Let's open this evening's services
with hymn 290 in the hardback hymnal. 290. And we'll stand. Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide. In every change, ye faithful
will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best,
thy heavenly friend. Through thorny ways, leads to
a joyful end. Be still, my soul, thy God doth
undertake To guide the future as He has the past Thy hope,
thy confidence, let nothing shake All now mysterious shall be bright
at last. Be still, my soul, the waves
and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt
below. Be still my soul, the hour is
hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and
fear are gone, ? Sorrow for God ? ? Love's purest joys restored
? ? Be still my soul ? ? When change and tears are past ? ?
All safe and blessed ? ? We shall meet at last ? Be seated. Thank you, Adam. That hymn was
perfect for passage of scripture I want us to look at tonight. If you could turn with me to
begin with in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Men talk about salvation being
a choice. It is a choice. It's God's choice. God, who elected a people according
to His own will and purpose in the day of salvation, gives them
the gift of faith. Faith is a gift of God, not of
works. We were just saying about how
we need to have our souls stilled. If the Lord's pleased to do that,
it'll be by faith. Let's read these verses together.
Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained
a good report. Through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."
The second half of that verse by itself, if this is the word
of God, forbids any type of, what do
you call it? Just went blank. Evolution. The things which are seen were
not made of the things which do appear. By faith, Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Why was it a more
excellent sacrifice? Because Cain's sacrifice was
a blood sacrifice, and Abel's was the sacrifice of his labors. by which he obtained a witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it, he being
dead, yet speaketh. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. How did he please God? By
faith. But without faith, verse six,
it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, we come
into thy holy presence in the name of thy dear son. And we
ask Lord what the disciples ask, increase our faith. Lord, help
thou our unbelief. There is a sin that doth so easily
beset us and it is our unbelief. Lord, we pray tonight that you
would still our souls that You would draw us into Thy presence,
that You would give us the gift of faith, and that You would
comfort and assure us in Christ. For it's in His name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand again and sing hymn
299 in the hardback. Day by day and with each passing
moment, strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father's wise
bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear He whose heart
is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what he deems best
Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure Mingling toil with peace
and rest Every day the Lord himself is near me, with a special mercy
for each hour. All my cares he fain would bear
and cheer me, he whose name is Counselor and Power. The protection of his child and
treasure is a charge that on himself he laid. As thy days, thy strength shall
be in measure, this the pledge to me he made. Help me then in every tribulation
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord That I lose not faith's sweet
consolation Offered me within Thy holy Word Help me, Lord,
when toil and trouble meeting, E'er to take as from a father's
hand. One by one, the days, the moments
fleeting, Till I reach the promised land. Be seated, please. There was a line in that hymn
we just sang that spoke of our faith coming from God's word. And it reminded me of faith comes
by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God. And we're
here tonight to hear and hope that the Lord will speak truth
and peace to our hearts and give us faith in Christ. A couple
of weeks ago, we started in 1 Peter 1. If you'd like to open your
Bibles there with me, I think we left off last Wednesday night
on verse 4 of chapter 1. So I'd like to look at verses
5 through 9, and I've titled this, The Trial of Your Faith. the trial of your faith. Faith, saving faith, God-given
faith must be tried in order to be proven. In order to be
proven as genuine faith, it must be tried. And the Lord continues
to try the faith of his children in order to prove them and to
prove himself. Look at verse five. Well, we'll
begin, we'll read verse four. To an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith, unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love,
in whom though now you see him not yet believing, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. God tries the
faith that he gives, that it might be found to the praise
and the honor and the glory of Jesus Christ, God-given faith. Peter knew a lot about this trial. Turn to me just a couple of pages
over to chapter 4, 1 Peter chapter 4, and look with me at verse
12. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trials, which is to try you as though
some strange thing happened unto you. Peter had been beaten, he
had been arrested, he had been imprisoned, And the Lord tells
us in John chapter 21 that he would die a martyr's death. And
it's not recorded in scripture, but history tells us that Peter
was crucified. So he knew something about the
trial of faith. Verse 13, but rejoice in as much
as you are partakers of Christ's suffering. that when his glory
shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. Look over in chapter five at
verse six. Humble yourself therefore under
the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in due time,
casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober,
be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh
about seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfastly in the
faith." To resist the devil in the faith is to cry out to Christ
in times of temptation. That's what faith is. Faith is
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith. And
so this resisting the devil is to cry. as a child for the Lord to deliver
you. Look at verse, look at the rest
of verse nine, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. I love the way the
Holy Spirit talks about our afflictions and our trials and our troubles
and our temptations as being an accomplishment. It's an accomplishment. Paul in one place calls them
necessities. These things are required in
order that faith might be to his glory. Think it not strange. Peter knew
something about this accomplishment. You remember on the night that
the Lord celebrated the Last Supper. with the disciples just
before he went to the cross. And the Lord told all the disciples
that they would forsake him, that they would deny him. And
Peter in pride and in so much self-reliance said, they might,
but not me, not me. I'm gonna be with you thick and
thin, what doesn't matter. Peter, Satan has asked to sift
thee. But be of good cheer, for I have
prayed for thee. And when you are converted, teach
the brethren." Before the cock crows three times,
you're going to deny me. Before the cock crows, you're
going to deny me three times. And then Peter did, and he was
so broken and so... It was a great trial for him,
and yet the Lord uses that all through his life and ministry
and now certainly those things are on his mind as he's writing
to us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit about these trials
and troubles and temptations that are sure to come. They're
sure to come. It's the trying of your faith,
which is much more precious than gold. Though it be tried by fire,
shall be proven, shall be proven as God-given faith that gives
to Him all the glory. The first thing we learn about
faith in our text is that faith is kept by the power of God.
Notice in verse five, we've already seen in the previous
verses that the Father has elected a people, the Holy Spirit has
set them apart, and the Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed them. And in the day of God's power,
he sends his spirit and makes us willing. And he opens the
eyes of our understanding and God's elect sheep are saved to
an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, reserved for you in
heaven. Just as we are dependent upon
God's grace for our initial saving faith, we continue to be dependent
upon His grace to be kept in the faith. And as we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we see more and more
of our need for grace, don't we? We see more and more about
how frail and how vulnerable we are and how dependent we are. That's what faith is. Faith is
not some sort of character trait to be proud of. Faith is a humble
dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Lest you become as a
little child, you should not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the
kingdom of God. So this matter of faith is a
God-given humility It causes us to look and depend upon the
Lord Jesus Christ for all of our salvation. We must be kept. The Lord Jesus
said in John chapter 10, I give unto them eternal life. I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. They shall
never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. No one can pluck you out of God's
hand. If God's put you in his hand, then you can't pluck yourself
out of God's hand. If God's put you in his hand,
you're in God's hand, you're there. Listen to the next verse.
My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man
can pluck them out of my father's hand. So here we are, we're in
the hand of Christ, who's in the hand of the Father, secure
in faith, that this God-given faith, and that's why it's tried,
that's why it's proven, in order to glorify the one who holds
it and keeps it. This word kept, I looked it up,
it's a picture of a guard keeping up a prisoner or a garrison keeping
a city and actually it's found only a few times in the New Testament
one of the times is in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 I think it is when
Paul was telling about how he escaped from Damascus he was
in Damascus and he said the governor the governor set a a garrison to keep the city so
that they could arrest me. And so, and he got that command
from the king. So he mentions the king, the
governor, the keeping of the city, all for the purpose of
arresting the Apostle Paul. And that's where the disciples
took him and put him in a basket and lowered him out through a
window. And he escaped. He escaped. And I thought, you
know, that's, That's the way it is when men try to keep something.
We try to keep ourselves in the faith. We depend upon our strength. We
set up garrisons around. And there's always an open window,
isn't there? There's always an open window.
There's always a place of escape when we try to keep ourselves.
But when God keeps us, God keeps us. There's no possibility of
escape. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
three. Galatians chapter three. Kept in the faith by the power
of God. Oh, not by our own strength,
not by our own determination, not by our own commitment, but
kept by the power of God. Now, there was a time when we
were under the law and we were kept by the schoolmaster of the
law. Now in a Jewish family, particularly
one with some means, they would, the father would hire, would
take one of his most trusted slaves and make him a schoolmaster
and instruct that schoolmaster to take care of his children
and instruct the children to obey the schoolmaster. Now that slave wasn't necessarily
a teacher, the rabbi would do that, but the slave was responsible
for the safety of the children. And they were kept by that schoolmaster. And the children were responsible
until they came of age to obey the instructions for their own
safety of that schoolmaster. Look at Galatians chapter three,
verse 23. Here's one of the, I think this
word kept is only found in this form four times in the New Testament.
This is one of them. Verse 23, but before faith came,
before faith came, not before you decide to have faith, before
faith came to you, we were kept under the law. We were kept by
this schoolmaster. Shut up. unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster. Now, the next three words you
know are in italics, and I am just sure they don't belong in
this text. The schoolmaster who is the law
in this passage doesn't take us to Christ. Grace takes us
to Christ. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth to repentance. It's the gift of faith given
to us by the Holy Spirit. It's the love of Christ that
constraineth us. We don't look at the law and
cringe the law and in fear of judgment run to Christ. So what is the Lord telling us
here? the translators, I'm thankful
this is why we use King James here because they took words
that they added to the text and put them in italics and so we
know they weren't there and most of the time when you find an
italicized word it only confuses the text more than clarifies
it but here it definitely confuses it. We were kept under the law, shut up unto the
faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law
was our schoolmaster unto Christ. Unto Christ. We were kept by
this schoolmaster under its authority and under its control until Christ. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
came to us in faith, He delivered us. We came of age. We're no longer under the schoolmaster. We're no longer under the law.
We're no longer kept by the law. We don't need to be kept by the
law now. Why? Because now we're kept by Christ.
Now we're kept by faith. That's what Peter's saying. Kept
by the power of God. So, let's read the rest of that
verse. Unto Christ that we might be
justified by faith. All right. In Jude, verse 24, the Lord tells
us, Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and
to present you faultless, faultless, holy, undefiled. He presents us faultless before
the presence of his glory with everlasting joy, unblameable,
unreprovable in the sight of God. How are we gonna be unblameable
and unreprovable in the sight of God if God doesn't do it?
So here we were kept by the law. We saw that the keeping of man
doesn't work any more than Paul could be kept by the garrison
that the king put around Damascus. And here we see that the Lord,
when he gives us faith, now he keeps us. Now he keeps us. He doesn't use the law to keep
us. He doesn't beat us with the law. He doesn't threaten us with
the law. He keeps us. That's what Peter's
telling us. He keeps us by the power of God.
The same Holy Spirit that brought faith to us is the same Holy
Spirit that continues to give us faith and increase our faith.
Keeps us coming to Christ. To whom coming? How many times
in a day we turn our attention away from Him. And the Spirit
of God won't let us go. God keeps His sheep on a leash,
doesn't He? Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? We'd be headlong
over the cliff into the very pits of hell if God didn't, by
His power, keep us. He keeps us. He preserves us. We often talk
about the perseverance of the saints, and that is true. That's, you know, the last point
of the five points of of grace, it's the perseverance of the
saints. But the only way that the only
reason that the saints persevere is because the Holy Spirit preserves. So it's the preservation of the
Holy Spirit that causes the believer to persevere in Christ. We are
kept by the power of God unto salvation. It's never going to
end. If it's God given faith, he's
going to prove it. He's going to test it. He's going
to try it. and he's gonna keep it. The scripture says that the
gifts of God, and we know that faith is a gift of God, that
the gifts of God are without repentance. God doesn't change
his mind. When he gives faith, it's forever. Well, actually it's not forever. It's for this life. There will
come a time when our faith will not be needed. Our faith will
be our experience. Our hope will be our sight. We won't need faith anymore.
That's why the scripture says faith, hope and charity and the
greatest of these is charity. Why? Because in heaven, there's
no faith. There's no hope. If we're, we're glorying in the
very presence, we look through a glass darkly now, but then
face to face, face to face, As long as we're in this flesh,
as long as we cry with that man, Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief. As long as we're finding ourselves
like the, like the disciples saying, Oh Lord, increase our
faith. Then the Lord is going to use
these trials and troubles and tribulations to prove them. David, David said in Psalm 17,
keep me. as the apple of thine eye, hide
me under the shadow of thy wing." Lord, I'm dependent upon you
to keep me. I'm dependent upon you to hide me. And then in Psalm 140, he said,
keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me from the
hands of the wicked. Notice in our text, you'd like
to turn back with me to 1 Peter 1, verse 5, who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Oh, how do I know? that I'm being kept by God. All men go through trials. Scripture
says that that's the case. Everybody has problems in this
world. What is the purpose of these
things? It's to produce faith, isn't it? And what is faith? Faith is believing God. Faith
is not, as some would say, you know, if I just believe something
strong enough, then I can make it happen in the future. As if
your faith is somehow going to cause something. Faith is just
to believe God. Just believe everything. You walk in the light that you
have, and as you do, God gives more light. There's so much we
don't understand, but we believe what's been revealed. And revelation
is progressive. Revelation, the revelation of
the truth of the gospel is progressive. It's little by little, line by
line, precept by precept. Here a little, there a little.
God, and as the Lord reveals something, faith believes it.
Faith does not say to God, no, I don't believe that. Faith believes
what's been revealed. And as that revelation is believed
by God-given faith, then more revelation comes. Until that
time when, look, ready to be revealed in the last time. Everything
will be revealed then. Turn with me to Romans chapter
one. Romans chapter one. I want to prove this with scripture. This matter of believing what's
been revealed. Child of God, you're being kept
by the power of God. And the fullness of his glory
will be revealed in the last time. And the evidence of that
that you have is that every time God reveals something to you
about himself from his word, you can't not believe it. You
can't not believe it. You believe what God says. If
you've been given God-given faith. Now there's an infinite revelation
of God given to us in the scripture. So we're not saying that we have
a full, no, that's being reserved to be revealed in the last time.
But moment by moment, day by day, the Lord reveals to us. Look
what the Lord says in Romans chapter one, verse 17. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. So from faith to faith,
you believe what God has said, and then the Lord increases our
faith and gives us more revelation. And we walk by faith. In contrast
to that, Verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even as eternal power in Godheads, so that they are without excuse."
Now, this is God speaking. The Lord's saying, you just look
out there in creation, and you just consider your own conscience.
And you know there's a God. There is a God with whom we must
do. The Lord has revealed himself. And what is he saying? Those
who reject that simple, clear revelation of God will not be
given any more light. Those who bow to what has been
revealed will receive more revelation. All men are without excuse. Look
at verse 21, because that when they knew God, they knew there
was a God. Their conscience told them there
was a God. Creation told them there was a God. They wouldn't
bow to him. Because when they knew God, they
glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain
in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Oh, isn't
that the way of the world? Ah, the wisdom of the world. God makes foolish the wisdom
of the world. Man thinks he can stand in judgment
of God. Man stands before God without
excuse. And here's the glorious hope
that we have in light of our text. Faith to faith. The Lord reveals more and more
of his glory and of his grace. Makes us more and more humble
and childlike and dependent upon him. for all of our salvation
were kept by the power of God unto salvation. Now, salvation
is used here in the future tense. And we could ask the question,
well, when is a man saved? And the answer to that question
is fivefold. He is saved in the covenant of
grace when the lamb that was slain before the foundation of
the world enter into a covenant relationship with God Almighty
and redeem them or justify them in himself. That happened before Adam was
created. That happened before the stars came into being. When
we say we're saved, secondly, when the Lord Jesus Christ became
our redeemer and bore the sins of his people in his body upon
that tree and bowed his mighty head and said, it is finished.
Everything that God required for that covenant to be fulfilled
was satisfied in the sacrifice that Christ made on Calvary's
cross. Everything. And we're saved. So we're saved
in eternity past, saved 2000 years ago. We're saved. In that moment of truth, when
God by his Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our understanding,
and causes us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the first
time. It's called the new birth. It's called regeneration. It's
a work of grace in the heart. when God saves us. That's three. Four, the believer
continues to be saved every day. Kept by the power of God unto
salvation. We continue coming to Christ. We're always in need of a Savior.
Why? Because we're always sinful. Always. I will always need a savior.
But here the Lord is referring to that fifth time of salvation. Kept by the power of God unto
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day. When we see
him as he is and are made like him. What a, here's the power
of God. This hope and this rejoicing
is not without trial. It's not without affliction.
It's not without persecution. It's not without trouble. It's
not without temptation. It's not without proving. That's
what Peter's talking about. He's saying this gift of God
which results in the fullness of our salvation is going to
be tried. It's going to be proven. It's going to force you to do
what you did when you first came to Christ. Look outside of yourself. We don't look inside of ourselves.
We don't look for an experience or a feeling or, you know, we're
looking outside of ourselves to another. Arresting all the
hope of our salvation in a person. Trusting. God is pleased. With all that he did, we have
this treasure, the Lord Jesus Christ, in earthen vessels, that
the power might be of God and not of us. So the Lord tells
us that he's put himself in an earthen vessel. Turn with me
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Verse six, for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness. Now he's referring back, Paul's
referring back to creation. Genesis chapter one, the world
was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of
it. And that physical creation is a picture of our new birth. We are dark, we are without form,
we're void. And we're dependent upon God
to say, let there be light. Let there be light. God speaks
and the light comes. And he called the day, he called
the light day and the darkness night. And you and I, just like
we have day and night every day, we have two natures. We have
a nature of light in Christ, a perfect nature, a sinless nature. And then we have this body of
death that we carry around with us. It's full of darkness. And there's a war between the
spirit and the flesh, isn't there? There's a conflict. Believers
are in conflict with themselves all the time. Reminded of what
Rebecca said when she was pregnant with Jacob and Caleb. She said, why am I thus? Why am I so conflicted? Jacob
and Esau, why am I so conflicted? And the Lord said, because there's
two nations in you. And there's two nations in you,
child of God. There's two nations in me. There's
darkness and there's light. And it's day and night. But just
as the Lord said, let's read the rest of this. Just as the
Lord said, let there be light. He has shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. So he's pointed us to Christ.
He's revealed to us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, But look at verse seven,
we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of
the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every
side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. That word despair means to be
without hope. We're perplexed, but we're not
without hope. We're persecuted, but not forsaken. We're cast
down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our body. So here, Paul is telling the
same thing Peter's telling us about our experience in this
walk of faith. It must be tried. It must be
proven. It's tried in a way that the
unbeliever knows nothing about. David said, I was jealous. It was Asaph actually, I think
in Psalm 72. He said, when I considered the
way of the wicked, I was jealous. They don't have the conflict
that I have. And then later on, he said, until I went into the
tabernacle of God, then I knew their end. Then I knew their end, no more
jealous. So we have this treasure in earthen
vessels. Why do we have this treasure?
Why has the Lord ordained these trials and troubles? Well, five
things very quickly. Number one, to humble us, to
expose our weakness and to cause us to rely upon the Lord Jesus
Christ for our strength. I'll show you that in the scriptures.
Turn with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. 2nd Corinthians chapter
12. Paul is defending to the church
and declaring to the church at Corinth, his apostolic authority. He is an apostle who's been given
revelation from God. And he says in verse seven, lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations that were given to me, a thorn in the flesh, a messenger
for Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted above
measure. So Paul tells us right there,
he knows what the purpose of this thorn in the flesh is. We're
not gonna try to figure out what that was. The Lord didn't tell
us. And the reason why I didn't tell is because you have a thorn
in your flesh, and I have a thorn in my flesh. And sometimes those
thorns change depending on troubles and trials and tribulations and
doubts and fears. And it's a messenger from Satan
to buffet us. And Paul tells us, he says, this
is to keep me humble. Because of all the revelation
that's been given me, if I didn't have this thorn in my flesh,
I'd be proud. Verse eight, for this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might be depart from me. And
he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. So the thorn in your flesh was
given to you in order to expose your weakness. Most gladly, therefore,
will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am
strong." So, I know why God sent this to me, to humble me and
make me dependent upon Him. The Lord knows how to humble
his children. And the scripture says that he resists the proud
and he gives grace to the humble. The world doesn't esteem humility,
does it? Oh, they may esteem a feigned
humility. A person pretending to be humble.
Don't try to act humble. Just come before the Lord and
you'll be humble. You'll be humbled by his glory
and by his power. You try to be humble and it's
just gonna be a fake humility in it. But if we ever, by God's
grace, find ourselves standing in his presence, we got no choice
but to be humble. God resists the proud and he
gives grace to the humble. humility, looking to Christ,
glory in Him, giving Him all the credit. Secondly, these trials and troubles turn
us from going astray. That's simple. You know that
in your own experience, don't you? The Lord has afflicted you
when you were away from him, brought you back through those
afflictions. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 119, verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but
now I've kept that word. Lord, you use these afflictions
to humble me and to bring me back. That's what Hebrews chapter
12 is about. when the Lord's talking about
chastising His children? And He said, if you be not chastised,
you're not one of Mine. And that's what Peter was saying
there in chapter 5, when he said, this thing is accomplished in
all of your brethren throughout all the world. The Lord corrects
His children. And He used these things in order
to turn us back. Thirdly, these things work for
our good. They really do. Let the world,
in their power of positive thinking, try to convince of you. They're
just whistling through the graveyard is what they're doing. When they
say, oh, you know, it's all good. There's a silver lining around
every cloud and, you know, everything's going to be fine. Not for unbelievers, it's not.
That's just man trying to convince himself of something that's not
true. But for the child of God, child of God, you can say, it's
good. It may not be easy. It's hard
sometimes. God's providence is hard, but
it's always good. Jeremiah put it like this. He
said, I know the thoughts that I think toward you. Thoughts
of good and not of evil to bring you to your expected end. That's it. There it is. That's
what Peter's saying. You know, you think about the
troubles that David got himself in with Bathsheba, and yet God
turned it for good. We have Psalm 51. What child
of God is not delighted to read Psalm 51 and pray Psalm 51? We have Solomon as a result of
that unholy union that David started with Bathsheba. And we
saw last Sunday, Tamar. and the trials that she went
through after losing two husbands, and then Judah wouldn't give
her the youngest one, and then Judah did what he did, and it
was all to bring about Pharaz, and to put Tamar herself into
the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's all good. It's all good, child of God.
It really is. Why? Because you don't make it
good because you convince yourself that it's good. God makes it
good. We're in His hands. We're kept
by the power of God unto salvation. And He's working. You know. That's
what Romans 8.28 says. For you know. that all things
work together for good for them that love God and those that
are the called according to his purpose. William Cowper wrote in God Moves
in Mysterious Ways, the clouds you so much dread are big with
mercy and shall break with blessings on your head. I like that line. He went on to say, behind a frowning
providence, he hides a smiling face. The bud may have a bitter
taste, but sweet will be the flower. Fourthly and quickly, these things
wean us from this world. What a mercy it is. for the Lord
to pry our fingers loose from the things of this world, how
attached to this world we become, how attracted to this world we
are, how much safety and security we convince ourselves we have
by the things of this world. And the Lord brings these trials
to pull our fingers loose and deliver us. And the older we
get, the more we see that. Our health begins to fail. We find ourselves weaker and
we see how vain the things that we trusted in really are. And fifthly, and finally, and
bringing us full circle to what faith is really all about, You
remember in John chapter 9, when the Lord went into the temple
and there was a man there who had been blind from birth. And
he's an old, he's a man now. He's a grown man. And the disciples
pointed him out, the blind man over there. Is he blind because
of his sins or because of the sins of his parents? And what
did the Lord say? Neither. Neither. But that the power of God might
be manifest in him to God's glory. There's the purpose. Why, Lord, why this thorn in
my flesh? That the power of God might manifest in you, might
be manifest in you, that God might be glorified. The trial of your faith. being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. And though you see him not, yet
you believe, You rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, the end of your faith. And that's
what faith will end, the salvation of your soul. One day that'll
be. We need faith no more. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Lord, forgive us for our unbelief.
Strengthen your children Cause us, Lord, to find our strength
in Christ. For it's in His name we pray.
Amen. I ask Adam to lead us in number
35 in your Spiral Hymnal. And I ask you, in light of the
message and the text that we looked at, to consider carefully
the words of this hymn that we're about to sing. Okay? Let's stand
together. Adam, you come, please. Number
35 in the Spiral Hymnal. I ask the Lord that I might grow
in faith and love and every grace might more of his salvation know,
and seek more earnestly his face. was he who taught me thus to
pray and he I trust has answered prayer but it has been in such
a way as almost drove me to despair I hope that in some favored hour
At once he'd answer my request And by his love's constraining
power Subdue my sins and give me rest Instead of this, he made
me feel the hidden ? Rules of my heart ? ? And let the angry
powers of hell ? ? Assault my soul in every part ? ? Yea, more
with his own hand he seemed ? Intent to aggravate my woe Crossed all
the fair designs I schemed Blasted my gourds and laid me low Lord,
why is this? I trembling cried. Wilt thou pursue thy worm to
death? Tis in this way the Lord replied. I answer prayer for grace and
faith. you These inward trials I employ,
From self and pride to set thee free, And break thy schemes of
earthly joy, That thou mayst find thy all in me. the