If you'd like to turn in your
Bibles this morning for my text, you'll find it right back where
Brother Larry quit reading this morning. If you'll turn to 1
Thessalonians chapter 3, that's where you'll find the message
this morning. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, that's
where I want to begin reading in verse 1. Wherefore, when we could no longer
forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and
sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow
laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort
or encourage you concerning your faith, that no man should be
moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are
appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with
you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation,
even as it came to pass, and you know. For this cause, when
I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. Lest by some
means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain.
But now, when Timothy came from you unto us, and brought us good
tidings of your faith and love, your charity, and that you have
good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as
we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were
comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your
faith. For now we live if we stand fast
in the Lord. For what thanks can we render
to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith rejoice We
joy for your sakes before our God. Pray night and day exceedingly
that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking
in your faith." The Apostle Paul had gone down to this place,
Thessalonica, and he had preached the gospel to them. And he was
writing this letter back to these young Christians, young believers
in the Lord. And he was reminding them of
his first visit there and preaching the gospel to them. And the profound
effect that it had upon them when they heard it and believed
it. He tells us there in chapter 1, and you can read this in verses
9 and 10, that he said, you turn to God from your idols to worship
the living and true God. There was a lot of idolatry back
in those days. Most idolatry in our country
is mental. It's imagination, the worshipping
of things they conjure up in their minds. Back in these days,
they literally worshipped idols. They built temples to their idols.
That was your lifestyle, worshipping idols. When we gather this morning
to worship God, they gather to worship idols. But when Paul
preached the gospel to them, They turned from those idols
to the true and living God. And He said, you turned to wait
for His Son from heaven. They had such a good hope. And
this Gospel gives a good hope, doesn't it? It not only turns
us from our sin to God, it gives us a good hope to wait for His
Son from heaven. And He attributed all of this
to the Gospel. He attributed all this to the
Gospel. Your turning from idols, your waiting, this good hope
you have, He attributed all to the Gospel. I want you to look
at that and read it here in chapter 1. He makes this wonderful statement
here. Look in chapter 1 and look in
verse 5. For our Gospel came not to you
in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance. Look how the gospel came to them.
And this is important because everything he's saying to them
later is because of the gospel. And the first thing he says is
what Brother Wayne was talking about this morning. He said,
I came to you preaching the gospel in word. I just didn't get before
you and wave my hand or roll on the floor or do some silly
thing. How does the gospel come to us? It first comes to us in
Word. Somebody proclaims it to us.
And Paul said, when I come to you, I have this clear message
that God in heaven had sent His eternal Son, and He joined Himself
to your humanity. And by His own obedience to the
death of the cross, He purged sin away. He made an atonement
for sin. He made reconciliation to God. And God raised Him from the dead
and set Him at His own right hand there in heaven. And Paul
said, when I preached that message to you, it's almost like you
could see Him hanging there upon the cross. And all your sin and
all the consequences of it was hanging there with Him upon the
cross. And Paul said, I preached that
gospel unto you. I preached it in word, not in
word only. But when he says, not in word
only, he is saying it came in Word. The Gospel, brothers and
sisters, is something that needs to be told out. It needs to be
proclaimed, set forth in Word. It must be that way. But he says
here, it not only came in Word, but look at this. This is an
amazing statement. But also in power. In power. Oh, the Gospel is the
power of God. You go out tonight and you see
the heavens filled with stars, that's the power of God. The
sun come up this morning, that big bright sun that's so big
and bright shining, you can't even look at it. What is that? That's the power of God. Everything
today is upheld by the power of God. The power of God Almighty. And Paul said, when I preach
this gospel to you, it came in the power of God. Now what does
that mean when the gospel comes in power? That means you can't
go on living like you've been living. That means you can't
go on thinking like you've been thinking. That means you don't
go on believing like you've been believing. The gospel comes in
word, but I tell you those words come effectually. They come and
arrest your thinking. They come and arrest your heart.
They send light into your darkness. It comes with power. And what
kind of power? What kind of power is he talking
about? Well, he says it in this next statement. Look here. Not
in word only or in power, but by the Holy Ghost. The third person of the Sacred
Trinity. You know the Holy Spirit is not
an influence. Some people speak like the Holy
Spirit is just an influence. You know, God sent out this influence. And now it's just up to you to
take advantage of this influence. He's not an influence at all.
He's a person. He's a divine person. God is
a spirit. And when the spirit brings the
gospel to our heart, it comes in power because He's a powerful
spirit. He's a powerful God, a powerful
person. It comes in the Holy Spirit. You know the Holy Spirit has
a lot to do with our salvation. God the Father planned our salvation,
the Son accomplished our salvation, and the Holy Spirit applies that
salvation. And His work is just as essential
as the Son's work upon the cross and the Father's work in election
and purpose. It came in the Holy Spirit. And
that's why He went on to say that it came in much assurance. Aren't you glad that when the
Lord saves you, He's able to make you know it. Wouldn't it be awful if the Lord
saved us and we went doubting the rest of our lives, just not
certain? That'd be awful, wouldn't it?
The situation is too grim. What we're facing is just too
critical. We're facing eternity. We've got these eternity-bound
souls. We seek the salvation of our
souls, and we want to know it. And he says, the Spirit bears
witness with our spirit that we're the sons of God in much
assurance. In other words, they were convinced. They were just convinced that
what was being preached to them was God's Word. They said, this
is true. God has indeed in great love
sent us a Savior and He's ransomed us. He's purged our sins and
He's reconciled us to God. We're saved, as amazing as it
is. And they lived in the assurance
of this. And I tell you, if you'll believe what God says, you can
live in the assurance of your salvation. That's what He was telling them.
And here in verse Or, he reminds them of something
else. He said, this is the way you know your election. This
is the way you know God has chosen you to salvation. Knowing, brethren
and beloved, your election of God. How do they know that? Because
the Gospel has come to your heart. It's come to your heart. And
he reminds them in verse 6, another effect the Gospel had upon them.
And I'll get to my text here in just a minute, I promise.
But he tells them in verse 6, he reminds them of something
else. Here's a fact. He said in verse
6 of chapter 1, you became followers of us. Me and Timothy and others
who were preaching the gospel. You became followers of us, but
more importantly, and of the Lord. And of the Lord. What did the Lord Jesus say?
My sheep hear my voice, didn't they? They know me. And they follow Me. They're followers
of God as dear children. They follow the Lamb wherever
He goes. That's the mark of a sheep. They
follow the shepherd. Beware, brothers and sisters.
Beware of professing God and not serving God. Beware of saying,
I'm one of His and not following Him. His sheep follow Him. That's one of their marks. That's
one of their marks. I don't know what a man may be
before he hears and believes the gospel. I don't care what
he is or who he is or where he is. But I'm telling you, when
the gospel comes with power to save him, it makes a new creature
out of him. And he can't go on thinking.
He can't go on believing and doing and acting the way he used
to. He's a new creature. If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things have passed away,
and all things have become new. So Paul was writing here to these
young believers, and he told them what had happened to them.
And now we come here to the text, and he's going to tell them something
else. And he's going to talk now about what they're having
to endure. My goodness! He talks about afflictions. And isn't that surprising that
he comes now in chapter 3 and he talks about these afflictions
that you've been enduring and he's concerned for them? And
don't you wonder, isn't it amazing how the children of God of all
people should have it easy in this world? You would think that
way, wouldn't you? But if you think that way, you need your
thinking corrected. And your pastor had his thinking
corrected. Because I've told you so many
times when the Lord saved me, I mean, I thought, man, this
is it. I'll never have another bad day in my life. Old Brother
Scott Richard used to say, I've never heard any bad news since
I've heard the good news. I need to learn something from
Scott. But isn't it surprising? Sometimes the children of God
suffer afflictions in this world. But they do. The Lord Jesus said
this, many are the affliction to the righteous, but the Lord
delivers them out of them all. In this world you shall have
tribulation. What is the source? What's the
first cause of these afflictions? And you know, trouble. Trouble affects God's little
children more than it affects lost people. And I tell you why
I think that's so, because when the Lord saves you, He gives
you a tender heart. He breaks your heart, and you've
got a tender heart. And then things affect you. They
have more of a dramatic effect upon your heart. You know, sometimes
people of the world, they get into some trouble or somebody
does something to them, they can just go on. You know, they
don't care anyway. But a child of God. You have
family problems. Doesn't that get to your heart?
Family problems are real problems, aren't they? For a believer,
because they go to your heart because your heart's tender.
If you have problems with your co-workers, isn't that affliction
to you because your heart is tender? If you have trouble with
your neighbor, isn't that affliction because your heart is tender?
You've got these troubles, you've got outward troubles, you've
got inward troubles, heart troubles, this warfare that goes on within
you, afflictions. And all of God's children have
them. What's the source of it? Here's what I want to look at
just for a minute. Who is the main cause of these afflictions. I want us to not even think about
the second causes, human causes, demonic causes. I want us to
think about the first cause. Now, if you're here this morning
and your life, your Christian life, is just a little fender-bender,
and you can go on and don't worry about it, what I've got to say
probably won't help you much at all. You say, Bruce, I'm just
not concerned. But I'm telling you if your life
is a wreck, If sometimes you're crushed in
your heart. If sometimes you're like David,
your heart is melted within you. And you sink in deep mire because
of the trouble that's come upon you. This will probably help
you. Afflictions. What's the first
cause of them? Well, we're told here in our
text. Look at it again in chapter 3
and look in verse 2 and 3. I sent Timothy, our brother,
the minister of God, our fellow laborer, in the gospel of Christ
to establish you and comfort you concerning your faith, that
no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know
that we are appointed thereunto." Appointed thereunto. Who appoints
that? Who is it that appoints things?
Do you appoint anything? Do you fix anything at all? Do
you say, there's what's going to happen in the future because
I've appointed it? None of us do that, can we? We're
just pawns, aren't we? Going along in a way that's already
been fixed for us as children of God. Does Satan appoint anything? He may brag and tell you he does,
but he doesn't. He's a creature, just like everybody
else, a mighty creature, but he doesn't appoint anything.
Who appoints things? Who appoints things? God Almighty. God Almighty has appointed everything
that will ever happen. He's appointed it all. You say,
now, Bruce, can you explain that? No, I cannot. You can ask me
questions about that, and I say, I don't know. I don't know. I
just believe it. I just believe it. Listen, the
Bible says in Ephesians 1 to 11, He works all things after
the counsel, after the purpose, after the appointment of His
own will. Now you ask me things I don't
understand about that, but that's God's Word and I believe it.
He's higher than we are. He's God. And if you've got a
God you can figure out. and manipulate, I'm telling you,
He's not God. He's not God. Our God's too high
for us. All we can do in situations like
this is just believe that He's there and believe that He's who
He says He is. We have some perfect examples
of that in the Scripture. And let me give you just one
that's very familiar. You remember a young man by the
name of Joseph in the book of Genesis, the son of Jacob. Remember how Jacob loved him
and made him a coat of many colors? And he had this dream that he's
going to be a ruler, that people's going to come and fall down before
him, even his family. And his brothers hated him. His
ten brethren hated him for that. They despised him. And his dad
sent Joseph to check on his brethren that were in another part of
the country feeding their sheep. And they saw him coming. They
said, boy, we got him now. We hate him, that dreamer. And
they said, let's kill him. Let's just kill him. And Reuben
said, don't kill him, he's our brother. So they threw him in
a pit. Joseph was crying. Joseph was
crying. Joseph was pleading with him.
What are you doing to me? What are you doing? Some Ishmaelites
came along and they sold him for a slave. Took money for their
brother. Sent him down into Egypt. There
he was in Egypt. He didn't know the language.
was away from his father and his mother and his family. He
went to work for a man by the name of Potiphar, a rich man,
and his wife falsely accused him of attempting to rape her. And Potiphar came home and said,
You sorry thing. Here I trusted you with my family,
and look what you've tried to do. And boy, he threw him in
prison, put him in prison, put his feet and hands in stocks.
And there he lay day after day, and his hands and feet began
to swell, and he hurt, he was in pain, and he laid there and
cried for a long, long time. He was years in prison. Thero
was mad at a couple of his servants, a butler and his baker, put him
in prison where Joseph was, and they had dreams, Joseph interpreted
their dream. and said, in three days they're
going to hang you, Baker, and they're going to exalt you, Butler,
back upon in your office. That happened. And Joseph said,
when this happens, remember me. Get me out of this place. Speak
to Pharaoh for me. I'm not guilty of what they've
charged me for. I'm away from my family. I'm
missing my mama, my dad, my brother. Speak on my behalf. Two years. That Butler forgot him. Two whole
years he forgot it. You know the story. Finally,
Pharaoh had the dream and the butler said, now I remember.
That guy interpreted my dream down there in prison. Pharaoh
said, get him up here. He came up there and interpreted
Pharaoh's dream. Pharaoh said, wash him up, shave
him, give him a house, give him this woman for a wife, and set
him second on the throne. Now, ain't that amazing? Just
like God told him he was going to do with it. But look where
he took him through to get him there. Who was doing all of that? Who was behind all of that? You
say, Bruce, how can you explain that in the light of his brother
hating him? In the light of him being falsely accused, how did
God arrange all of that and still be just and do what's right? I don't know how God does all
of that, but He does. And here's what kept Joseph from
being offended. This is what kept him from seeking
revenge at all these second causes. This is what kept him from getting
mad at his brethren. This is what kept him from calling
Potiphar's wife up and putting her in prison. Here's what he
said when he sat on the throne. And his brethren came down and
bowed down before him. And when he looked back all the
way that God had led him, here's what he said. You meant it for
evil. Potiphar's wife, you meant me
evil. My own brothers, you meant it
for evil. But God meant it for good. Who appointed Joseph's way? God did. All of those afflictions,
God did. God did that. He mysteriously,
sovereignly, fixes these afflictions. Now that's competent, is it not?
I'm not saying you can figure it out. Paul was writing here to this
church and he said, you know, you know that you were appointed
to these afflictions. He didn't say you know all about
your afflictions. You know all about the ins and
outs. He said, but you know this, that you're appointed to them.
and they are appointed to you. Live in the faith of that, and
that's comfort. When the Lord had saved Saul
of Tarshish, He told Ananias, He said, I'll show him what great
things he must suffer for My sake. How did the Lord know that?
He had already marked out His path. Job said, He knows the
way that I take. How does He know, Job? Because
He's appointed it. This affliction? These boils
all over your body? Your friend's turning on you?
He's appointed all of that? He's appointed it all. Do you
believe that? I'm not asking you to figure
that out. I'm not asking you to go into details of that or
even tell other people. Do you believe it yourself? Do
you believe that God Almighty has appointed everything that
happens in this world. You believe He's appointed His
people, His children, to affliction. Everything that touches them
is from Him. Do you believe that? The Lord
Jesus was preparing His apostles to send them out into the world
to preach the gospel when He went back to heaven. And in John
chapter 16, here's what He said to them. He said, they're going
to put you out of the synagogue. The day is coming that whosoever
kills you will thank that they are doing God's service. And he said, I'm telling you
this for two reasons. One, when it comes to pass, you can remember,
I told you. I know, I told you. Secondly,
he said, when these things come to pass, you shall not be offended. You won't stumble. What if those poor apostles went
out And they thought the Lord up there in heaven, He knew nothing
about what was going on. If He did, He couldn't control
it. And they started getting all these weapons. And people
started cussing them out. And started killing them. What's
going to happen? They said, man, this is out of
control. We can't put up with this. Let's get out of here. Let's shut it down. Let's go
home and hide and get a job. But when they begin to suffer
those afflictions, here's what they thought. He told us. He
told us. He told us what was going to
happen because He's appointed what is going to happen. No man be moved by these afflictions,
for you know that you were thereto appointed. Appointed. Paul was writing here and he
said, I'm sending Timothy to comfort you. As God's minister,
He's going to comfort you in these afflictions. concerning
your faith. And one of the ways Timothy's
going to comfort them was reminding them that you know the source
of these afflictions. You know the first cause of them.
It's of God. Brothers and sisters, if we live
in the faith of this, we'll have some comfort. I will comfort,
don't you? I need comfort. I need some comfort. I really
do. Comfort you, comfort you, my people. The only way I know how to get
some comfort in some of these afflictions is just to live in
the faith of this. God has appointed this. God has
appointed this. Now, I want to quickly give you
three things, and this will take me just a second. Well, just
a minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. It
won't take me long. But these three things. Now,
if you'll get this in your heart, this will help you in your affliction.
And don't tell me you don't have them. Don't tell me you don't
have. I don't know what, I don't know
what degree that you're involved, afflictions involved with you
and what not, but I know this, if you're a child of God, you
have them. You have afflictions. But if you'll remember these
two things, he said here, he said here in my text, that no
man be moved by these afflictions. Comfort you concerning your faith.
And these three things are this. Three things. Our faith must
not be moved from. Don't be moved from the faith
that it's your Heavenly Father that has appointed the way that
you take. Don't be moved from the faith
of that. Whatever you're going through, dear child of God, believe
this, that it's your Father that has appointed that way for you. I'm not always particularly excited
about thinking that I'm a pastor. There's times when I'd rather
cut off my right arm and I'm honest with you than come to
the pulpit. That's how sometimes I tremble in my soul for doing
that. But you know why I keep doing it? And you know why I
find some comfort in it? I believe that my Heavenly Father
has appointed this for me. And everything we go through
in our life, we have to remember that. This is from my Heavenly
Father. Yes, it's touched me in my heart. I feel like it's going to crush
my soul, but it's from my Father in heaven. He who is the Almighty and all-wise
and all-knowing, sovereign ruler of all things in heaven and in
earth is my Father. Nothing escapes His view. Nothing
is outside His range of knowing. He knows everything. A sparrow
that falls to the ground. A hair that falls from your head.
He knows it. He's appointed it. He's fixed
it. And this God, this covenant God, is my Father. Isn't that wonderful? This is
my Father's world. Let me never forget, though the
wrong may seem so strong, He is the ruler yet. And as amazing as it is to our
hearts, our poor, unworthy, sinful hearts, God is our Father. God is our Father. And Jesus
Christ told us that several times, didn't He? How many times did
He say, pray to your Father? I sin to my Father and your Father. God is your Father. Own Him as
your Father. In the time of your afflictions,
live in the faith of this. My Father sent this." Then you
don't have to be angry with your enemies. You don't have to get
offended when something happens, because it's from your Father.
It's from your Father. Satan seeks to do us harm, doesn't
he? Brother Larry read it here in chapter 2, that Paul said,
I would have come unto you once and again. Now, isn't this amazing?
This don't seem to match up with our theology. I would have come
to you once and again, he said in chapter 2. But Satan hindered
us. I longed to see your face, but
Satan hindered us. Now, brothers and sisters, When
Satan comes to tempt you, he lays snares in your way, oh,
that's serious. Absolutely be careful. He seeks
to devour you. Be careful, be sober, and seek
the Lord to be delivered from him. But know this, Satan is
God's devil. He's on a chain. He's outside
this hedge that God Himself has built around you. And He cannot
get to you without permission. He cannot. Satan went up to heaven where
the angels would worship Him. And the Lord asked him, Where
you been? He didn't ask him for information. He knew where he was. He said,
I've been walking to and fro through the earth. He said, if
you consider my servant Job, there's nobody like him. Perfect
and upright in his generation. And Satan said, you take that
hedge down and let me at him for a while. I can't get to him
because you won't give me permission. Take that hedge down and let
me get to him and I'll bring him to curse you to your face.
God said, okay, the hedge is removed. But he had to give him
permission God is the only sovereign in
this universe. What about man? What about humanity? What can they do to you? This
is why you and I should not be so offended when somebody does
something to us. Be gracious, be kind, be forgiving. Leave it to the Lord. David had to flee out of Jerusalem
and he was walking up Mount Holly and he was barefooted. He was
crying. His men were with him. Everybody's hearts were burning.
His own son had invaded and was going to kill him. While he was
leaving Jerusalem, barefooted, the king, he was this wretch
named Shimei walking along the hill, getting up a bunch of stones
and throwing them at David. That's good enough for you, you
old bloody man. You're getting what you deserve,
you scoundrel!" Joab's brother said, let me go
over and take off that dog's head. You know what David said? Don't you touch him. Now, I'm
fixing to make a statement. The Bible makes a statement right
there, and none of us are going to understand. But I just believe
it. He said, God has put it in his
heart to curse me. So let him curse. Let him curse. God will hold
him accountable for cursing. And when people mistreat you,
misjudge you, spread rumors on you, love them anyway. Be kind
to them anyway. Maybe God has put it in their
hearts to do that. They'll give account to Him.
Pray for them! Pray for them! Paul said, by
praying for them, you'll heap coals of fire on their heads. Pray for them. All your circumstances are in
your Father's control. All your circumstances, no matter
what it is, they're in the control of your Heavenly Father. He sent
ravens to feed Elijah, His prophet, didn't He? That's an awful circumstance. That man was going to starve
to death. What's God going to do about this? He's got nobody
to bring Him any food. Nobody knows where He is. He's
going to lay there and dry up and die. No, He's not. His Father
will send the ravens to feed Him. You've got 5,000 men. They're
ready to faint in the way. And the disciples said, You need
to send them home. They didn't have the strength
to get on. What are these poor people going to do? How many
loaves of bread? You've got five. You've got any
fish? Two little fish. What are they
among so many? It don't matter, does it? No matter what circumstances
you're in, brothers, it just don't matter. You said, I'm so
tried about this, what I'm going through. You think your Father
rules those circumstances? He appoints these things to try
you, to try your faith. Don't forget that. Live in the
faith that your Heavenly Father is the one that appoints these
afflictions. And as amazing as it is, He loves
you. And He cares for you. Casting
all your cares on Him. Secondly is this. Don't be moved
from the faith of this while you're in the midst of these
afflictions. When your heart feels so crushed, You have in
heaven a faithful and merciful high priest that has already
secured your eternal salvation, and he lives there to plead and
maintain your cause. Now, you remember that and live
in the faith of that when you're trying and you're hurting. One
of the things that often happens, and it's a good thing, when the
Lord sends afflictions, when He removes His hand and lets
them come, One of the good things is that we often remember our
sins. David said, it's good for me
that I was afflicted. Why is that, David? Before I
was afflicted, I went astray. But now, these afflictions have
brought me back. These afflictions have brought
repentance in my heart. It's good, he said, it's good.
If afflictions brings us to acknowledge our sin, and confess them to
the Lord. That's a good thing, isn't it?
Peter got so proud. The Lord said, Peter, you're
going to forsake me. He said, Lord, everybody else
may do it but not me. I just will not do it. John will
do it. Peter, no. James, not me. What pride. Poor Peter, what pride. But boy,
he did it, didn't he? He did it. And what happened? He went out and wept bitterly. Afflictions can be a good thing,
but remember this. God knows our downsettings and
our uprisings. He knows that we're just dust.
He knows that we're out to fall and fail. And on purpose, He
has set us a mediator between us and Himself to plead and maintain
our cause. If these afflictions bring your
sin to view, remember you've got an advocate with a Father
Jesus Christ, the righteous, who is the propitiation for our
sins. Confess them to Him. And if we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. That'll make your
afflictions easier. You've got somebody in heaven
maintaining your call. I'll tell you what, if I'd been
given a summons to appear before the judge for some crime I'd
committed, I'd feel very confident to know that I've got a lawyer
on a retainer. We often do that around the house. My son would come, and this one
company's been harassing him. And I tell him, I say, son, I
say, tell him you're going to call your lawyer. You're going
to call your lawyer. That usually stops people. You're
going to call my lawyer. Well, if you're conscious of
being harassed, You've got Christ on retainer. Go to Him. He said, Peter, you're going
to fall. But I'm telling you this to comfort you. I have prayed
for you. That's your faith, Thelma. Lastly
is this, and I want you to turn to the verse of Scripture when
we read this in closing. Revelation chapter 2. Look at
Revelation chapter 2. They have been the faith of this,
brothers and sisters, that whatever afflictions you're in,
they're short. They're very, very short. Life
is short, isn't it? If you have to suffer afflictions
all your life, that's not very long in the light of eternity.
And look here in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 8. Revelation chapter
2 and verse 8, page 1338 in your pew Bible. To the angel of the
church and sermon I write, these things saith the first and the
last, nothing before him and nothing after him. I was dead
and yet I'm alive. I know your works and your tribulation,
your poverty, but you're rich. I know the blasphemy of them
which say they're Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of
Satan. Fear none of those things which
you shall suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall
have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life." Boy, the Lord knows
all of this, doesn't He? He knows they're going to have
tribulation. He knows who's going to cause it, who's going to bring
it, Satan. And He knows how long it's going
to last. Ten days. That's not long, is it? You can
take it for ten days, can't you? Don't this tell us something?
That it's God who appoints these things? When they begin? When's the first day? Whenever
He's appointed. When's the tenth day? That's
the day it'll end. That's the day He's appointed.
Everything about your afflictions has been appointed. The depths
of them, the length of them, it's appointed by God. This is the end that God has
purposed. I'll give you a crown of life.
That's what He said, isn't it? That's the end. And He's bringing
you through tribulation. And He's working to this end
to bring you to heaven through all these tribulations and have
you there with Him. And you know something? You know
what's going to happen when the children of God get to heaven?
You know what's going to happen? They're going to look back over
their life and they're going to say, my, my, everything turned
out so well. It all worked out so well. Would
you change anything in your life? Sure you would. You think David would change
some things in his life if he'd had it done over? Or Peter? You think Peter would deny the
Lord if he had it done over? But we don't have that option,
do we? We're filling our poor feeble ways through this world,
and when we get to the end, we look back and say, man, I wish
I hadn't did that. I would change that if I could, but you can't.
But I tell you, when we get to heaven and the end is all revealed
and everything is put together, you know what we're going to
say? My, it worked out so good. And why did it? Because God had
appointed it. That's why. Let's sing 267. Page 267. All things work out for good.
We sang this to the tune of Majestic Sweetness, and I think that's
an appropriate tune to sing this to. 267. All things work out
for good, we know. This is God's great design. He orders all our steps below,
for purpose is divine. For purpose is divine. Listen to this. This is the faith
that keeps me still, no matter what the test. And lets me glory in His will,
For well I know it is best, For well I know it is best. So now the future holds no fear,
God guards the work begun. And mortals are immortal here
until their work is done. Until their work is done. Someday the path he chose for
me will all be understood. In heaven's clearer light I'll
see all things worked out for good, all things worked