Ken Boa Reflections Ministries

Dr. Ken Boa: Let's begin in a prayer. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to meet together in freedom and peace as we seek to learn together, build one another up in the Holy faith, and to encourage one another to spiritual fruit. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.

We're going to finish up this series I've been doing on the eternal perspective collection. It consisted of the books, rewriting your broken story, which had to do with the past, has to do with the present tense of practicing life in the presence of God. Then third, we're looking at the whole idea of being shaped by suffering and the adversities that we go through in that process.

And so we saw in our last time together that God is sovereign over history. And this is from my 2005 presentation on the decline of nations because it's pretty relevant even now, in fact, more now than ever before. In fact, I don't want to update it because it'd be too depressing. But the, we saw though that the end is a perspective that gives us hope. So rather than wring our hands in despair, we know that he is the one who changes the times and the epics, and he is the one who removes kings and establishes kings, it's been so from the beginning.

And he has a sovereign purposes that we often don't understand, but he works those things together in a profound way. And in that process, and we see that his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the host of heaven.

So this is a perspective, and among the inhabitants of the earth, as we see in Daniel 4, no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what have you done? What's significant are these are the words of Nebuchadnezzar. After this is his third encounter with God. And this third time through, he comes to grasp that God's purposes are so and sovereign. And remember he was restored to his sanity after seven years of being like a beast of the field.

And so he came to grasp these principles that are a principle for our time as well. We saw in Daniel 2 and I mentioned this before, when you look at the period of moving from gold, the Babylonians, to silver, Meado-Persia, brass, the Grecian, and then the iron, the Roman, and then there'd be a kind of a revived Roman Empire together, taking place in the future. These four kingdoms would last only a brief season, but God's kingdom will endure forever and ever. Because in those days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which can will never be destroyed.

And that kingdom will not be left for another people, but it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms. It will itself endure forever. This is the perspective that we have, that in spite of all appearances to the contrary, God really is sovereign over history, and he does according to his purposes in the works of men. And ultimately, even though it seems like it's out of control, it's heading somewhere and we can see it. All the prophecies that Jesus gave, and the scriptures become more and more clear as the time advances, that we see we are really moving into an unprecedented time, and the time is very brief in many ways.

But then the question arises, how do we live under these circumstances? And the way we live is to understand the times and know what we should do. And so as the sons of Issachar understood their culture, they also understood their calling. And there's a very similar way in which we see the same, how shall we live? That you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach.

And then the second part is, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Third, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that fourth, in the day of Christ, I may have cause to glory. And so we see these this perspective here where first of all, we're looking at our character. And so we want to focus on this whole idea of the character of the believer.

And so we live we live in an interesting time to say the very least, unprecedented things about digital technology. Because just consider in our own lifetimes, in our times, in the last few decades, how unprecedented things have taken place. We could never begin to dream or imagine or guess what's taken place. No one could have guessed, for example, the smartphone that would have all the information and that by 2007 suddenly have access to all knowledge that's available. It's scary, as all get up and it's getting worse and worse because it's becoming more and more addictive and there are unintended consequences to technology as we know.

One of those things is we become digitized and less and less authentic. We actually lose the connection with the analog world. And that's what's really been happening in generations of people recently who now no longer are raised in an analog world, but in a digital world. And for them, it becomes more meaningful for them. The digital world and the gains that that proposes are more than the analog realities. And so it's a significant change that has taken place.

I remember watching Blade Runner and he uses a payphone, and this is supposed to be way in the future, because they couldn't guess what the worldwide web would be or that there would be a smartphone. The concept wasn't even in there. 2001: A Space Odyssey also has a has a payphone. Otherwise, by the way, that 1968 film by Stanley Kubrick is astonishing, having seen it recently, and I recommend you see it again, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not that many years ago, yet it's pretty accurate even today. It was astonishing, even the drones and the technology, flat screens and everything. I don't know how he how he created this, but the whole idea is AI. And the AI intimation is the HAL 9000 computer. IBM, one letter up, HAL.

So you have this change here where this thing begins to get ideas of its own. And so this is the scary part, creating a kind of a Frankenstein, a kind of a thing that can have its own mind, its own will, its own purposes, and its own mandates. And so there's no assurance that these things are going to be working out very well for us. We create people who are more focused on an alternate world, and they're less and less embodied, less and less capable even of seeing beauty in the natural world. It's one of you some of you know that we're working on this project called An Invitation to Wonder, where it's going to have a a multi-sensory encounter with beauty on the microcosm, mesocosm, and macrocosm that it's going to be at the Museum of the Bible. That's what our plans are next year. And so that's a fun thing to do because I want to use digital technology to draw people into the superior beauty and wonder of the analog world, which you cannot retro-engineer. It's too sophisticated for that.

So we have our own sophisticated technologies, but they actually underscore the actual wonders of the analog of world. But all the world of identity politics, of collective intolerance, and so forth that we see, make our time very challenging in many ways. And in a very real sense, we are agents of light in Babylon. So I want to tell us in this session and as we're tying it up together, how do we flourish in Babylon? So when I think about this eternal perspective, this trilogy, again, rewriting your broken story, how do you fix a broken story? The way you fix a broken story is how? You embed your story in the greatest story ever told.

And it was and your story is his story, and it's within that story that you now have a new past, and you have a new present, and a new future in a very real sense. And so when we are seeing that there's that this is a tragedy if this was the last act, but there's another act to come that will turn this apparent tragedy into a comedy in the sense that it's going to end beautifully and and well. And so the power of an eternal perspective, then we talked about this whole idea of life in the presence of God. And so you have this idea of how do we practice his presence in the midst of our time while we are on this brief sojourn in this world? Because we don't see directly, but we see indirectly these patches of God light in the woods of our experience.

But now we're completing shape by suffering, how temporary hardships are preparing us for our eternal home. And that's where we're heading. So with this perspective that we have in mind, it's important for us to embrace this eternal perspective that in this world, we're called to be agents of light, not not paranoid, but our light isn't intended to be hidden, but to radiate. Be humble, respectful, and wise, never to be ashamed of our Savior and Lord. Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

And so as this book shaped by suffering turns out to be based upon First Peter, which is the Job of the New Testament, because all five chapters in First Peter allude to suffering and adversity. So it's a very powerful book for us to see. And my favorite verse in that whole summary is First Peter 5:10, "After you have suffered for a little while." I love that truth because it doesn't say you will if you suffer, you will. You have no option. But how do you handle it? Well, grasp the brevity of the suffering in light of the eternality of the glory to follow. And it gives you a perspective that even that pain will be redeemed by God.

So the amazing thought is that if God redeems what he allows, even the pain of the past is going to be contributing to the joy of the future. And it's a mystery because he's bigger than all these things. And so it's a perspective we can embrace. So the purpose of First Peter really is to equip and prepare and spur us on to follow Jesus more closely. Undergirded by our hope and a joy that the world can't take away no matter how what life throws in our direction. Adversity is real and to be expected, and that is, of course, what the scriptures invite us to understand, but have a perspective on your adversity.

And it is this text of scripture in Philippians chapter 2 that I come I turn to. So these four qualities of our character, our culture, our calling, and the coming of Christ. So when we when we go back to this this perspective, that we're looking at our character, proving yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach. That's the character that the scriptures are inviting us to pursue. And so how do we live? We live with that hope and that character, that perspective that embraces these truths. That one of the things that we are called to do is to be people whose manifestation of life is to be lovers of others and servants of others. And people cannot be loved resist being loved and served in a consistent basis.

What is there about me or what is there about you that causes this to happen? Why do you continue to serve me and love me? After a while, people will begin to realize that there's something more than just some agenda, that there's something bigger than that, because we are giving a hope so that when we ask us to give an account for the hope that's in us, then we can do it with gentleness and reverence. So what will happen is that courage is going to also be developed in times of trial and patient and testing. Patience sprouts not when life is going our way, it sprouts only when we are face setbacks, and actually anticipate God's purposes, knowing that it will work out together.

Perseverance emerges out of situations because the desire or the object of our desire is not as coming as easily as we had hoped. I still remember learning the poem "If". How many of you learned that when you were in school? Remember that that poem? Can you still quote it? It'd be interesting. Some people have amazing abilities to remember that poem and remember it. I learned it, but it's one of those poems I need to get back a little bit better than I do, but at the end of the poem, Kipling puts it this way: "If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew, to serve your turn, long after they are gone. And so hold on when there's nothing in you, except the will which says to them, hold on. Yours is the earth and everything that's in it, and which is more, you'll be a man, my son."

And so it's a response to the obstacles. The whole poem is really about the process of going through adversity that forges that discipline, because it's not what happens to you, but and your circumstances, you're not defined by your circumstances. How are you defined? By your response to your circumstances. What do you do? Do you hold up or do you fold up? Well, that depends on your hope. And so it'll reveal tribulation reveals our hope, and reveals with clarity and purpose, so that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance proven character, and proven character, hope. And this biblical hope will not disappoint.

So it's our response to the obstacles we've encountered. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And there comes to be a point from time to time, when all props sometimes seem to be kicked out. And if you I think we've all had times when it just seems that everything has fallen apart. And there are periods of time when you wonder, what have I got left? And there are times when all you can say is, where can I go? You have words of eternal life. You've burned your bridges behind you, you have nowhere else you can go. And that may be enough to keep you there, but ultimately, he remains.

In his Screwtape Letters, which as you know, is written from the perspective of junior and senior demons writing letters to one another. So the enemy is God, you see. But this wonderful statement, he, God, relies on the troughs even more than the peaks. The tough times are actually profound times that get our attention, not when things are going our way, but it's when things seem to have been lost their way that this this happens.

Some of the special favorites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else. And here's this great statement: "Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of him seems to have vanished, and asks why he's been forsaken and still obeys." "I have no other choice," you see, at the end, "I've burned my bridges." That is a powerful word, that we choose to do it because we know that ultimately, obedience has never let us down. And that's a very important principle.

So when I go from that that concept, and I go from the character, proving yourself to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach, in the midst of a crooked generation and perverse generation, that speaks about our culture. So we have to be men and women of a certain quality of character, whose lives demand an explanation. There's a quality about you that requires people to wonder, tell us about the reason for your hope that's in you. And so you want to manifest that hope and and and this is the process of living in this in our culture.

Understanding that I think it's going to be increasingly the case, that we'll either pay a dear price for our faith, or we'll accommodate to the culture. And it's going to happen more and more as we accommodate to that, but the inordinate amounts of time that we spend on trivia. But the the philosophies of secularization, the culture of privatization and pluralization have fully invaded our thinking. And now we're in a sort of way going beyond postmodernism, and it's kind of a this this this new approach here, almost post-reason.

Oz Guinness in his book, "Dining with the Devil", notes that Christians tend to be culture-blind. Then they become culture-burnt, and then they become culture-bound, and then culture-burnt. But the idea is it's sometimes hard to distinguish where people's religions faith falls off. Still remember the days of the moral majority, you'll recall that. The attempt was made to really commit the Constantinian error of seeking a political solution to issues that are at root moral and spiritual. So persecution, remember, decreased when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire in the early fourth century, but there was an unintended consequence whereby the lines between the world and the church began to blur from that point on.

Suddenly wealth and power became the name of the game, and it changed the entire nature of the church. The worst thing can happen in China, for example, would be for the for Christians to be approved or accepted, you see. Actually being persecuted is the thing that causes people to recognize their pilgrimage, they're not at home yet. And this is a mindset. But too often we put our hope in returning our society to Christian mores. And then we despair when the opposite seems to be occurring. Perhaps you've noticed this. So many times people do this.

But we we we don't want to be surprised and indignant and think of the fiery ordeal that's come upon us as something strange. Listen to these words by the author and scholar James Davison Hunter, who warned of the danger when we begin to see our cultural and political institutions as the primary means for spiritual and moral renewal. He wrote, "All social organizations exist as parodies of eschatological hope." You get that idea? Eschatological has to do with the future, a future hope. And if we're not careful, these are going to be it's going to happen.

So it is that the city is a poor imitation of heavenly community. The modern state, a deformed version of the ecclesia. The market, a distortion of of consummation. Modern entertainment, a caricature of joy. Schooling, a misrepresentation of true formation. Liberalism, a class simulacrum of freedom. And the sovereignty we accord to the self, a parody of God himself. All these institutions and ideals become ends in themselves, and they become the objects of idolatry.

I think he's right in many ways. It's the line blurring between Christianity and culture. That's now largely over in America, as it has been for the rest of the world, but there's still a there's got to be a clear distinction that's critical. That the Christian message doesn't change with the culture. It's always going to be counter-cultural. You can expect it to be so. You're going to be in a warped and crooked culture, just as Paul and Peter were in first century Rome. But we don't wring our hands because we are called to understand the times and to know what we ought to do. We're strangers and exiles who belong to another country. This which brings me then to the the next level, which is our calling.

Here, Peter, rather Paul tells the Philippians that your calling is to be a light in the world, holding fast the word of life. So in the day of Christ, I may have cause to glory. But here, light in the world, holding fast the word of life. That is your calling. And it's a great critical one to see that the end of the story is sure. It's not only the good, but the best one beyond all things. One of my favorite poems is a poem by the the let me let me sum it up for you here. Yeah. Here by Auden, W.H. Auden, who lived from 1907 to 1973.

I love this Christmas oratorio because he has "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." And it's a beautiful portrait of what that looks like. So he is the way, and you're to follow him through the land of unlikeness. You will see rare beasts and have unique adventures. I love that that that image there. And then he says he's the truth. Seek him. So he is the way, you follow him. He is the truth, you seek him in the kingdom of anxiety, which is what this world is like. You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years. There's something beautiful about that anticipation that it's expecting your return. You're going to he's there's more for you than you dream.

And third, he is the life, "The Way, the Truth, the Life." We are to follow him, to seek him, and now to love him. Love him in the world of the flesh, and at your marriage, all his occasions shall dance for joy. So there's a beauty in that idea, "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." There's a beauty in seeing how we are called to embrace a bigger and richer and more profound vision than anything this world can begin to sustain. It's a it's another way of seeing it. Another way of looking at "The Way, the Truth, and the Life" is from another poet that that I whom I love, George Herbert. And and what he calls "The Call."

It's very John 14:6, "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." "Come my way, my truth, my life. Such a way as gives us breath, such a truth as ends all strife, such a life as killeth death. Come my light, my feast, my strength. Such a light as shows a feast, such a feast as mens and lengthens, such a strength as makes his guest." So it's a developmental movement. And then, "Come my joy, my love, my heart. Such a joy as none can move, such a love as none can part, such a heart as joys in love." So there's a parallelism that reveals a gradual crescendo.

Standing firm in the truth ends strife within our otherwise divided hearts and minds. It provides clarity to our our our lives. And that light illuminates the feast. This feast that he's describing here, it shows a feast. And it's feeding on Christ, which in turn gives us strength. And finally, our joy from our life in Christ transcends our circumstances and brings us to love. And so it's a joy as none can move. Such a love as none can part, such a heart as joys in love. True desire and fulfillment find joy and love, the two great commandments. No adversity can separate us from this love, which comes from God himself, which moves the sun and and the other stars. That's everything, as Dante put it.

So we have this understanding then of our calling in this world. And it's a calling that's to be manifesting his hope and and purpose, "The Way, the Truth, and the Life." So we are to live in a certain quality of character. Secondly, we're to manifest a certain understanding of our culture. Grasp the times. Know the times and what you need to do. Realize that it's going to be increasingly counter-cultural for us to be followers of Jesus. There's going to be an increased price to pay for you to stay firm in the faith. And so it's not going to be an easy thing. Understand your times, but also understand your calling. You're called to be a light in the world, and the light overcomes the darkness.

You're going to you're going to hold fast the word of life. And that is a powerful picture of what we are called to be and to do. And then we move on to the coming of Christ. And so the coming of Christ, which is the fourth of those components then, is this, so that in the day of Christ, I may have cause to glory. So these four qualities, how shall we live in light of those truths, so that we can see that God is setting the stage for the next act, which is our telos, teleology, has to do with the end or the purpose for which your life is is heading. The end of all things is near.

So both our circumstances and our culture can lull us into compromising our character and forgetting our call. So if we're not on guard, we'll be susceptible to the swap price tags that go on. You remember I told you about that that story that one author wrote about being in Philadelphia on Mischief Night in a 5 and 10 store, which you won't remember unless you're old enough to remember those things. And what was nefarious, they didn't steal anything. Instead, after they the the the uh the staff left, they were hidden and they then they came out. But instead of stealing anything, they changed all the price tags.

So they put um so a television was selling for $5. And uh hairpins were for $50. Something was wrong. So you can imagine the craziness, the chaos when the store opened in the morning and they didn't the management didn't realize the price had been changed. But isn't an interesting analogy? The the Satan goes around changing the price tags. The world changes the price tags and tells us to treasure trash and to pursue things that are worthless and an end, because as it says in Luke 16, the things that are highly esteemed among men are despised in the sight of God, which is a very chilling word.

So it's very important for us to realize that where is what are my true treasure? What am I really seeing? Am I treating things according to their true value? The wisest thing that we can do is to treat things according to their true value, not the price tags of this world, but rather what does God say? So that instead of the things that are highly esteemed among men are despised in the sight of God, which means it'll be toys and trinkets and tinsel in their hands. And it'll be ashes in their mouth. It will not lead them to righteousness and to holiness and to hope and to purpose. Instead, it'll lead us to despair.

So to pursue the things that God says are important. That is to say, to treasure the eternal as such, and hold the temporal with a loose and a light grip. That's the perspective you want to have. So we are otherwise going to forget that you are an identity. What is your identity? Remember the images? You're a pilgrim, you're a sojourner, a wayfarer, a stranger, a tenant, a wanderer, an exile, an alien. A lot of metaphors, aren't there? All of which describe the brevity, the transitory nature of our earth-bound condition in this world. So it gives us a perspective that we can see.

That adversity, this awful grace of God, to borrow Aeschylus's phrase is a is a pretty profound term here. In Agamemnon, I don't know where he got this, but it was so insightful beyond what a Greek playwright would come up with on his own. When he wrote, "He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart. And in our own despair against our will comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." That's a pretty profound statement. And where he came for up with that, I don't know. It's common grace that somehow God gives him more than he would otherwise be able to have, but this whole idea of this awful grace of God. Adversity, experiencing it ourselves and witnessing, can awaken us out of our worldly daze and call us to a better and living hope, one that'll never die.

So when we entrust ourselves to a loving Father, just as Christ did, then the impurities are finally gone. The gold of glory emerges and no doubt will linger, whether we uh whether we ran in vain. So looking back from the glory of our unbounded future, we're going to see all adversities are light and momentary by comparison and well worthwhile. And that's that's the perspective that he wants us to pursue as as as we can see. So I go back to this and I I sum sum it up and bring us a little bit further, further.

That thinking in living biblically in our time, the gospel moves from the person to the body to the culture. So it it it's starts with the individual, but then it speaks to the need for community because you can't grow very much by yourself. I I've been I've been making this observation of late. Both good and evil are amplified by the collective. Have you ever thought of it that way? That is to say, you can only be so bad by yourself. No one would have even dreamed of doing the things that the Nazis did by themselves. It required a collective narrative of evil to make that even begin to be possible. And but the same token is true, you can only be so good by yourself.

You need the community to cause you to grow. You can't grow in isolation. Yes, you come to faith as an individual, but you grow in community. And it is the need for us to meet and to stimulate one another to love and good deeds that encourage one another. And as the day grows near draws near, to encourage and equip one another. So the body um it moves in this direction. And it's an inside out process. That God has a clear plan for our lives that the scriptures reveal. And I have to say, I often thank God, every time I listen through I I go through the Bible a lot because I use this YouVersion app. And I use different translations. Right now I'm using the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Uh but I've used many other translations, because I like the variety and so forth.

But every time I go through the scriptures, I thank God when I hit the New Testament. Why is that? Because it's a bloody mess in the Old Testament. And frankly, all those sacrifices and all that nonsense. And I marvel that he put up with it so much. If I were God for a day, and saw what was in the heart of man, I'd say, who needs this grief? And I'd thmp them out of being. And you wouldn't even exist, you wouldn't even know I was God for a day. You'd be nonexistent. But you see, you better be glad I'm not God. But the fact is, why does he put up with this? It marvel I marvel, but he has a plan, a loving plan. He has esteemed us and given us worth. And worth is assigned. So he has assigned worth to you.

What are you worth? What someone's willing to pay for it. And Christ demonstrated what you're worth by his own blood, so that you've been purchased not by silver or gold, but by the blood of Christ. That's what you're worth. So grasping that, that God has a plan, that you're not an accident, and that you you're unique, you have a unique spirit signature that no one else has. And that he's called us in the past. He has also going to sustain us in the present, and he's going to promise us the future. So I find myself really listening to these promises more and more frequently as I go. Fear and worry, we know, is unbiblical, and it is unproductive. It's unbiblical because it tells us that we're putting our eyes in the wrong thing. We're to be anxious for a few things, right? For nothing.

But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So it gives you this perspective. Furthermore, a mutual commitment of the body of believers in times of persecution, uh is going to be increasingly needed, because our warfare is against spiritual forces in the heavenly places. And that God's never lost a battle. So we have this whole idea of warfare spirituality that is emphasized in scripture. But you and I can walk in faith, and walk in hope, and walk in love. Um so that we can see be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Making the most of your time because the days are evil. So it's a perspective that I want us to embrace as I look at these.

So this wonderful statement that the conclusion of the final scene of the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia. And if you haven't read that, I really encourage you to read it out loud to to uh or listen to it on an audible book, because it's just really good to hear those seven books together. And it would be lovely to do that. But at the end of the last battle, the very end of the of that, and for us all this uh this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. That's where our story's end, isn't it? But for them, it was only the beginning of the real story. This is where he goes beyond the happily ever after.

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page. Now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth had ever read, which goes on forever, and which every chapter is better than the one before. Now that's the story I want. You see, it's going to be further up and further in. It's going to be richer and richer as it goes. It's not going to get thinner, it's going to get richer and more profound. You're going to continue to grow. It won't be static at all. Endless creative activity without frustration, to the glory of God, in the presence of God, in a resurrected body, in a resurrected cosmos. It's almost it's uh it really in many ways is uh beyond what we could even begin to imagine.

Now, as I tie the the thing together, I have a few minute more minutes. I'm just alluding to something in the back of the book. We have a an appendix. Um it's a theodicy, which is a defense of God in light of the evil and suffering. And it's built upon my book, "God, I Don't Understand", some of the arguments that are found there. And I'm not going to go into the material there, but um it's all in there. It's in the best of all possible worlds. Have you noticed that? But it is going to be the best possible way to bring about the best of all possible worlds. And so that's the work of Christ, the solution. When we finally see what he's been doing, I'm going to tell you this, you're going to be satisfied, and that's a guarantee. I can confidently tell you that.

Another appendix we have is intercessory prayer tips, and then powerful prayers for yourself and others. And um I created these three prayers based upon First Peter. Um and so three hopeful prayers based upon First Peter. And I want you to hear these prayers, because it's a time, these are prayers for us in our time. May you greatly rejoice in your salvation, even though now for a little while if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials. May these trials prove your faith to be more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire. And may your faith be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And though you have not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, may you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, that you may obtain as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul. That's from First Peter chapter 1 verses 6 to 9. And another prayer that uh we created was um First Peter from First Peter 4. The end of all things is near. Therefore, may you be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, may you keep fervent in your love for others, because love covers a multitude of sins.

May you be hospitable to others without complaint. As you've received a special gift from God's spirit, employ it in serving others as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. When you speak, may you do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God. When you serve, may you do so by the strength which God supplies. So in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. And then the third of these prayers is from First Peter 5, 6 to 11. May you humbly yourself under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.

May you be of sober spirit and on the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. May you resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. Here's a key. After you have suffered for a little while, may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. And finally, then I also mentioned Paul's four life-changing prayers.

I would give you money if I could make you memorize these four prayers. But I'm I'm going to tell you, I'm going to tell you, you would not regret it. And you are perfectly capable of learning it, right? I can't do that. Yes, you can. Just if you want to or not. But I I I'm going to do it. Anyway, that's that's nice to know though, but I would I think some of you could learn these. Um then we have Psalms of Lament. But then this is perspective scripture for an eternal perspective on suffering. And that's what I want to close on.

Here are some verses. I want to read to you. And I find these verses, in fact, I'm I sometimes go through these with Karen and I'm going to do it tonight. Um these verses are powerful. If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes, I and not another. How my heart yearns within me.

Then the next one is, as for me, I will see your face in righteousness. When I awake, I will be satisfied with your likeness. No one who waits for you will be ashamed. But those who are treacherous without cause will be ashamed. Show me your ways, oh Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are my the God of my salvation, and my hope is in you all the day long. I would have lost hope, unless I'd believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I will hope in the Lord and be of good courage, and he will strengthen my heart. Yes, I will hope in the Lord.

Then, the thief on the cross said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." John 14, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, I would have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I'm going."

"I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world." "I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. In view of this, I strive always to keep my conscience blameless before God and men." "I rejoice in my tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into my heart through the Holy Spirit who was given to me."

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him." "God has both raised the Lord and will also raise me up through his power." "Now I see dimly as in a mirror, but then I will see face-to-face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." "I know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise me with Jesus and present me in his presence." "I do not lose heart, even though my outward man is perishing, yet my inner man is being renewed day by day. For this light affliction, which is momentary, is working for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

"While I do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen are eternal." "I know that if my earthly house or tent is destroyed, I have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this house I groan longing to be clothed with my heavenly dwelling, because when I am clothed, I will not be found naked. For while I am in this tent, I groan being burdened, because I do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made me for this very purpose, and he has given me the Spirit as a guarantee."

"I make it my ambition to please the Lord, whether I'm at home in the body or away from it. You must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad." "My citizenship is in heaven, from which I also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform my lowly body and conform it into his glorious body according to the exertion of his ability to subject all things to himself."

"We should not be ignorant about those who fall asleep or grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. According to the Lord's own word, we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord will come down from heaven and with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up with together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever."

There are other texts like this, but they're powerful words for us to embrace. I encourage you to review and to really use scriptures like this to understand at the end of it all. He who seated is sees on the throne, "I am making everything new." "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this. I will be their God and they will be my children." Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have loved us with an everlasting love and you've called us to pursue you. And I pray that we would respond to your loving initiatives. May we trust the Father, abide in the Son and walk by the Spirit. Amen.