we can do it on a supernatural level.
Jesus knew what it meant to live during troubled times. Jesus lived under the rule of King Herod the Great and then his sons, King Herod Archelaus, King Herod Antipas and King Philip. None of these rulers could be considered to be great advocates of personal freedom and democracy. They all did their best to rule over their people with an iron hand.
Jesus also lived under the rule of Roman perfects like Coponius, Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus and Pontius Pilate. He lived at a time when Rome was doing its best to crush the Israelite nation under its feet. He lived at a time filled with political unrest, ruthless violence and tyranny.
We know that Jesus lost his cousin, John the Baptist all because John upset King Herod Antipas. John had preached against Antipas stealing his brother’s (Herod II) wife (Herodias). Herod Antipas was so upset with John’s preaching that he put him into prison. Later on at the request of Herodias’s daughter, John was beheaded.
The Bible tells us that while Jesus was traveling and preaching, He was in constant danger of being arrested by the Romans, Herod Antipas and/or the religious rulers (Pharisees and Sadducees). All of them at one time wanted nothing more than to kill Jesus. They all saw Jesus as a threat to their way of life.
So, we know that Jesus personally understood tragedy. He knew what it meant to have the government against you, what it meant to go days without food and water and what it meant to even have your own family think you are insane (Mark 3:21).
But in light of all of that, Jesus tremendously enjoyed life here on this earth. He danced at weddings. He fed multitudes as they celebrated hearing God’s Word. He brought peace to those who were going through a storm and brought healing and wholeness to thousands that He met along His travels.
Jesus lived a life of hope. Jesus lived a life filled with inner peace, with joy and with amazing love. Jesus lived what He called the Abundant Life. Jesus did all of that by placing His Hope in His Heavenly Father and in His Holy Spirit.
And Jesus tells us that we can have that hope as well.
For I only read a part of John 16:33 – the full verse says this:
“I have said these things to you, that in me you can have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Because Jesus overcame the world we can have hope today no matter what is happening around us. In Jesus we can constantly experience peace, a peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus we can rise above the trials of this world and live a life of victory filled with love, joy and peace.
We can do that because Jesus has sent us His Holy Spirit!
III. Live in the Holy Spirit
How did Jesus live such a positive hope filled life?
He did it by living under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
It is important for us to fully understand how Jesus lived His life here on earth. The Bible tells us that Jesus was fully God and fully man. It also tells us that Jesus “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8 ESV)
What all that means is that Jesus lived his life as a full human being. Yes, He is the Son of God but while he was here on earth he lived as one of us. He was subject to temptation but He did not sin. He modeled for us what type of life we could live in Him. He modeled a life of being obedient to the Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells us that not only can we receive the anointing of His Holy Spirit but that we can be also be filled with His Holy Spirit. We can open our minds, our souls and our spirits to the Holy Spirit. We can co-exist with the Holy Spirit. We can be one with the Holy Spirit.
In John 14, 16 and 17 Jesus over and over again shares with us that if we will receive God’s Holy Spirit then it will be possible for us to life a life above persecutions, trials and tribulations. In the Spirit we will be able to live a life that has at its center - hope, joy and peace. In the Spirit we will be able to be guided, led and comforted by the Holy Spirit.
Think about that for a moment or two.
This is how the Apostle Paul lived.
And if there was a man who experience more than his share of trials and temptations it was the Apostle Paul. Listen to one passage where Paul shares what he has already had to endure:
“ 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 ESV
I don’t think that there are many people alive today who have had to suffer the number of trials and tribulations that the Apostle Paul experienced.
And yet, this same man having experienced all those hardships is able in the Spirit to write words like these:
“Rejoice always” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” – Philippians 4:4
“I rejoiced greatly that you have revived your concern for me and that you were concerned, but you had no opportunity. Not that I speak of being in need. For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:10-13
“Joy, peace, faith, hope — these spiritual blessings are ours if Christ lives in us. These spiritual qualities are indestructible because they have their source in Christ, who is always with us. Because we cannot lose Christ, our spiritual blessings are secure.” - Ephesians 1:3
The Apostle Paul’s words echo the King David’s words who himself was well versed in a life surrounded by various trials, sufferings and temptations.
63 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
How did each man face such difficulties with victory? How have millions and millions of Christians through the ages been able to stand up against sickness, disease, physical and mental abuse, trials and tribulations to many to count?
+They have been able to do it by leaning into the Holy Spirit.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” – Romans 8:16
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” – Romans 8:26a
+They have been able to do it by allowing the Holy Spirit to pray for them
“For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.” – Romans 8:26b
+They have been able to do it by understanding that the LORD can do the impossible
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” – Ephesians 3:20
+They have been able to do it by learning how to lean into Christ centered peace
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” – John 14:27
This morning, you and I were not created just to survive. We were not created to live a sub human life. We were not created to live a life boxed in by fear, anxiety, dread and depression.
No, when Jesus came out of that tomb on Resurrection Sunday the impossible happened. That which was dead was now alive. The penalty of sin had been paid in full. The power of sin had been broken.
So, now, today we have the privilege and opportunity to be rescued and redeemed. We are not designed to be victims but victors. We were not designed to be mere survivors but people who can live a life above the cares of this world.
Today, please understand that what we may be going through does not change our destiny. We are not suffering because God is unhappy with us. We do not face trials because God has abandoned us. We are not being persecuted because God is capricious.
The fact is in Christ we are Children of the Most High God. The fact is in Christ we have been rescued, redeemed and are being completely restored into the image of the Lord. That fact is we are highly favored and we are accepted and approved by the LORD.
We can face 2021, 2022, 2023 etc… not because we are stone faced with a determination full of grit and stamina. We can face it because of Jesus. We can face it because our trust is in Jesus. We can face it because we have been infilled with His Holy Spirit. We can face it because the Bible testifies that we can:
“Little children, you are from God and overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4
Our journey may involve some twists and turns. Our journey may involve some ups and downs. But our destiny is secure in Jesus.
So, will 2021, 2022, 2023 etc… be better or worse?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that in Christ we can not only survive but thrive.
What I do know is that by living in the Spirit we can rise above all the struggles, temptations, trials and persecutions.
What I do know is:
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:14
Will it mean we will not have hardships? No, of course not. While we are on this earth we will all have our share of sufferings, trials, hardships and temptations. We will all have times that we fill like digging a hole and then pulling the dirt over us.
But in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit we can grow deeper and richer. In the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit we can shine like lights on a hill. In the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit we can live a life that reflects God’s glory and honor.
So, we welcome the new year. We welcome all years. We welcome them because this is our time. This is the time of our adventure. This is the time that the LORD has appointed us to be salt and light. This is the time that the LORD has made a way for us to live the Abundant Life.
So, turn off the news and open up your Bibles. Put down the cell phone and talk to Jesus. Shut down the social media and allow the Holy Spirit to bring you comfort, wisdom and guidance.
This morning as we close I want to give you an opportunity to:
+Receive Jesus Christ as Your Savior and LORD – to repent of your sins, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
+To join in with the Holy Spirit and others for a time of prayer for renewal, refreshing, healing or wholeness.
+To join in with the Holy Spirit and other for a time of prayer for courage, strength, wisdom and understanding
Take time to have an invitation – inviting any to pray
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing
1 http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/christians.htm
