Good morning, everyone. Good
to be here. Good to be together. The name of the message today is
I Will Rejoice. I Will Rejoice. Turn, if you
would, to Habakkuk chapter 3. I had Brother Tim read the whole
chapter to give us the context of where we'll be today. I Will
Rejoice. Now Habakkuk, the name Habakkuk
means strong embrace, strong embrace. And this speaks of a
man who is clinging and holding fast to divine wisdom, to his
God. And this speaks of Christ in
the Proverbs, which we'll look at after we read Habakkuk 3,
verse 16 to 19. When I heard, my belly trembled. My lips quivered at the voice.
Rottenness entered into my bones and I trembled in myself that
I might rest in the day of trouble. When he cometh unto the people,
he will invade them with his troops. Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor
of the olive shall fail and the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength,
and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and he will make
me to walk upon high places to the chief singer on my stringed
instruments. So the prophet's name means strong
embrace. Proverbs says, exalt her, speaking
of wisdom, and she shall promote thee. She shall bring thee to
honor when thou dost embrace her. Strong embrace, Habakkuk
means. And we are to cling to divine
wisdom, which is Christ. We are to embrace Christ strongly. And God's people, they cling
to the Lord. They cling to the Lord, glory.
And we will see the prophet lives up to his name in verses 18 and
19 of our text, which says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I
will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me walk
upon my high places. God's people are continually
clinging to Christ. Continually. I find myself continually
clinging to my Lord, clinging to the one who I didn't ever
think about before the Lord saved me. Well, you know, like I said,
only when I was in trouble or something. Now, now, He's everything. And I cling to Him. Do you? Oh,
is He not the one who upholds us during times of trouble and
trial? And we see here In Habakkuk,
a plea to God, a plea to God on the sufferings of the righteous
under tyranny and amidst the prosperity of the wicked before
the righteous. And this will bring these last
couple of verses here because there was troubled times during
Habakkuk's time. And there was troubled times
during Paul's time. And there's troubled times with our Christian
brothers and sisters who are being persecuted during the New
Testament times. And this will bring God's people
great comfort, knowing as we see around us, right? Look what
we see around us in our world. Terrorism, different situations
going on in various countries, governments rising, governments
falling, civil wars in countries, countries on the verge of going
nuclear. Freedom seeming to evaporate before our eyes. Serious consequences with the
next election, right, for the Supreme Court. We see these things
and we think, these are serious times. But we can draw comfort. We can
draw comfort because none of these things have caught our
God by surprise. None of them. He's upon the throne. In all
things, remember this, when we see these things, all things
are working out according to his purpose. According to his
purpose. In our good. Even if we don't
see it that way. The Lord Jesus Christ is ever
with his people. Turn if you would to Matthew
28. Ever. No matter what we go through in life, in trials, in
tribulations, our Lord is ever with us, ever with His people. We know Hebrews says, He'll never
leave us nor forsake us. And He will never leave His people.
Never. Look at Matthew 28, verses 19-20. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, What do we do? We preach the gospel, don't we?
Missionaries, we send missionaries out. They go out, they preach
the gospel. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to reserve all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, this is our king. And
lo, oh believer, think of this when you go through troubled
times. Think of this when a trial comes up. Think of this when
we look and see what's going on in the world. And lo, I am with you always,
even until the end of the world. He'll never leave his people,
beloved. Never. What great comfort we can draw
from that. What great comfort. And we continue to preach and
proclaim Christ Jesus our Lord, and we thank God for the freedoms
that we have. The freedom to meet together.
The freedom to preach and proclaim his word. We send the message
out and God does whatever he's pleased to do. And we can draw
great comfort from the fact that God has always taken care of
his people, no matter what circumstance they go through. No matter what.
No matter what is occurring in the world. Donny Bell told me,
God always takes care of his sheep, and he does. I've seen
it in my life. He always takes care of His people. Always. No matter what the circumstances
are, we are told the rest. In trust. In He who orders all
things after the counsel of His own will. Of His own will. And think of all the different
circumstances which have beset God's people in Scripture. And
think of how God's always cared for them, always taken care of
them. Joseph. Joseph. His own brothers. Sold him into slavery. His own brothers. Then he's taken to Egypt and
he's cast in jail. Then he becomes the second most
powerful person in Egypt. And his brothers who sold him
into slavery come to him to get food. Israel labored under the harsh
Egyptian rule. And the Lord sent them a deliverer.
He delivered them out of Egypt. We were in Egypt, weren't we?
Spiritually. Oh, and our great Deliverer,
He delivered us from all our sins by the shedding of His precious
blood. Exodus says this, And it came
to pass in the process of time that the king of Egypt died,
and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage. And
they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of their
bondage. Exodus 2, 23. And God heard their
groaning. He hadn't forgotten them. He knew exactly what they were
going through. God remembered His covenant with
Abraham, Isaac and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children
of Israel and God had respect for them. He sent them a deliverance.
And He delivered. in the hands of the Egyptians.
And Israel continually, in their history, continually had nations
rise up against them. 1 Samuel 30.23 says this, and think
of this, even though those nations rose up against Israel, God always
preserved them. He always kept them. He preserves
His people. Then said David, ye shall not
do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us.
Who hath preserved us? God preserved them. David knew
who preserved them. He knew it wasn't his own doing.
Who hath preserved us and delivered the company that came against
us into our land? Job went through many trials.
Many trials. But God preserved him. Turn,
if you would, to Job chapter 10. God kept him. What a picture. What a picture Job is of God
keeping his people amidst trials and struggles. He kept Job. Look at Job chapter 10, verse
11 and 12. Thou hast clothed me with skin
and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast
granted me life and favor, and Thy visitation hath preserved
my spirit. God preserved Job. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 37. Again, the Lord Jesus Christ
will ever be with His people. It's proclaimed in the New Testament,
which we looked at, and it's proclaimed in the Old Testament
as well. Look at Psalm 37, 28. He will not forsake His people,
beloved. He will not forsake His people. God's elect are His
covenant people, the ones He purchased with His own precious
blood. He will never forsake them. Look at Psalm 37, verse 28. For
the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints. They
are preserved forever. God's saints are preserved forever. Forever. But the seed of the
wicked shall be cut off. Turn to the book of Jude. The book of Jude. And then we'll go back to Habakkuk. God preserves his people forever. And who are we preserved in?
Jude tells us, verse 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. And look at
verse 2. Mercy unto you and peace and
love be multiplied. But look at this. Preserved in
Jesus Christ and called. God's people are kept in Christ. Kept in Him. Amidst all that
goes on around us in this world, God's people are kept in Christ.
They're kept in Him. Let's go back to Habakkuk. And
actually, the key verse of this book is found in Habakkuk chapter
2. Let's go there and we'll read
that verse. Habakkuk chapter 2. Verse 4, this is the key verse
of the book. Behold, his soul which is lifted
up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.
The just shall live by his faith. No matter what's going on. No
matter the turmoil in the world. The just shall live by his faith.
So the theme of this book is the just shall live by faith.
We don't live by sight. We don't live by sight. As we
look around and we see things happening in this world, it could
quickly fill our heart with trouble. But the believer in Christ lives
by faith. Lives by faith. Knowing that
our sovereign God is King. King. He's absolutely sovereign. This is why we're told to look
to Christ. to look above. Because when we
get looking down here, boy, oh boy. No, we're to look to Christ. We're to keep looking to Him.
It's not just life and a look. We continue to look to Him. There
is life and a look. Life and a look to the Savior.
But the believer keeps looking. Keeps looking. And when we do, when we look
to Christ, it brings us peace and rest to the believer. Does not free us from being anxious
sometimes, though, does it? Not hard for me to get anxious.
Is it so for you? Not hard for me to worry. I struggle
all the time. That's why I have to... I'm preaching
to myself. Look to Christ. Look the Christ
way. The Spirit's willing, right?
But the flesh is weak. The just. Look in Habakkuk 2,
4. Behold, his soul which is lifted
up is not upright in him. But the just. Sinners? It says just. Oh, sinners made
just. Sinners made righteous by Christ
in Him alone. By imputation of the righteousness
of Christ, by His perfect living and His perfect dying in our
place is our substitute, the Lamb of God. His righteousness
is imputed to us. Our sins are imputed to Him,
and His righteousness is imputed to us. We're made just sinners. It's marvelous. It's marvelous. The just ones. The ones who are
made willing. The ones who have fled to Christ.
Faith is a conduit. I'm talking to Brother Norm Wallace,
he brought this out. Faith is a conduit for grace,
mercy and peace from God. And faith has one object. Just
one. The Lord Jesus Christ. And faith
is a gift. We can't boast in our faith.
Because it's a gift. But it's a conduit for grace,
mercy, and peace from God. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. We don't
have no room to boast. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. We boast in Christ. The believer
boasts in Christ. Don't boast in anything in this
flesh. There's nothing good in this. Oh, my Savior. Oh, my Savior. Oh, that you'd look to Him. Oh,
that He'd give you grace and faith if you don't believe in
Him to believe in Him. Oh, that you'd rest in Him. The only peace
I have is from Him. Peace with God through the Lord
Jesus Christ. So, let's go back to our text
in Habakkuk chapter 3. knowing that the key verse of
this book is the just shall live by his faith. The theme of this book. Habakkuk
3.16, When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at
the voice. Rottenness entered into my bones,
and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his
troops. The prophet notes in verse 16, An incredible statement
that I might rest in the day of trouble. God's people, what? We rest in
the day of trouble, don't we? Brother Newell, who's your rest?
Christ, right? No matter what happens, He's
the one you're looking to. That's who the believer is. Christ. In the day of trouble, no matter
what's going on. No matter what kind of calamities occur. That
I might rest in the day of trouble. We rest in the day of trouble.
Now we do not rest in ourselves, do we? Not at all. We find no rest in it. I don't
find any rest in myself. But I tell you, there's one who
the believer finds rest in. There's one who the believer
finds peace in. And that's in Christ. No matter what comes
up, no matter what anxiety we feel, I've noticed in myself
that a circumstance will happen and I'll get anxious or I'll
get stressed. And it usually happens when that
circumstance first happens. And then the Lord turns our eyes
on Him. And it just fades away. And you know what helps me? You
know what helps me? And I don't know if it's so for
you, but what helps me is when I remember all the times He delivered
me. All the times that He took care of me. He'll never leave His people.
Never. So no matter what comes up, no
matter what circumstance surprises us, it does not surprise God. Not at all. Let us remember that.
Circumstances surprise us, but they do not surprise our great
King. He has ordained whatever comes
up. He'll give grace and mercy and strength in time of need. And our peace comes from Him.
As I repose in Christ, as I look to Him, that's where my peace
comes from. It's from Christ. If I get my
eyes on the circumstance or my eyes on myself, I'm in a heap
of trouble. But the Lord always turns His
people back to Him. Oh, what strength we can glean. We find rest in the day of trouble.
Where? In Christ and Him alone. Nowhere
else. Nowhere else. Brother Calvin mentioned this
week that we need to pray for our leaders, and we do. We need
to pray for our country. We do. We need to pray for the political
circumstances that are occurring right now. We need to lift them
all up to God. We pray that His will will be
done, but while we pray, have mercy on us, don't we? And we do this, knowing though,
we do, we pray for our leaders, we pray for the circumstances,
knowing that God will work out whatever he's pleased to do. This is where our peace comes.
This is where our rest comes. In Christ, in him alone. And this was true of Habakkuk's
time also, look at verse 17. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of
the olive shall fail, and fields shall yield no meat, the flocks
shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in
the stalls, even when there's a famine in the land. At the
hearing of the word of God. Even in these dark days of divine
judgment and religious apostasy all around us. And there's a
lot of religious apostasy out there right now. A lot. Even in times when Elijah... When we think we're alone. There's no herd in the stalls.
None gathered into the fold. Our sovereign God and our sovereign
King is working out all things according to His will and according
to His purpose. And this brings the believer
peace and rest. Things are not as they appear,
beloved of God. Our Lord Our Lord God is still
riding upon His chariots of salvation. He's still saving His sheep as
He pleases. He's still sovereign. He's not
abdicating His throne. He is absolutely sovereign. He
saves His people by the preaching of His Word. He's still going
forth for the salvation of His people. And this is the hope
that God's people rest in. This is the hope that we rest
in. Just like in Habakkuk's time, we see that God's people have
a good hope through grace in Christ. We have a good hope through
grace in Christ. Amidst all that goes on around
us. And here before us, we have Habakkuk's
response by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. And this
is also the believer's cry through all the ages. Through all the
ages. When trouble arises during their
time, look at Habakkuk 3.18, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. There's our rest. So let's look at these precious
truths in these scriptures and see if we can find comfort along
with Habakkuk. Yet, I will rejoice. The prophet
here will rejoice amidst all that is occurring around him.
How can he do this? How can the believer rejoice
amidst trying times? How? Because the joy of the Lord
is his strength. The joy of the Lord is his strength. Psalm 9 2 says this. Turn actually
if you would to Psalm chapter 9. Psalm chapter 9. David wrote
of this. Rejoicing in his God. Rejoicing
in his God amidst trials and troubles. Look at Psalm chapter
9 verse 2. I will be glad and rejoice in
Thee. So how can Habakkuk, how can
David rejoice during times of trouble? I will be glad and rejoice
in Thee. I will sing praises to Thy name,
O Thou Most High. And look at verses 13 to 15.
Have mercy upon me, O Lord. Consider my trouble. which I
suffer, and the Lord knows everything his people are going through.
Everything. Don't think he's, don't think
because you're going through something, whether it be sickness
or health or persecution, don't think he's ever left you if you're
one of his. He'll never leave you. Never. Have mercy upon me,
oh Lord. Consider my trouble which I suffer
of them that hate me. And remember, our Lord was hated
without a cause. Thou that liftest me up from
the gates of death, that I may show forth all thy praise in
the gates of the daughter of Zion, I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in
the pit that they made, and the net which they hid is their own
foot taken. Song of Solomon is a picture of the church who rejoices in Christ. Song
of Solomon 1.4 says this, See, the believer don't rejoice in
himself, he rejoices in Christ. We rejoice in Thee. We will remember
Thy love. When you're going through something,
beloved of God, remember the Lord loves you. He loves you with an everlasting love. We
will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love thee.
And in Philippians, Paul in the New Testament, well, he's in
prison. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. The believer has no confidence
in himself. None. It's all in Christ. It's all in Him. So the believer rejoices. Now
who do we rejoice in? Look at Habakkuk 3.18 again.
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. The believer rejoices in the
Lord. Turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter 4. Habakkuk,
like Paul, has learned to rejoice and to be content whatever circumstances
have arised. His strength, his joy, is in
Christ, is in the Lord. And that's the self-existent
one that we've been looking at. And that's the very same Jehovah
Remember Christ, the great I am. Christ declared himself to be
the great I am. We looked at that a few weeks
back. So the very one who Habakkuk
is trusting in is the Lord. Look at Philippians chapter 4,
verses 10 to 13. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly,
that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again,
wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not
that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. He's content no matter what circumstance
he's in. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
need. I can do all things. Now the
world, before I read this verse, now the world promotes look in
yourself, right? Religion says you can do it and
we're going to do it right along with you, right? But Christ says this, my strength's
in the Lord. I have no confidence in the flesh.
Look what Paul says here. I can do all things through Christ
with strength in me. There's our strength. There's
our strength that's in Christ. We don't rejoice in ourselves.
Brother Tom Harden says we're bankrupt sinners. That's what
we are. Bankrupt sinners. We have no strength on our own.
None. Mercy beggars. And we rejoice
though, we rejoice in the Lord, don't we? We rejoice in the great I am.
We rejoice in the one who's redeemed us on Calvary's cross. The one
who paid it all. Who did that which we could never
do. For us, our great substitute, the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's our strength. He's our sovereign
king and our Lord. And we rejoice in the Word. As we read Scripture, it points
us to Christ. We rejoice in the Word who was
God. And the Word who was made flesh
and dwelt among us. We rejoice in the greatness of
His person. Oh, He's great. He's great. We rejoice in the
glory of the fact that God became a man. God. became a man, fully God and fully
man, to die upon Calvary's cross as the substitute of his people.
And we glory in this. We draw great strength from this.
Knowing that we, I've said it many times, can you pay the price
for just one of your sins? I can't, not even one of my sins. But Christ paid it all. He paid
for all my sins. All of them. And if you're a
believer, He paid for all your sins. We just marvel in that. We marvel in that. We rejoice
in it. We rejoice in His offices, prophet,
priest, and king. We rejoice that He is our mediator
between God and man. the only mediator. We rejoice that he's our savior,
that he saved us from all our sins by the shedding of his precious
blood, purchasing us with his own precious blood. We rejoice
in his grace and his righteousness. We rejoice that he was God incarnate
in the flesh. We rejoice that in the day of
trouble, here be with us. He'll never leave us. And we
rejoice that he gives us grace to help in time of need. That's
why we go before the throne of Christ, petitioning. And he gives
us, scripture says, grace to help in time of need. Oh, what
a great God we have. So Paul's rejoicing, and Habakkuk's
rejoicing is in the Lord. It's in the Lord, in Him alone.
Look at our text. It says, Yet I will rejoice in
the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. We joy in the God of our salvation. Our joy does not come from within
ourselves. False religions tell you to look
within yourself. Buddhism does that. Look within
yourself. I don't want to look at myself.
I'm a sinner. I need Christ desperately. Desperately. So our joy doesn't come from
within ourselves. Our strength doesn't come from
within ourselves. It comes from Christ. It doesn't
come from our attainments. Folks, joy in their attainments.
Well, the only reason I can do what I can do is because God
gives me strength to do it. It doesn't come, our joy doesn't
come from our possessions. When we die, someone else is
going to get them. Our joy comes from Christ, from
Him alone. Knowing that He, and the believer
knows this. He's been taught this. Knowing
this, that Christ has redeemed my eternal soul. Oh, what joy. Oh, what joy it
brings the believer. We joy in the God of our salvation,
knowing that Christ has redeemed our soul and knowing also that
we're justified before God. Sinners. Justified before a holy
and righteous God. And how are we justified? In
Christ. You see, it just keeps going
back to Him. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. So the joy the
believer has comes from resting and trusting in Christ, who is
the God of my salvation, the believer Christ. He's the God
of my salvation. And the believer rejoices in
the Lord, the unchangeable God. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change. He's the God who is and was and
is to come. He's the Great I Am. He's the spring of the believer's
joy. He's our rest amidst trouble.
He's the shelter in the time of storm. He's the One we're
hidden in. He's our shield and our defender. He's our hope. He's our joy.
It's all in Christ. It's all in Him. And in Him all the fullness of
the God had dwelt bodily. It's in Him. It's in Christ.
It's where all grace is and all mercy. in all wisdom, in all
redemption, in all sanctification, in all love, in all righteousness,
and we joy and praise in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.
No words. In order for God to save His
people, God became a man. Man, Christ, Jesus, fully God
and fully man to redeem his people, to save his people from their
sins. And why did he do it? He did
it because he loves his people with an everlasting love. And
it all flows, beloved, it all flows out of the pure mercy of
God, his free and sovereign grace. And you who are believed, aren't
you thankful? Oh my. Is it any wonder why God's
people who are sinners rejoice in the God of our salvation?
Is it any wonder? And this salvation is particular
to the people of God. It is ours in Christ. The Holy
Spirit regenerates His people. And what happens? We flee to
Christ. We flee to Christ. And we rejoice
in Him. We rejoice in the One who some
of us used His name before the Lord saved us to our shame. In ways that we're ashamed of.
Now. Now. Oh, what a precious name. The God of my salvation. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Our Deliverer. Our Redeemer. Our Savior. And our God. Our God. Look at verse 19. Habakkuk continues
his praise amidst trouble, proclaiming who his strength is in verse
19. He said in 18, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy
in the God of my salvation. And look at 19, the Lord God
is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds
feet. He will make me to walk upon
mine high places. The believer's strength is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's our strength. We are set
upon a rock, and that rock is Christ. That rock is Christ,
Jesus our Lord. And the last verse continues
to ascribe all glory and all honor and all praise to our great
God, our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds
feet. And He will make me to walk upon
mine high places. Do you notice? It's not the sinner's doing. It's God's doing. It's God's
doing. The believer's strength's not
in himself, it's in God. And this ties in with our Colossians
study, where we've been looking through that Wednesday nights,
and in verse 29 it said, of chapter one, whereunto I also labor,
striving according to his working. His working. Which worketh in
me mightily. It's his working. Tie that in. Tie that in. God is my strength.
The Lord God is my strength, with our verse in 19. And He
will make my feet like mine feet. And He will make me to walk upon
mine high places. There's an all-sufficiency in
Christ and Him alone. An all-sufficiency for the believer.
The believer has all sufficiency in all things, and it's only
through Christ in him alone. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians,
chapter 9. 2 Corinthians, chapter 9. Christ
is all sufficient for the believer. There was a time when we, before
the Lord saved we who believed, we had confidence in ourselves,
didn't we? And what we could do What a change
God rots in the believer. Oh my. What a change He rots
in the believer. And look at 2 Corinthians 9.8. Look who's doing this. This is,
again, incredible. And God, and God, it doesn't
say man, right? And God is able to make all grace
abound towards you. God's able to do this. 2 Corinthians
9, 8. And God is able to make all grace
abound toward you, toward the believer. That ye always have
an all-sufficiency in all things, and may abound to every good
work, to every good work. So, the believer, where do we
find this all-sufficiency? Not in ourselves. As Paul said,
we have no confidence in the flesh. But the all-sufficiency we find
in Christ. In Christ. The grace of God in
Christ is a glorious treasury. It's a treasury. One which the
believer can never empty. Never. We approach the throne
of grace and we receive grace to help in time of need. God's
grace in Christ is a fountain. It's a fountain full and ever-flowing. Ever-flowing. Overflowing. Look again in our verse in 2
Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 8. We see a three-fold link in
this golden chain here. Let down from the throne of grace
by the God of grace. It says, all grace God is able
to make all grace abound toward you, that ye having all sufficiency,
we see all sufficiency, and we see in all things a threefold
link and a golden chain let down from the throne of grace. All
grace, all sufficiency, and all things. And those two abound. They abound. All grace, all sufficiency in
all things. Beloved, our need cannot bankrupt
the treasury of grace. Never, never. It is an inexhaustible treasury. God's grace and mercy. In prayer
we draw from this wonderful treasury, as God gives us grace, and yet
it is never diminished. Never. All our insufficiency in everything,
right, because we are insufficient in ourselves and everything,
is met with a divine all-sufficiency in all things in Christ Jesus
our Lord. It's all in Him. It's all in
Him. And we are given grace in all
circumstances, in situations that arise. We are given grace
to help in time of need. We are given grace in times of
health. And we are given grace in times
of sickness. We are given grace in and through
our life And we are given grace when it comes time for us to
die and cross the Jordan. We are given grace in calmness.
And we are given grace through the storms of life. We are given
grace for the older believer. And given grace for the young
believer. We are given grace for the tried
believer. We are given grace for the weak
believer. Grace is given to the tempted believer. Grace is given
for serving. Grace is given in rest. Grace is given to carry the joyous
cup. Grace is given to drink the bitter
cup with an unmurmuring spirit. Grace
is given in times of plenty. And grace is given in times of
want. And grace is given to bow our
knees and sometimes say through tears. And sometimes in joy. May your will be done. May your
will be done. And it's God who's able to make
all grace abound towards you. towards me, towards all His people,
as He is our all-sufficient Savior, Christ. He is the believer's
hope. Now may God give you and me grace
to say amidst trouble and turmoil, yet I will rejoice in I will join the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.
He will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk
upon mine high places. May God be glorified in the preaching
of His Word. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Gracious Heavenly Father, we are so thankful. We who are redeemed
are so thankful that You keep us, that You give us joy amidst
the times of trouble, that You are our rest and our hope. Oh,
we pray that You would manifest Yourself to Your sheep, Your
lost sheep, and if it's Your will that You draw them to Thee
by the preaching of Your Word. will give you all the glory and
all the honor and all the praise. In Jesus' name, Amen.