But today what we're going to do is we're going to look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 So allow me to read to you beginning at verse 8. I'll read verses 8 through 18 And we're looking today at the eternal weight of glory and we'll see that in just a moment So beginning at verse 8 reading to the conclusion of the chapter verse 18 Paul writes We are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed We are perplexed but not in despair Persecuted but not forsaken Struck down but not destroyed Always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh So then death is working in us but life in you and Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written. I believed and therefore I spoke We also believe and therefore speak knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and Will present us with you For all things are your are for your sakes that grace having spread through the many may cause Thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God and therefore we do not lose heart Even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day For our light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and Eternal weight of glory while we do not look at the things which are seen But at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporary But the things which are not seen are eternal. Isn't that an appropriate portion of scripture to look at in times such as this? Let me review what we've looked at already as we've been going through second Corinthians together And I'll remind you of a few things that we've already seen and then we'll move into the study of the verses before us As we begin Paul has just contrasted the treasure with the container notice verse 7 He said we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us So he had just contrasted the treasure with the container and what he was doing when he did that is he was revealing the difference of quality between that treasure and that vessel when he speaks of treasure a Treasure is something that is of value. It's it's a precious possession of any kind And so I speak in concerning this treasure and the treasure is is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that is Revealed in the face of Jesus Christ through the gospel of Jesus Christ and so he made it clear that the treasure That he's referring to is is salvation. It's a salvation that originated with God God's light illuminating our darkness is what he's saying has revealed Jesus Christ to us notice verse 6. He said there it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness Who has shown and so he's speaking concerning this God who commanded light to shine out of darkness the point He's making is salvation originates with God Salvation did not originate with man. He says it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness Now when you look at the book of James in chapter 1 verse 18 James wrote of his own will Begot he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures It's God who has commanded his light to shine out of darkness It was of his own will that he begot us in other words salvation Originates with God and we are the recipients of it by his grace And it was his message of salvation through Jesus Christ that we received and that we believed Because there are a lot of people who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ There may be some right now watching who have heard the the words of the gospel you've heard those words But you've never believed them you've heard the words of the gospel of Jesus Christ But never applied them to yourself here in the United States We have the Easter services that we're about to take place that are now Unfortunately going to be canceled and all in terms of us being able to gather But the message of Easter continues and it's a message that God has given to the world that he loved us so much He gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ who died on a cross for us and we celebrate his birth at Christmas But we also celebrate his resurrection and during the Easter Easter season and there are some people who know the message of Christmas they can speak concerning it and they can talk about how that God took upon himself human form was born and Placed in a manger and all of that But they don't know that God who was placed in a manger Jesus Christ God in the flesh placed in a manger They forget that he was also placed on a cross and when he was placed on that cross He did so because he was dying on our behalf and they know the message, but they've never ever Accepted the reality of it for themselves. Perhaps you're one of those today Who's never done that I'd invite you to do that to take the message in your head and Allow it to seep into your heart and to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ You see it's a message of salvation that we received It's a message that we believed in first John in chapter 1 verses 12 and 13 John said to all who received him to those who believed in his name He gave the right to become sons of God sons born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will But born of God is those who received is those who believed and they are the ones he became the sons of God They were not born into the kingdom because their mother and father were believers They didn't come into the kingdom because certain rituals were done on their behalf They came into the kingdom because they received Christ You see the Bible makes it very clear that before we were saved we lived in spiritual darkness Not only did we live in spiritual darkness. We preferred it. It was our way of life in third in John 3 verses 19 and 20 it says light has come into the world But men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed Men loved darkness. That's how it has been. That's how it still is So you see the fact that salvation originates with God is intended to humble us not to inflate us in The face of all of this there is no place for arrogant pride. There is no place for self-promotion God has saved us. We are wretched sinners But we are humbled by the reality that we could not save ourselves And that's what he's speaking about in verse 6 once again It says he has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God of the glory of God in the face Of Jesus Christ so without God's intervening grace. We're helpless We walk and stumble in darkness Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3 says it like this as for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in Which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air The spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient All of us also lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature Following its desires and thoughts like the rest We were by nature objects of wrath We were helpless But God did a work for us God himself brings light into our lives and it comes through what is called the illuminating Gospel of Jesus In the original creation God made light to shine And now he shines in our hearts when we're born again And that's what paul told the aphesian church. That's what he said happened when they were saved The aphesians in aphesians chapter 1 verse 18 were told that the eyes of your understanding Being enlightened were opened up And so we speak in of a treasure And notice again this treasure is stored in what he refers to as earthen vessels ordinary clay pots He says we're in earthen vessels because We are made out of dust And it speaks of the insignificance The insignificance of an earthen vessel Compared to god in his glory and so The excellence of the power of god is is not in the vessels The excellence is in him And i've shared this many times When people Had valuables and they placed them in these clay pots They buried them in their yard because they were afraid that somebody would break in and steal The the clay pot didn't have the value. It was what was stored within it And the only time that that clay pot became valuable Was when it was recognized that it was storing something of value Intrinsically in and of itself the clay pot had no value, but it did have a purpose And so for us We without christ don't have a great value if you would other than to god himself And it's god who redeemed us And we are now the pots if you will the vessels in his hand, but he's put the treasure within us And when the treasure when that pot has opened up and all There are times that they they wanted what was inside so much that they broke the pot to get to what was inside And i suspect that there are times when when god with his hand will actually break our lives So that the excellence that is within has an opportunity To come forth and so we're going to be looking at that in just a moment As paul begins to speak concerning some of the things that he's gone through and all But one more thing in verse five. He had said we don't preach ourselves but christ and uh Jesus Preach ourselves by christ jesus the lord and we Were only your servants as christians It's our desire to be usable vessels in the hands of the lord Now that's something that that paul had already made clear to the carinthians He made it clear that he was a servant. He made it clear that jesus was the greater If you take notes in first carinthians chapter three versus five and six He said who then is paul and who is apollos But ministers through whom you believed as the lord gave to each one. I planted apollos watered But god gave the increase who is paul and who is apollos were only ministers or only servants of the lord jesus christ is saying The one that matters is god because it is god who gives the increase So paul is making it clear. He's only a servant and paul has made it clear that he preaches jesus and not himself So now he's going to answer a question. How then can we become vessels used by god? What is the process god uses to produce vessels of honor? Well, he points to the purpose of spiritual trials in the life of a believer Notice again in verse eight how he begins. I'll read verses eight through ten Notice what he says. He says we are hard pressed on every side yet not crushed We are perplexed But not in despair We are persecuted but not forsaken Struck down but not destroyed Always caring about in the body the dying of the lord jesus That the life of jesus also may be manifested in our body part of god's refining process of For our faith the process of refining our faith and maturing our faith Is the use of trials in our lives Trials are a necessary element of god training us in the way of holiness And usefulness many of us right now Are understanding that in a fresh way, aren't we? We're beginning to understand that in a different way right now because for me This this time of not being able to meet with our church This time of not being able to have Bible studies with Larger groups is a great trial. There are people who are who are writing me on facebook What in particular comes to mind who it has no intent of of of coming apart Coming Looking like he's critical, but indeed He is a little bit and was questioning even today Really My faith in a way, you know Doesn't the church march on in victory shouldn't we be meeting in Because we trust god and all of that and And you know and and I believe his heart is good.  You laughed good um Some people can be critical and that's true, but You know, I responded by sharing and again I don't want it to come across like he's some bad guy because I don't think he is I believe that he He is sincere and is asking a sincere question I'm just sharing it with you right now because it comes to mind as I'm teaching And I shared with them, you know that I I have faith trust that the lord Is going to protect me. I also have the wisdom to know that I ought not to put him to the test I don't want my faith to be truly Presumption because there's a difference between the two I don't have a personal concern that I'm going to get sick. I just don't You know, I just don't I don't have that concern. I don't carry that. That's not part of my baggage I have other things that I deal with but sickness is not one of them with that said I can Do I'll go about my daily business without A lot of the concerns that other people might have so I have empathy for others because they have a concern in that way And I don't judge them because they're not concerned I think that they have to live before the lord as he has given them the ability to do so So my judgment is not against them. But at the same time, I can't drag people into My own personal faith as it pertains to these things. They have to have the freedom to To decide for themselves. What do they know god can do for them? I think you need to be that way I think that helps me not to judge people and helps me to accept them to where they're at Who am I to judge another man's servant to his own master? He rise or falls and god is able to make him to stand And so I'm not concerned about those things at all, but I pointed out something I said, you know, we may have faith But as I recall the apostle paul in first chrithians 13 said and now abide these three things faith, hope and love And the greatest of these is love And I remember the story. I was sharing this just this morning with john who on our staff and I was sharing with him how that there was a young boy. His name was westley And he was being raised in the city of fontana a number of years ago now. He's 12 years old. I believe round 12 And westley was dealing with diabetes. And so His father took him to a church service that was hosting a traveling evangelist Who was a faith healer? This happened You know years ago now, but not that many years ago And so the father took young westley to to be prayed for so that God would heal his diabetes and so He went up and the evangelist prayed for him in the name of jesus and prayed that god would heal him of diabetes And the father claimed hold of that in his own faith and And took his boy home and the next morning westley woke up and his body was telling him I need insulin And so westley went to his dad and said daddy, I need my insulin and the father said, oh, that's a lying symptom That's just a lack of faith on your part I'm going to believe for you and he went through all of that with his son and So we're going to hold fast your healing because you know, god wants you to be healed by his stripes You are healed and this and that and so eventually what happened is the young westley following his father father's orders Didn't take his insulin went into diabetic coma and died And this is actually an event that took place here in the city of fontana not that long ago It's been a few years, but not that long ago really And the father said that he went to The funeral service and there's a casket with the body of his little boy And the father said that he was looking at that casket He said, you know a greater miracle would be if my my westley Sits up in that casket and begins to walk and and to praise god And so now he's believing even though the boy had been embalmed even though the boy was dead He said that will be even a greater a greater miracle and and then what happens is Is he standing by the graveside as they're putting dirt on that coffin and now his faith is is shattered And he started to think what did I do? I killed my son What did I do and he said do I do and he went and he got into the word And he began to read first carinthians and and it speaks concerning faith hope and love And then he said this and i'll never forget what he said he wrote a book About it and I read the book and in the book he closed basically by saying And he gave us he says you have now these three things abide faith open love But the greatest Of these things is love He said faith on my part was believing god for a miracle of healing Faith believes for healing But love would have given him insulin And I think that many people today are misunderstanding the way that the lord works through our afflictions We want to be we want those afflictions to be eliminated for our from our lives But we don't really really realize that it's through the afflictions that we see the greatness of god And I suspect that as we're going through this time of trial here in the united states That many of us may come to believe that and understand that That in the midst of all that we're going through no matter how low we may go god God is able to lift us up And and we're going to learn some things through this and the apostle paul when he's speaking concerning his life Speaks about the difficulties went through but there's always there was always the The work that god does through that and he's speaking about those things right now You see sometimes when we're enduring a trial Sometimes we can begin to lash lash out at anyone who's trying to Encourage us so to minister to them paul is making reference to the trials that he's gone through And that's going to serve to encourage them But it also will serve to remind them of the proof of his ministry Remember as we've been going through second carinthians that paul's credentials as a minister have been called into question And so to develop his credibility He begins to speak of his trials Because that should establish his spiritual authority in contrast to the false teachers Who are beginning to undermine his work You see trials of faith are very important They're a very important part of walking with the lord Because god's purpose in and bringing them into our lives is to develop and purify our faith Our afflictions work to awaken us To what we may not be aware of a great writer by the name of c. S. Lewis said this C. S. Lewis said god whispers to us in our pleasures He speaks in our conscience But shouts in our pains It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world Now paul suffered many afflictions But he knew that his faith was being purified in the book of Job in chapter 23 verses 10 through 12 We read he knows the way that I take When he has tried me I shall come forth as gold My foot has held his steps His way have I kept and not declined Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food trials Trials are important For a follower of jesus christ Because one of the things that trials and afflictions reveal is the reality of our faith In first peter 1 6 and 7 Peter said in this you greatly rejoice Though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials That the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes Though it is tested by fire May be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of jesus christ paul's ministry is being questioned So in answer to the question he speaks of affliction And that reveals his walk with the lord and what it also does as mentioned a moment ago it contrasts His ministry with those of the false teachers who are creeping into the church there in Corinth Somebody said you may readily judge whether you are a child of god or a hypocrite By seeing in what direction your soul turns in seasons of severe trial The hypocrite runs to the world And finds a sort of comfort there But the child of god runs to his father And expects consolation only from the lord's hand And so in verses 8 through 10 paul reveals some of his pain Though he runs the risk of being misunderstood Anytime a person anytime a pastor especially is honest before a congregation He runs the risk of being misunderstood that is just the way it is that's how it goes If you really had faith you would be doing this if you really had faith you would be doing that if you really had faith He usually comes those kind of criticisms usually come from armchair pastors People who have never been in a battle themselves, but they know what i'm supposed to do Or what some other pastors supposed to do they don't do any ministry of their own They're not involved serving anywhere But they surely know what the church is supposed to be like and so they sit on the sidelines And they watch the game and they they eat their chips and salsa and they they drink their beverage And they tell the church what to do Well anytime you say but this is what actually happens I have and all pastors that I know have run the risk of being understood and so misunderstood and so So paul here is contrasting the kinds of things he's gone through They he's he's contrasting his constant pressure With his response of faith by god's power and notice the things that he lists here. He speaks. We are hard pressed When he says we are hard pressed Those words are are speaking of troubles or afflictions. It speaks of distress We have gone through trouble and affliction. We've gone to those points yet. He goes We're not crushed. We haven't been placed in a narrow place in cramped. We haven't been crushed by this He said we're perplexed Well, the word perplex means to be without resources. It means to be left lacking It speaks of not knowing which way to turn. We've been there, but we're not in despair We're not at loss. We're not destitute of resources We haven't renounced all hope. He said we've been persecuted the word persecuted Can speak of being pursued it speaks of being put to flight or driven away to be pursued in a hostile manner We've been persecuted, but Not forsaken the word forsaken means just that not abandoned not deserted We've been struck down when it speaks of being struck down that speaks of being thrown to the ground But we're not destroyed When it speaks of being destroyed, uh, it speaks of being abolished or ruined It means to be rendered useless. I've gone through the hard press. I've gone through the perplex Perplexity. I've been persecuted. I've been knocked down, but I'm not giving up Paul was intimately familiar with the agony of persecution and the trouble that you go through for the gospel There was a city that he was in in the the modern country of turkey. It's called listra And paul was used there to miraculously heal a crippled man To heal this man was an amazing thing. It was worthy of people respecting god glorifying him But the result was different and acts 14 19 and 20 It says some jews came from antioch and iconium And won the crowd over and they stoned paul and they dragged him outside the city thinking he was dead But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city Now that was paul's life sharing the gospel and often suffering for doing so How did he look at this? Well, he says in verse 10 always caring about in the body the dying of the lord jesus That the life of jesus also may be manifested in our body He never lost sight of the fact that jesus died for him and that fueled his service to jesus In colossians 1 24 He says to them i rejoice In what i'm suffering for you I fill up in my flesh What is still lacking in regard to christ's afflictions for the sake of his body Which is the church The afflictions that he endured made paul aware of the price jesus paid On the cross and made him aware that he needed to die to himself Because that's how jesus could be seen in him Jesus's life in us is made evident through his constant purifying of us and he does that by trials And paul died to self he did so daily Which once again emphasized that he was only an earthen vessel Notice in verse 10 how it says paul carried about in his body the death of jesus This is more than jesus being his example It actually spoke of him enduring suffering In and even for a world that was lost He was experiencing the sorrow and rejection That jesus had experienced And that's true for us by the way Do you want to be deep? Have you ever prayed that the lord would make you deeper?  I want to have a deeper walk with you I I I want to be used by you. Do you ever pray like that? I hope you do I I do and I have for many years I just But I forget I forget that to be made like him means that I have to die to some things in my life And some of those things that I have died through and I will be dying To over the years some of them became Or were valuable to me. I didn't want to give those things up Sometimes that's just the way it is But if you're praying sincerely and you say lord, I want to be more like you What happens is it begins to work in your life and the things that at one time had such great value Those things begin to lose their value Because there's an excellence of something else that is more valuable that that takes their place And you begin to realize these things were just trinkets. These are distractions. These were things That in the end don't really matter And I've been young and now I'm I'm old and and and I see the difference between Youthly pleasure and youthly desire and things that I think are definitely going to make me happy if I have those things But in fact, those are things that were distractions and not real blessings And I believe very strongly and in the case of paul because he he was being Fashioned into the image of christ That in the case of paul The lord had removed and continued to remove those things that were just really distractions So that it was distilled to a certain thing In philippians 3 10, he said this he said I want to know christ and the power of his resurrection The fellowship of sharing in his sufferings becoming like him In death I want to be like him I want to be like christ notice verse 10 that the life of jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh We're transformed by the power of god And as that occurs we can accurately reveal what jesus is like He says in verse 11 He says for we who live are always delivered to death for jesus' sake God's power is revealed in us as our lives no longer are given over to the deeds of the flesh We are delivered to to death for jesus' sake god is working within us It's like what he said in romans 6 11 through 14 Where he said to the church of rom likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead Indeed to sin but alive to god in christ jesus our lord Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin But present yourselves to god as being alive from the dead your members as instruments of righteousness to god For sin shall not have dominion over you you are not under law but under grace Understand that we need to understand that we in christ could actually be victorious We we need to understand that that when we yield ourselves to him and he works within us Then we are now no longer in bondage to the things that he at one time when we got saved made so clear that he was setting us free from You see paul said we are constantly facing death And yet we constantly see god Deliver us In second corinthians 12 verse 9 paul says says it this way paul said he said to me my grace is sufficient for you For my power is made perfect in weakness So in verse 12 he says death is working in us But life in you This is the fruit of our lives That have been given over to service To jesus and what's happening is you are reaping the fruit of my sufferings And you have life in jesus because i have been dying to myself There's certain wisdom and truth as he's sharing that Because the more the lord works in your life the freer you are to give of him to other people If you want to be deep in him you go through deep things If you want to be purified Well fire burns if you ever say i want to be like you i want to be on fire for you fire burns and fire consumes And when we go through fiery trials our faith is purified it reveals to us What quality it is because that's what fire does But it also is refined by that same fire and purifies us so that the goldsmith as he's refining that gold Looks into the gold sees his own reflection and knows that it's become pure And god uses these trials in our lives to refine so that the impurities the dross is going to rise to the top And then it'll be skimmed off these things that don't matter until that gold is purified And when that gold is purified and that that goldsmith looks into it and sees his reflection It's simply that the work has been finished and that's what god does through trials And yet we say i want to be like you but i don't want to go through these things You know i've discovered something I've discovered that god's strength usually is revealed at my point of greatest weakness It's when i can't save myself That god has shown me he can save me it's like the apostle peter who's walking on water and and and his friends remained in the boat And yet he said lord if it's you command that i should walk on water come to you And jesus says well come and you know the story how the apostle climbs out of that boat begins to walk on those those waves And he does the impossible and there are things that the lord i'm sure has allowed you to Participate in a partake in where you said that that's so unlike me. That's not something i could do But he gave you the power to be able to do it And you saw his hand And the only time he began to realize that That you were doing the impossible is when you began to notice that you were doing the impossible like Like when the apostle noticed that the waves were rising and the wind was boisterous And he began to sink But then again he prayed the most I would say the wisest prayer he could have prayed when he said lord save me And jesus didn't put his hand on top of his head and shove him further down did he He reached out and took him by the hand And you could almost see that and what a beautiful thing would have been to be able to see that Perhaps it would have been even more beautiful to have been the apostle peter to experience that Because the man in the boat Had less faith faith than he did right Because only one of them climbed out of the boat you didn't see him walking with all the guys You saw him walking on his own Because very often in our spiritual lives you're going to find yourself to be walking alone You're going to find that to be true There are times when you want to do something that you know god is in that nobody else will follow you follow you to do So you do it anyway Because god called you to do it and you learn lessons that you wouldn't have learned any other way You know if you had asked me years ago What my hope was and I was a young man if you'd asked me what my hope was my hope was to be a truck driver My dad was a truck driver I see it as an honorable profession And I liked being in the cab of a truck driving and making deliveries Didn't have to be around people didn't have to talk to him if I didn't want to my dad was a very quiet man And I by nature am too And there I am man put me in a truck. I'll enjoy myself I'll go make a delivery unload trucks. It keeps you in some kind of physical shape And I could provide for my family if you'd have told me That I was going to do what I do Now I would have said that's kind of a crazy thing Why because the two things I hated the most standing in front of people and talking Is what I have to do And on top of that having to read and study and prepare things I didn't like to do I mean I graduated high school with a d-minus average and I think they kicked me out Because they needed room for a new student, you know, so for me, you know, the idea that I would be doing what I do for so many years You know because I started teaching as you know, I started teaching the bible in 1973 At the age of 23 years old just a month past my 23rd birthday And I've never really been out of a a pulpit scene if you will Since I was 23 longer than three months the longest that I can remember that I didn't teach a bible study Was when I went to europe for three months in 1975 I turned 25 years old in in the nation of greece in the city of patras in greece I turned I turned 25 years old in greece and You know, that was the longest I was ever out of the pulpit and I came home I picked up the bible study again and it was the one that I had met my wife marie and I picked that study up again I continued teaching bible study at my parents house didn't stop teaching bible studies at my parents house until Until the late 70s 79 they started coming to the church that I pastored in 81 I have not been out of the pulpit for longer than three months ever in my spiritual life And can you imagine how difficult it is for me right now? 46 years of faithfully teaching the lord's word And did not be able to talk to my church It is so hard for me because I love what I do and I love my sheep and I'm concerned for him But you know, I'm learning from these things God is refining me and he's showing me that there are new avenues to be able to express his word to people New ways to reach out to people and so god willing even through these things that we're doing right now Having to go online You know as I've been saying recently the enemy means it for evil, but god intends it for good God will turn it around just this last week You know, we're not we're not a well known ministry by any means And we normally have as some of you already know and it was brought to my attention But we normally have on a Sunday About 1,500 viewers who watch us online and just this week This week There were over 4,000 and I believe that's going to grow. I do I believe our congregation Is going to grow and we're going to reach more and more people god can take what was intended for evil He can turn it around for good and I believe he's going to do that through these It's difficult as it's been for me because to be honest with you This is one of those things that crushes my spirit to be unable to do what what I've been doing for 46 years To not do it anymore is very difficult But at the same time i'm looking to see what god is going to do because I believe that through this thing that we're going through This light affliction that we as a nation are going through and that we independently and individually are going through That god is fashioning an eternal way to glory I believe that god is working through these things and he's doing a new thing within us Because there's got to be ways to reach so many people who would not go to church ordinarily anyway And so they're now going to be invited to to listen online and and i'm trusting that the lord will do a great thing through all of this You see when paul's speaking about what he's gone through it reminds us that that jesus gave his life for others And we are too Do the same And that is the essence Of salvation he he says in verse 13 we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written I believed and therefore I spoke we also believe and therefore speak That's a psalm psalm 116 it's called A hymn of thanks for deliverance paul is saying I have the same kind of faith that the psalm has had The psalm is expected god to deliver And I expect god to deliver me too And so it's a word of god that brings comfort to him in the midst of his suffering And it's a word of god that the church is supposed to run to In the midst of our affliction right now. We need to stay in the word of god and to read its promises and apply them He goes on in verse 14 saying knowing that he who raised up the lord jesus will also raise us up with jesus and Will present us with you So paul is speaking by by a faith that is fully convinced He has no doubt about being raised He says it he who raised up the lord jesus will raise us up with jesus Now the bible makes it clear that god raised jesus from the dead when he wrote in first carinthians chapter 6 verse 14 paul said god has both raised up the lord and will also raise up us by his own power In romans 8 11 he told the roman church if the spirit of him who raised jesus from the dead dwells in you He who raised christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you And though we go through afflictions together We will one day be presented to god Ephesians 5 27 says that he might present the church to himself a glorious church Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish 4 verse 15 for all things Are for your sakes that grace Having spread through the many may cause thanksgiving to a bound to the glory of god In other words all the sufferings i've gone through are worth it if it results in your loving jesus war Everything that's the heart of a minister by the way Everything that i as a pastor everything that we as staff Everything that we go through is worth it If it results in people loving jesus war everything No matter what it is. It's a fact Think about some of the things that you've gone through some of us are young and haven't really gone through that many things yet Some of us are older and have gone through many things But everything that i have gone through somehow Can be worked into woven into a testimony of the grace of god in my life I have been asked in the past If you had the ability to change things in your life, what would you change? If you had an ability to go back and change things What would you change? And and and when i was younger i used to have all kinds of ideas well, maybe i could or maybe i would It's easy to think that way At my age i finally have gotten to the point where i say I wouldn't change a thing Not that everything i went through was pleasurable or caused me joy at that moment because it didn't Some things hurt terribly some things are scars in my soul that will continue until i am before jesus christ. That's a fact Would i change those things? No, why not?  Do you like pain? No, if there's anybody who hates pain, it's me I shouldn't become a father if there's anything that i that i hate it's pain But it made me into who i am And i like what god has done in my life I like who i'm becoming Because i'm becoming more like him Because i'm gaining his heart i've asked him break my heart with the things that break yours So i can be a real minister so i can Care about people help me not to be so self-centered Help me not to be so caught up with my own plans teach me And break me and then fashion me I believe those things that i pray and he has Everything you go through guys is not just for you. It's for somebody else What you learn is for somebody else not just you That way when you're walking on the road with someone who's hurt You can understand their pain because you have a An empathy not just a sympathy But an empathy you have the ability to feel pain Their pain And there have been a lot of times when i've talked to people after a church service And they're sharing with me and and their eyes are are welled with tears because the pain is so great That that i've actually had empathetic tears with them For their sake sympathy on one hand, but empathy on the other Everything paul went through It wasn't just for him He was so that he could share with others He says that it may abound to or cause thanksgiving To abound to the glory of god all things are for your sakes Therefore verse 16 we do not lose heart Even though our outward man is perishing yet the inward man is being renewed day by day For our light affliction which is but for a moment Is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory While we do not look at the things which are seen But at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporary But the things which are not seen Are eternal So paul closes by revealing that he had an eternal perspective Notice how he says this is a momentary a very light affliction We endure physical and emotional affliction Which affects us completely yet We're not losing heart Notice he says our inward man this speaks of his spiritual life our spiritual man Is renewed in its strength every day These light afflictions Serve to remove our grip from the world And it causes us to long to be with jesus So in comparison to the eternal glory that awaits us the things we go through Are but light problems Remember in the eyes of the world that paul's life was not to be admired as a matter of fact for many He was a horrible failure He gave up a brilliant career He instead endured hardship persecution Rejection But he had an eternal perspective Because he knew that this world was not his home He knew he was passing through And he also knew that one day he would see jesus face to face And i guarantee you that when you see him face to face All of your troubles afflictions pains and sorrows will be forgotten Just as you behold the wonder of the one who loved you and gave himself for you It'll all have been worth it Because we're with him And we're like him In job 19 25 through 27, 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 I and not another how my heart yearns within me One of these days And every day is one day closer to that day One of these days i'm going to see jesus face to face and all of us will One of these days, right? One of these days Every day that i'm alive is one day closer To seeing him finally face to face When i go to heaven It's going to be a reunion I'm going to be able to see people i never met who are believers For example, my mom has told me about my grandmother her mama Who was a believer in jesus christ She talked to me about her mama who was a pentecostal when pentecostalism had just begun And then she spoke to me of her father and she gave me her father's private bible I have it at my home my grandfather's bible Who was a believer in jesus christ never met them My grandfather died when my mom was around 14 My grandmother Died when my mom was less than a year old I've never met them But i will One of these days I have a baby that That was mine That was marie my wife was carrying In between my david and my joseph And marie miscarried I will meet my baby in heaven one day. I will i'll be able to see this baby I look forward to it very much One day to see my baby I'll be able to see my father Fine again I'll see my mom And friends That i have seen go home to heaven In my lifetime Some of whom i've buried I will see them again It's worth it to me everything i go through Everything It's worth it to me if it makes me more like him And if it gives me something to give to other people It matters It's a a light affliction Because i'm gonna receive an eternal weight of glory And one of these days I want to hear the words well done My good my faithful sir That's what i want to hear That's what paul was going to hear And that's what i want to hear myself Paul said in philippians three twenty and twenty one our citizenship is in heaven From which we also eagerly wait for the savior the lord jesus christ Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body According to the working by which he's able even to subdue all things To himself That is what we look forward to as believers Because he said again in verse 18 the things which are seen are temporary But the things which are not seen Are eternal


Okay, welcome back. We'll continue on where we were started. We were on chapter 13 looking at setting boundaries through this chapter. We were, we initially spent some time understanding how being married doesn't isolate us from other emotional affections and how we looked at the progression of how emotional entanglement and sexual relationships adultery can go. We looked at scripture, looked at a few instructions about what scripture talks about some insights from David's life, looking at some verses and problems on to seeing what adultery does and certain instructions for women as well. Now we're going to be focusing on the second part of it as to what happens or what should be done once, once someone has engaged in an adulterous relationship. In case a husband or a wife has fallen into an emotional relationship and then that has led or even led to adultery engaged in a sexual relationship as well, what is the way out? Okay, so when we're looking at what we read from scripture, what we read from scripture, we know and we see that there is no sin or nothing that is too hard or too difficult for our Lord to restore and to redeem. No matter how much we would have fallen, how much we have gone away from his plan, from him, from what he desires of us. Scripture shows us that if we are willing to repent, if we are willing to come back to God, ask him for his help, he is able to redeem us, he is able to restore us, he is able to help us recover. Okay, so you can definitely come back strong because of what the Lord has done for us. Because of his work for us on the cross, because of the sin that he's taken away on our behalf, we can come back, we have that place of forgiveness. Okay, I'd just like to read from Micah chapter 7 verses 7 and 8, it says, As for me, I look to the Lord for his help, I wait confidently for God to save me and my God will certainly hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemies, for though I fall, I will rise again, though I sit in darkness, the Lord himself will be my light. And that's the comfort we have that when we repent, when we truly repent, confess of our sins, God takes us back. We also understand the love of the Father and one of the parables that Jesus spoke about was the prodigal son. Okay, and we see what Jesus shares about and through that entire parable talks about, took everything from his father, spent it all and came back in a state back to his father. And we see how the Father accepted the love of the Father immediately took back the prodigal son. So once the prodigal son understood that there is so much in his father's house, there is so much that there is in his father's house, he decides to return to his father's house. And when he came, in his mind, the thing that he was prepared for was to live like a servant in his father's house. But he didn't expect what he would see after having lost everything, scounded away everything that his father gave him. He was preparing for a receiving in shame and humiliation, maybe a scolding or a chiding, that's what he was expecting. But the opposite happened. He came with arms open wide, it was a love that was most unexpected.  And this parable is there for us to understand, it pictures for us what God has done for us. How the love of the Father is for us, that when we return to him in our shame, in our humiliation, in everything that we've done, it is the Father's love that is greater and stronger than the shame or the humiliation we may face. So we see that nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us. And we can be sure of this that when we return, like the prodigal son, we are brought back to the Lord. He is there to welcome us. So even in a place of adulterous sin, it is the Father's love. When we repent, it is the Father's love that calls us back, that brings us back and welcomes us. We also do see that the Lord is the one who restores our soul from every sin that has happened. He is the one who restores us because he is the good shepherd. We read this in Luke chapter 15 that he is our shepherd. Like when even the sheep, when they go astray and we have gone away, it is the Lord who returns us to him.  And it is this assurance that we have that when we return to Him, when we do return to Him, He is the one who is able to mend us and make us whole and restore us. As we keep looking at it, we also see that it is the Holy Spirit, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that turns things around for us. If you look in Isaiah 61 verse 3, it brings about how the Holy Spirit is there to give beauty for us. The joy for mourning, praise for heaviness and that is the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what the Holy Spirit can do in our life. He can turn everything that's been shameful, everything that's been broken down. That's what He changes for us. He turns our mourning into dancing. He turns our, gives us a garment of gladness for the sackcloth that we put on. Again, we read that in Psalms. So it is out of the ashes because of the power of the Holy Spirit. We rise up. We rise up. We are no more down in the dirt and the dumps, but we are there with beauty. So this is the hope that we as believers are. This is the hope that we can give people who fall into such sin. Now, when a person does fall into adultery, it is like coming into a trap. It's like being caught. And it's important that we set free and that the Lord sets us free. That He brings us out from that place of a trap that takes us out from that place of prison. And He has promised that He will open those prison doors. But in order for us to do that, it is a place of repentance. It's a place where we may need to come to a place of recovery. Now, this recovery doesn't happen in a minute. It happens through small incremental steps. It's small steps that brings us to a place of freedom. Now, whatever the kind of sin may be, specifically talking about adultery here, it's a step that makes it a journey. So one step at a time is where you're able to fulfill your journey. So every step that you take is a step that takes towards freedom. So what are some of the steps that we begin to take? So the first one is to call, to identify that we are in sin, which means calling sin as sin and not normalizing the act in itself or not defending it or not justifying it or not rationalizing and saying, okay, this wouldn't have happened if my spouse was such and such or if this wouldn't have happened if I had this kind of a relationship or a marriage. So these begin to become lies, these begin to become like deceptions. And lies, when you still build on that lies, it continues to feed into the adulterous relationship, okay? Because lies kind of becomes like a cover. The deceptions become like a cover saying that it's okay or you were justified for doing that. But sin is sin, okay? And it cannot be justified and we are in the presence of God to really answer him. So the first thing, the first step is to identify that sin is sin, calling it for what it is and also getting rid of lies or deceptions and not going into a place of rationalizing, justifying, defending or finding excuses because all of this becomes like a cover. So first is calling sin as sin, second is to get rid of the lies or the deceptions that are there. The third is to recognize what's caused the sin, okay? Recognizing, number one, how serious it is that you have fallen into, what you have fallen into and how or what has really ruined this relationship, ruined your life, ruined the connection that you have with your spouse. There must be an understanding of what caused this, okay? So it is important that a person comes to a place of remorse and to a place of repentance, okay? Because it is from that place that a person takes responsibility into changing things. So even scripture in 2 Corinthians 7-10, it says that remorse and pain is good. Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. So it says remorse is good because Godly sorrow, it is that sorrow that you feel that brings about repentance. If there isn't that place of sorrow, then it doesn't move you to a place of repentance. That's when there is justification, things like that, that happens. So there must be repentance and taking responsibility of what has gone wrong. So taking that responsibility and saying, I have sinned, I've recognized that I have sinned and it's been my selfishness or it's been my inability to build on this relationship. The person needs to be responsible. And the fourth one, which is a difficult step, is to cut off, is to break off the ties with the person that the person may be having an adulterous relationship with, to breaking it off, to break off that entanglement so that you will be free. You can't expect to have the relationship going and experience freedom or experiencing a place of being set free. So this becomes a difficult and a challenging step but it has to be done.  Every kind of entanglement needs to be cut off. Now, how do we deal with this sin? How do you cut off to break free? Let's just look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 27 to 30. Matthew 5, 27 to 30. Can somebody please read that please? Matthew 5, 27 to 30. Prabhu, can you please read Matthew 5, 27 to 30? Okay, can anyone else please read it? I have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Thank you, Jack in. So if when we look at these verses, it's actually teaching us how we should be dealing with sin. So Lord through the example of adultery teaches us how to deal with sin. And when we look in through these verses, we also do understand that just a physical sexual relationship is not the only thing that's considered as adultery. Even an emotional connection, emotional relationship with someone apart from your spouse is considered here as adultery. So the idea is whatever it is, whether it's by thought or by deed, the desire to have, the desire to keep as one's own is the same as actually the desire to be physically connected. Now, this has to be dealt with, whether it's emotional or whether it is physical. The verses describe that it has to be cut off. So when you look at verse 29, it says, if your eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. Now, what it means, again, it's not a literal taking out, but it is being completely, it's a cutting off of anything that is bringing about sin. It's a willful intentional cutting off or what we say is an amputation.   It is a severing off of that which causes you to sin. So it requires that amputation and it has to be done definitely. There may not be any other way. You can't find a different way to deal with it.  Then what is the next thing to do? Also, like we said, being able to recognize what led you to that sin. So sometimes it is, you recognize it and then you turn it back. You reverse some of those choices. So it could have been where you spend a lot of time with the person in question or it could have been communicating with them. It may be traveling with them on work. It may be spending coffee breaks alongside with them. So whatever it is that has probably led you to experience connection with this person may be an emotional pouring out. All of that you recognize what it is and reverse some of those choices that you have made. Also, you're also going to be aware of the deceptions and the lies that Satan brings about. That makes you feel, especially when emotions are so heightened. These things, it doesn't matter. Maybe it's just one call. I'll just check how the person is doing. This is the last time I'm going to meet them. Those kind of compromises or those kind of accommodations that you make will definitely bring sin crouching back into your life again. So if it is even a small thing, it has the potential to hold on at a greater level to you. So not giving the enemy any access or any foothold in your life to not permitting even that small thought or that small gesture or that small action that makes you tolerate it. So whatever you tolerate, as it says, will dominate you. So having absolutely no tolerance for any kind of a connection, association contact with the person knowing that it is going to help or benefit you. The last one is yes, to get help, to get help from our counselor, to get help from a spiritual leader or a pastor that will help you through this. It's important to be accountable to someone. To be honest, to keep reporting back to someone, especially when this cutting away is happening. Because as the more you do it, you will eventually be able to manage to get away from it completely. So getting the support of the help. So how do we deal with sin? One, it requires a cutting off. It requires an amputation. The second, recognize what is it that's led you to sin and reverse some of those choices. Third is to being aware of the deceptions of the lies Satan becomes. And fourth is getting any support or help from other people, maybe a pastor or a spiritual mentor or a counselor. Any questions up until now before we move on to two last portions of it. Any question? Come on, students. I'm sure there may be some things that's in your mind and let's make the class a little bit more, not just a monologue. Let's have some dialogue here. Come on, students. Any question, any thoughts, any maybe things you have seen or things you've come across anything? Nobody? No thoughts, no reflections? Okay, so then maybe I think I just want maybe five minutes. Hello, I'm so sorry. I think my connection went off for a bit. Can you hear me? Can you all hear me now? Okay, all right. I'm so sorry. My power, I lost power. All right. Okay, so we were looking at, yeah. So my question was what should happen? How does, let's say the adultery has been found in a couple who are believers. What do you think should happen? How should rejoining or how should a reconnection happen? What are your thoughts? What do you think? Okay, now I'd like to start calling out names because no one's talking. I think it's not so easy to accept the fact, but once, because both of them are believers, so when the other person comes to know immediately they should go to God and ask God to help them out and come out of the hurt because the hurt is so bad because it's like, it's a lifelong commitment and we are committed to each other. So the other person actually feels the hurt and they are definitely going to feel that. So they have to take them to God or they can go to somebody who's very close, maybe a friend or sister or they can trust the matter but not share with everyone and especially based on certain things that others have shared with me. Sometimes it goes really bad. That is one thing they have to watch for, but otherwise it's between them and God because only God can heal them out of that hurt because it's like emotional. Especially in India, I feel when it's emotional thing, the parents themselves say, oh, no, no, you keep it to yourself, don't tell anyone and they're not speaking about that victim, whoever's going through that. They don't want to tell the person but whatever I've seen is like, they give importance to the society and what others think rather than that. But that person really needs help. It can go from bad to worse when the person comes to know if that person doesn't know how to deal with it, then it can go from bad to worse. So that's what... Okay, thank you. Thanks, Jack, for sharing your insight. Okay, what about the others? Those in the Bible college, any one of you? What are your thoughts? Any one of you can speak for the rest? Ma'am, I'm audible. Yes, yes, you are. Anil, this is at you. Francis, ma'am. Francis, yeah, go ahead, Francis. So it's like in ministry life and physical life is adult, it's one married person going to adult. It's too bad and this spouse can't accept that. If she is a good spouse and it's like not going with the world, she or he can't accept that. So then adult is like everybody have a physical weakness. If that person is going to that, from my side, my object, my saying is they don't do that. And from coming out of that, great to God and no other option. Okay. Okay, all right. Thank you. Thank you, Francis. All right. Anybody else? Samuel, Shivakumar, Solomon, Anthony, go to God first, share the matter to the person. Your spouse is accountable to and don't involve family. It may go worse and let God do the healing because sometimes it's not easy to forgive. Okay. All right. Thank you. I think we also said repent, go for counseling. Okay. So yeah. So you're right that adultery can be extremely damaging for a relationship, right? The person who has been offended, the spouse who's been offended goes through immense pain, betrayal, a sense of abandonment, a sense of fear. Even the very fiber of who they are, their being gets so affected and they do definitely need help and they need support and time. They also need time and it definitely takes a lot of grace for the person who is offended to reconcile to this relationship and restore the marriage, right? They need time for this healing to happen and it's definitely not easy. There are, you know, I think through the practice of counseling, I do see some make it through this, some just find that they are not able to work with this pain. They try hard and, you know, some choose to go ahead and to keep this act of reconciliation going on. Some choose to attend to another marriage. They end the marriage. No matter what, whichever way that the person who is offended goes by, it is important for them to release forgiveness even though, you know, whatever has happened cannot be changed anymore. So the offended person number one is to work towards having a heart of forgiveness, having a heart of love and being able to accept and love as the way God loves. So it is important for the affected person to live out of that grace, okay? And we're going to be looking at the later chapters which talks about overcoming challenges, okay? And it is important to, especially when moments of pain have been extremely severe. And so it's important to come to a place of being able to receive forgiveness and to, I mean, sorry, to give forgiveness, to release forgiveness, to go through that pain, to be able to work with that heart of love. And we do understand that it's important that you give them time. And in this journey, doing this alone can feel very lonesome, right? But when you get the help of somebody, maybe it's a council or a trusted friend, or someone who doesn't add fuel to the fire is always helpful, okay? Radha has written something, marriage is like a team. If the spouse is not able to meet all the needs and the other one is looking at his or her needs from outside, then will God hold both of them accountable for his or her unfaithfulness? Okay. Now, it's true that there are, in marriage, that's what, and you put that rightly, you know, it's a team and you need to meet the needs of the other. But something that we understand, we need to know that all our needs, whether it be, all our needs is to be met in God. Now, there are some needs in marriage that you get, you have from your spouse, like for your physical needs. But there are many marriages that go without these needs being met. Yes, God will call you to be accountable for your works here, right? How we have been, whether we've been able to do our bit or not. And he will call us out, whether it is to do with marriage or anything else, we have been called to fulfill the work of God, fulfill his heart, his desire, whether it be in a marriage, in our workplace, in our parenting, in our time ministry or whatever he's called us to do. Yes, we will be called to account for the things that we have or we have not done. So yes, that will be there, right? I hope Sridhartha that answered your question. Okay. Now, when we're looking at, so when we're looking at the offended party or the person who has, who's the offender, when we're looking at the offender, we are also, the offender also just like the way God has forgiven him needs to receive forgiveness and accept that there will be time that is taken by his or her spouse to come to a place of healing and also choose to accept the decision that the offended spouse may bring. Maybe either to stay with them or not to or giving it some time of separation. They may need to honour and accept that and also choose to continue to walk in a place of peace rather than retaliation, no matter what, what kind of decision that the offended spouse would have made through this, through this season. Okay. Also for the offended person to go down and see the cause of what brought them to this place so that it does not become something that repeats in time. Okay. It could be a place of last or it could be a place of selfishness, a place of pride or wherever they are to be able to deal with it at its, at its root. Okay. Now, when you look at, and this again we're going to be looking again later in chapter 12 where it doesn't even as, even as the offended person makes the choice on whether to continue or not, the, the, there are, there are two, there are two, what do you say, there are two aspects by which a divorce is permitted. One is when there's adultery and when there is abandonment and there is scripture there for that. So if the offended person chooses to get away from the marriage, it is something that it is scripturally, we understand is scripturally permitted for adultery or for abandonment. Okay. Nevertheless, the reconciliation, as we know, is always, is always best but it needs two people to reconcile. It needs two to come together. Okay. We, we do see that especially we may have seen examples of how people have come, come out of this, this adultery infidelity and come out together and being faithful to one another. And that we know is the Lord's doing but I'm sure that their journey has not been easy and there's been a lot of grace that God's given so that this place of healing and reconciliation has come about. Okay. If, now in case a couple chooses to move away separately to choose their separate ways after this as a church or as people who you may know we need to be loving, need to support them and encourage them to continue living in the ways of God and continue to helping them pursue what God wants them to do. There may be ties that these herds cannot be changed. It cannot be reversed but we still believe that God is able to restore and redeem each person according to his plan. Okay. The next quickly we're just going to look through what are some of the fences, some moral fences or boundaries that is necessary for a couple to build up so that, you know, so that we don't fall into fall into sin. It's always better to be preventive and curative, right? Prevent whatever things that can happen rather than being curative. That is taking something has taken place and then attempting to cure the disease or cure the illness. Okay. And we look through some of these principles or some boundaries or certain disciplines that are there in the way that one interacts with the opposite sex. So because this will go a long way in keeping you away from such hardships, from such afflictions. Okay. So you establish those boundaries in your mind, in your behavior, in your heart in the way that you relate to one another. Okay. And it's important for us to see what are areas of weakness, areas of vulnerability. So we are able to stand guard in the way that we, you know, we relate our affections and our appetite. Okay. So let's just look at a few. It's to how do we keep some of those boundaries firm. And I'm on page 144. Okay. And in the book, I'm on page 140. So let's look at each of them. Okay. And we'll go through them point wise. So here are some practical ways to do that. So first one is to be able to maintain fulfillment within your marriage, whether it be sexual, whether it be emotional, to be able to find joy in marriage, to find fulfillment in this togetherness. Okay. And this is one thing that we were talking about, preventive measures. It's finding ways to stay fulfilled, to inspire the spending time together, doing things together, finding the joy in connecting and rebuilding back one with another. Okay. And the next one is being careful not to do anything that you wouldn't want your spouse to be doing. Okay. That if at any point of time you're doing something and you know that you don't want your spouse to do it, is to refrain from that. Next one is to avoid being away from your spouse for extended periods of time. This is all especially for those who may be traveling quite a bit, who may need to stay long gaps away because of work or because of ministry, whatever to staying away. It's important to stay connected with your spouse regularly. Okay.  So being careful not to pair up with that. So again, these are preventive measures. Okay. Next is refrain from going solo with someone, right?  Again, going as a group is always helpful. Also, be careful about what you're doing privately. You know, not no sense because there's so much that happens on a phone. There's a life that happens on a phone. The use of social media, the way that we interact online with the opposite sex, it's important to be able to keep it professional, to keep it just what is needed. Okay. And also being open about your messages or your emails or your passwords with your spouse always keeps your guard. Next is to be able to keep a guard on your mind, your thoughts, your feelings and your affections. A lot of things start with the thoughts, right? The moment we begin to feel a wrong thought towards the opposite sex, it's important that we deal with it and important to consecrate those that place, that thought and that affection. Be able to cast out that which is not of God. Next is to be able to maintain internal boundaries that is not fantasizing, not taking time to think of somebody else other than your spouse. And being aware that the space where you're thinking is only kept for your spouse and you keep that as sacred, right? Because when it doesn't take too long to break external boundaries if the internal ones are broken. Next is to be able to speak positively about your spouse and your conversation with others, all right? Or to avoid giving compliments to those of the opposite sex. Or also to be careful about the way that you interact with someone. Suppose you have a feeling for someone or you have some sense of a liking towards someone drawing a certain boundary, the way that you not just interact but also openly expressing your feelings to the other person gives it, you know, permission sometimes, okay? Being careful not to play with someone else's emotions, not flirting, not saying things that are more romantically inclined, okay? Also to keep away from pornography or other sexually related material that can cause you to sin in that area, okay? Avoid giving advice or even counseling somebody of the opposite sex. Avoid discussing personal problems that you may have with the opposite sex, things that may be very personal to you sharing it with someone of the opposite sex can also be, you know, get one into trouble. It's important to also cut off past relationships that you had is, you know, prior to marriage or in teenage or in early adolescence to cut that off so that there isn't, you know, the temptation to reconnect and rebuild and also to be able to establish any specific boundary that may be relevant to you, okay? So it's only we who understand and know what, which space we are and to actually cut that off and not be in a place where we compromise on anything, right? Now this is just not for the matter, but even if you are a single person when you establish these boundaries right now, you will be in a place of being more mindful, being more guarded even when you are married, okay? All right. So since we've come to the end of this and we've spoken about establishing these boundaries, we looked at some scriptural thoughts and scriptural verses, we've understood certain instructions and what are some moral fences and boundaries we can keep, okay? Just opening this out for any questions or any thoughts or any anything absolutely. Yeah. Anybody? Pasta, this is a real life incident that I'm trying to help out my previous colleague when I was working. So she just called me. So she is actually not working now. So her husband is working in a firm and then she helped her friend to get a job for her husband's firm. And now that she has sensed that something is not right between her friend and her husband.  But now that she's suffering, her marriage is suffering because of that. So she's got a lot of emotional trauma. I sense an emotional entanglement but there are believers. But I don't know how much the Lord or their spiritual growth is concerned. So how can we help in the situation? Because the other woman also, if she's expelled from work, she will suffer. But it's like a real challenging situation and we've been praying about it. So how can we help in such a situation faster? And this is both of them are aware of? I mean, the husband is also aware of? No, the husband is trying to be more secretive now because he sense that. So it's not out in the open you're saying? No, no, no fast. Okay, so I think the first and foremost thing is it's important to confront for the wife to confront the husband to really understand what is going on. Right? Because being in secrecy is something that really leads to further sin. Right? So the first foremost thing is to find out if there is something going on. So even if she's had an intuition to confirm that intuition by by confronting the husband on that. Okay, the second is now depending on how that response goes let's say he has he has confessed then what we looked at is he needs to do what is on his part to severe that. Right? Having someone, let's say a spouse going through a dump free and not willing to make changes in it is a red flag. Right? So there may be times that the offended spouse may need to make certain they may need to make certain decisions. Right? Suppose there is secrecy, there is a denial it may be needing to involve someone maybe like a trusted friend or a spiritual elder or a pastor to bring this out and deal with it so that you know whatever if there is something that's so obvious there it needs to be dealt with and of course to help the wife through this process to deal with that pain and that the rejection or the disappointment that she's going through to just keep encouraging and working. It gets difficult where things aren't out in the open or when there is denial or when people don't come out to really share the truth. That becomes really difficult. Right? Then it becomes messy because as a believer you may know that your husband or your wife isn't sin and allowing them to continue in that sin while you are in there in there may not be a right thing to do so doing whatever is possible to to involve one or two trusted people to bring about a confrontation to see if there can be any reconciliation. If there isn't let's say the husband continues to deny but may have the affair, maybe there is evidence to it the spouse should take a call on what she would want to see right? And that may be different for different people but she should take a call on whether a time of separation would probably help for him to reconsider right? Or to see if there's a cause change. Now this may be different for different people but I'm just giving an example that that's something that may be looked into because for the wife to be in that same environment where there is denial and where there is refusal to change when there is an evidence of sin can be extremely damaging for her, for if there are children in the picture for the children it can be damaging. So to really be use that wisdom to step forward in what needs to be done till a healing and a reconciliation can take place. Jacken, is that helpful? Yeah, yeah pastor my second question is so in such situation we shouldn't help a person out of good intentions. Should we keep it as a principle pastor? So it's just my thought because if this person has not helped then she wouldn't have got into the situation at all. So Jacken, I don't think that's true. I mean when you help people you're helping people out of your good intentions but it can be misused in any way isn't it? Like for example you're helping your kids out of good intentions maybe you're giving them something but then they misuse it. So does that mean you don't give it to them? May not mean that right? But you're teaching it's through that that you know it's not because she's helped that he's getting there. I mean this could have happened anywhere else as well. This may not be the root cause of it. The cause of it is that there weren't boundaries. There weren't those fences that were kept. That was that's the issue. Not about helping and because this person came because I joined this job is why I got into this adultery. In that way you can't do anything. You have to sit at home and sit locked. That's not possible. Makes sense. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else with any other thoughts? Close with a prayer. Let's just close the prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for your word that gives us guidelines and practical understanding. Thank you that you have called sin, sin. And we pray that in our lives we will recognize and identify places where we compromise, where we may just tolerate a little bit here and there what Lord could lead us into the pit. Father we pray that you will keep give us wisdom Lord you will give us a heart that's guarded Holy Spirit that you will work with us Lord to establish some of these boundaries. Father we pray for people who may have gone through much pain in their lives as a result of infidelity. Lord you are the healer. You are the restorer. You are the one who makes all things clear. Lord we commit these couples, these individuals to your throne of grace and pray that your healing touch Lord will get into the depths of their hearts Father. They will be able to experience love and walk with the heart of love. Whatever decision these families have made Lord we pray that we who are the community around them will see them in love and not disengage and not stigmatize but Lord accept them with the heart of love and understand. Thank you for hearing our prayer. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you class. Thank you for joining in today. We'll meet you next week. God bless you. Thank you.


So, the Banandash Planning Commission is the focal point for SDC implementation coordination. And so it has already started to work since last year. And first of all, we are doing SDC mapping with all the stakeholders, including the various ministries, to know who will be the lead for each of the SDGs and also who will be the associates. So, the mapping will help to give all these stakeholders responsibility, a sense of application. And also we are doing exercise for data gaps that we need for each of the indicators, like 169 indicators. Most of them are related to Banandash. So, we've done a data gap analysis and what we need, what we have. And so this is the start, one of these kind of mapping exercises gets final published. And then each of the ministries will have an implementation plan for each of the specific SDGs. And I hope that will be a very good starting point. Challenges is that coordination, I think we hear it so often, but it's always for Banandash as well. It's a challenge. Banandash planning commissions with the leadership of the general economic division, they do the coordination, but sometimes it's a challenge because there are many ministries, many divisions and agencies and that is a big problem. And sometimes they need to be, the focus on the roles is not there. So that's a challenge. So, strong monitoring is necessary. And another one is about data, I think. Data availability is a problem because we found out that we need to generate more data and so we have to be aware that we spend resources to generate the data with our money or with the help of our donors so that we can monitor, track the progress of the SDGs. Opportunities are that SDGs in a Banandash government from the highest level has given it a very big importance. And so the Prime Minister, her office has formed a coordination committee and instructed all the ministries to give attention to the SDGs implementation and incorporate it in their own performance plan. So it's like for example, an annual performance plan was there, now SDG will be a part of everybody's activity. So that's a big opportunity. So the government machinery will know that all about SDGs. So this is a big opportunity because they're owning it from the start rather than later. So I think they're owning up to it now. So I think that's a big opportunity.