Let's open our Bibles this morning
to 1 Kings 9. I want to read in your hearing
verses 7 and 8. 1 Kings 9, verse 7. Then will
I cut off Israel out of the land which I have
given them. And this house which I have hallowed
for my name will I cast out of my sight. And Israel shall be a proverb
and a byword among all people." Verse 8, and at this house, that
is the temple of Solomon, at this house which is very high. Everyone that passeth by it shall
be astonished and shall hiss. And they shall say, Why hath
the Lord done thus unto this land and to this house? When the Lord brought the nation
of Israel and the city of Jerusalem into utter desolation and destroyed
the temple in Jerusalem, the place of worship, both the Jews
and all those who saw what was done cried out in astonishment,
why hath the Lord done thus? Because they did not understand
the ways of God in providence. because they did not understand
the works of the Lord God, because they did not understand the character
of God Almighty and the character of His dealings with men. The
demolished temple, the ruined city, the slaughtered people
caused all who remained to be astonished. All around could
do nothing but sit in astonishment and cry out, why? Why hath the
Lord done thus? A hundred years ago, a little
more, there was a young man preaching in London, England, whom God
was mightily using. He came to the city when he was
19 years old. And immediately throngs of people
gathered to hear him. His congregation grew to such
an extent that the assembly where he pastored rented the Surrey
Music Hall for their Sunday evening services. The music hall would
seat 10,000 people. On October the 19th, 1856, 10,000 men and women jammed into that
building to hear Charles Spurgeon preach the gospel of Christ.
It was estimated that another 10,000 or more stood around the
building, jamming the grounds, jamming the doors and the windows
just to hear what this man had to say. Then he, however, despised Burgeon. They despised the message he
preached. They mocked him for his outdated
Puritanism, his Calvinism. They despised the message of
God's free grace in Christ Jesus. And having read the announcements
of this meeting at the music hall, several got together and
made a plan to disrupt the services. And after the scripture had been
read and the hymns had been sung and the prayers had been offered,
just before Mr. Spurgeon stood up to preach,
the cry went out, fire, fire, the galleries are falling. And
you can imagine the chaos and the stampede men rushing for
the doors. Many were seriously injured.
They were running for their lives with
great fear. I think there were two who were
left dead in the floor of the music hall. And everyone was
astonished. The newspapers, the people in
the streets of the city of London, the people in the church, all
of them were crying Why? Why hath the Lord done thus? Well, now, last week our community was shocked by
a tragic event, an event which directly involves one of our
own families and so directly involves this assembly, our church
family. And I want to have a family talk
this morning. I'm not the oldest, but I'm the
one responsible to do the talking for the family. And so I'm going
to have a family talk. Wednesday afternoon, a two-year-old
child, Amy Johnson, fell through the corroded septic tank top
out at the daycare center where Peggy McCormick and her mother
operate. And she died as a result of that
child, or as a result of that fall. Peggy owns and operates
the daycare center, and as you know, Peggy loves and adores
those children like they were her own. Peggy and Myrtle were
devastated by the child's death. I just went up to see them Wednesday
evening. Of course, Peggy was in shock. Myrtle was not much
above that. The young couple that lost their
only child was devastated by it. And in the agony and pain of
heart caused by this event, it's going to cause difficulty
for a long time to come, both to the young couple that lost
their child and our friends, but almost everyone who has spoken
to me about it. Almost everyone in the church,
in the family, the newspapers, the community, almost everyone
has asked one question continually. Those especially who are ignorant
of God's providence, they ask why? Why? Many of you who are
the children of God ask why? And this morning I'm going to
try to answer that question. If God will enable me, I want
to address this question for the comfort, instruction, and
edification of God's elect. Why hath the Lord done thus? Now, please understand me. Someone
will get this tape, perhaps, and not understand any of the
ways of our God. I'm not trying to answer the
questions of the infidels, and I'm not trying to answer the
questions of the unbelievers. I cannot minister to those who
do not receive the word of God. I am interested in speaking to
you, to you who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, to you
who are chosen of God's grace, to you who are called by His
Spirit, to you who believe God. I can speak a word, if you believe
God, from the Word of God for the comfort and edification of
your souls on this very issue. Now, in order to do so, let me
answer some questions. First, who caused this thing
to happen? Who caused it? Whenever something
like this happens, the first question that rises in the minds
of men is usually, who caused it? The newspaper reporter looks
for someone to blame. The government officials look
for someone to blame. Everybody looks for someone to
blame. Those who are more responsible, more responsible than government
officials and more responsible than news reporters, blame themselves. They figure out a way to blame
themselves for what's happened. When I finally talked to Peggy
Thursday morning, she said I should have held the child just a little
longer. Billy said if I had just mowed the grass. Myrtle said
to me on one occasion this week, I should have watched more closely.
Now listen to me. Listen to me carefully. I know
that religious people blame the devil for doing these things.
Infidels blame it on bad luck, misfortune, or blind fate. Is
there really any way to determine who caused this thing? Yes, there
is. The Word of God is not silent
concerning these matters. This infant child was taken out
of this world suddenly, without warning, by the hand of our great
God. Now, can we find scripture for
that? Indeed, we shall. This child did not die by accident,
but on purpose. She did not die by the merciless
stroke of blind fate, but by the gracious hand of the all-wise
God. I know that the death of this
child was an act of God, because nothing ever comes to pass in
this world except that which God our Father wisely brings
to pass. Turn over to Romans chapter 11
and verse 36. Romans 11 and verse 36. Now this is the Word of God.
You can quote the passage. I want you to read it. For of
Him, that is the source, the source, of Him and through Him. That's the means of accomplishment. And to Him, that is the end,
the final result, the final goal. Of Him and through Him and to
Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Now, what is this telling us?
The Apostle tells us in another passage, all things are of God. Now, people tell me all the time,
now preacher, you can't stress that too far. You can't push
that too far. You have to limit that. The Word
of God does not limit it. All things are of God. There
are no exceptions. The Lord God our Father rules
over all things in total sovereignty. He has his way in all things,
absolutely without exception. We worship a God who is in control
of everything. Turn over to the book of Amos,
Amos chapter three, the book of Amos chapter three, and hear
what the prophet Amos has to say. Verse six. Shall the trumpet
be blown in the city? That is the trumpet to alarm
that we're being attacked, the trumpet, the sounds that that
the enemy is coming. Shall the trumpet be blown in
the city and the people not be afraid? Oh, of course not. The
prophet asked them, shall there be evil in the city? And the
Lord hath not done it. Shall there be evil to take place
in Danville, Kentucky, and the Lord didn't do it? Well, of course
not. There's no place on this earth
where God doesn't rule, not even here. There's no place in this
universe where God doesn't rule, and I'm telling you, whatever
comes to pass is of the hand of our God, and we will worship
Him. We will worship Him. The Scripture
speaks plain in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 45. I want you
to look in the Scriptures and see what the Scripture says. Somehow or another, we want to
set up two gods in the world. We want one God we'll call Jehovah. and we'll say that everything
good comes from Him, and we want another God, we'll call Him the
devil or the prince of darkness, and we'll say everything evil
comes from Him. It ain't so. That's just pagan philosophy.
That's pagan idolatry. That's infidelity. There is one
God in heaven and earth, and He rules everything, and all
things come from Him. Isaiah 45 and verse 5. The Lord
says, I am the Lord. There's nobody else. There's
nobody else. In essence, there is nobody else
in reality. There's nobody but God. He is
the only original being. He is the only eternal being.
He is the only one out of whom, from whom, through whom, by whom
everyone else exists. Even the devils of hell are the
creatures of His hands. The Lord God made everything. I am the Lord. There is none
else. There is no God beside me. Nobody in authority. Nobody
in control beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me, I am the Lord, and
there is none else. God says, now this is the reason
I did things the way I did them, so that everybody from the east
to the west, everybody from the rising of the sun to the going
down thereof, everybody on this planet may know that I am God. I've done everything for that
purpose. Look in verse 7. I formed the light. See the sunshine
out there? I did that. And I create darkness. When God brings an eclipse of
the sun, when God covers the stars and the moon and the skies
and everything is thick darkness, God did it! Look what else He
says. I make peace. I make peace. That little child born into the
world, and mama and daddy are elated and delighted, and they
raise the child, and they take care of the child, and they nourish
the child, and they feed the child, and they have happiness
and peace and joy. For 18 years, nearly, we've had
happiness with our daughter. Oh, what joy she's brought into
our family. Peaceful times. One of these days, honey, you're
gone. And when you're gone, God did that, too. God did that,
too. Look what it says. and create
evil. I the Lord do all these things. That's God's doing. That's God's
doing. Not the doing of man. Look in
Isaiah 46 and verse 9. Remember the former things of
old. I'm God. There's none else. I'm God. There's
nobody like me. I declare the end from the beginning
and from the ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. Look in verse 13. I bring near
my righteousness. It shall not be far off. My salvation
shall not tarry. I will place salvation in Zion
for Israel my glory. I'm doing all of these things,
accomplishing my will, accomplishing my purpose to place salvation
in Zion for the glory of my Son, Israel whom I've chosen. Now,
Job knew this and knew it well. You remember the trial of Job? The Lord in His good providence,
in His wisdom and grace and mercy and love for Job, because the
Lord loved Job, He turned Job over to Satan's hands. That's
right. You read the book of Job. Because
he loved Job, he said, have you considered my servant Job? Satan
said, yeah, you put a hedge around him. I can't touch him. He said,
well, the hedge is gone. Go ahead. Go ahead. I've opened a way in
the hedge. Get in there with him. And Job lost his sons and
his daughters and his cattle and his home and his wealth like
that. I mean, gone! Gone! And Satan
came back to give a report to God. I like that. He came back
at God's bidding to give account to God of what he'd been doing
in the earth. And the Lord said, Have you considered my servant
Job? And Satan said, Yeah, but skin for skin, all that a man
has, will he give in exchange for his soul? The Lord said,
All right. You can have him, but his life.
You can't kill him. Just do anything you want to.
And Job was stricken with boils, the head of his foot to the soles
of his feet. So horrible was his appearance
that when his friends came and saw him, they sat aghast and
silent, speechless for seven days. For seven days, they were
just in shock. They didn't say a word for seven
days. And what Job said? He said, the
hand of the Lord has touched me. And in all this, Job sinned
not, nor charged God with folly, but rather Job bowed his head
and worshiped the Lord God. Oh, God, give me grace in faith
of that kind. David knew this. When David lost
his son, he said, The Lord has taken him. The Lord has taken
him. When David was cursed by Shimei,
he said, The Lord said to Shimei, Curse David. Jeremiah knew this. That passage we read earlier,
he said, the hand of the Lord is on me. He's set me as a mark
for His arrows. He's broken my teeth with gravel
stones. He's brought me into darkness
and not into light. He's shut out my prayer. The
Lord has brought me into misery and wormwood and affliction and
bitterness and gall. The Lord did it! The Lord did
it. The one thing that gave Spurgeon
comfort on that night When the music hall catastrophe took place,
he was just devastated by what had happened. He was shocked.
Young man, 21 years old, and he couldn't hardly preach. He
could not be persuaded to preach the next Sunday. He just couldn't
do it. The second Sunday, he did preach. You know what he preached from?
He got up and he read the scripture and he began to preach from these
words, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. The Lord
God, my Savior, He's still on the throne and He rules this
universe. I will rejoice and be glad in
Him. No matter what your trial is,
child of God, the cause of your trial, no matter what it is,
it is the hand of God. All life and all death are in
His hands. The Lord God, our Savior, our
Father, our Heavenly Father rules this world. But you may ask,
would God take the life of a two-year-old baby? He does so frequently. He does so frequently. Don't
forget a few years ago, the whole of Bangladesh was swept away
in a tidal wave. God took away many. In Ethiopia,
how many thousands of babies have died in recent years? God
often takes away the life of a two-year-old baby. You see,
all life and all death depend upon the will and the hand of
our God. You remember Hannah's prayer?
The Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. You remember what
David said? He said that under God the Lord
belong the issues of death. Death and life are the prerogative
of God, not of man. Death and life are the doings
of God, not a man. Somebody walked in here this
morning with a submachine gun and opened fire on this building
and opened fire on you and me and we're all wiped away. That's
God's hand. You say, well, that man's insane.
That man has done the thing. The man ought to hang for it.
But God did it. God brought it to pass. He couldn't
fire the gun without the hand of God. That's right. You say,
well, I just, I couldn't believe a God like that. You won't believe
any other God. He won't trust any other God.
There is no other God but this. The Lord our God is in total
control of this universe. When the Lord came through Egypt
on that dark night of Egyptian history to deliver Israel, who
was it that took the lives of every firstborn son? Who took
them? The Lord God did. Read Exodus chapter 12. When
the Lord God visited His servant David, As David lay on his face on the
ground, prostrate, crying before God, he wouldn't wash his face.
He wouldn't eat. He could do nothing but cry out
to God for that unborn son that he would have. And David loved
that boy and his mother's womb. He loved that boy. And when the
child was born and word came to David that the boy is gone,
David said, God did it. God did it. This is the work
of God. If you do not think that life
and death of all men, women, and children, that life and death
is totally, if you do not think it's totally in the hands of
God Almighty, don't ever pray for a sick person again. Don't
do it. Don't do it. You say, here's
this baby. Our little girl was sick. When
she was a baby, she didn't have many sick days, but man, when
it's your child, The world comes to an end, especially when it's
your first child and your young parents. We pray for the child. You know why I call on God on
behalf of my child? On behalf of your child? Because
I know that their lives hang in the hands of God. I mean,
they're in the hands of God. Now, if God doesn't control life
and death, don't pray. I'm serious about that. If you
don't believe that God Almighty has total control over all breath,
over all life, over all death, don't ever pray another prayer
to God. Don't do it. I wouldn't. He's not fit to be
prayed to if he's not in total control. That's right. Go pray
to the doctor. Go pray to the educators. Go
pray to the government officials. Go pray to somebody. But not
to God. Not to God. Anyone who reads
and believes the Word of God must realize that the death of
this child, as well as anyone else, and as well as all other
things in this world, is an act of God in His good providence. This is the hand of God. There
may be many secondary causes. I don't question that. God uses
many things to accomplish His purpose. But the original primary
cause of the child's death was the will of God and the purpose
of God, not you, not me, not somebody else. That first question then is easy
enough to answer for every believer. Everybody here, every man, woman
here who believes this book, everybody who does, everybody
in the world who believes this book, recognizes God did this. God did it. Now that's just all
there is to it. But there's another question that we won't answer.
Not that we demand be answered. We won't answer. Not that we
insist must be answered, but one that our hearts won't answer.
Why? Why did the Lord our God bring
this thing to pass? Someone asked And it's natural
that we do, because we are proud, self-righteous people. Someone
asked, why did this have to happen to us? Why did this particular
trial have to happen here? Why did it have to involve our
family, our friends, our church? My response is, why not us? Why not us? Are we better than
others? Do we deserve better than anyone
else? You know better. Anything that
you and I experience in this world, any evil, any heartache,
any pain, any affliction, any trial, any slander, any marring
of reputation, any destruction of character, any evil we experience
in this world is infinitely better than we deserve. Infinitely better. And yet it still causes difficulty.
David... I'm so thankful that God recorded
the Psalms he recorded. Because they tell us things we
wouldn't dare say otherwise. We wouldn't dare express the
thoughts of our hearts if they weren't written in Scripture.
When David's sons caused him heartache, his daughters caused
him heartache, his wife caused him heartache, He had a wife
that hated God, sons that hated God and hated him. And he had
a daughter and son that were guilty of incest. I mean, David
had, he had misery. Finally, one of his sons was
killed in an act of rebellion against his father. And David's
sitting around musing one day. He's thinking. Man, there's that pagan king
over there. That pagan ungodly wretch. He
hates God. And he hates truth. He has no
regard for God or man. The most selfish man I've ever
met in my life. He never has any trouble. He never has any difficulty. When he sets down his family
table, all the seats are filled. His eyes bug out with fatness.
He's got all the money in the world. When he goes to death,
he'll die without a care. It's a foolish thing to serve
God. I've washed my hands in innocence. You can read it in
Psalm 73. And then David said, oh no, what
have I said? I don't dare say this. Why, I would
offend against the generation of God's children if I said something
like that. No, no, no! Not that I should
speak concerning the Lord like this. Whom have I in heaven but
Thee? There is none upon earth that
I desire beside Thee. I've been into the temple. I've
seen their end. I'll speak God's praise and only His praise. How then can we answer this question?
Why? Why did this happen? I've searched the Scriptures.
I've got four answers. I've got four answers. I can
tell you four reasons why this thing happened. I know that it
happened for these four reasons. It happened to show us and all
the world God's glorious sovereignty. Somehow or another, Hubert, if you had fallen through that
septic tank, we had heard, but it wouldn't be so shocking. You've
lived to be an old man. And it's time for you to go anytime
now. That's just reality of things.
You know that. I know that. We just kind of
expect old folks to die. Every now and then God lets us
know that age has nothing to do with life. Nothing to do with
it. You young people hear me. The
Word of God says, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth. You better remember Him now. Your days on this earth
are numbered. And God Almighty will take us,
everyone, out of this world when it pleases Him. He does everything
so that every now and then He holds up some example of what's
taking place in this world. The whole world goes on. Everybody
thinks, well, I've got my life in my hands. I've got the world
by the tail on a downhill pull. days his hander says unto him,
What doest thou? God has numbered the days of
all. And at God's appointed time,
we will all die. We will die in the way that God
arranges at the time of God's appointment when God's purpose
for our lives has been accomplished. You believe that? Yes, I do.
I sure do. That doesn't make me careless.
God's given me responsibilities in this world. I have a responsibility
with a measure of sanity. I'm not about to get too crazy
about it, but I have a responsibility with a measure of sanity to exercise
wisdom, to give myself health and to preserve my life in this
world. I'm not going to cross that street
out there without looking. I'm not going to eat a dish full
of poison. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to go gung-ho
because I don't really care a whole lot about living a long time
here. But I'm going to exercise reasonable care and responsibility
to take care of my life and your life and the lives of my family
and friends. I'm going to do that. We have that responsibility. But I want to tell you something.
There is a disease or a car or a bullet or a rock or a knife. There is something in this world
made by God's good providence with my name on it. And when
I meet that thing, I'm going to die. Whatever it is, whatever
it is. And that's good. That's good. Yes, sir. I'm sure thankful my
life depends on God, not you Merle. I'm thankful God's in
control of this thing, not me. God's in control, not the doctors.
God's in control, not the lawyers, not the politicians. God's in
control. Every human being has this appointment
he's going to keep. And I want to tell you something.
Every human being, every human being has been created by God
to serve a particular purpose. for the glory of God. Not one
of us will die until that purpose has been served. And not one
of us will live a moment longer than it takes for us to serve
that purpose. That's right. That boy of yours
there, Jay, God made that boy for a purpose, for his glory.
And when God has accomplished His purpose with that boy, whatever
it is, good or bad, that boy's gone, and so is daddy. That's
just reality. That's just reality. I'm thankful
it's that way. So that if the child is taken
when it's two, or the child is taken when it's a hundred and
two, the child accomplishes exactly what God put it here on this
earth to accomplish for the glory of His name. God does this to
show forth His sovereignty. But another thing, I know that
God has done this for the good of His own elect. I preached here two weeks ago
on Tuesday evening from that text in Romans 8. Maybe that kind of prepared the
way for this message, I don't know. We know. We know. I know it. I know it. I know it better than
I know my wife's love for me. And that woman loves me. I know
it better than I know my love for that girl there. I know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. They don't somehow
just turn out for good. I get so weary and tired of hearing
folks say, well, this is going to turn out good. It doesn't
just turn out good. God brings good. He works it
for good. He does good. This apparent tragedy will bring
forth good for God's elect, for all God's elect. I can't tell
how that Peggy being in the hospital up there today is going to bring
good or how that child, her body being in the grave is going to
bring good. I can't tell you that, but I know it's going to do good
for all God's elect. I mean, the things are working
together, working together like a finely tuned machine to bring
about good for the people of God. I can't tell you when, I can't
tell you how, but good shall be brought forth as the end product. It may be that as a result of
this child's death and this trial for our family, our friends,
Maybe one of God's elect is going to perk up and pay attention. Maybe, I don't know. Maybe somebody
will pay attention to what I'm saying. I've been listening to
that fellow and I always thought he was a babbler. Maybe there's
some sense to what he's saying. Pay attention. Hear his voice. The events this week will certainly
be a source of spiritual good, spiritual instruction for many
of you for years to come. But particularly, now listen
to me, I tell you without the least reservation that God has
this week done the very best good possible for that little
two-year-old girl, Amy Johnson. He's done the best possible good.
This darling child today is seated before the throne of Christ with
the saints in glory. The Lord took her, not because
He's mean, but because He loves her. He loves her. You say, well,
you're dealing with speculation now. Not on your life. Not on
your life. The Lord God did not take her
because she was innocent. Somebody says little children
are innocent. There's nothing innocent in this
world. Nothing but God in this world
is innocent. We're all guilty. We're guilty of Adam's transgression.
We've got a depraved heart and depraved nature. No such thing
as innocent human beings. God did not take her because
she was innocent, but because she was chosen. He didn't take
her because she was sinless, but because she was redeemed.
He didn't take her to make her an angel. That's bad theology. Angels are not made out of babies.
He took her to give her all the fullness of His redeeming grace
and saving mercy in Jesus Christ. That's why He took her. How can
you be sure of that? I know that this child is in
heaven today, elect, redeemed, justified and glorified for three
reasons. Let me give them to you quickly.
I say this with confidence. I'll leave it to the theologians
to wrangle about terms, and I'll leave it to other men to have
their logical deductions and their theological controversies.
I'm drawing the milk out of the breast of consolation. I know
it for three reasons. I know that God in heaven is
good. I know He's good. He's good. Whatever He does is
good. It's good. Infinitely better,
infinitely more good than what you and I can imagine it to be.
More than that, the Word of God tells us plainly that no child
will ever suffer the wrath of God for the sins of its parents. God says He'll not cause the
child to suffer for the Father's sin. Read it yourself. Ezekiel
18, verse 20. The soul that sinneth, that soul,
the one who voluntarily, willfully, deliberately, of its own choice,
weighs good and evil, weighs God's command against that which
is his own heart's desire, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. I'm not going to die because
Adam died in the garden. I died spiritually because of
Adam's death, but I'll not die eternally because of Adam's transgression. Eternal death is the result of
my transgression and my iniquity. More than that, there's only
one example. In all the Word of God, there's
only one example given of a child dying and a believing, inspired
heart responding. Only one. Read it in 2 Samuel
12. David lost his child, and David
lost his child as a result of his adultery and murder. Remember
that. David lost his child in bad times.
He lost his child as a result of obvious, deliberately pointed
out evil that he had committed. And David said, he cannot come
to me. He'll not return to me, but I'll
go to him. I'll go to him. And I don't think
he was finding comfort about going to Him in the grave. He
said, I'll go to Him at the throne of God. I'll go to Him at the
right hand of the majesty on high. Then shall I be satisfied. The Lord brought this thing to
pass also for the glory of His own great name. In Isaiah 63,
verse 14, you wonder what God's doing. What's He doing? What's happening? Everything taking place in this
world, what's God doing? What's God doing? I don't have
all the answers. I don't know. The dope heads and the pimps
and the pushers and everything going on, I don't know what's
happening. I don't have all the answers. But I have the only
answer that counts. I've got the only answer that
matters. I've got the only answer that will give you comfort, confidence,
and peace as you live in this world. I don't have all the answers
why you experience heartache. I know some of you, some of you
dear people, and I love you. I love you. Some of you, I know
you bear burdens. You don't even know I know you're
bearing. And I carry the burdens with you. I carry them with you
to the throne of God's grace. I carry them with you Back here
in the study, I carry them with you to the pulpit. I carry your
burdens with you. But I know one answer, only one
answer, that'll give you strength and comfort and peace in the
midst of your heartache. You know what it is? The Lord
is making Himself an everlasting and a glorious name. Now, Oscar,
I don't care what you experience. That's what God's doing. He's
making Himself an everlasting and a glorious name. Craig, it
doesn't matter what you and your family experience. This is what
God's doing. In all that you experience, God,
our Father, He deserves everything, doesn't He? He deserves it all.
He deserves glory. He deserves praise. He deserves
honor from you and me and everybody else. No matter what it costs,
God deserves praise. Whatever you're going through,
God is making Himself an everlasting and a glorious name. That's what
He's doing. I know He is. Read Isaiah 63
verse 14. He said so. Today there is seated at the throne
of God another one of those elect fallen children of Adam singing
the praise of the divine Savior. because of what God has done. One day, all the universe will
see this work and God will hold forth all his saints. And they'll say, look what God
has done. Look what God has done. Today, God's children will glorify His name by faith. By faith. Oh, I want grace. I want grace
and faith from God so that in the midst of the heaviest trial, in the midst of the greatest
heartache, My heart, not just my mouth,
but my heart will speak forth His praise. Oh, for a heart to
praise Him. But I want to tell you something. Even if in the calamity and in
the heat and excitement of the turbulent storm, You hear this man cry like David
cried. I've washed my hands in innocence.
It's vain to serve God. If you should hear that, if you
should hear it. How can I illustrate so you understand
me? If before I get home today, somebody stops me on the road
and takes my wife and daughter, And I get a report tonight my
wife and daughter have been butchered and barbarically killed. And you should hear this frail
piece of flesh say it's vain to serve God. This is foolish.
This is foolish. It didn't do a thing. It's not
profitable. If you should hear those things,
please don't pay any attention to it. Please don't pay any attention
to it. If I'm His, when it's all over,
I want to speak like Eli of old. It is the Lord. Let him do as
he seems good, as he sees fit. Let him do what he will. God's
people are going to praise him for what he does. They're going
to praise him. And God's people, right now,
here in this place, glorify him. Glorify him by rallying to the
needs of our troubled friends. with sympathetic hearts. I came down from the hospital
room late Wednesday night and I sat with Lindsey and Bob and
Sally. Why? Because I love that family. Love
that family. My phone's been ringing off the
hook. Not because people are nosy, because they care. Because
they care. It's been ringing off the hook
with newspaper reporters because they're nosy. They've got no
business butting their nose in. But it's been ringing off the
hook with God's people because they care. Because they care.
Ladies take food out to them and try to minister to them.
You say, well, that's not much. It ain't. It ain't. It ain't
much for us to do. It ain't much. But let somebody
know you care. Now that's much. That's much
for God's people to care. God's glorified by that. And the Lord has done this to
warn us all that time is short. Turn over to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 7. I wish we'd pay attention to
what God does. Some of you will, but most of
you won't. Don't pay any attention. You forget. And I'm not pointing
an accusing finger. I'm just telling you this is
the way things are. I used to help fellows butcher
cattle when I was in West Virginia. Every now and then when I had
time, I'd go out and help them on the farms. And Thanksgiving
Day, they butchered hogs and beef every Thanksgiving Day.
So when I had a chance, I'd go out and help them. You know,
we'd go out in the field. They'd get the calf or get the
heifer. They're going to slaughter it. Cows look kind of almost like
they understand what's going on. Some of them look kind of
bad. Some of them look kind of sad. That cow hadn't quit kicking,
laying on the ground, until those other cattle are over there in
the field grazing again. So what? Another one gone. Let's
go eat our grass and chew our cud. That's just the way men
respond to the hand of God and prophets. Oh, we shed a few tears
and we cried and we wailed and we lamented, but in a little
while we forget. Let's go back and build our barns
and build our houses and chew our grass and chew our cud. Please
ask to teach 7, verse 2. It's better, it's better to go
to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.
A whole lot wiser if you spend
your time in the cemetery than it is to spend your time at the
banquet table. A whole lot wiser if you spend your time in the
house of mourning than it is if you spend your time at the
party. A whole lot wiser. Why? For this is the end of all
men. This is where you're going. This
is where, when it's all said and done, doesn't matter how,
doesn't matter how pretty the ear bobs are you wear, or how
fine the jewelry is you wear, or how fine the clothes are on
your back, or how fine the car is you drive, this is where you're
going. You're going to rot in the grave. Your body's going
to rot in the grave. That's all. You're going to rot
in the grave. And then you're going to face
God in judgment. And you're going to spend eternity somewhere,
somewhere. This is the end of all men, and
the living will lay it to his heart. Oh, vanity, vanity, vanity. Everything here is vanity. Soon we must all die. We must
face God in judgment, and we must spend eternity either in
the blackness and darkness of hell's torment or in the light
and bliss of heaven's glory. Will you lay it to heart and
trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God? One last question. What can we
do? What can we do in the midst of
our heavy trials? I hope that every heart in this
assembly knows something of the weight and burden of this trial
that Peggy and Myrtle and Craig and their family are going through. Members of our own family are hurting. That means we're
hurting. Members of our body are troubled. That means we're
troubled. Let us pray for and care for
and strengthen our friends. Now, what I have to say right
now, particularly, Craig, this is for you and Beryl and Billy
and for Peg, if she hears this tape. I hope you'll listen in. When everything else is gone,
when God brings trouble, I'll tell you what we can do. We can
hope in the Lord. That's what we can do. We can
hope in the Lord. This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. For what is your hope? It is
of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Now give me His
good mercy, His eternal mercy, His daily mercy. It's the Lord's
mercies that we're not consumed. I mean consumed with His wrath
right now in the pit of the damned. It's the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. What is your hope? His compassions
fail not. Mine do. Mine do. His compassions never fail. Never. Oh, how He loves us. Did you ever notice in the Scripture,
God never says, I love you. He never says that. He speaks
of love in the present. He loves His own. His compassions
are unfailing. His compassion toward His own
is never interrupted. It's His compassion. I like that
word. It's co-passion. He has compassion
with us, and yet His compassion, His love is not a passion at
all. It's His eternal purpose to do
us good. What is your hope? Great is thy
faithfulness. I told the ladies in Sunday school
class earlier, when I was a young man, oh, 19, 20 years old, I preached on faithfulness of
God. Preached good sermons on faithfulness of God. Good sermons.
I'd get down Dr. Gill and Mr. Spurgeon and Calvin
and Owen and I'd read what all they had to say about God's faithfulness
and I'd get a concordance and look up what the Bible had to
say about faithfulness and man, bring a good sermon on faithfulness. But now 20 years later, I like what Gil and Owen and
Spurgeon and those fellows had to say about faithfulness. It's
good. I like what God in His Word has to say about faithfulness.
But I want to tell you, God is faithful. I experience His faithfulness.
And there's a big difference between knowing it here and knowing
it here. Craig is my faithfulness. He's faithful. That gives me
hope. Our hope is our interest in Him.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope
in Him. This is my hope. My eternal portion is not here,
is not sitting there on that front row. My eternal portion
is my God. I have an eternal covenant interest
in Him. He's my Savior. I'm His child.
He's mine. I have hope. I have hope. Our hope is the goodness of God.
The Lord is good. Good to them that wait for Him. To the soul that seeketh Him.
The murderless thing is good. God's
good. God is good. He's doing you good. He's good. Good. Only good. Only good. Oh, our good God rules this world. So I can't see the good. Yes,
you can. I started to say, no, you might
not see the good. You can see the good. Yeah, you can. Can
you see God on His throne? Can you see the Son of God ruling
the universe? I can see good. I see good because
His Word promised it. I see good because He performs.
I see good because He is good. He is good. I can't see it in
this circumstance. I can't see it in the aching
heart. I can't see it in the grieving parents. I can't see it in the grave. I can't see the good in the difficulties
that surround all these things. But I can see good! For the Lord
is good. He's good. Well, what must we do? We must seek Him. We must. We must do this because there's
nothing else we can do. And we must do this because this
is the response of the believing heart in time of trouble. One
reason he says trouble is to cause us to seek Him. And to
seek Him we must. We must hope in Him. It is good
that a man should both hope and quietly wait. Oh, now. Wait for Him. Not just wait,
but quietly wait. Keep your mouth shut and wait.
Don't let other things, don't know what you're talking about,
just wait. Just wait. Quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord, for the deliverance of His hand. God help us to learn
these things. and lay them to heart. Sooner
or later, you're going to need it. Sooner or later, you'll need
these things, for you will lay your hand upon your heart and
sigh and agonizingly you will cry, why hath the Lord done thus? Well, you can be assured of this.
The Lord did it. He did it for the good of His
elect, we hope in Him. Well, how will it all turn out?
It'll turn out exactly as God intends for it to turn out. It
will end in everlasting good for God's elect, and it will end in the praise,
honor, and glory of Jesus Christ, our good God, and our great Savior,
and we want no more. Amen.