Reliable Deliverance

Good morning, church. How are you? Good? Survival of the rain? We needed it, and it's here. And by the way, if you're new here, I'm Jason. I'm one of the pastors here. It's good to see you here this morning. I'd like to meet you if I get a chance to greet you after. And we walk through

books of the Bible. We're in one right now. This is the time where I'll ask you if you'd like to find your scripture journal for 2 Corinthians or just turn in a good old-fashioned Bible. If you don't have one, there's one in front of the seat somewhere in front of you. And you can find the

book of 2 Corinthians if you turn almost to the back of the Bible. And we are only in chapter 1, so we've not gotten too far. And we're ready today to take a paragraph beginning in verse 8. We're going to read through verse 11. You can turn there with me. As you're turning there, let me try to

recap a little bit and give some background of what's going on. If you've missed a week or if you just need a refresher, this is the Apostle Paul. Paul is the founder and planter of this church here at Corinth. And he spent about 18 months in the city working and ministering before

he had to move on to other parts for gospel work. And while he was gone, as never happens in any church anywhere, problems emerged, right? Problems emerged. And so, as Paul wrote to them about these problems,

he put them down on paper. That's now what we have as the first letter to the Corinthians. And over the next year or two, we get the picture that there were some ups and there were some downs. There were some questions that began to arise about not just their situation, but also about Paul himself and about

his own credibility. Ongoing sinful issues were unresolved in the church. And in some part, the questions about Paul were triggered by the unexpected delay that he had in being able to come back and

pay another visit. Finally, he did get there. He made that planned visit, but it turned out that it wouldn't be a very pleasant one. It was actually what they call the painful visit. The painful visit, because Paul left very discouraged. He didn't feel like the church was backing what he told them to

do. And so, he went on to write them another letter, one that we don't have in our Bibles, called the severe letter. The church's response to the severe letter was actually better.

And yet, right about the time that that severe letter came, all of the progress was suddenly put at risk with the arrival of the so-called super apostles. These were rivals to Paul, who began to throw their weight around, questioning the very legitimacy of Paul's own apostleship.

So, Paul writes this letter we have right here. And amazingly, as we saw over the last week or two, he does not open on a note of rebuke. He probably should have. He opens on a note of blessing.

Blessing God in verse 3. And then he goes on to talk about experiencing great comfort in affliction. As we heard in the first seven verses, he says, only God can comfort us in affliction.

And in all of our sufferings, then we must fix our eyes on God. Fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. Fix our eyes on the future. And then he made a turn to one another. He said that we must also fix our eyes on each other. And when we receive that comfort from God, share it with one another,

who need it, those of us among us who are also in affliction. And this is how you're going to be equipped to patiently endure. Well, Paul has mentioned his sufferings, but he has not been very specific about them yet.

And yet, as we come now to verse 8, which I want to read for us, this is about to change. So let's pick up on our reading in verse 8. And again, we'll read through the full paragraph at the end of verse 11. Here's what he writes.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril,

and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

And on that note, let's pray. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would open your word, that you would make clear to us what we need to see.

Father, we ask for your spirit to prepare our hearts and teach us today. We trust in your word. We trust in you. And it's in Jesus' name, our Savior, we pray. Amen.

I want you to notice the way Paul opens up in verse 8. What does he say? He says, I don't want you to be unaware, my brothers. I don't want you to be ignorant of what? Of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

Now understand that by this time, Paul is a guy that's been traveling around the Mediterranean a lot. There's a map somewhere behind me. He's been traveling all over parts of this empire.

Starting in Palestine and then a little bit east of that. And then going on up into Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey for us. He's been all over Greece by now. Both the northern and southern regions.

And this doesn't even get into all the islands, the Mediterranean islands that Paul visited. But when he mentions Asia and highlights this big trial that happened there, he is undoubtedly referring to Ephesus and what happened in the city of Ephesus.

Maybe you're familiar with it, maybe you aren't. You can read about it in the book of Acts. The book of Acts chapter 19 tells us Paul had arrived in this city and launched into evangelism like he always does.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Starts first in the synagogue and then goes on to publicly lecture in front of Gentiles and teach people about Jesus. And we read in Acts 19 that it was very, very successful.

Paul had a huge and transformative impact on this city. It's almost hard to explain. Demonstrations of supernatural power were happening through Paul.

There were exorcisms. There were practitioners of the dark arts. Apparently the occult had a grip on Ephesus. And they were getting saved. And they were radically getting saved.

Listen, they were piling up, literally, their magical books and scrolls and torching them. In fact, at one point Luke tells us, like, this was worth what would be, by today's standards, worth millions of dollars.

So big transformative things were happening here in this city. And it did not take long before it hit the pocketbooks of the idol-making business, which was big business.

The silversmiths, in particular, made these silver shrines to the goddess Artemis. Artemis was the great goddess of Ephesus. And they not only made these for the people locally, they exported them from the city as well.

And so these silversmiths are really upset. And Acts chapter 19 says that there was, at that time, a great disturbance, no little disturbance concerning the way, the way being Christianity.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Led by a ringleader named Demetrius, the silversmiths managed to rile up all the tradesmen in town. And they played into everybody's worst fears.

Just like today, right? Nobody ever does that. Play into your worst fears. And what they do is they go and they say, look, we're going to get run out of business by this guy, Paul.

And it's not just us. Not only is it our own livelihood, all you other business people in Ephesus need to be worried because our whole city's fame, our whole reputation is at stake because we are the center of Artemis worship.

And it's all at risk if we don't do something about this guy, Paul. And so what they did is they formed this large mob and they literally started a riot in the city.

Rushing down to the local amphitheater, they drug in some of the local believers, including a couple of Paul's close ministry companions. They almost got Paul himself.

If it weren't for a couple of his fellow believers that held him back, they knew that he would be killed. Well, Luke summarizes the event and he explains to us how the town clerk, this would be like the mayor, he finally gets the mob under some semblance of control.

He quiets them long enough to warn them that they are in danger of being charged with rioting if they don't stop. And then he goes on to say this.

I'm going to read this for us in Acts 19, verses 38 and 39. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls.

Acts 19:38

Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. What Luke does is he goes on and tells us that the assembly was basically dismissed.

And then he moves on in Acts chapter 20 and just goes on and tells us more about Paul's travels. But it's here where we might want to ask ourselves a few questions.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Number one, how much longer did Paul stay in town? Was it days? Was it weeks? Did he stay another month? Another question is, what exactly happened next?

Did Demetrius and his fellow silversmiths take the town clerk up on his suggestion? Did they file some kind of charges in court? Or did they maybe go under the radar legally and put out a bounty on Paul's head, as happens sometimes?

Well, here's what we know for sure. We know that on his third missionary journey, as he's coming near Ephesus and could have stopped there, he deliberately chooses not to.

We're told that he sails right past. And it's not because Ephesus isn't important, because he lands at this place called Miletus, and he actually sends for the Ephesian elders to come and to visit with him.

And so we ask ourselves, why? Why didn't he stop? Here's what Luke gives us in Acts chapter 20, verse 16. He says that Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 20:16

We ask ourselves, is that the only reason Paul didn't stop? Because he wanted to get to Jerusalem faster? Or could it be that Ephesus was still just too hot for him?

Just too dangerous? Did he still feel like a marked man here? Well, strangely enough, earlier in his first letter to the Corinthians, he actually talks about this moment, this time that he had in Ephesus, and he says this in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 32.

1 Corinthians 15:32

He says, I fought with beasts at Ephesus. Other translations say wild beasts at Ephesus. Now, we don't think that he was literally put into an arena to fight wild animals, like many early Christians were.

What we think he's referring to is this situation here with the rabid silversmiths who wanted to tear him apart and take his life. We think that Paul is saying, look, it was that close for me.

There were plots to kill me. And maybe, for all we know, there really were legal charges filed against him afterward. Maybe people were seeking the death penalty.

You add into the mix here the fact that it was not only the silversmiths who were really upset with Paul. The Jews in Ephesus were really hostile toward him too.

You say, well, how do we know that? Well, we read later in the book of Acts that some of the Jews came from Ephesus. They traveled all the way down to Jerusalem just to try to make trouble for Paul.

And in Acts chapters 23 and 24, we read of how they stirred up another mob in the temple precincts that got Paul arrested. All this to say, I think the words that we've read right here in 2 Corinthians are giving us a glimpse.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

I think that these few verses are giving us an insider's view into what was a major traumatic event in Paul's life. What the book of Acts, which by the way was written 30 years later, might seem to pass over kind of quickly,

apparently from Paul's perspective it was a very, very big deal. It was a very traumatic experience for him. Look at what he says in verse 8.

He says, We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength. A lot of scholars think that Paul might actually have gone to jail. That he might have endured an imprisonment here in Ephesus.

Granted, the book of Acts talks about Paul going to jail three different times. For a night, one night in Philippi. And then for up to, I think, about two years in Caesarea.

And then we know by the end of the book of Acts in chapter 28, he lives under house arrest in Rome. But here's the thing. Paul talks about, to the Corinthians, his many imprisonments.

And he does this in the year 55 AD, which up to this point, he's only been in jail once in the book of Acts, at least as Luke records. But we know Luke doesn't necessarily record everything.

And so we have good reason to think that Paul had been in prison many other times. In fact, one of the early church fathers, I mean, it's not scripture, but it's a guy named Clement of Rome.

He wrote about Paul and said that Paul bore the chains. He went to jail seven different times. Even though the book of Acts only records three of them.

So if church history is right, and we think Clement is pretty reliable, could it be that he did, in fact, have a period of confinement in Ephesus?

Could that be what Paul's talking about? That in addition to all the riots and the plots, that maybe very recently he himself had been sitting in an Ephesian dungeon, feeling, as he says in verse 9, that we had received the sentence of death.

You know, somebody writes something like that. They're showing us that they're on the brink of despair. You say, well, was Paul despairing of his faith?

No. Was he despairing of his hope in Christ? No, no, no. It wasn't that at all. But maybe what he was thinking is that this is it. Maybe he's thinking, I guess I have finished the fight.

I guess my time is over. Here's what we know for sure. He tells us that he was burdened beyond his strength. What he means is that he was literally pressed down with a weight that he just could not bear, that he had no strength to bear,

and he was at risk of being crushed. You know, when I think about weights and being pressed down, I often think back to my much younger days of going to a gym.

I lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin for about seven years and went out to a gym, and it was the kind of gym where it was mostly the free weights. You guys know what those are?

The plates that you have to actually stack. And if you've ever been to a gym yourself and been around free weights, then you're going to chuckle.

You're going to know what I'm about to describe. There you are lifting responsibly, right? You got your spotter. You got whatever equipment you use.

And you're watching as through the door comes in that ambitious young guy. And you say, well, why couldn't it be a girl? It's never a girl. It's always a guy.

Why? Strutting in the gym with all the testosterone, got his wings out like a peacock. I can remember a couple of times seeing guys like this walk in cold.

Walk in and walk right over to like a squat rack or a bench press. And without so much as a stretch or a warm-up set, they just start loading the bar with plates.

And you're kind of watching out of the corner of your eye. And you're like, did they just come from another gym or something? Did they already warm up?

And they're loading the bar. And you're wondering, like, do they know how to add? Can they add the numbers or the weights? And, of course, you know what the result is.

It's very predictable. Somebody gets pressed down, literally. Somebody falls back in the squat rack, and hopefully they had the safety bars.

Or somebody gets the weights dropped down on their chest, and they're yelling for help. That's how Paul felt. Just think about that imagery and not just physically.

Think about this. Paul felt pressed down, crushed mentally. He felt it emotionally. He says that he was utterly burdened beyond our strength.

You know that saying a lot when this guy's endured 39 lashes, you know, what, four times? A guy that's got scars all over his back. A guy that's been adrift in the open sea after a shipwreck.

A guy that has had people trying to kill him when he is telling you it was more than we could bear. We thought we were going to die. It's not often I quote Eugene Peterson, but his paraphrase in the message, I think, does a pretty good job here.

Here's what he writes. He says, It was so bad, we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we had been sent to death row, and that it was all over for us.

But, he goes on in that same verse, verse 9. But, that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. What a powerful statement Paul makes.

He says, But all of this, experiencing such an incredible time of affliction in Asia, there in Ephesus, being so utterly burdened beyond what we thought we had strength to bear, to the point that we thought it was over.

Life itself, it was to make us rely on God, not ourselves. It was to bring us to the end of self-reliance, and get us to the point of God-reliance.

And this, relying on God, when the stakes are at their highest, and most intense, Paul says, This isn't a bad thing at all. Because, our God can do some pretty amazing things.

Our God is a God, who raises the dead. And listen, that's exactly what he does, literally. We know that he raised his son from the dead. We know that he can and will raise his followers from the dead.

Paul goes on in verse 10, he says that he delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. That's confidence talking. Paul is confident in God's deliverance, in the immediate future.

Now sure, in other letters, some of the prison epistles, he'll write like Philippians, near the end of his life, the last letters, which will be written about a decade from now, it'll be a little different.

He won't say that God's going to deliver us, you know, again and again in the future. He'll say, You know what? I think my time's about done.

I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I've kept the faith. But he's not saying that right now. He's not saying he's not going to be delivered.

He is confident God is going to deliver him. He says in verse 10, He will deliver us. And on him, we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

And ultimately, when that decade was up, we're not sure, the year 64, 65 A.D. perhaps, there will come a time where God is ready to call Paul home.

And Paul knew that God would give him then, the ultimate deliverance from death, in a resurrection, when he would be taken from death's clutches, to be in the glorious presence of the Savior.

One more verse. Verse 11. And it's funny, by the time we come to this verse, it almost kind of takes a minute to realize, this is the first time in the letter, that he's asking for the church to do anything.

Look at what he says in verse 11. You, Corinthians, you also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf, for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

It's like he's saying, guess what church? There's something you can do too. There's a way for you to join with us, and help us. You can cooperate with us, and agree with us, and hold us up in prayer.

But really to say that Paul asks for this, doesn't even fit the Greek here. The scholars tell us that it's not in the indicative mood. It's not like, you can do this, or would you please do this?

It's actually in the imperative. So that we should really read it like, you must do this. You have to do this. You need to do this. Your prayers will be instrumental, in seeing God move on our behalf.

And when that move of God happens, Paul goes on, and people like you have been praying, and lifting your faces to the Lord, guess what happens?

You'll give him thanks. He writes, pray so that many will give thanks on our behalf, for the blessing of our deliverance. What Paul writes here literally is, many faces will give thanks.

Because that's the imagery here. Faces, countenances of God's people, looking upward. Not at themselves, not at their own circumstances, but focused on the Lord, watching for him to move, on behalf of his people.

Well let's take a step back this morning. Because I think what we see here, in these four verses, is Paul is trying to show us, some things that God has taught him.

I think this morning, there are four things, that Paul has learned, about burdens, and afflictions, and God's deliverance. And in our short time that remains, I want to highlight, those four things for you.

What do we learn about Paul, and afflictions, and deliverance? Here's the first thing, number one, if you're taking notes, number one. We can be utterly burdened, beyond our strength.

They say that in the American church, we're a therapeutic church. Meaning that they, that people want to hear pastors like me say, you can do it.

And I'm here to tell you, you can't do it. Now maybe that's not every day. I hope it's not. But there are times, in our lives. There are moments, of affliction.

Paul was in one. He wrote about it. And we can be, utterly burdened, beyond our strength. This is Paul's, personal testimony. He says, I myself, the apostle Paul, was at the brink of despair, about life itself.

Again, not despairing, about his faith. He's not having doubts, about his, Christian testimony. He's not even, despairing of God's power, God's ability, to rescue him.

No evidence of that, at all. Paul knew God's power, was sufficient, for any challenge, or affliction. But he, had personally, come to a point, a low point, where it was all, just too much, for him.

You could say, he felt the limits, of his own humanity. Because we, people, are not, built without limits. Is that news to you? We are not, built without limits.

You and I, last time I checked, are not, omnipotent, all powerful, are we? We are not, omniscient either. We don't know it all. We don't see the end, from the beginning, as God does.

But God does. And as the prophet Isaiah, reminds us, we are very different, than God. I love this verse, from Isaiah chapter 40. This is the place, where he contrasts, the absolute, unlimited nature, of God, with the limited nature, of human beings, at their very best.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

Here's what he says, Isaiah chapter 40, verse 30. Even youths, shall faint, and be weary, and young men, shall fall, exhausted. Even youths.

Isaiah 40:30

But not God. God doesn't grow weary. God doesn't ever, get tired. God doesn't get irritable, or grumpy, because he didn't get, enough sleep.

God doesn't get, hangry, because he's hungry, and has to deal, with the situation. I was watching, the football game, last night, since our son's, now at IU, we're now, I guess, IU fans.

I don't know. IU football, I still can't really, you know, basketball, but anyway, they're really good now, in football. Any of you, see this game, last night?

It was like, Illinois, the ninth ranked team, in the country, was down, 50 plus points, in the fourth quarter, and then, you know, you watch the newscast, and all of a sudden, in Bloomington, it just starts pouring rain, and there's like, still the whole fourth quarter, to go, and you're just thinking, oh,

those poor Illini, I don't, maybe there's an Illini fan here, though, I don't even know, what that is. Illinois Illini, anyway, those poor Illinois fans, that poor Illinois coach, sitting out there, getting drenched in the rain, I'm sure they just wanted out,

I'm sure they were sick, and tired, maybe this morning, they're literally sick, sick, and tired of that game, but God's not like that, God never tires, God never feels like, I have to endure this, the clock's still got 14 minutes left,

God's not like we are, and there are different kinds, of weariness, than just the physical kind, you know, that other places, in God's word, there are these times, where different moments, of our weakness, are captured, I think again, the Psalms, are a great place for this, great places,

in God's word to go, like the Psalms, that capture those moments, of human weakness, that aren't just physical, here's one, Psalm 42, verse 11, why are you, cast down, oh my soul, first of all, when you're talking to yourself, you know it's really bad, why are you, cast down, oh my soul,

Psalms 42:11

why are you, in turmoil, within me, you're like, well he said it once, he got it out, he's okay, right, no the Psalmist, repeats it again, later in the Psalm, and then in another Psalm, the Psalm right after that, it's repeated two more times, a soul, in turmoil, we're talking about, mental,

and emotional burdens, that are beyond, our human strength, and listen, if you get nothing else, from these scriptures, I want you to hear, that it's not sinful, to experience this, it is not sinful, to recognize, that we have, these limitations, it's not anything, for you, or me,

to be ashamed of, that we can sometimes, feel so burdened, sometimes so much so, that it feels like, I don't know, that I can do this, if the Apostle Paul, can get here, so can you, and the key, is that you don't stay here,

and this brings us, to the second thing, we learned from Paul, number two, number two, our burdens, are to make us rely, not on ourselves, but on God, not on ourselves, but on God, it sounds so easy,

right, sounds so simple, you know, just to speak this, to someone, who's absolutely crushed, in depression, just go up, and wave your finger, at them, and say, you know, point number two, from last Sunday, was that our burdens, are meant, so that you won't rely, on yourself, but on God, please find a better way,

to say it, but it is true, again, some wisdom, from some other scriptures, here again, from the Psalms, this one, Psalm 118, verse eight, the psalmist writes, that it's better, to take refuge, in the Lord, than to trust in man, trust in man,

a couple verses later, it says, the next verse says, it's better, to take refuge, in the Lord, than to trust in, princes, we don't have princes, today, but in the ancient world, they did, and a prince, would signify, someone with means, someone with power,

someone with resources, and what the psalmist, is saying, is that even people, with resources, can let you down, even the ones, that love us, they can let us down, the refuge, that a mere human being, can offer, is limited,

and it may not, be enough, I think about, like my family, and as a husband, and a father, you know, one of the things, I want to do as a father, especially when they were younger, I want to protect my family, and yet, I can't always protect them, and I am increasingly, reminded of that, as they're growing up,

and they're out of our home, and they're out there, in life, and they're on the roads, and they, not to mention, have an enemy, that wants to get them, as much as he wants, to get me, I have to remember, their best refuge, is the Lord, my best refuge, is also, the Lord,

and he's your best refuge too, Psalm chapter 20, verse 7, some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust, in the name of the Lord, our God, horses, chariots, if you're,

Psalms 20:7

living in the ancient world, and this region of the globe, it's a dangerous place, there's a lot of wars, a lot of fighting, horses and chariots, our horses and chariots, today, probably look a little different, they probably look like, your bank account, or your 401k, or they look like, your health,

or your career, or maybe some material, possession that you have, the only problem, with all these things, they all have one problem, in common, you want to know, what the problem, with all those things are, they're corruptible, they won't last, you see,

even on our best days, we have to remember, that our refuge, is only in the Lord, the Israelites, had to recognize this, they were not, the mightiest army around, they didn't even have chariots, most of the time, until they disobeyed God, and got a few, they had to realize, that horses and chariots,

were not going to get it done, and how many times, throughout the historical books, do we see that, God's people, literally the David, outnumbered, outmaneuvered, by the Goliath, of an opponent, we see it in numbers, we see it in Joshua, judges, the Samuels, the kings, they had to trust, in the name,

meaning, in the power, of God, God, and so do we, and what's that, going to look like, tangibly in your life, when you face a trial, it means, the next time, you face some kind, of an affliction, or maybe you're in one, right now,

there's a burden, in your life, it means, you're going to tell yourself, that you're not going, to rely on yourself, I am not going, to self rely, I am going, to rely, on the Lord, I'm going, to make my burden, known to him, and do like Paul did, and ask others, to do the same, on my behalf,

I'm going, to remember, to cast, all my anxieties, on God, because as Peter says, in his letter, he cares for you, and again, if Paul could do this, if someone is great, and spiritual, and deep, as the apostle Paul, had to do this, and had to learn this, then so can you,

our burdens, are meant to make us, rely not on ourselves, but on God, and that takes us, to a third point, that comes from this, third thing, Paul wants us to learn, number three, God is our only, reliable deliverance, our only reliable, deliverance,

the ground of our, unshakable hope, Paul talked about that hope, earlier in verse seven, we didn't read that verse today, he says our hope for you, is not shaken, an unshakable hope, so Paul tells us in verse nine, that his being so utterly, burdened beyond his strength, was intended to make him, rely on God,

not on himself, but how does he describe God, did you catch that little phrase, does he say, rely on God, who is all powerful, he highlights, he singles out, this one thing that God did, and is able to do, the God who, raises the dead,

I don't know, if you're very familiar, with the Bible, maybe you've heard, of a guy named Abraham, from the Old Testament, from the book of Genesis, if you know his story, God made a promise, to Abraham, actually entered, into a covenant, with Abraham, that he would do, something that was, humanly,

impossible for him, Abraham's like, a hundred years old, his wife Sarah, is 90, she's also, always been barren, they have no children, and yet, here's what we read about, Paul reflecting on Abraham's life, in Romans chapter 4, verses 18 to 21, listen to this,

Romans 4:18–21

in hope, he Abraham, believed against hope, that he should become, the father of many nations, as he had been told, so shall your offspring be, he did not weaken in faith, when he considered, his own body, which was as good as dead, since he was about, a hundred years old,

or when he considered, the barrenness, of Sarah's womb, no unbelief, made him waver, concerning the promise, of God, but he grew strong, in his faith, as he gave glory, to God, fully convinced, that God, was able to do, what he had promised,

hope, against hope, Abraham had it, Abraham grounded, his hope, in a God, who could do, the impossible, and fulfill the promise, that he made, and he did, God did, God gave them a son, a biological son, Isaac,

and then what happened, well, if you know the story, of Abraham and Isaac, later, God would call him, to sacrifice, that promise, and what's incredible, is not just, Abraham's obedience, as he took, that several day journey, to that holy mountain, with Isaac,

what's even more, remarkable, I think, is what we read about it, in the book of Hebrews, again in the New Testament, Hebrews, gives us like, a window, into Abraham's mindset, this is the neat thing, about the Holy Spirit, the neat thing, about God's spirit, is he knows everything, and never forgets,

so we get this window, into the mindset, of Abraham, in Hebrews 11, verse 19, we're told this, this is what Abraham, was thinking, as he's walking up, that mountain, he considered, NIV says, he reasoned, that God was able, to raise him, from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,

Hebrews 11:19

he figured, God's able, to raise the dead, he reasoned, that the same God, who's powerful enough, to create life, in a 90 year old, woman's womb, can probably, also bring life back, if it's taken away, Abraham trusted in this, and he eventually, saw this,

and you know, who else saw this, Jesus, God's son, he too, trusted in this, and saw, resurrection, and Paul was trusting, in this right now, as well, and I'm telling you, that you and I, need to trust in this too, maybe it's not, literal death, maybe,

in your life right now, it's just the death, to put some quotes on it, of something, important to you, in your life, maybe there has been, the passing of something, a dream that you had, an ambition, a hope, I'm asking you, do, does some situation, seem impossible, to you,

if so, remember, what kind of a God, we serve, ground your hope, in him, and don't let life, or the circumstances of life, shake you out, of that hope, no person, can tell you when, or how, or the manner, or the timing, that God may move,

but I want you to know, your God, is a reliable deliverer, and you can put, your hope in him, and in the meantime, we wait, and trust, and patiently endure, we hold on to hope,

even when we're not seeing, the deliverance yet, that's when it's hard, is to hope, when there's no reasons, to hope, again, Paul writes in Romans, a little later in chapter 8, talking about hope, Romans 8, 24, verses 24 and 25, he says this, for in this hope, we are saved,

now, as if he needs to remind us, hope that is seen, is not hope, for who hopes, for what he sees, but if we hope, for what we do not see, we wait for it, with patience, and having this hope,

and this trust, is, I want you to understand, it's what kept Paul, from despair, it's what enabled Paul, to not lose heart, and he's more explicit, about this, in a couple of chapters, here's what we're going to read, when we get to chapter 4, 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 and 17,

so we do not lose heart, though our outer self, is wasting away, our inner self, is being renewed, day by day, for this light, momentary affliction, is preparing for us, an eternal weight, of glory, think about the metaphors, of weight,

I felt so pressed down, unbearably under the weight, and here he says, it's preparing for us, an eternal weight, of glory, beyond all comparison, as we look to the things, that are seen, not to, as we look not, to the things that are seen, but to the things, that are unseen,

for the things, that are seen, are transient, but the things, that are unseen, are eternal, so quickly, let's review, number one, we can be utterly burdened, beyond our strength, number two, those burdens are meant, to make us rely, not on ourselves, but on God, three, God is our only,

reliable deliverance, he grounds, an unshakable hope, and let me leave you, with this last one, it comes from the very last, verse of our passage, here's the fourth thing, that Paul learned, number four, prayer, prayer, prayer, is key, in all of this,

what again, is the one thing, Paul calls this church, to do, so far in this letter, verse 11, pray, verse 11, you must also, help us by prayer, so that, many will give thanks, on our behalf, for the blessing, granted us, through the prayers,

of many, through the many, lifted faces, lifted countenances, as they intercede, before the throne, praying, because there are, powerful things, God does, when his people pray, prayer, unleashes, God's power, his resources,

those come, in response, to his people's prayers, you say, well what about, the sovereignty of God, yeah, but we're also told, in scripture, that prayer does this, that's why, we read these stories, about ancient kings, like Hezekiah, in the book of Kings, 2nd Kings 19, all locked up,

like a bird in a cage, Sennacherib said, in Jerusalem, praying, praying for deliverance, which he saw, his face wasn't, up on the wall, looking around, at all the armies, it was, in a proverbial way, looking up to heaven, I think he was actually, face down, but his face, was looking to God,

this is why, we find, even in the book of Acts, this great story, in chapter 12, where we've got, a church, a frightful church, worried about persecution, hiding behind, their own locked doors, praying for, an imprisoned apostle, named Peter, and again, you can read, the story of deliverance,

prayer, is a key means, of God's deliverance, God, in his sovereignty, chooses, to work through, and in response, to the prayers, of his people, because, here's the thing, Paul even talks about this, in verse 11, when we pray,

and when we take our eyes, and our faces, off of our problems, and our circumstances, and maybe even each other, and we look up heavenward, this is where God acts, and God wants our faces, and our eyes, lifted heavenward, he wants us to look up to him, and say, Lord, we need you,

we need your powerful hand, move, and we're watching, Lord, we're watching, as we're praying, many faces lifted to you, to see what you will do, please don't offer your prayer, and then drop your face, right back down, on your circumstances, and then have God answer it, and say,

oh well, I guess the diagnosis, was wrong, good thing we got, that second opinion, oh I guess that worked out, and forget to thank God, for his answers, God we bless you, we praise you, we give thanks, on behalf of whatever it was, whoever it was, we were praying for,

all the glory, for this answer, our eyes are on you, and so we can just thank you, right now, for your help, all the glory is you, yours, and yours alone, I'm going to ask, the worship team, if they would join me here again, and lead us, and as they come, let me ask you, if you would just,

rise from your seat, and join me, and let's engage, in some prayer together, right now, let me ask you, bow your head, close your eyes, look upward, if you want, I'm going to ask you, to fix your attention, your face, upon the Lord, and his mighty throne,

heavenly father, we have no power, in ourselves, some of us Lord, have come into situations, very recently, maybe even we're in one, right now, where we simply just need, to see your deliverance, and we feel like, we don't have strength left,

Lord I pray for those of us, that have been walking, in some great affliction, that feel utterly, beyond their strength, and I pray that they will not, give in to despair, Lord we with our eyes, and our faces fixed on you, want to thank you, for loving us, thank you for inviting us, to prayer,

Lord the fact that you hear, and listen to our prayers, is amazing, the fact that our prayers, are welcome, in your sight, you are like no other, so called God, who was always irritated, by what people needed, Lord you are so different, you're the true God, and you tell us, in your word, that we shouldn't be anxious,

about anything in our lives, you tell us, that we should pray, for everything, and we should do it, with thanksgiving, making our requests, known to you, and so we do that now, Lord, so forgive us, for at times, being prayerless, forgive us, for not being persistent,

in our prayers, forgive us, for not lifting, our faces, our countenances, to you, in the midst, of our affliction, we love you Lord, and we thank you, hear us now, as we sing, we pray this, in Jesus name, Amen.