your Bibles with me to Philippians
chapter 4. After that song service, Wayne's
scripture reading and prayer, I don't think it's emotion. I feel a special spirit of worship. I pray this whole service will
continue that powerfully, that the spirit will will bless it. As much of a burden there is
at preaching the word, it makes me excited for this service. I pray the Lord continue to bless
us. My text this morning is just
one verse. Unusual for me, but just one verse. Verse four, Philippians
chapter four. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again, I say rejoice. Now the theme of the epistle
to the Philippians is rejoice in the Lord. Ten times in this
short epistle, Paul says rejoice. Hence my title, Rejoice in the
Lord. The Lord here tells all of his
people to rejoice in him at all times. He says always. And you notice Paul stresses
it, he says rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, unto you, rejoice. And no matter what it is that
we're going through in this flesh, The believer always has a reason
to rejoice in the Lord. And Paul is a mighty good example
of that, as he writes here. Where was Paul when he was writing
this epistle? He was in prison. 24-7, he was chained. I don't
know if it was his arms or his legs or whatever. He was chained
to a Roman soldier. And he was in prison, not because
he did anything wrong. He was in prison for preaching
the gospel. And while he was there in prison, his so-called
friends, they turned on him. They were lying about him. They
were slandering him. I mean, you think how much that
hurt. And what does Paul tell us? Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. A pretty good example to us,
isn't it? Now man-made religion makes it sound like now If you'll
just make this decision, accept Jesus as your personal Savior,
and if you'll just let Him into your life, if you'll just let
Him be the King of your life, why, Lord, He'll bless you so
much, you'll always be happy, you'll always have plenty of
money, you'll not have health troubles or troubles in this
world, you just won't have a reason to worry. They make it sound
like, well, you just accept Jesus and, boy, life will just be smooth
sailing. from there on out. You just always
be happy. Well, tell you what that is. That's rejoicing in the blessings
of the Lord. It's not rejoicing in the Lord.
I'm a whole lot more interested in the blessor than the blessings. Aren't you? There's a difference
there. The believer who's been saved
by God's grace, we rejoice in the Lord. We don't rejoice in
our circumstances, because quite often there's not reason to rejoice
in our circumstances. We rejoice in the Lord. Now,
by no means does that mean I'm not thankful for God's blessings. I don't want him to bless me.
God's people are thankful. Oh, if God blesses us with comfort,
with some peace of heart, He blesses you with a job and enough
money to pay your bills. We're happy your children are
healthy. Those are blessings. I'm thankful for them. I thank
God for them. But when those things are not true, the believer
can still and does still rejoice in the Lord. If you don't know
it already, if you're one of God's children, he's gonna teach
you this. You can be in great pain. You can be in great darkness,
darkness of mind, darkness of spirit, just in the darkness
of trial. You can be under a hard, hard
uncertainty of a trial, and you can still rejoice in the Lord. Because, and here's why, the
source and the foundation of our rejoicing is not the world. It's not the comforts of this
flesh. It's the condition of this flesh. The Lord is the source
and the foundation of our rejoicing. So we rejoice in the Lord always
in every situation. Now, like all of scripture, this
statement of the Apostle Paul rejoice in the Lord always is
not a suggestion. There's not optional equipment
for believer. It's a commandment is a commandment
from our God to rejoice in him. And you think what a kind and
loving king and master that we have. His commandments are not
grievous, are they? The commandment of our God is
to rejoice in him, and that's exactly what the new man wants
to do. God commands us to do what our joy already is. He gives
us a heart, a nature that wants to rejoice in him, and our duty
to rejoice in God, that's our delight. That's what we already
want to do anyway. That's our king. What a king
we have. God gives his people faith in
Christ, to trust Christ, not ourselves. And that produces
joy in the heart. It just comes naturally to the
believer to have joy in Christ. It's the fruit of the spirit
and the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, long suffering,
gentleness, patience, and so forth. The fruit of the spirit
that God puts in his people is joy. And now he tells us, rejoice
in the Lord. I put that joy in you, now you
rejoice in the Lord. Look back at Philippians chapter
three, we read this to open the service. If God's given you a
new heart, you do rejoice in it, you can't help it. In verse
three he says, for we are the circumcision. And that doesn't
mean the circumcision of the flesh, it means the circumcision
of the heart. When God gives you a new heart.
If you've got a new heart, here's how you can tell that people
have a new heart. They worship God in the spirit, They rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and they have no confidence in the flesh. So
rejoicing in the Lord comes naturally, doesn't it, to the new man, and
that's what God tells us to do. Rejoice in the Lord. All right,
here's my question. What does it mean to rejoice
in the Lord? What does that mean? Do I have
to go around with a silly smile on my face all the time, and
no matter what, I'm rejoicing in the Lord? Well, I hope not,
because sometimes I don't feel like smiling. I mean, there have
been times I couldn't smile. I mean, my word. Does that mean
I don't know the Lord if I'm just not smiling all the time?
No, absolutely not. There are times we weep, don't
we? There are times we weep. But we're to rejoice in the Lord,
no matter how our flesh feels. Let me give you some specifics
in rejoicing in the Lord that I pray will be helpful to you.
Number one, When we rejoice, rejoice in the person of our
Lord. Citizens of a country, especially
all countries, we want to have some reason to respect our leaders.
A lot of times that may direct how you vote. I want the president
to be somebody I can respect. We like their character, the
character of our president, our leaders. I'd like for them to
be admirable men and women, wouldn't you? Well, sadly that's seldom
the case, but believers are citizens of God's kingdom, the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And those citizens were proud
of our king. Oh, he's respectable. He's admirable. You think who he is? He's earned
our respect. Our king is the king of kings. All puppet kings rule by his
authority because he allows them to do it because he put them
there for his purpose. He's king over all kings. He's
the authority over all authorities. He's sovereign over everything
and everyone in God's creation. And since he's sovereign, he
always, always does his will. His will is never thwarted. His
will is never slowed down. He always does his will. Nobody
can question it. Yet his will is always what's
good and best and right. And you just try to think of
the majesty of our God, the king of kings, dwelling in a light
to which no man can approach. I mean, we can't begin to imagine
the glory of our God. Yet our king does not stay separate
from his people. I challenge you, try to get an
audience with the president. of the United States. It's not
happening. Our king does not stay separate
from his people. In order to be with his people,
he became flesh. Deity took on him humanity, so
he could be bone of his people's bone, so he could be related
to them, so he could be with them. The Lord Jesus Christ remained
fully God. He's always fully God, and at
the same time, he became fully man. so that he could be the
representative of his people, so that the God-man could save
his people from their sin. He came where we are in order
to save us. He didn't stay in an ivory tower
and give orders and send some flunkies down here to do the
job. He came where we are in order to pluck us from the muck
and the mire of the bottom of the dung heap and set us among
princes to save our souls. loved his people so much, he
tabernacled among them so that he could offer the sacrifice
that would put away the sin of his people. He became flesh,
he became a human being so that he could take on the sin of his
people, so that he could be made sin for his people, and so that
he could suffer and die to put their sin away. Now that is so
glorious, the fact that he couldn't do that. the fact that he would
do that. Nobody else could. Nobody else
would, but he did. So we rejoice in him. See that
in him, his person. He is so glorious. If he died
for us, he's so sufficient. He's so glorious. He's so wonderful.
If he died for us, we can never perish and we must be saved. I'll rejoice in the Lord, his
person. Second, this is closely related
to the first point, rejoice in the character of our Lord. The character of our Lord is
perfect. He's perfect in all of his attributes, in his mercy,
his grace, in his love, in his holiness, in his justice, he's
perfect. And he never violates one of
his attributes to glorify or magnify the other. Whatever he
does is perfect in all of his attributes at the same time.
Specifically speaking, he's perfect in both his mercy and his justice
at the same time. He's perfect when he shows mercy,
because when he shows mercy, he's true. He's true to do it. He's true to his character. And he always is just, always. God is always just. He always
does what is right. He always gives the true and
just verdict. He never overlooks sin, but he's also the one who forgives
sin. Our Lord is just, but he's also the justifier. Tell you
what that means. The Lord Jesus Christ justified
his people in justice. Christ justified his people by
paying the just penalty of their sins He took their sin away from
them and he bore justice for it. They're justified because
Christ satisfied justice for them. God is merciful to his
people. He does not give them what they
deserve. You know why? Because he gave Christ what they
deserve. Mercy and justice. They're both magnified in the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the whole character of the
Lord is immutable. And immutable is just a great
big religious term that means this, God can't change. And why
would He? He's already perfect. He can't
change. So if God loves you, He's always
loved you. And He'll never not love you.
He'll never cast you out. Our Savior's character is perfect. And that is the thing that makes
the salvation of His people sure. And I can rejoice in it. I rejoice
that we're saved by Christ's faithfulness, not ours. I rejoice
that we're saved by His holiness, not ours. That we're saved by
His eternal, immeasurable love for His people, not our lukewarm,
fickle love for Him. He saved us. I rejoice that Christ
personally, in His person, is all of my salvation. He is my
righteousness. He is my wisdom. He is my redemption. He is my sanctification. He's
made unto us all of our salvation, Him personally. And since He's
perfect and can't change, that makes the salvation of His people
sure. Ah, rejoice in Him. Number three, if we would rejoice
in the Lord, rejoice in the salvation of the Lord. Didn't Jonah teach
us this? Salvation's of the Lord. When
we say salvation is of the Lord, that's a term that you hear me
and the preachers that preach here and grace preachers that
preach other places, we say this often, salvation is of the Lord. Now what that means is this,
that salvation is all of the Lord's purpose. If we're gonna
be saved, God had to purpose it before the foundation of the
world. It's all of his performance.
If we're gonna be saved, He's got to perform it. He's got to
satisfy justice for us. He's got to make it so our sin
is put away. He had to do that. It's of his
performance. And it's of his perfection. He's got to apply
it to our hearts, and he's the one that's got to keep us to
the end. Salvation is all of the Lord, of his purpose, of
his performance, and of his perfection. Salvation is the result of God's
covenant of mercy. God's covenant. He had entered
into a covenant with His Son where the Father promised He
would save a people. He chose a people to save, gave
them to His Son, and He promised His Son, I'll save those people
when you redeem them by your obedience and your sacrifice
for them. And that salvation, now that's
when it was purposed. Here's when it was purchased. When the
Son of God offered Himself bloody, bloody sacrifice for the sin
of his people. The son of God came in the flesh
and offered himself, who he is. He offered his person as the
sacrifice for the sin of his people. That's why the father
accepted it. Scripture says it must be perfect
to be accepted. Who else is perfect but him?
His obedience is perfect. His holiness is perfect. His
blood is perfect. His sacrifice is perfect. Then it saved everyone he intended
to save. And that salvation is applied
by the power of God the Holy Spirit. He moves when he will
and where he will. When the gospel is being preached.
It's like the wind. He just blows through. You don't
know where it came from and where it's going. He moves where and
when He will. And when He comes through, you
know what He does? He gives life and faith to God's
people. He puts it in their heart, causing
them to be born again. See, that's all the doing of
God. From its purpose, to its purchase, to its application. God's people are saved by grace. By grace through faith, not of
our works. I hope we get this. Salvation
is not by our merit. Quit trying to earn God's favor.
Quit trying to make yourself good enough so that God will
save you. Quit trying to be good enough so God will be merciful
to you. Salvation is not by our merit. It's by the merit of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And since his merit is perfect,
the salvation God gives his people is perfect. It can't be improved
upon. Now, don't you rejoice in that
salvation? And you know why we rejoice in that salvation? Because
of our savior, because he's perfect. Then here's the fourth thing.
If you would rejoice in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord of peace.
Now, everybody everywhere wants peace. Don't you want peace in
your life? When our children were growing
up, this is one thing I thought Janet was so wise in. She said,
our house is going to be a house of peace. We're not having fussing
and fighting. She just wouldn't allow it. If
the girls started fussing, you know what she did? She made them
go nose to nose until they quit it. There's going to be peace.
We want peace. Don't you want to live in a peaceful
home? There's a whole drug industry
given over to this thing to make people feel peaceful in there.
I mean, people just want peace. But now when the scriptures talk
about peace, it's talking about a spiritual peace, a peace with
God. When scripture talks about peace,
it cannot mean that we'll have peace from trouble and trial
and heartache in this world. It can't mean that. Because here's
what our Savior promised us about this world. In this world, He
said, you shall have tribulation. So it can't mean peace from trouble
and trial and heartaches of this world. It can't mean that. So
I tell you what to do if you want peace. I've thought about
this a lot this week. If you want peace, here's what
you do. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. And that
will give you the peace of Christ. Christ, our Savior, made it so
that his people have peace with God. He purchased it with his
blood. By his blood, we have peace with
God. God's not angry with his people
anymore because the blood of Christ took that which offended
God away. It paid for it. It washed it
white as snow. There's no reason for God to
be angry with his people anymore. The blood of Christ puts sin
away. I said this in the lesson, but it's worth repeating again.
When the blood of Christ is applied to our hearts. What that means,
it doesn't mean God sprinkles the blood of Christ on our old
stony heart. That old stony heart suddenly becomes a heart of flesh.
No, what it means is this. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That's not gonna change. When the blood is applied to
our hearts, what it means is God gives us a new heart. And
that new heart does what the old heart can never do. It believes. It believes God. It loves God. It loves the gospel of Christ.
Oh, tell me again of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, what He's
done, why He did it. Tell me where He is now. Tell
me about His glory. Tell me about His perfection.
Tell me about Him. Don't talk to me about me. Talk
to me about Him. Oh, I'd love to hear about Him.
That's a new heart. That new heart trusts Christ. That heart is not mad at God
anymore. That heart willingly stacks our
shotgun, lays it down, And there's peace. God's not angry anymore. And thank God I'm not either. So let me give you some advice
here about peace. I hope this will make sense to
you. Don't only pray for peace. I know you want peace. Don't
just pray for peace. in the sense that I just, Lord,
make me feel peaceful. Don't, don't just pray for that.
Cause remember the, the piece of scripture talks about is not
the Lord removing our troubles and tribulations and heartaches
in this world. It doesn't mean the Lord's going
to remove our difficulties so that we feel peaceful. The peace
that the Lord talks about, the peace that he gives his people
is much, much, much greater and much better, much more precious. than the Lord removing the difficulty
so I feel peaceful. The peace that the Lord gives
His people is peace in the heart even though the storm rages around
me. The storm hadn't quit. The night
hadn't broken. The sun hadn't risen yet. The
storm is still, the waves are still high. The wind is still
blowing. But God gives peace in the heart because I'm trusting
Christ. Does that make sense? I'm not
going to ask you, John, because you and me are still on the same
page. John, does that make sense? It's so much more precious to
have that peace in the heart, even though the storm's still
raging. That's such a miracle. It makes my hair stand on end.
What a blessing. Oh, I can rejoice in that. If
I can have peace in my heart, even though my heart is still
broken, my body is still in pain, And I am this great uncertainty. You know, part of the meaning
of trials in scripture means a confined place, like I'm getting
squished. Even if I'm still in that confined
space, I don't know which way is up. I don't know which way
is out. If in that situation I can have peace in the heart.
What a miracle. I can rejoice in that, can't
you? I rejoice when the Lord removes the difficulty too. But
it's a greater miracle. If the Lord gives peace in the
heart, even in that confined space. We used to go to this
place, I think it was called Rock City. I'm just a little
feller. I don't know if you've ever been.
We quit going maybe before John was born. But we went there,
and they had this thing, it was called Fat Man Squeeze. And Dad
would always be proud of himself that he'd get through that. And
I think we quit going when he quit getting through that, you
know. If I can be stuck in that Fat Man Squeeze, And Lord give me peace. Oh, I
rejoice. I rejoice in that. So you see
what I'm saying? Don't just seek peace. Seek Christ. Seek to rejoice in him. And Lord
enable you to do it. You'll have peace. I promise
you it's peace that passes all understanding. And you rejoice
in him. And the Lord to give such peace.
And that brings me to the fifth thing. Rejoice in the providence
of the Lord. Now since God's sovereign, we
know that, we believe that, we love that. What that means is
that every event that's ever happened in human time, big events
and little events, big events and events nobody ever noticed,
all happened because God willed it to happen. Everything, everything. If God didn't will it to happen,
it couldn't happen, could it? I know that. Nothing can happen
against God's will. Now let's apply that to me, you.
Since God is sovereign over every event in providence, then whatever
it is that happens to me is God's providence. Specifically for
me. Specifically. You know, We used
to say all the time something would happen. We'd say, well,
that's providential, isn't it? We say that because we kind of thought
we could see where God's going with this, what God's going to
bring out of that. But you know, after Sunday school lesson, I
walked out to the back and walked back. The fact that I made it
back here, nobody thought a thing about that. That's providence,
too. That was providential. It really was. I'm not making
fun. That was really providential. Everything that happens to me,
everything that comes my way is God's providence for me. then Wayne ought to be able to
rejoice in it. I wish I could do it better.
And I sure don't want to complain about it. And if you look back
at Job chapter two, I don't know if any human being other than
our Lord Jesus Christ ever suffered more than Job did. And I want
you to look at what Job said here. And I want to take this
to myself. Job chapter two, verse nine.
This is after Job. He lost everything but his wife
and his life. In verse nine, Job two, then said his wife unto him,
does thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at
the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? And all this
did not Job sin with his lips. If I'm gonna receive good from
the providence of God and rejoice in it, I ought to be thankful
at the other things God does that he brings to my way by his
providence. And I'll give you an example
that can apply to every believer here, everybody here who believes
God can see this in their own lives. You know it was God's
providence that brought you to hear the gospel and believe on
Christ, don't you? I mean, you think about all the things that
went into You being where you were the first time you heard
the gospel, and being where you were the first time you heard
the gospel and really believed Christ. You think about everything
that went into that. I mean, your ancestors had to
do everything that they do. They had to live where they live.
They had to move where they moved. They had to be where they were,
so you'd be born where you were. And everything that happened
to you had to take you either there or yonder to bring you to the
place God crossed your path with the gospel. Every one of those
events God worked together to bring you to hear the gospel.
And he gave you faith to believe on Christ. Aren't you thankful? God did
that for you. He worked his providence to bring
you to hear the gospel and believe it. And your whole life long,
you didn't really see it before you knew the Lord, but now that
you know, you see, oh, his providence. He's provided for me every step
of the way. Here, I thought I was earning
my way through the world. It was Him. The Lord's provided
for me all my days. Just how He's led me and guided
me every step of the way. He's not been... He's not separated
Himself from me, not for one step. Now, aren't you thankful? I know you are. You know that's
true, don't you? That's God's providence. Alright
now. It's cause providence that also
brings me trials and pain and suffering so that it'll increase
my faith in him. Now am I gonna thank God for
his providence that brought me to Christ and not thank him for
his providence that makes me trust Christ more? Am I gonna
thank God for his providence that brought me good things,
pleasant things? Am I going to question God for
when he brings me unpleasant things? I hope not. You know, trials,
that's not God punishing us. It's not because God's angry
with us. There's no fury left in me, he said, because he took
it all out on our redeemer, on our substitute. That's not because
God's angry with us. You know why God sends us trials? Because he loves us. I've told you before, when I
was a little boy, I'm quite confident that this is a true statement. At least six days out of seven,
I got spanking. Some days, more than one a day. Boy, when my dad spanked me, I mean, stronger. And I mean,
oh, my dad was my hero. And I mean, when he spanked me,
I mean, It hurt my hiney in and it hurt me emotionally, too. I thank God for every one of
them now. Because it taught me. It taught
me. Behave like you've got some sense.
Behave like you've got some act right. Don't you? You know, it
taught me that. Look at Hebrews chapter 12. Our
Heavenly Father does the same thing. Ought I not be thankful? Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse
six. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Now, if you endure chastening, God's dealing with you as with
sons. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all, all of God's children are partakers, Then are you bastards
and not sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh, which corrected us and we gave them reference.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection under the father of
spirits and live? For they barely for a few days,
chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness. And no chastening
for the present seem to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward,
it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness under them which
are exercised thereby. Now, we talk about rejoicing
in the Lord. Don't feel bad about yourself when you can't rejoice
in the pain, when you can't rejoice in the suffering, when you can't
rejoice in the heartache. We're not rejoicing in the heartache,
are we? We're rejoicing in what it produces,
the fruit that it produces, that it makes me trust Christ more. I rejoice in that. All right,
number six. Rejoice in the presence of the
Lord. Now, I told you earlier how the Lord. He's always with
his people always. Right before he ascended back
to the father, what did he tell his disciples? Lo, I'm with you
always. And that one just said to those
those were there was 11. That said to all of God's people.
Now you listen to me, especially those of you who are under heartache
and trial and trouble right now. You remember this. The Lord's
not put you someplace that he's not. He's with you. He hadn't left you alone in the
dark. He hadn't left you alone in the stormy seas. You may not
see him, but he sees you. Remember that night the disciples
were rowing and toiling and they thought the ship was going to
go down there in the middle of that sea and the storm was so
great and Lord was on the mountain alone praying and scripture said
he saw them. They couldn't see him. He saw
them and he came to them. He came to them. Look at Isaiah
chapter 41. The Lord is always with his people
and the way is always too hard for us. You know, I mean, sometimes
we think the way is not too hard for me. I can do this on my own.
And Lord puts us in a trial to realize, oh, the way is too hard
for me. But it's not too hard for him.
Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear thou not. Now, why, you know, why, why
do you not fear? Do you not fear because there's
no storm? Do you not fear because there's no darkness? Do you not
fear because there's no trouble? Fear not for I'm with thee. I am with thee. Be not dismayed
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. I can rejoice in that. It's you,
his presence with me means he'll, he'll carry me through. You know,
I talked earlier about salvation. We rejoice in the, in the salvation
of Christ, our savior. Well, you know what scripture
says? Christ in you, the hope of glory. The presence of Christ
in your heart is the evidence of your salvation. He's in you. He lives in your heart. We talked
about peace. You know when we have peace?
When we're in the presence of Christ the Savior. Chris, if
I'm in his presence, I got nothing to worry about. There's peace
in there. I don't care what circumstance my flesh is in. If I'm in his
presence, There's peace. Rejoice. Rejoice right this very
second. God's enabling us to worship
him now and his presence is with us right this very second. Two
or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the
midst of you. If you're worshiping, if this
gospel is blessed in your heart, you know why it is his presence. He's with us. What a blessing. God's enabled
us to worship Him. Rejoice. All right, here's the last thing.
Rejoice in the promises of the Lord. There's far too many of
these scriptures. I'm just gonna read them to you.
You can jot them down, look at them if you want later. But remember
the character. Before you read these promises
of the Lord, you remember the character of our God. He can
not lie. So all these promises, he's gonna
fulfill them. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I
know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected
end. Then you shall call upon me,
and you shall go and pray unto me, and I'll hearken unto you.
God says, my thoughts towards you, they're thoughts of peace,
to bring you to an expected end. being glorified together with
Him. You hang on to that promise. That's how this thing's going
to end up. Hebrews 8, verse 12. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities, for I remember
no more. When our sins trouble us, and
they should trouble us, I'm not making an excuse for sin, but
this is our comfort. God said, I'll remember them
no more. Matthew 11 verse 28, come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you
rest. Now, why haven't you come? He
said, come, he'll give you rest. That's his promise. Romans 8,
28. And we know that all things What
does that include? Does that include just things
that I like, things that I want, things that I desire, things
that I wish for, these blessings of God I want? Includes more
than that. All things, all things work together for good. To them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. I might not be able to point
out and tell you what the good is that God has in this trial for
you, but I can tell you this, he's gonna bring good out of
it. He promised he would. Isaiah 43, verse two. When thou
passest through the waters, I'll be with thee. And through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. This thing's not going to harm
you. It's going to hurt, but it ain't going to harm you. It's not going
to harm you. Philippians 4, 19, but my God
shall supply all your need according to the riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. He may not supply everything
I want. Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he won't because it's been
my experience, but he will supply everything you need. What's that? Christ. He's everything I need. Second Corinthians 12, verse
nine. This is a good one to hang on to in that darkness of trial.
And you think, I can't go one second longer. My grace is sufficient
for thee. My strength is made perfect in
your weakness. God's grace will be sufficient.
Pray for his grace. Pray for grace sufficient. He'll
grant it. That's because he promised he
would. Philippians four, verse six. Be careful for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication, But thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. You might think you're slipping
away, but you're not. He's going to keep you. Hebrews 13, verse
5. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake so that
we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. I will not fear what man should
do unto me. Now what should we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? What do we
say to all those promises of God? Let me rejoice in the Lord. I hope God will make it so. Let's
bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
for these precious promises of your word. Lord, I pray that
you'd cause us, each one of us here this morning, to lay hold
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, to be found at his feet, laying
hold upon him, begging him for mercy, and cause us to be found
in him. Father, all these precious promises
to your people, I pray you'd apply them to our hearts this
morning. this week and the things that we face this week and things
that are upcoming. Father, keep these precious promises.
Keep these blessed portions of your word in our hearts and in
our mind that we might find ourselves always rejoicing in the Lord. For his blessed name, we pray
and give thanks.