Have You Considered Jesus?, Part 6

Amen If you got your Bible, Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 to 6, the topic is: have you considered Jesus? And we trust that you have We trust that you have learned to contemplate Him You've learned to think deeply about Jesus Christ our Lord We've tried to teach you why we do that and what's Exactly, the writer of Hebrews is telling us to think about the Christ because we need to understand who it is we worship and why we worship Him You know, so many times We as Christians, we read the Bible and we miss the Christ And that was the biggest problem of the Pharisees

It was even a problem of the disciples Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 5 to the Pharisees when he said these words in verse number 39: You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life It is these that testify about me, and you were unwilling to come to me so that you may have life He said, you search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life But in your searching, you missed the eternal one You missed me

How did you do that? How could you be a student of the scriptures and miss the Christ? Happens all the time, doesn't it? Because when we go to the scriptures, we look to answer the question why We look for reasons as to why my circumstances are the way they are And so we go to the Bible and look for those reasons that help me answer the why question Or we'll go because we want to seek resolution

Somehow, if I'm able to resolve my conflict or resolve my problems, what is God going to tell me about how to resolve these issues? And so we go searching the scriptures to see everything but the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Christ And Jesus wants us to see him and only him That's why On the road to Emma, after the resurrection of the Christ, the Lord said, These, O foolish men and slow of heart

To believe in all the prophets have spoken? Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the scriptures So even his disciples on the road to Emma, wondering about this resurrected Christ, where is he? What has happened? He says, O foolish men and slow of heart, how did you not know this? How can you search the scriptures? How can you say you know the scriptures and miss everything it says about me? That's the essence of what the Bible is

It's all about the Christ, the Redeemer, the Deliverer And our study is about the Christ It's everything about him And so we have taken time to consider Jesus We're trying to teach you how it is you go through Bible study How, when you read the scripture, you just do more than just a cursory reading of a passage But you really think deeply about the Christ, letting your mind penetrate the pages about the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord

And so, as we look at Hebrews 3:1 to 6, we answer the question: why do we consider Jesus? Because the author says, therefore, Referring back to chapters 1 and 2 about the identity and the ministry of the Messiah, you are to consider Jesus Therefore, holy brethren, because you're a child of God, you certainly should consider Jesus because you're a part of his family And then He is the high priest of our confession, or we are partakers, excuse me, we are partakers of the heavenly calling So therefore, not only are we children of God, we've been called by God That's the why

And that's what we've looked at over the last several weeks And the what of consideration centers around the fact that Jesus is the apostle That was his, we called it his prestigious mission He was the apostle And so when you search the scriptures, you're looking for the apostle And not only that, he is the high priest of our confession, his priestly ministry He is the one that lives to make intercession for you and me And we'll talk more about that when we get to Hebrews chapter 7, because that's what he does So we consider his priestly ministry, his prestigious mission We consider the fact

Of his proven messiahship He is Jesus Consider Jesus, who the writer calls the Christ Yeshua HaMashiach He is the one that we worship because you can't be saved unless you believe that Jesus is the Messiah You must believe that He's writing to Hebrew people, to Jewish people, who need to understand the Messiahship of Jesus our Lord And then last week we left off with the fact that we need to consider his person motive And that's in verse number two And that is the fact that he is faithful He is faithful to the one Who appointed him as Moses also was in his h

And we told you last week that this is so important because Psalm 37 says, you need to feed on his faithfulness It is your food It sustains you every single day If you don't understand The faithfulness of God, you're going to miss the opportunity to grow when you walk with Christ You're going to starve throughout the week. I'm going to show you how that happens this morning That's why it's so important When we consider the Christ, when we consider Jesus and all of his splendor and all of his glory, we are looking at the one who truly is everything to us We sang about it earlier

My life, he is my all Really? Is he? Is he really everything to you? If he is, you must consider him, you must think deeply about him Because he is everything And so, let me give you the illustration. A lot of us have a hard time With the faithfulness of God Think with me about Sarah, the wife of Abraham You would not necessarily think that she would be in the hall of faith, but she is Think about Sarah, married to Abraham, who went down to Egypt when there's a famine because Abraham thought that was the right thing to do He was the one who would be the opposite of Proverbs chapter 3

He would lean on his own understand Okay, the Bible says, Don't lean on your own understanding All your ways and knowledge can be able to direct your paths But Abraham leaned on his own understanding because there was a famine in the land He thought it'd best go to Egypt, so he did Took his family with him And of course, while they were there, they received a handmaid, Hagar Now, Abraham had promised that his seed, his seed, Would be so unique and so beautiful that from him would come the Messiah of Israel But the se would bless the nations And so they lived, anticipating the promise

Abraham was seventy-five, Sarah sixty-s, six years older than me Okay? Now so now you can get a picture of Sarah, okay? Six years older than me And she was a beautiful girl because there were times that Abraham lied about Sarah and even was willing to compromise her purity For his security Right? Remember those stories? Sure, you do Well, there came a time where Sarah decided not to live by faith, but lived by sight And so, what does she do? She took matters into her own hands, told Abraham, hey, sleep with our handmaid Hagar She will conceive because Sarah was unable to conceive

And she'll conceive a son, and that will be now the promise We can actually usher in God's plan Have you ever done that? Thinking that what you do is going to usher in God's plan? We do it all the time, we do it every day And that was Sarah That was Sarah And sure enough, Abraham went into Hagar They had a child His name was Ishmael And you know the rest of the story Well, it came about in Genesis 18 that the angel of the Lord came to Abraham with three other, or two other angels There were three men

And the angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate Christ, he came and said to Abraham, A year from now, you will have a son Sarah laughed She was on the other side of the tent, and she heard and she laughed And the angel of the Lord said to Sarah, Why did you laugh? She goes, I didn laugh He, Yes, you did Yes, you did Is there anything too difficult? For the Lord You see, she was ninety at that point Ninety Abraham was ninety - She was 90 She's thinking, I'm not going to have a kid at 90 Who has a kid at 90? Not me Not anybody Ah, see

They did not understand the plan of God. 25 years of waiting, 25 years of anticipation They got tired of waiting But either God's faithful to his promise or he's not, right? So let me read to you what Hebrews 11 says Seems though we're so far from getting to Hebrews 11 It says in verse 11, by faith even Sarah, it's almost like the writer says, believe it or not, even Sarah had faith Even Sarah had faith This is for all of us in the room Who need our faith restored? This is for all of us in a room who have doubted God or have tried to take matters into our own hands

Sarah is a perfect example on how you can begin to believe in the living God and trust him Because Sarah had to learn that So it says in verse 11: by faith, even Sarah herself received ability to conceive Wow, how did she do that? Through the power of God Even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered him, what's the next word? Faithful Faithful Faithful who had promised You see, she needed to feed on the faithfulness of God Verse 12 says, Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, he was 99

As many descendants as the stars of the heaven, in number and innumerable as a sand which is by the seas It was exactly as God promised It just Took time for all that to happen Now, remember, God lives outside the realm of time So He has no time He's infinite, He's eternal We live in the realm of time We have clocks, we have calendars There are no clocks and calendars in heaven And so, for the Lord, it's just but a moment But he wanted Sarah to learn to trust him, to believe in him, to have faith in what he said She had to consider him who is faithful To the promise

That's why we say you need to feed on the faithfulness of God And we've already told you, and maybe she would consider what she had an affliction We told you last week that God allows our affliction because in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me, the psalmist said in Psalm 119 Remember that? Why? So that we may learn his statutes, so that we may learn to keep the word of the Lord. P 119:6, Psalm 119:7 It's all about what God is moving us toward So he allows the affliction Because he's faithful Okay? So the affliction comes because of the faithfulness of God, not the unfaithfulness of God

But the faithfulness of God, that we might learn his statutes, that we might keep his holy word You need to feed on that Because without that, you will always ask The question: why? Why these circumstances? Why this situation? Why am I in this problem? And understand that there is a person The question is never why, the question is never what, the question is always who It's always who If you can answer the who question, the why and the what question don't matter But you've got to answer the who question In other words, you got to go to Who, scripturally speaking, and answer the question

Who is behind this? Who has done this? In faithfulness, thou hast afflicted me But beyond that, look at this This is so rich Not only when it comes to our affliction, but think about it How God protects us in that affliction. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse number 3 May the Lord direct your, I'm sorry, but the Lord, He is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one That's why you feed on the faithfulness of God because you've got to know that in God's realm of operation He is so faithful, he is going to protect you from the evil one

Why? Because he prayed that high priestly prayer in John 17 Lord, keep them from the evil one Protect them while they are in the world He is our protector And so we feed on that We know that we're protected by the power of the living God And so we feed on the faithfulness of God when it comes to our affliction, when it comes to His protection How about this? We feed on the faithfulness of God when it comes to temptation Remember 1 Corinthians chapter 10? Of course you do. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 13, the Bible says this

No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man There's no temptation, no trial, no difficulty that you will face that is not uncommon to man In other words, everything That you're going through, others have gone through the same thing We sit back and say, oh, woe is me, nobody has gone through what I have had to endure Really? Not according to 1 Corinthians 10, 13 It's a common temptation, not an uncommon one Okay, and then it says, and God is what? Faithful

God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure It You'll be able to endure it You'll be able to work through it You'll be able to find the route of escape Why? Because God is faithful to provide that opportunity Listen, every time you are tempted, there is a route of escape Now, you may not see it, that's because you don't want to see it But it's there There's always a route of escape because God is faithful to provide the escape route

He is the one with the escape plan that all you have to do is feed on his faithfulness How about this? He's going to make sure not just of how faithful he is in your affliction And how faithful he is in your protection amidst that affliction, or even your temptation during that affliction Okay, he is faithful Faithful to guarantee your sanctification Listen to what the Bible says, First Thessalonians 5, verse 23 Now may the God of peace him Sanctify you entirely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass You are guaranteed complete and total sanctification You have been set apart unto God for His purposes But one day there is going to be this so Great sanctification, which includes your glorific Why? Because those whom he predestined, those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to his image You will be like the Christ It's going to happen And as you go through this earthly life, He is going to be faithful in your affliction He's going to be faithful in protecting you during that affliction He's going to be faithful

In that temptation to provide a route of escape because his ultimate plan is to make sure that you are sanctified entirely Wow, feed on that That's our food That's your lunch for today Okay? That's lunch That's breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day That's what you need Oh, how about this? How about this? He's even faithful when it comes to your confession If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Isn't that good? God is so incredibly great So incred great to us On top of that, on top of that, He is faithful

God is faithful when it comes to answering our supp Psalm 143, verse number 1 Hear my prayer, O Lord Give ear to my supplications Answer me in your faithfulness Isn't that good? Have you ever prayed that? Lord, hear my prayer and answer me in line with, according to Your faithfulness So you are saying to God, you are faithful, and whatever you do It's right because you're just and holy You're faithful and true Remember, the word for faithfulness in the Hebrew has the same root word as the word truthfulness Because faithfulness springs from a truthful spirit Our God is true

Because He's true, He's faithful If someone's unfaithful, that's because they're untrue, right? But if you're true, you're faithful And so our God is faithful and true It says that twice in Revelation When he comes from heaven, in Revelation 19 and Revelation chapter 3, he is faithful and true, the faithful and true witness he's called And so now I go to prayer and I say, Lord, hear my prayer and answer me according to your faithfulness That means I'm entrusting everything to my God. I'm entrusting Him to be true to me because He's faithful

See, that's why we need to, as Psalm 37 says, cultivate faithfulness, feed on his faithfulness He is faithful to the one who app That was his motive You know, he came not to receive glory for himself He came to give glory to the Father And the only way he could give glory to the Father was to be faithful to all that the Father had predetermined And so that's what he did: he was true He was faithful And that's why we are to consider Jesus, consider his faithfulness Now before I move on from that, I've got to ask you this question

Are you faithful to him? Are you faithful to him? We can't leave the discussion without asking the question Are you faithful to the Lord? The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, 20th chapter says, Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a faithful man? In other words, they're hard to find There are a lot of people who proclaim they're loyal, they're true Oh, yeah, you can count on me Oh, by the way, Peter did that Lord, you can count on me Although all men deny you, I'm the man. I'll never do that But he did

Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man, a faithful man, a true man to his word man? Who can find that man? That is the question So we ask Are you faithful to the Lord? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, it's required of a steward that he be found faithful, right? The requirement is that you be found faithful, that you be true to your word, not compromising your word Not reneging on your word, but true to your word You are faithful in the service Of your king You're a good household manager of God's goods You're a good household manager of His finances

You're a good household manager of His house that he gave you You're a good household manager of the car he has given you to drive You're a good household manager of the Clothes he's given you to wear You're a good household manager of the family he's entrusted to you as a father You're a good household manager

Are you faithful in being a good household manager? Let me give you several things that you can think about when it comes to asking the question: Are you faithful? First one is this: Are you faithful to the fight? Remember what Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4? Those famous words while he was in prison? I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. I have fought the good fight That's what he says The fight he's engaged in is a good one Kal, which means excellent, noble So the fight you're engaged in is a noble fight

So, what's the fight? What's the fight? Let me illustrate it for you this way And I think you can all pretty much Understand this, although you might think me a little wack But that's okay Just get in line Because there 's a lot of people who think I'm wack Let's say, let's say, at our next wedding, which happens to be my third daughter's wedding in a couple of weeks We are to play the song, and the doors open up And instead of wearing a wedding dress She was outfitted in the armor of God She had a hel of salvation on

Breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit, bel of truth Feet prepared by the gospel of peace, and there she stood in full armor She began to walk down the aisle in full armor And their fian, Franco, would come out also in full armor, come walking from around the corner over there, like we do for weddings, and come out clankety, clank, clank in full armor And stand here dressed in the armor of God, right? Sym the fact that they are going to w They're going to war! Say, how does that fit into a marriage? Let me tell you something When you get married

You're going to war, but you're not going to war with your spouse You're going to war with the enemy You're going to war against the principalities and powers of darkness that wage war against our soul What kind of symbolism would that be? How would that affect the congregation? They would be able to see that these two are coming together, realizing that what they're about to engage in is one of the biggest battles Battles in history Every marriage is a battle It's a war because Satan looks to divide the family Divide husband and wife Separate the two

He will stop at nothing to wreck your testimony in your marriage or wreck your marriage altogether He will stop at nothing To do that And many of you in this room know exactly what I'm talking about You have family members that are suffering, going through hardship See, we assume that the battle is between the spouses It's not That's not the battle That's why, by the way, you lose the battle Because you think it's your wife or your husband It's not It is the very fact that you have not been faithful to the fight Listen, there are many battles in life you're going to lose

The good news is, you've already won the war You've already won the war because you're an overcomer But in the meantime, you've got a lot of battles you've got to face So when Anna and Franco get married, We send them off to war To war When you get up in the morning, your wife says, Honey, where are you going? I'm going to war. I thought you're going to work. I'm going to war. I'm going to battle That's where I'm going You send your kids off to school What do you say? Hey, kids, where are you going? Dad, I'm going to war today. I'm going to fight a battle today

See, we don't have that mentality because we don't see ourselves as soldiers in the army of God That's why Paul would say earlier in 2 Timothy 2, verse number 3, that no good soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this world, right? That he may please his commanding officer My friends, you're at war And you've got to be faithful to the fight It's a noble fight Paul knew that in his battles he was fighting against the wiles of the devil He knew that He knew, and that's exactly why he responded in turmoil the way he did Because he knew who the true enemy was

Do you know who the true enemy is? If so, you fit yourself for battle and you're faithful to that fight No, you need to be faithful to the fight, you need to be faithful to the faith, right? I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have been faithful, I have kept The faith. I have guarded the faith. I have protected the faith Not the faith that I have to believe It's not talking about that faith, it's the faith of the revealed word of God. I have been faithful to what God has already said, I have been faithful to the truth of God's holy word

Paul says, As I end my life, I know that I have been faithful to To what God has revealed to me in His Word, I have been true to that, therefore I can rest my soul Are you faithful to the faith? The revealed word of God, or do you compromise what God has said in His Word? See, I ask the question: are you faithful? Because many people, even in this room, would declare their own loyalty, as Solomon would say But the question comes: who can really truly find a faithful man? Who can find that guy? Where is he? Because if he's faithful, he'll be faithful to the fight He'll be faithful to the faith

On top of that, he'll be faith To his family He'll be faithful to his family, both personally and Corporately In other words, he's faithful to his own personal family and to the corporate body of Christ, the church He's faithful to love his wife He's faithful to lead his family He's faithful to make sure his family knows the way of truth He's faithful enough to make sure that he portrays the Christ to those in his family He is faithful enough He's a household manager of the family that God's entrusted to him Therefore, he is true to his family He doesn't compromise his word to his family

When we dedicate a child, the very first rose is what color? White, there we go, white, and it represents the integrity and the purity by which the man is to lead his family And if he's unfaithful to that, if he's unfaithful to that, it compromises his leadership

Are you faithful to the family? Are you faithful not just to the family personally that you have, faithful to your children, faithful to your wife, faithful to provide and protect your family? But are you faithful to your corporate family, the body of Christ? Are you faithful enough to be here, to come? To make God a priority? Are you faithful enough to stimulate one another to love and good deeds? Are you faithful enough to exercise your spiritual giftedness? In the body of Christ, so others then are able to benefit from the gifts that God's given you, so they can get a picture, a corporate picture of Christ Himself as every one of us exercises the gift that God's given to us

Are you faithful to do that? Are you faithful to your family? Have you been faithful to the fight? Faithful to the faith? Faithful then to your family? Are you faithful to your friends? To your friends, Paul would say in Second Timothy chapter one, these words, he said You are aware of the fact that all who were in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phy and Herm The Lord grant mercy to the house of On Ever name your kid Onos? You can call him On for short. O, great name means bringer of profit Great name? O Somebody in the room has got the name one of their kids, On Bringer prophet

For he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my change, but change But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me The Lord granted him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. O was a refresher, he was a bringer of profit To Paul, he says, when I was in prison at Rome, he searched for me, he sought me out He diligently looked to make sure he found me When he found me, he brought me profit because he refreshed my soul What kind of friend is that? That's a great friend That's a faithful friend

That's the kind of friend that we need to be: a faithful friend We need to be a person who brings profit to other people We refresh their souls because we Bring such refreshment when we are around others. I wonder what happens when you walk in the room Do people groan when you walk in the room? Oh, g Here they come They're here to complain They're here to belly ache They're here to moan about this, moan about that Oh, gee here they come Let's go to the bathroom Let's escape Let's go home Are you the kind of person, oh look who's here? Oh wow, this is so great

Oh man, that guy, that gal, boy, they just light up the room They bring profit to everybody Around us That's a faithful friend Paul would talk about his friends in Second Timothy 4 He told Timothy, make every effort to come to me soon Timothy was a friend of his Timothy was what we call Mr Reli Mr Reliable That was young Timothy Led to the Lord by Paul, spiritual son Make every effort to come to me so For Dem, Deimas was Mr Renegade He was the one who ran away, has loved this present world and deserted me and gone to Thessalonica Only Luke is with me Who's Luke? He is Mr Repairman

Because Luke was the physician And Luke would go with Paul on his journeys Why? Because Quite frankly, Paul needed a physician He was snakebitten He was beaten He needed someone to bind his wounds and take care of him Luke was that guy, right? He was Mr Rairman And then pick up Mark Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful for me for service Mark was the guy who was the runaway, but now is Mr Restored one He has been restored And Paul recognizes that after his fallout with Bard way back in the book of Acts, bring Mark with you He's been restored

He says, but Tich I have sent to Ephesus Tich, along with verse 10, Croes, and Titus, were Mr Responsible Those are the kind of friends you need to have Reliable ones, responsible ones Repairmen who will nurture your soul, bring it back together You need those kinds of people around you You need to be that kind of person, a bringer. A prophet Are you faithful to your friends? Next, I must hurry Are you faithful? This is a unique one Are you faithful to your foes? Say, what? Why would I want to do that? Because Paul did This is what it says to the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4

Verse 14: Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm The Lord will repay him according to his deeds Be on guard against him yourself For he vigorously opposed our teaching At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me May it not be count against them But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued Out of the lion's mouth, and the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom To him be the glory forever and ever Amen

Paul says, I am faithful all the way to the end because I've been faithful to my foes to do what? To entrust them to God for God to repay them Gotta deal with them. I don't have to deal with them, gotta deal with them And even though everybody deserted me in my first offense, may I not be charged against them? I didn't hold a grudge Not at all The L rescued me See? Because he was faithful to the fight, faithful to the faith

Faithful to his family and faithful to his friends, it was a lot easier to be faithful to his foes because he would just entrust them to a God who would take care of them and deal with them his way Paul didn't have to spend his time thinking of ways to get back at people, to return evil toward those people, but to return good for evil Now, ask the question, are you faithful? Like that? How about this? How many have I given you? Am I taking notes? Five All right Number six, you need to be faithful to your Father in heaven Faithful in your prayers

For when you pray, Christ said, pray this way: our Father who is in heaven Are you faithful to your Father when it comes to your prayer life? Are you faithful to your Father when it comes to your praise life? Because you seek to glorify the Father? Christ says, I answer prayer For one reason and one reason only John 14 13 that the Father may be glorified That's it It's all about the glory of the Father Are you faithful to the Father? Said, according to Matthew 25, hear those words, Well done, thou good and faithful ser Enter into the j of the Lord

If you're faithful to the fight and faithful to the faith Faithful to your family, faithful to your friends and to your foes and to your Father who is in heaven Then you can say, as the Apostle Paul, I am faithful to the finish. I've run the chorus. I've finished the race Will you be faithful all the way to the end? We'd be faithful to the finish That's just a great thing Paul knew Paul knew In Acts chapter 20 Such a unique in a statement that he makes

He says And now, behold, bound in the Spirit, I'm on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit Sol testifies to that in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await you But I do not consider my life of any account. as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God You know why we're not faithful to the finish? It's because we consider our lives too dear to ourselves Paul did not consider his life dear to himself

Paul looked at his life as not mattering His self-interest was on the low end of the scale It was all about finishing what has been given to me What has been proclaimed to me that I might honor my God That's why the writer of Hebrews will say In Hebrews 12, let us run with endurance the race that is before us And by the way, if you're going to do that, you need to cons J Right? Consider Jesus Oh, by the way, Proverbs says this in Proverbs 28:2: A faithful man Will abound with blessing Isn't that good? A faithful man will abound with blessing You want your life to be blessed? Of course you do

Everybody in the room wants their life to be blessed Who's the blessed man? The faithful man Faithful to what? The fight? The faith His family, his friends, his foes, his Father in heaven, all the way to the finish That's the blessed man That's why we consider Jesus Why? Because he is faithful and true The least we can do Is be faithful to Him Let me pray with you Lord, thank you for today What a great opportunity you've given to us to spend some time in your word To look at once again how you are so faithful in our affliction and your protection amidst that affliction

And the way to escape all temptation You are so good to us Our prayer, Father, is that we would say, as a psalmist, hear Hear my supplication, O Lord, and answer me in your faithfulness And that we sit back and watch you work As Sarah had to learn to watch you work and to believe in you, and her faith was restored And for all of us who need to be restored in our faithfulness, maybe look no further than Sarah to real great things happen when we put our trust in the living God We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.