[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 05:00 p.m. or Wednesdays at 07:00 p.m. if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison church, you can find us
[email protected] dot. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast Madison Church of Christ sermons thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Yeah, Brandon and I switched places tonight.
Some of my members were talking about it to my elders and they said, so Chris is going to be at Madison and Brandon is going to be here at Flint tonight. And one of my elders said, yes, we flipped the coin and Madison lost.
Tough break for you guys tonight. You lost on the coin flip, and now I'm here this evening to be with you. But I appreciate the invitation. Look forward to getting to spend some time here tonight. And I hate that I'm missing my brother Brandon because I don't always get to hear him preach, and I would love to get to hear him. It just so happened this is the way the schedules had to work out for this particular year. But I'm thankful to get an opportunity to be here with you. In Philippians chapter four, I want to begin in verse four and go through verse seven. It says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Resilience.
Prayer builds resilience. That's the theme for this year's summer series. I'm assuming it's the process of an outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands. That's the American Psychological Association's definition of resilience. When I think of resilience, I can't help but associate it with the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds in Christ through prayer that we just read about from Philippians chapter four. Now, what's tough about this lesson is that we're attempting to explain something that, according to our text, surpasses all understanding. And so when Paul is writing here and he's talking about, don't be anxious about anything, but with prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God, and that peace of God that passeth all understanding will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus. That's tough, right? He's explaining or talking about something that's hard to explain. And so that makes this challenging. But what I want to suggest to you tonight are a couple of things. Number one, it is something we can experience.
And for those of you that have experienced the blessing of prayer and how it has empowered you and how it has benefited you and it has helped you, you know it.
You understand that it is something we can know is true, but it's also not something that we can fully comprehend and explain.
So, having said that, there are some great examples in the scriptures of those who demonstrate the topic of our study today, those who have demonstrated how that prayer has built their resilience. So what I want to do is I want us to take a look at a couple of those examples tonight. And I believe that what we're going to find is that there are some common denominators that can also help us to develop the same resilience through prayer in our lives. So let's first look at the examples, then consider the related concepts that result in resilience and building resilience through prayer. First one is going to be King David.
Now, when we think about King David, this is what I want us to think about in regards to him. Resilience, when you have committed transgressions.
Resilience, when you have committed transgressions.
Think about what David was guilty of just for a moment. Let's just find out what he was complicit in. He was complicit in the defiance of God's laws. Go back and take a look at the story of David and think about the number of the ten Commandments that he violated in his life when he committed sin. Just go back and try to imagine you take the ten Commandments. I mean, this is the sacred law, right? I mean, this is the law of God. These people understood the ten Commandments. They knew the 10th commandment. Go back and look at how many of those David violated in his life, defiance of God's laws.
These laws are put there in place.
You know, I think about the passage of scripture in first corinthians, chapter ten, verse 13, where there is no temptation. That's not uncommon to man. I mean, we all know that all these temptations that we face today are the same temptations that have been going on for years and years and years. And we also understand that God is not going to tempt us beyond that which we are able and with the temptation is going to provide a way of escape that we might be able to bear it. Right? So there's a way out. That's what the scripture is telling us, that, listen, if you'll turn to God, God will provide a way out.
But what happens when you don't take that escape door?
What happens when you decide not to avoid that temptation and to escape?
Well, thankfully, we've got beautiful passages of scripture that tell us that when we sin that we have the blood of Jesus Christ. If we're christians, that will continue to cleanse us of our sins if we sin. You know, John says in his epistles, he says, you know, I'm writing this so that you might not sin, but if you do sin, you have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ. The right. What happened? Well, you've got David here who has defied God's laws.
David was one of those that did feel the guilt of these things, right? And hopefully we do the same. We feel the guilt.
But sometimes do you feel like you are being crushed under the weight of the guilt of the sins that you have in your life?
Crushed? That could be a tough place to be. And so here you've got to have resilience because there's a lot of people that when you come to realize how sinful that you really are and maybe the gravity of that hits you. Sometimes that's hard.
It's hard to accept that and to come to terms with that. And some people just want to, what? They want to throw in the towel and say, you know what, I can't do it. I give up. It's too much.
And so we're going to talk about resilience when you've committed transgression, defiance of God's laws, defiling of his body through the sinful acts with Bathsheba, destruction of multiple families.
I mean, you think about this. Think about the ramifications of David's sin as it related to the families that were involved.
He had a hand in helping to destroy at least two families, his own and Uriah's destruction of multiple families.
There's the disrespecting of Bathsheba and how he treated her.
And then he was complicit in the death of his sons.
DO we truly appreciate the magnitude of that statement?
How would you like to bear that guilt, the weight of that burden, to know that the reason why my sons are dying is because of this sin that I've committed?
You know the story. I mean, Nathan comes into David in two Samuel.
And he tells him the story about the man who has the ewe lamb and how that the rich man, who had plenty of lambs to offer, was given his party. And he went and took this poor man's ewe lamb, who was like a pet to him, and killed him. ANd david was enraged by that. And he said, this man is going to pay FoURFold.
And Nathan says, you are the man.
And what happened as a result of that? Four of David's sons died.
The judgment that David pronounced on the man came back on his head. ANd NAthan said, this is what's going to happen, man. You're going to pay Fourfold for this. Four of David's sons died, and the son that Bathsheba was carrying because of this adulterous relationship died.
And they said, it's gonna happen. God said, it's gonna die.
And he had to walk around and bear the guilt of knowing that his sin cost four of his sons their lives.
How would you like to have to wear that and bear that burden?
So what is David to do?
What can you do? What can we do when we fall under the weight of transgressions, when we committed those, and we know that? Well, let me tell you, when you think about how to recover from this, how do you overcome the guilt, the shame and burden of these catastrophic sins?
And listen, don't misunderstand me. Sin is sin, okay?
But when you think about the consequences of what transpired on this occasion, these sins were catastrophic.
How do you overcome the guilt? That's saying, well, let's look at the scriptures and find out. Right? I mean, psalm three.
In psalm three, here is David writing a psalm when he fled from Solomon. So let's turn over to that particular passage of scripture and take a look at some of these together. Psalm three, O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, o lord. Save me, o my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people.
Here's one of those sons that's appointed to death.
He's rebelled against his father.
David has had to flee Jerusalem with a company of people following him. They've had to go away. Absalom's taken residence there in Jerusalem and now he's in pursuit of his dad so that he can eliminate him and become the king.
But you know what happens, right?
He's caught in that thicket because of all that hair he had.
And Jo lab puts him to death.
Another one dies.
What about psalm 51? After what has transpired with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite? Who. If you go back in the scriptures, we'll come to understand that Uriah. This wasn't some average joe on the side of the street, guys.
You know who Uriah was? Uriah was a part of David's most elite military group.
He was one of David's mighty men.
Well, just an average guy. Here is a guy who has been fighting valiantly for his king. He is part of that group. That's the valiant that are serving him. And here is David mistreating him by way of Bathsheba and then putting him at the front of the battle so that they can withdraw and have him killed to cover up the sin ahead. So what do we got here in the penitential psalm? In psalm, chapter 51. Oh, some beautiful passages. Have mercy on me, o God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me.
Against you you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and incentive. My mother conceived me. Behold, you delight in truth and in the inward being and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you.
Here's what David has to say.
You know, what is a psalm, really, y'all?
I mean, these are psalms. We know that it's a psalm. And they sang many of these songs. They sang them at different times. They sang some of these psalms at festivals. But really, what are these psalms?
They're prayers.
They're prayers to God.
In two Samuel, chapter twelve, verses 16 through 24. While David is waiting, word on the son that is sick and dying. What is he doing? He will not eat. He will not clean himself. He will not wash. He is on his face praying to God. And he continues to pray until finally word comes that the child has died. And then he gets up and he washes himself and he cleans himself up.
He eats, and where does he go?
He went straight to the house of the Lord and worshiped and worshiped God been praying.
What do you do when you've got these burdens in psalm 32? Here is another psalm. Blessed are the forgiven. We're just going to read the first two verses because you're going to be familiar with this, because you find this text in the New Testament, in Romans chapter four. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Blessed are the forgiven.
In 34 and four, says, I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. What are your fears tonight?
What are your fears? I mean, we go back to Philippians chapter four and we think about, be anxious for nothing.
Don't be anxious about anything.
What are your fears?
Maybe as we've been talking about David, some of his fears were his son's. In pursuit of him, he may lose his kingdom. He's got a lot of enemies that are after him. There are people that are speaking evil against him, calling him names, people that are chasing him, trying to put, are you afraid of that?
Maybe that'd make sense. That'd be human nature, wouldn't it?
But maybe his fears are a little bit deeper than that.
Maybe his fears are, I recognize how sinful I am and that my sin will separate me and has the potential of separating me from my God. And that scares me to death.
Scare you to death.
So what's his answer?
What is David's answer? How do you recover?
Pray you go to God in prayer and you fall on your knees and on your face and you pray and you think about what David has to say here in these passages because he has so much confidence and trust in God that he knows that if in sincerity and in other words, utter brokenness, he comes to his heavenly father. What is his heavenly father going to do? His heavenly father is going to forgive him, but you got to go to him.
How do you build resilience when you have committed transgressions?
As bad as David was on some occasions, David always knew what source he needed to go to.
He always knew he needed to go back to God and he went back to God in prayer.
Prayer builds resilience.
He's able to overcome these transgressions.
He's able to find that joy again in serving the Lord. So we've got the resilience when you've committed transgressions. What about this example, though, the apostle Paul? Resilience when you have confronted tribulations? We've committed transgressions. Now we're confronting tribulations.
How do you build resilience when you're confronting the tribulations and are dealing with these anxieties that we talked about from Philippians chapter four. Well, the groundwork was laid for this in acts chapter nine and verse eleven.
When God comes to Ananias and he says to him, listen, there's this guy Solitarsus. I need you to go in there and I need you to talk to him and to baptize him and to take care of him and to tell him what all he's going to suffer for my name.
You're going to find him in there doing what? He'd been there for three days, blind. What was he doing?
Praying.
You're going to find him praying. Acts chapter nine and verse eleven. Go in there. You're going to find him praying.
Think about our opening text and then reflect upon acts 1625. How are these two things connected?
Our opening text was found in what? Epistle.
The epistle to the Philippians.
We thought about rejoicing the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. How is this connected to acts, chapter 16?
Here's Paul and Silas in the philippian jail.
They have been beaten.
They are in stocks, and at midnight they are what?
Singing and praising God and the prisoners listening.
This is how Paul was able with confidence to assert in Philippians 413, what I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
Here's how I can have this strength.
I'm gonna sing and I'm gonna pray, whatever happens, that's gonna give me that strength to be able to overcome. I'm going to be able to build this resilience through prayer. I know I can overcome it. And again, when you think about Philippians chapter four and verse 13, what does that come right after it falls on the heels of the text that we used just a few moments ago? Don't be anxious about anything, but with prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God. And then he continues talking to the brethren there at Philippi. I love the epistle to the Philippians, and I love studying about that, because I try to envision, as I'm reading that who he's talking to.
And then that takes me back to Philippians chapter 16, and reminds me, wait a second. He's talking to Lydia and her household, and he's talking to this philippian jailer who put him in stocks and imprisoned him after he had been beaten. And, I don't know, might have been the one who helped lay the stripes on him.
And he's writing to them and he's rejoicing with them, and it's such a personal letter. And he thanks them because they are the one that stepped up when others did not or didn't have the opportunity. And they supported his ministry so that he could do his preaching. And he's thanking them and blessing them and praying for them, and he's talking to them about not being anxious about anything. You've seen me whipped, beaten, in stocks.
I'm telling you that evening at midnight, through prayer and singing and praising God, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
What about Romans chapter twelve and verse twelve?
Here Paul would write, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. First Thessalonians, chapter 416. Or, I'm sorry, chapter four. I said chapter four. It's chapter five. Y'all disregard my typo there. First Thessalonians 516 through 18. Here's what it says. Rejoice, always pray without ceasing.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Now, I don't have much time left, so it's a good thing this is the last slide. But I got a lot to say about this last slide. Now. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. Maybe I will. I got ten minutes. Okay, I got ten minutes. I think I've had five.
I got ten. Maybe I'll be able to make it. Now, prayer is effective in developing resilience when accompanied by rejoicing and thanksgiving.
Isn't that what we read about in Philippians chapter four?
These two concepts are consistent in the prayers of both David and Paul. Go back and look at them.
Look at what David writes about. Look at what Paul is writing when it comes to prayer and consistent in there is this idea of rejoicing in the Lord and appreciating the Lord.
Giving thanks in Thessalonians, what I say giving thanks in every single circumstance.
Really?
You mean I got to give thanks even when Alabama loses a football game?
That's a hard one to swallow there. I'm just going right?
In every circumstance. I know that's frivolous.
I got you give thanks in every single circumstance in your life. Now, there's a lot of deeper circumstances you're going to find yourself in, and there are going to be some tough ones. There's going to be some tribulation. That's what Paul talked about. That's what we see Paul experienced.
You give thanks in every circumstance of life.
Prayers prayed with this attitude of rejoicing in the Lord and giving thanks for all things in every circumstance will foster the following things. And I've added one to my slideshow since I did this one. I amended it this afternoon. I went back and looked at it and I minted it. So you're going to get a bonus. I'm going to give you a bonus tonight. Okay, five p words, not just four prayers prayed in this attitude. Foster peace, perspective.
Now, I want to stop and spend a little time there with your perspective.
You see, if we're christians and we are praying to God, we don't pray from a worldly perspective.
We pray from a spiritual worldview perspective. Does that make sense to you? Do you understand why that changes things? That changes the game, folks have a new perspective.
You know, if I'm about this worldview, the current worldview, yeah, I'm going to worry about everything.
I'm going to be anxious about everything because I'm looking out for men. I'm looking out for my selfish desires and my pleasures, and this is what I want. And it's got to happen this way or everything's going away and it's just rubbish, right? It's terrible. Everything's awful if it's not going my way and I don't get what I want. Okay? That's the current worldview.
And so when all of these bad things begin to happen and you face tribulations and trials and difficulties, you can't handle them.
But when I pray to God in every circumstance, even during the times of difficulty and tribulation, it'll give me a peace of mind that I, quite frankly can't explain entirely and don't understand but know exists.
And because of that new perspective, I say, you know what?
Like Paul said in Philippians chapter what?
Three.
I count all things as rubbish, those things that I had before, a bunch of rubbish.
I'm just thankful that I have the ability to know Jesus Christ, and that changes everything.
A spiritual worldview, not this current worldview that so many have, this fleshly worldview that people have, that changes everything. So when I pray with rejoicing and with Thanksgiving, it gives me peace of mind. It gives me a new perspective. I handle these things because you know what? Eventually, all these things are going away anyway, and I'm going someplace better.
Positivity, man. You know about positivity, right? The power of what? Of positive thinking. Even in the tribulations and the trials and the difficulties. Pray, rejoicing, and with thanksgiving, be positive, and that'll change everything.
I'll tell y'all a little story about my dad, and probably Brandon has shared this before here in the services. My dad was an inspector for the USDA for 30 years. Now, that sounds pretty important, right?
He'll tell you. I was a chicken plucker.
He worked at Wayne's poultry.
He was a chicken inspector. He would go in, watch those machines pull the guts out of those chickens, and he would look at guts all day.
Dad, I think he could identify several hundred diseases in less than a second just with one chicken.
That's how trained he was to be able to do that. He really actually got pretty good. He would take the little chicken spleens, their little blue balls, and he got so good, over 30 years, he could flick one and put it in somebody's shirt pocket from across the line while he's watching to make sure that your chicken's not diseased.
Nobody wanted that job.
How many of you have ever gone out to a chicken plant?
How many of you have. Oh, my. This is a refined group here.
Okay, so listen, my first job as a preacher was in Bear Creek, Alabama. Half of the members owned chicken houses. Part of my job description was when they delivered chickens. I had to show up at their chicken houses and throw these chickens, and they would bring these little chicks on a school bus, and they have them in these crates, and they would drive that school bus right down the middle of that chicken house and put them on side. And then I'd have to go down there and take that little crate and sling those chickens, and you'd see them go tumbling rope. And I'd say, that seems a little bit inhumane, right? I mean, is PETA not gonna get on us about this? No, no. It's like spanking a baby on the rear. It wakes them up and they are all over the place. Then that was part of my job description as a preacher at Bear Creek, is to throw chickens.
So I know how they smell, folks. And if you've ever been to a chicken plant, it stinks.
It stinks. And dad did that for 30 years. While he also preached for congregations, he said, you know, nobody wants that job.
That's a good job. And I have decided I'm going to put my 30 year calendar up right at my desk and I'm gonna mark a day off.
And when my 30 years are up, I'm retiring.
But I'm gonna tell you every day that I'm here, I'm gonna have a good time, and I'm gonna come here with the attitude that I love this job and I'm gonna do the very best that I can at this job. And he said, you know what? For 30 years I loved that job.
Why?
The power of positive thinking.
I'm going to love it. And whenever you get into this relationship with God where you are rejoicing in him and you are praising him and you are thanking him, and you are deeply appreciative for the blessing that he's provided for you and what he's done through Christ for you, that'll change everything.
You'll be able to handle those trials, tribulations.
You'll be able to come like many of those early disciples who, when persecuted, went away. What?
Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the cause of Christ, positivity.
Purpose.
I have a purpose.
That purpose is to bring glory to God and to praise him and to rejoice in him and to thank him.
How much time have I got? Whoa. I don't have much time at all. I might have to quit and say I didn't even. Hey, did the power went out? I didn't hear a first bell. Does that mean it doesn't exist?
Oh, Chad.
After Bible class tonight, pal, you're going to get it.
Knucklehead brother. All right.
Purpose.
You know I've got a purpose. Boy, when you've got a purpose in life, doesn't that make a difference?
And then the one that I didn't put up there initially, but I have added now is power.
Power. You know what Paul said in Philippians 413? I can do all things through Christ, which gives me strength.
Strength. I got the power to overcome all of these things. And how's it happen? Through prayer, you know? Ephesians 610 through 18. I got 45 seconds, y'all. I'm gonna do this as quick as I can.
Ephesians six. We generally consider ten through 17. You know, put on the whole armor of God, right? You got your breastplate of righteousness, and you've got your loins girded about with truth, and you've got the shield of faith, and you've got the helmet of salvation and the sword and the spirit.
All of those things are connected to what?
They're all connected to the word of God. You go back and you think about righteousness. What is Romans 116? Hey, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and salvation to the jew, first off, to the Greek, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.
Righteousness of God is revealed in the word.
Loins. Gird about with the word of truth. What does John 17 say? Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. You got shield. Faith. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God, salvation, heaven of salvation. Romans 116. You know, I'm not shamed. The gospel power of God's salvation, and then the sword of spirit, which is the word of God, says 17 doesn't end with a period, folks. It ends with a comma. And the next thing there that says is what?
Praying all supplication.
Part of building that resilience and being able to fight the spiritual battles. Yeah, it's to make sure that you have access to that word of God and you're into it.
Second part of that is what?
Pray.
Pray.
Thank you so much for your attention tonight.
