Isaiah 43:1-2 (NKJV) But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
We live in a broken and fallen world, so there will be suffering in this world. In addition, we have an enemy who wants to use tribulation, adversity and persecution to steal the Word of God from our hearts, so how do we deal with tribulations in our lives? Having the right convictions in the Word, or the right seeds sown will cause us to respond rightly to tribulations and afflictions, and help us to weather through the storms of life.
In the opening Scripture, God has promised never to leave or forsake us. His presence is always with us. In fact, the Holy Spirit literally lives inside us. Nothing, whether now or in the future, anything in the natural or spiritual will ever cause His love to depart from us. He is bound by His covenant of promise to be with us. As our covenant partner, He will face all situations with us and has made every resource available to us. It is His grace that sustains those who are hard pressed between the rock and a hard place; it is what gives the cushioning effect to carry us through the period of crisis. We will be more than conquerors since His presence, His assurance and His resources are always made available to us. No tribulation will be able to harm us because He will walk through it with us. He promised to listen to our prayers when we are afflicted, in distress, going through a tribulation, or facing an adversity in our lives. He will deliver us, though it may take some time and require us to be patient. He has not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind, so that we can think clearly, strategically, and wisely.
Some people are angry, offended, and bitter with God when they are going through or have gone through a time of adversity, tribulation, and distress, because the Word has not taken root in their lives, or they may not have taken time to process whether God is good, so they might take whatever lies and deception that the devil throws at them. Therefore, we must bear in mind that God is good all the time, but there is a devil who wants to steal, kill and destroy. We also need to be a good student of the Word to rightly divide the Word in order to identify the work of God and the scheme of the devil. Finally, we need to make a decisive choice to make our hearts good soil so the seed can multiply a hundredfold.
Sermon Series: Don’t Let It Be Stolen (Part 2)
我患难时的捍卫者
以赛亚书43:1-2 雅各啊，创造你的耶和华，以色列啊，造成你的那位，现在如此说：“你不要害怕，因为我救赎了你；我曾提你的名召你，你是属我的。你从水中经过，我必与你同在；你趟过江河，水必不漫过你；你从火中行过，必不被烧，火焰也不着在你身上。
我们生活在一个破碎堕落的世界，故而这世间会有苦难。此外，我们还有个仇敌，想要利用苦难、逆境和逼迫从我们心中窃走上帝的话语，那么我们应该如何面对生命中 的苦难呢？拥有对圣道的正确的信心，或者播种合宜的种子会促使我们对 苦难和磨难作出正确的反应，帮助我们度过人生的风暴。
开篇的经文中，上帝承诺永不离开我们，也不撇下我们。祂总是与我们同在。 事实上，圣灵就住在我们里面。没有任何东西，不管是在当下还是未来，不管是自然界还是灵界，都不能使我们与祂的爱隔绝。祂被祂的应许之约所约 束，对我们不离不弃。 作为我们的盟约伙伴，无论高山低谷祂都将与我们一起面对，并且已经为我们提供了所有资源。是祂的恩典支撑着那些 被压在岩石和坚硬之间的人；正是这种缓冲作用使我们度过了危机。既然我们能够支取祂的同在、祂的应许和祂的资源，我们就是得胜有余的。任何苦难都无法伤害我们，因为祂将与我们一起走过。祂应许在我们受苦、受难、经历 磨难或面临生活中的逆境时，聆听我们的祷告。祂必拯救我们，虽然这需要时间，也需要我们的耐心。祂赐给我们不是胆怯的心，乃是刚强、仁爱、谨守的心，所以我们可以清楚地、有策略地、明智地思考。
有些人在经历逆境、患难和危难时对神感到愤怒、被冒犯并且对神心怀苦毒，因为道还没有在他们的生命中扎根， 亦或他们可能也没有花时间去思考上帝 是否是良善的，所以他们可能会接受魔鬼投喂给他们的任何谎言和欺骗。因此，我们必 须牢记，上帝在任何时候都是良善的，然而魔 鬼来是要杀害、偷窃和毁坏。我们也需要作圣经的好学生，正确地区分话语，为了 识别神的话语和魔鬼的计划。最后，我们需要 作一个决定性的选择来使我们的心成为好土，好教种子能够结实百倍。
讲章系列：别让种子被偷走（第二部分）