Two verses there I want to call
your attention to. Verses 6 and 7. Verses 6 and 7. This is the way to read. Humble
yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may
exalt you in due time. Humble yourselves. Which means
submit yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.
The mighty hand of God. Not a weak, pitiful hand that
is infected with arthritis, that cannot do what it intends to
do, but a mighty hand. a hand of power, a hand of strength.
The mighty hand of God is suggestive of the whole of God, the infinite
greatness, power, wisdom, righteousness, and holiness of God Almighty.
Submit yourselves unto the mighty hand of God. He may exalt you
in due time. In other words, he said if a
man submits himself, and of course submission Submission first comes
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not talking about man making
submission apart from Jesus Christ. There is submission. When a man
comes to Christ, he's submitting to Jesus Christ as his Master
and his Ruler and his Savior. He's saying that I haven't got
anything to help myself. There's a reason why I'm coming.
I'm coming because I'm helpless and hopeless, and I submit myself
to you, to your care. A man does this, as he says,
humbles himself, submits himself. In due time, God is going to
exalt him, in due time. When the time has come, when
the time is right, the appointed time, God will exalt him. He
may not be in this life, he may be in the life to come, but sooner
or later. You can rest assured upon this,
any man that has ever submitted, unto the mighty hand of God,
he can have the utmost confidence that what God has said he would
do, he won't fail to deliver. And if he said that he'll exalt
a man in due time, then he will do that. He won't fail. He won't
fail. He'll fail if he's got a weak
hand. He'll fail if the God that we
know, is like the God that they've been telling me about all of
my life, that He's an old, He's old up there and He can't do
anything unless somebody cooperates with Him. Unless the forces of
nature comes together and cooperates with Him, He can't do anything.
Well, then, brother, I'm in a bad way. But if the God of the Bible,
the God of the Bible, the God of infinite power, If he's like
he says he is, then he's able to do all that he promises, and
he'll do it. So you believe that? I believe
it. So you understand it? No. But listen to me. I don't have to understand in
order to enjoy. I enjoy this. I don't understand
some of the things I've pointed out to you in John chapter 6.
I don't understand some of those things, but I enjoy it. He said that the man comes as
everlasting life, eternal life. I don't understand that, but
I enjoy it. It's a comfort to my poor heart. All right, he said that he may
exalt you in due time. Now listen to verse 7, casting
all your care, not part of it, casting all your care. all your
anxieties and frustrations, all your doubts and all your fears,
all your physical sufferings, your mental sufferings, casting,
not part of them, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth
for you. Now, I don't understand that.
I don't understand why He could care for me. I can understand
it in this light. I can understand it as I am in
oneness joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand how he can
care for me. In myself he couldn't care for
me, but in Christ he cares for me. I'm being conformed to his
image. God only had one Son. That's all he ever had, just
one Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he delighted in him over
and above all of his creation. The morning star sang together
and heard about Christ. God said, This is my beloved
Son, whom I am well pleased. I am pleased with him. I am delighted
with him. And everybody that is connected
with him, God is delighted with them, for Christ's sake. That
is the only way I can understand it. I can't understand that God
could be delighted with me apart from Christ. Because apart from
Jesus Christ, God is a consuming fire. I got to be connected with him
whom God loves supremely. And that comes about through
what we refer to as the new birth, being born again, adopted into
God's family. Believe in the report in regard
to God's Son. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He cares for you. Now, in this fourth and fifth
chapter of the book of Peter, throughout the book of Peter,
he talks about some physical problems these people have. They
have physical sufferings. One place I read in verse 12
of the fourth chapter, it says, Beloved, think it not strange. Don't think it an unusual thing.
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some
strange thing happened unto you. When you have difficulties and
anxieties and problems and afflictions and sufferings, don't think it
an unusual thing or a strange thing that this thing should
happen to you, but rejoice. Rejoice if you have afflictions
and these things that you feel like sometimes are cruelties,
but rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings,
that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
when the glory of God, the fullness of God's glory is revealed in
the coming of Jesus Christ to set up his kingdom Ye may be
glad also. You'll forget all of these things
that are behind you. You'll remember that. You'll
just be glad for the glory of God in the face of Jesus. It'll
be so wonderful that you'll be captivated, consumed, overwhelmed
by the glory of God. You say, well, do you understand
that? No, but I enjoy it. I don't understand it. If you be reproached for the
name of Jesus Christ, that is, if people speak, if they speak
mean of you because of your identification with Jesus Christ, happy are
ye if you are reproached for that reason, happy are you for
the spirit of glory and of God and the rest of it. Boy, you
think of that! The spirit of glory! God Almighty
rests upon you. On their part He is evil spoken
of, but on your part He is glorified. You say, well, I don't realize or have never
experienced that when God was glorified in my little old two-bit,
five-cent confession or testimony. Well, you probably don't remember
any time. God does. And I remember when
He said, in that last day at the grave gathering, they're
going to gather them all there. All the graves are going to give
up their dead, and the oceans are going to give up their dead. All the particles of dust of
the bodies of all the people everywhere that ever lived is
going to be gathered together, and they're going to be brought
before God Almighty. Some on his right hand, some
on his left hand. He's going to say to some of
them there, he said, when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was
thirsty, you gave me to drink. When I was naked, you clothed
me. When I was in prison, you visited me. And they're going
to turn in amazement and say, when, Lord, did we do all these
things? We don't remember ever doing
these things. We don't remember it. We don't remember any work
we ever done, were they, that would entitle us to such honor
and such glory. We don't remember it. Don't let
your left hand know what your right hand's doing. We don't
remember it. He said, as often or as much
as you've done for the least of my brethren, he said, you've
done for me. If you give a cup of cold water, to a thirsty traveler in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not just talking about some
magical formula to say, in the name of Jesus, like these healers
do. I say, in the name of Jesus,
I rebuke the devil. I'm not talking about that kind
of stuff. In the name of Christ, the name of Christ that opens
up the door, the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who He is and what He's done. That's involved if you give a
thirsty traveler a cup of cold water. God said, I'll never forget
that. I won't forget it. You'll have
your reward. You'll get your recognition.
Nothing will go unnoticed. You know something? Well, he
talked about this something. Verse 15 says, But let none of
you suffer. There's that word again. We've
had three times already, suffering. None of you suffer as a murder.
That is, if a man who's a believer, if he kills another man out of
spite or envy or anger, whatever, kills him, then he'll have to
go to penitentiary. And he'll have to suffer as a
murder. It doesn't indicate here that he's not saved. It doesn't
mean that at all. It means that he'll have to suffer
the form of punishment that the law reserves for a man who kills
another man. He'll have to go to penitentiary.
So if he suffers as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer
or as a busybody in other man's matters, if he suffers for the...
Well, that's well and good. He ought to. That's what he's
saying. But yet, if any man suffer simply because he is a follower
of mine, if he suffers for that reason, he said, let him not
be ashamed. Don't let him duck his head.
Don't let him be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. That last verse 19, Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God. There's a
lot of people that are suffering according to the will of God. commit the keeping of their souls
to Him, a man who's going to suffer according to the will
of God, then that man ought to do this. He ought to commit his
soul unto the keeping of his Creator God in well-doing. That's what he ought to do. Well,
here's what I want to talk to you about, just a few minutes
here this morning. A fellow was telling me here yesterday, he
said, Maybe it was today. Hard for me to remember. I believe
it was this morning. I don't know if you can tell
me. He said, well, he said, so and so, I think he had some problems
in the hospital and all. He's been taking some treatments.
And he said, I think them treatments have affected his mind. And I said, well, how's that?
He said, well, they tell me that he'll be talking about one thing
and all at once he'll forget what he's talking about and talk
about something else. And I said, and you ascribe that
to radiation treatment? He said, well, that's what they
say. And I said, I've been doing that for some time. And I said,
I've never had the first radiation treatment or chemotherapy treatment.
I said, that's not to say that I won't have. But I said, I sometimes
have the same problem. And that settled the matter.
Well, anyhow, I want to talk to you for just a few minutes
here. How a man, a woman, a boy or a girl who is a believer in
Christ Jesus, how they should conduct themselves amidst the
afflictions of this life. so as to be best sustained under
these afflictions. How we can be improved by these
afflictions and how we can, the quickest, be delivered from these
afflictions, whether they be afflictions of the mind or afflictions
of the body. Now this question, or the answer
to it certainly ought to be directed to every one of us. As a matter
of fact, directed to every member of the human race because the
question here concerns everybody because it's universally true
that all men, all men of this race are to a degree sufferers. That is, the Bible says that
man that's born of woman is full of trouble. That means man that's
born of woman is born to trouble. And that's where we came from,
the woman. We're men, boys and girls, born
of women. The Bible says that the man that's
born of A woman is born to trouble as the spark flies up. So it's
universally applicable to every single solitary member of us,
in particular here this morning, because we're all born of women
and we're all born to trouble. Some more than others, but all
trouble. Everybody's got trouble. Is that
right? Everybody's got some trouble.
You got some trouble about one thing, you got some trouble about
another thing, you got some trouble about one thing, you got some
trouble about another thing. Yeah, we all got troubles. That's akin to being a human
being. That's the just lot of all of
us. That's our portion. As believers in Christ Jesus,
we need some help in this matter. How do we conduct ourselves? in light of this trouble that
we have in this life. That's what I want to find out.
Listen, man that's born of woman, I said, is born to trouble. And
those troubles can either make us wiser or better and happier
than they could have had if we hadn't have had them. Could be. Now, David said, in the book
of Psalms, he said, It is good. It has, he said, been good for
me that I have been afflicted, because before I was afflicted,
I went astray. He said, It's good. It worked
out good for me that I was afflicted. He was afflicted, wasn't he?
He had a lot of trouble. From the time God laid his hand
on him and had a personal interview with him and visited him, the
sword of Shiloh was never dismissed from David. The sword shall not
depart from thy loins. His children rebelled. Some of
them raped their sisters. Some of them killed their brothers.
He was hunted like a snake. Nothing more was made mention
of him. He was afflicted, afflicted.
He said, it's good that I was afflicted. So he became wiser,
and he became greater, and he became more nobler, and he became
more happier. And there came a better man for
all these afflictions. Many cannot and will not be able to
make this statement like David. David said, It's good for me
to be afflicted. Now, it hasn't been good for
a lot of people that have been afflicted. There's a lot of people
in this life, multiplied thousands of them, that have been afflicted,
but their affliction has not been good for them. I'll tell you why. Because they
were bad, They were mean and contrary and nasty and ungodly
when that affliction came upon them, and they didn't improve
any in regard to that affliction. That is, when that affliction
had them in their grasp, instead of them becoming wiser, they
become worse. So they can't say, as David said,
they can't say that. They can't make that statement. Afflictions won't do most of
the people in this world at any given time any good because they
really consider their afflictions and their sufferings and anxieties
as the effect of blind chance. That's the reason they won't
get no better. That's the reason they'll not improve their situation.
That's the reason they'll not become wiser or happier or better
men. Because they believe that the
reason for their anxieties and frustrations and afflictions,
physical or mentally, are the effect of just what we refer
to as blind chance. It just happened. It just happened. Someone said, well, what are
you going to do about it? It just happened. Nothing just happened. You say your wife died? It just
happened. Well, she was doing good up until
about 2 o'clock this morning, and I went in and there she was,
stone cold dead in the market. What happened? It just happened. It just happened. It wasn't blind
chance, was it? Was it blind chance? I don't
know. Let me read something to you
here. Over here in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 2. You've got your Bibles. You turn
with me and read this with me. And I'll convince you this morning,
if you can be convinced by the Word of God, that what I'm saying
is true. Here's a woman who was childless. She didn't
have no children. She wanted a child. And she knew
where children come from. They come from God. And so she began to seek God.
Lord, give me a child. I need a child. Lord, give me."
And she waited upon God, waited and waited and waited, and finally
God gave her a child. And so she falls down before
God in thanksgiving and praise unto his name, and she said in
verse 1, My heart rejoices in the Lord. Mine horn is exalted
in the Lord, because I rejoice in thy salvation. She said, There
is none holy as the Lord, There's none besides Thee, there is neither
any rock like our God." And she goes on down here to verse 6.
In her prayer, she's praying now, and she said, The Lord killeth! Now when I die, don't you go
around here and say, I died of this disease and that disease.
I died because the Lord said it's time for me to die. The Lord killeth! Don't make
excuses for the Lord. It's an insult to the name of
God to make excuses if God didn't have anything to do with it.
He did have something to do with it. If any man dies, it's because
the Lord kills him. And when the Lord kills him,
now, don't associate that word, killing, with our meanness. Like, we react one to another
and get mad and go grab a gun and shoot somebody. That's not
God. All of this is laid out in the great purpose of Almighty
God before time ever was. He raises up things and men and
diseases to do what? Execute His plan. The Lord killeth. A fellow told me, I said that
one time to him, to a Church of Christ fellow. I said, well,
the Lord killed him. Ho! He said, what are you saying?
He said, You making God a murderer? I said, I just said the Lord
kills. He said, You can make out of it what you want to. The Lord killeth and maketh alive.
He bringeth down to the grave. Who brings down to the grave?
God. He brings down to the grave.
Who brings Him back up out? God. Who makes a man poor? God. Who makes a man rich? God. He bringeth law, and he
lifteth up. He raises up the poor out of
the dust, and he lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to
set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's." And
what did he do? He has set the world upon his
pillars. He'll keep the feet of his saints. He'll keep them. The Bible says we're kept by
the power of God through faith unto life everlasting. Who keeps
us? God does. What's He do with the
wicked? They'll be silent in darkness,
for by strength shall no man prevail. No man can prevail before
God. He can mouth all the excuses
He wants to. And He can say, well, now, it
hadn't been for this or it hadn't been for that. That won't change
anything. For by strength no man shall
avail before God. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall execute the ends
of the earth, shall judge the ends of the earth, that he will
give strength unto his King, and exalt the horn of his anointing."
Well, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying when these things
happen, they come from God, not by blind chance. folks that cannot
say, like David, it's good that I was afflicted. They believe
that these afflictions come because of blind chance, or as an unintelligent necessity,
or of an intelligent necessity. But a man who has hateful power
and who is inconsiderate and has no concern for me. But the influence on the mind
of a man who considers his sufferings as coming from an appointment
and inflicted upon him by an agency of the infinitely wise
and powerful and righteous sovereign God of the universe, he can say,
and he alone can say, it's good that I've been inflicted because
my afflictions come from God and he's too infinitely wise
to make a mistake. And he's too holy to do anything
that would be wrong. And if it comes, it comes from
God. He can say all things and work
together for good to them that love God and to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Huh? Oh, listen, the God of the
universe, sovereign God, he sends these things. As a matter of
fact, There is no such thing as blind chance in God's world. No such thing. Blind chance. It just happened. No such thing
in God's world. The Bible says, He worketh all
things according to the counsel of his own will. All things. No event occurs apart from his
purpose or his plan or the execution of his purpose. Nothing. You
think that Saudi Arabia deal's a big thing over there? You think
it happened, that God's not in control, that it happened out
from underneath the control of God, that God doesn't know what's
going on, and God didn't bring all these forces together? Oh, I talked to a lady on the
phone this morning, she said, aren't you worried about what's happened
over there in the East? I said, no. Oh, why? I said, well, God's in control.
Well, don't you think about your children, My children's too old
to go and I'm too old. What about your grandchildren?
I said, well, they may have to go. But I'm still not worried
about it. It didn't come by mere chance.
It didn't. God's in control. He's running
this thing. He's the governor. He's the president. We're just the residents. That's
all. He's running this thing. He'll
do us all things well. He maketh no mistake. What's
our response? Sanctify the Lord God in your
heart. Bless His Holy Name. He worketh all things according
to the counsel of His own will, and His counsel will stand, and
He doeth as He pleases. And it's pleased God to cause
that commotion over there. I don't know why. If I knew the
mind of God in every detail, then I'd be God. I don't understand
it. I just know He's in control.
And knowing that he's in control, I can cast my cares upon him. See? If I've got some reservation
as to who's running this show, then why cast my cares upon him? Why don't I cast them upon Glenn,
or Jack, or Pat, or Bob, or somebody else? See? I'll tell you an old joke. He spoke as a philosopher. And he spoke as a saint of God,
and he certainly spoke with choice, words, and wisdom. This is what
he said. Do you remember when afterwards
the Sabeans carried away his oxen, and the fire of God fell
from heaven and consumed his sheep, every one of them? Do
you remember when the Chaldeans came down and stole and robbed
all of his camels and murdered his servants. Do you remember
that? And do you remember when there was a great wind that swept
in from the wilderness and it buried his sons and daughters
in his oldest son's house? Buried them. Killed them all
in one day. Do you know what he said? He
said, It is the Lord. He didn't say it is the Chaldeans,
it is the Sabeans, it is that ill-tempest wind. He didn't say
that. Why didn't he say that? Because
he knew that the Sabeans and the Chaldeans and the wild wind
was only executing, bringing to pass the divine plan and purpose
of God. And he said, It is the Lord.
That's what he said. Now, if we've got any understanding
of what I'm talking about this morning, then I think that probably,
to a measure, somehow we can cast our cares and troubles on
him before he manages our affairs. It is the Lord. That's what he
said. I'll tell you something else
he said. He said, The Lord giveth and
the Lord taketh away. He didn't say that the Lord giveth
and the Sabeans take away or the Chaldeans or this ill wind
takes away. He said, The Lord giveth and
the Lord taketh away. And what else did he say? He
said, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Oh, my. Oh, listen. He considered the
Tempest and the Lightning, the Sabians and the Chaldeans, to
be rightly the instruments of the execution of God's most holy
and righteous appointment. The Lord gave and the Lord has
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
These are unparalleled sufferings that Job had. If any of us will
ever suffer to any degree like Job suffered, my how he suffered.
Ten funerals in one day. Ten funerals in one day. The
church bells rang all day long, calling the mourners. Another
funeral, another funeral, another funeral. Oh, Job, the wealthy
man, a sheep consumed by the fire of God. Chaldeans come in,
stole all his camels, took his wealth away, took his reputation
away, took his character away. He didn't have nothing left,
but he said, nothing but me and God. All I've got is God! And he said, blessed be the name
of God. That's all I've got left is God. I haven't got anything
else. God took everything away from me. Who took it away from
you? The stock market? a change in
jobs, an unwise choice that you made somewhere along the line?
No, no. God took it away, stripped me
of everything that I've got, and I've got nothing left but
God. And he said, Blessed be the name of God. Boy, we got
a lot, haven't we? We got Him. We got Him. What more could we want? What
more could we want than a captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus? who lived and died and rose again
as ever on God's right hand to plead for us. Where I am, he
said, there ye shall also be." We're in pretty good shape. We're in pretty good shape. I said, oh, Job had unparalleled
sufferings. But the sufferings of Job was
only a slight. semblance of the sufferings of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you what our Lord
Jesus Christ did. He looked beyond the malignant agency of men and
devils. He looked beyond Judas Iscariot.
Everybody makes a big fuss about old Judas selling the Lord for
thirty pieces of silver. Our Lord looked beyond Judas
Iscariot He looked beyond Caiaphas. He looked beyond the chief priest.
He looked beyond the denial of Peter. He looked beyond the fact
that his disciples fled into the dark and left him by himself. He looked beyond the Roman soldiers. He just merely saw these as wickedly
putting into action the purpose of God And in devout submission
unto God his Father, he said, The cup which my Father giveth
me, shall I not drink it? These sufferings come through
Peter, through Judas, Roman soldiers, pierced his side, put the crown
of thorns on him. He looked beyond all that and
he said, that my Father hath given me, said, Shall I not drink
it? I'll drink it." There'd be no
salvation if he didn't drink it. He got to drink it, got to
stretch out there, stretch out on that tree, and he got to suffer,
not only suffer at the hands of men, but he's got to suffer
at the hands of God in order that redemption, satisfaction,
obedience to law and justice, You say, well, if I'd have been
there, I wouldn't. If you'd have been there and didn't have no
part in it, you wouldn't have had no salvation. If you'd have
been there, you'd have picked up the first rock. You'd have
been just like me. You'd have said, away with them,
away with them. Crucify! I don't want this man
to reign over me. All right. Here's what I'm trying
to say. the important principle that's
involved in this fourth and fifth chapter of the book of 1 Peter. The important principle that's
taught here is that our afflictions, whatever they may be, whether
they be through domestic afflictions from our wife or our husband
or our children, whatever they are, our business, we can't make
up enough money to get caught up or We haven't got enough time
for this and that and so forth, and there are afflictions of
the soul. Or whether it's some outward
affliction, maybe I got the cancer, or you got the cancer, or we're
going blind, or whatever, it's an affliction. If it's an affliction, whatever,
it comes from God. It comes from God. You say, well,
doesn't that demean God? No, it doesn't. It's not an insult to God. He's
afflicted. He controls everything. If I
deny Him, if I deny Him the power, then what kind of a God have
I got? Huh? Oh, listen, this important principle
taught here is that our afflictions are a work of God. Now, a conviction,
a spirit-wrought conviction of this truth will persuade me,
and it ought to persuade you, that our sufferings are not the
effect of a cruel, mean God, but the result and design of
a wise and holy and loving and generous God. And they were sent
to us to serve a holy, and good purpose. Affliction is what? It's God laying his hand upon
us. That's what it is. Which means
that he's actually dealing with us. Which means that God's going
to do business with us. He's going to do business with
us. God is. He has to do with us,
and we have to do with him. He has accounts to settle with
us. He's not satisfied with us. We're not what he would have
us to be. He does not afflict willingly
or gladly. If he gives us a blow, it'll
be well deserved. We have provoked it, and it comes
up. from a reluctant hand of God,
but it comes, and it comes for our good. So don't rebel against
it and don't murmur at it. It is equivalent to this command
in Hebrews chapter 12. Let me read that to you, Hebrews
chapter 12. What he's saying over here and
what I've been saying is equivalent to this. Hebrews 12, verse 5,
it says, And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh
unto you as unto children. It says, My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord. Don't despise it. If the affliction
comes from God, it says don't despise that affliction. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord. Don't faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." All of
us have these trials and troubles and difficulties. It's how we
react under them that's what counts. If we murmur against him, if
we argue with God and quarrel with God in this matter, trouble. What should we do? Well, to endure
chastening, he said. If you do endure chastening,
God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chastened not? Now, if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers. All the Father giveth to me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out." All, all, A-L-L. All are sons of God. All are
children of God but made in Christ Jesus. They're all partakers
of what? Afflictions. Afflictions. Man that's born a woman, born
to trouble. Afflictions. Big, little, small,
insignificant, but they're afflictions. They're like worms that gnaw
at us. Some afflictions come, we can't
have no peace. We're worried and upset and we
frown and we're antagonistic. He said, whereof all are partakers. He said, if you're not a partaker
of them, he said, you're a bastard and not a son. Furthermore, we
have fathers in our flesh which corrected us. And he said the
result of their correcting us, we gave them reverence. We submitted
to them. We said we deserved it. Shall
we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits? And
L-I-V-E. It indicates that a believer
who has some trials and troubles and problems and afflictions,
and he doesn't submit to them, he refuses to, then the Lord
might say, Well, I'll just take you out of here. For they barely
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. That is,
our fathers, they whipped us a whole lot of times just for
their own satisfaction because they were mad. They told us not
to do it, and it made them mad, and they said, well, I'll snatch
him bald-headed. I'll beat him. I'll, hmm. But He, that's God, for our profit,
for our profit, we're afflicted for our profit. He afflicts us
for our profit. Why? That we might be partakers
of His holiness. Now, no affliction. for the present
seem to be joyous and grievous. Joyous but grievous. That is,
we don't get a whole lot of satisfaction out of sickness and afflictions
and anxiety. It's hard for us to rejoice in
them, that's for sure. Nevertheless, this is the end
result. Nevertheless, after it, that
is, afflictions, yieldeth, it yieldeth, Feasible fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore, he said,
lift up the hands which hang down, and feeble knees, and make
straight for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned
out of the way, but rather let it be. Rejoice, he said, rejoice. I'm preaching to the other cows
that stand.