Before we begin the message, we'll go to God in prayer again. I want to, again, bring to your attention the necessity of prayer concerning God's churches, concerning those congregations who have no pastor. Pray that God would send men. There is a dearth in this land. desert land we live in, full of money and food and clothes and houses, but barren concerning the Word of God. Very few in comparison to the masses of false churches, false preachers, Preaching false gods. There are few. There are some. I am very thankful for the some that we have. But it appears that even some are getting fewer and fewer. Just pray that God would keep the ones that are established, and then pray that God may establish others. And I am encouraged. There are churches established. In the past 10 or 15 years, I've seen pastors come up in certain places, and that's good. But the ones that are established are struggling. So remember them in prayer. And pray God would keep the light in this place. Ephesus was a real place. A very wonderful gospel church. Where is it? It's gone. The light in that place was put out. We pray that God would keep the light. We pray that God would keep the gospel. But let's not be complacent about it. Let's not be presumptuous about it. Ask God for it. I'm thankful for what God has given us in this place. I'm thankful. a blessing. It is a blessing. And I'm thankful for it. I'm grateful that God has done it. And make no mistake, God has done it. It's not the great leadership of this pastor has done anything. I have done nothing. God has done it. Everything we have. In spite of my failures. God is blessed. I pray that the message would bless your heart this morning. God, by the Spirit, would speak to you. Pray for it. Ask Him. Plead with Him to speak. Otherwise, you're just hearing a man, and what good is that? Pray for it. Ask God for it. Pray for me, that I would have the words for you. Spirit would use this broken vessel. Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by it. If this is God's means, this is what God has chosen to do. To use the least among you to declare the glory of His gospel for this purpose, that God might receive the glory. And I am sure He will. I'm sure He will. Let's go to him in prayer. Father, we come before thy throne of mercy. With only the offering and blood of thy Son, the righteousness of Christ our Savior, Only because the Spirit of God has quickened us to life and faith, only because you've created in us a new nature after your own holiness, only because of your glory and grace and power, we are able to come. In fact, we are commanded to come and lay our petitions before you. We have many. many that have been spoken, many that are not spoken, so many petitions that we don't even know we have need of. For the churches, for your people, for the glory of your name, send men. Put it in the hearts of your people to see the need of the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the fellowship of the saints. Father, I pray that you would keep your light wherever you have placed it, and that new places should spring up, Father. I ask for this so that your name might be magnified, Christ might be honored, Yet to do this, I know the Spirit must give men a knowledge, an understanding, a hunger. He must give them life. And I ask for that too. I ask you to help me preach. I ask for these that have come to hear, that you would speak to them. You would instruct them. Comfort them. Bless them. Forgive us our sins and lead us, I ask you in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and for His glory. Amen. Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 3. Lamentations. Chapter 3. Our text is found in verse 39. The prophet writes, wherefore doth a living man complain? A man for the punishment of his sins. Let us search and try our ways and turn again unto the Lord." To the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens. Now, this book of Lamentations, specifically this chapter was written by the prophet Jeremiah and was regarding his great sufferings at the hand of his brethren. Remember, Jeremiah didn't have a pleasant message. He had a message of rebuke. The nation of Israel had abandoned the worship of God. They had abandoned God. They wanted to hear pleasant things. They wanted to hear good things. And yet, they abandoned God. They abandoned His worship. They went after false gods. And here comes Jeremiah with a very sharp message. Captivity. God is going to chasten you for your rebellion. And he said, ìWe didnít want to hear that.î Thatís what they do. They put him in a hole and they covered him up. Weíre done with him. We donít want to hear no more of that negative talk. We want to hear some positive things. We want to hear some good things about myself. And he wrote this chapter as he was in the dung and the mire in that dungeon, in that hole in the ground, I say a dungeon, not the sails, they put him actually in a literal hole where he stayed for many, many days. Yet I want you to notice the language that Jeremiah uses in this chapter, acknowledging the sovereignty of God in his affliction. Look what he says, He said, I am a man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. In other words, Jeremiah said, God did this to me. God did this to me. He said, God hath led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. Surely against me hath He turned. He turned His hand against me all the day long. My flesh and my skin hath He made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath built it against me and compassed about me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places as they would be dead of old. He hath hedged me about. You get it? You see he's in suffering and the children of Israel, they truly had done this to him and yet he recognized the sovereignty of God in his affliction. God did this to me. God did this to me. You can go through this whole chapter and see his bitterness, his sorrow, his affliction, but I want you to understand what the Holy Spirit intended for this is not just to see Jeremiah. Not see Jeremiah, see Christ. These are truly the words prophetically of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are best suited for Him. How do we know that? Because I know this, Jeremiah never saw the wrath of God. Never hath he been afflicted with God's wrath. Chastisement, dark providences, evil men causing him sorrow and pain? Yes. But never did he see the wrath of God. There's only one man who has endured the wrath of God, and that is Jesus Christ. No man. So when you read that, I'm a man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. That alone could speak of Christ. That alone could speak of Christ. And so this morning as we read some of these, I want you to look at Calvary. I want you to see what Christ done. I want you to see His suffering. If there is to be any joy, if there is to be any peace, if there is to be any consolation, any comfort, it has to be in seeing that He was a man afflicted. that he saw the wrath of God, that he in his flesh and spirit and soul were suffering the wrath of God on Calvary's tree, listen, as a substitute. Jeremiah was a substitute for no one. But he was a picture. See this morning as he on Calvary bore our sins. in His own body on the tree. I want you to see that. You that believe, understand He was suffering because of you. I know that Him, it was my sin that nailed Him there. It was my sin that nailed Him there until it was accomplished. My guilt, And not just mine. He figured mine would be enough. Not just mine. All of the sins of His people. Is this not a man that has seen affliction? It was God who brought him into darkness. He hath led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. Surely against me hath he turned. Oh, that day how God turned. All his life God showed forth his love and affection toward his son, and in that day he turned. And the loving hand of God was clenched in rage and smote the son. Was God's bow an arrow of justice that pierced his soul? So great was his afflictions that God refused to hear his cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Was the arrow of his justice that struck deep? Verse 15, He filled me with bitterness, He hath made me drunken with wormwood. Oh, I know this has reference to that in Psalm 110. Psalm 110 says that He shall drink of the brook in the way. Speaking of the brook, Kittron, remember that that brook was the brook of blood and dung from the sacrifices. That's my sin! That's my sin! He shall drink of the brook in the way. Oh, the wormwood and the gall, how He drank it in as our substitute. In love He bore our guilt. And look now, believer, at the Lord's suffering. And in chapter 1 of Lamentations, He says, Is it nothing to you that passed by this morning? As we pass by, What am I doing this morning? I don't have much time. As we pass by, is it nothing to you? Are His sufferings nothing to you? Is it nothing to you that pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow. You have sorrow. Anybody here have sorrow? Well, hold it up to His. Take your sorrow and set it next to His. Now, what's your sorrow compared to His? See if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which the Lord hath afflicted upon me in the day of His fierce anger. You realize when a man's in hell this morning, there's men in hell this morning, they'll be there for eternity. You know, they're only suffering for their own sins. When Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, He suffered for all the sins of all His people. Consider His strength. that what man could not do in eternity, he did in three hours. He bore the wrath of God alone for our sins. And what was the result of that, his suffering? Was it not victory? You that believe, was it not victory? The scripture says God is well pleased for his offering, his sacrifice. He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied." When he suffered, God was satisfied with his suffering. Does your suffering satisfy anything? Does it accomplish anything? Is it anything? No. Yet whose suffering do we pay attention to more? His or ours? Scripture says we are redeemed not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus as a lamb slain. So look and see, Jesus, He trod the winepress of the wrath of God alone. God is satisfied with His offering. I like that Scripture says many times in Hebrews, It says He purged our sins and sat down. It says in Hebrews chapter 10, this one man after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, what did he do? He sat down. What does that mean? It means it's done. There's no more work to do. He's done it. That's what His offering did. He sat down. Finished the work. The salvation of His people. See, this is the hope of sinners. Therefore, all who believe in Christ, Look what Jeremiah says in verse 22 of your chapter, chapter 3 here. Notice to whom belongs the praise. He says, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. Behold, by nature we are sinners, fallen and depraved, worthy of only the justice of God, and yet what sustained you until He called you? What sustained you? Why did you not perish before He called you? Was it not because of the mercies of God? Jeremiah says, because of the mercies of God we are not consumed. Remember in the garden, what an act of divine mercy. What an act of divine mercy that Adam was not consumed. Remember when the angels fell, they were immediately put into chains of darkness. Immediately. No hope for them. They sinned once. And they were immediately cast out into chains of darkness expecting damnation. Now then, everybody's watching. All of the angels of heaven are watching. And there, Adam, he sinned. Can you imagine? What is he going to do? Surely he'll kill him now. And all of a sudden, God doesn't come down in thunder. He comes in compassion. Adam, where art thou? Can you imagine the amazement? Scripture says angels desire to look into these things. They don't understand. The amazement, God didn't kill this man? He just locked the angels up. Why is He giving this man? What's happening? Grace. Adam, where are you? And then God gives him a message of a substitute. He said, I'm going to send the seed of a woman. The seed of the woman is going to come and take care of this. He's going to crush the head of the serpent by the bruising of his heel. God gave them a message of Christ, a message of grace, a gospel of hope. And what is that message? What is the message? It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the only hope for sinners. There is no other way. Reading an article this morning about options. We always have options, right? Get on the phone and Press one for this, press two for that, press five for this, press six for that, press nine, then you gotta start over, cause you done lost count of how many options you got. Listen, come to salvation, there's no options. There's only one way. Now to me, this is the greatest thing ever. To the sinner, it's the greatest hope ever. There's not a bunch of options. It's Christ. He's all. He's all our hope. It's a message of salvation, of substitution. God declares Christ was sent into the world to save sinners, to reconcile us to God. So you that believe, seeing what He's done, what He's accomplished, what He's finished, what He suffered for our sins, you may in the very deepest of pains still praise God. you still have a reason to praise God, regardless of your suffering, regardless of your afflictions. Why? Because He is a man that has seen affliction. Because He endured the wrath of God, you'll never have to. What you endure now is nothing compared to what He endured. Consider that God chose you. Have you considered that in your affliction? In your grief? Have you not considered that He chose you? That He redeemed you? That He called you? There you were, dead in sins, and now you have life. Now you are quickened by the power of God. Now are you the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now, right now, it don't appear what I'm going to be. Don't look at this. This is not how it's going to be. It does not yet appear what it is. But we know this. We are in Him. We have Him. You could have never believed on Him without Him. Right? That's what religion tells you you could, but I don't pay no mind to them. Jesus said this, no man can come to me. You come to him this morning. Have you come to him? Do you see him? Do you adore him? Do you believe him? Do you believe on him? Well, that's not natural. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. You are drawn by the Spirit of God. Then you're kept by the power of God. So then what is the response of one who is quickened by the Spirit of God? Is it not praise? Is it not worship? Is that not the desire of our hearts to worship Him? To serve Him? To love Him? I've never had a believer say, I wish I believed less. We always want to believe more. Never has a believer said, I wish I could love him less. We always want to love him more. Why is that? Why do you desire him? Because he's given you life. Now then, look at your text. Because you that have life, this is a question for you. Verse 39, wherefore doth a living man complain? Why in the world have you any reason to complain? Do you have any reason to complain, really? I got a couple of questions for you who are living. If you are washed in the blood of Christ, robed in His righteousness, made sons of God by the power of God, and kept by the Spirit of God, what do you have to complain about? Now listen, I know you do, and I know that because I do. God doesn't keep it a secret about His men and Israel. How many times you read of Israel murmuring and complaining? Why then do we complain? Well, so often we complain because our plans are disrupted. We all have plans. Anybody got plans? You guys, when y'all were married, you had plans. When you met your spouse, you had plans. You had dreams. And they were elevated. They were glorious. They were wonderful. And then what happened? Providence comes and dashes them against the rocks. dreams laying ashes at your feet, what's the first thing you want to do? You want to complain. You want to murmur of your lot in this world. You, my living Brothers and sisters, you saints of God, you are not alone. This is why it's written. This is why it's there. Because we do complain. We, like Israel, have found to complain a lot after the Lord freed Israel. You remember what happened? They all celebrated, right? They're going out. Everybody's giving them jewelry and possessions and they're just happy. They're having a great time. Look, we're free! And they think everything now is going to be roses. Everything, God's going to open the way and it's going to be clear and we're not going to have any trouble. We'll be there in a couple of days. It won't be a big deal. God sent Him there and He put Him in a place. He put Him in a place that they could not escape. He put Him in a place where the deserts were on their right, the mountains were on their left, Pharaoh was pursuing them, the ocean was in front of them, and what's the first thing they did? Did you bring us out here to die? They complained. You know what that is? When I hold that up, I don't see you, I see me. I see a mirror. into my own soul. I see myself. God's answer to Moses is His answer to me. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Don't complain. Look to Christ. It's the same answer. Every single time, I have a problem. Behold, take your suffering and put it next to His. And so then, in the suffering, do you believe? That's a question we should ask ourselves. Do you really believe in the Son of God? It's easy when everything seems to be going well. Isn't it? Easy to say. Isn't it easy to say? Can't everybody say that? I think everybody pretty much does. And the pain comes. The struggle begins. The flesh wants to run in the opposite direction, try to find some kind of relief. But the Spirit says, trust Me. Trust Me. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. How many times has He done it? Constantly. In that day, didn't He direct Israel's path? Did He do it to destroy them? He's not doing it to destroy you either. You that are saved by the grace of God. Have you lost anything? Have you suffered anything for the things of Christ? And you will. Our Lord's no use car salesman. He told you you're going to suffer. He told you. In this world, you will have tribulation. Have you lost anything? Houses? Lands? Families? Friends? Have you lost joy and peace in this world? Let me ask you this. You that are living, what have you really lost that you weren't going to lose already? Name something you have that you're not ultimately going to lose. Name it, anything. What will you keep? In the end, what are you going to keep? The thing that's causing you to murmur, you'll lose it anyway. But in the end, you that are living, what have you really lost? You've lost nothing. You've lost nothing. Wherefore then does a living man complain? If in fact you lose nothing, When you die, which is the ultimate, what do you lose? You lose the flesh! You're ushered into the presence of Christ, so what have you really lost? Will you in heaven mourn anything you've lost here? Nothing. Nothing. So the question comes, why does the living man complain? I'll tell you this, to be a believer is going to cost you. As long as it costs you, salvation is absolutely, completely, 100% free. It's done. It's something that God has accomplished. But you that are saved, does that exclude us from obedience and service? Our Lord said this, listen to what He said, If any man come to Me, anybody come to Him? Anybody profess to come to him, he said, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Like I said, it's easy to say, you believe, right? What does Christ say about his people? The Lord says this, if you do not set me above all these other things, you cannot be my disciple. That's not the nature of my disciple. You that believe, you that are living, do you not set aside all your self-righteousness? Do you not like Paul counted as dung that you may win Christ? But isn't this to be true also of our body, of our possessions, the things of this world? Aren't we not to resign them to Christ? Isn't this the root of our complaint that we've lost the things? We've lost the things. Christ said, I told you you'd lose those things. Matter of fact, those who will not lose those things, they're not my disciples. And Jesus tells them in Mark chapter 10, He said, and when you lose anything in this world, Don't you know I'll give it to you ten times over? He's not talking about physical money or physical houses. But you know what? Seventeen years ago, I left my family. I left my family. You know I've had more family than I left? Look at my family. I have more family now than when I left. Christ promised that that would be so. And seeing that God has given us the greatest gift of His Son, how shall we not with Him freely give us all things? So if we have to suffer the loss of business or family in the service of Christ, what have we really lost? If you give up everything to worship Christ, what have you really lost? Huh? Why then doth the living man complain? Secondly, I want you to see this, since God has saved you, there's no reason to complain. He chose you, He redeemed you, He called you, He keeps you, and everything you do in the service of Christ, you've really not contributed anything to this anyway. He's everything. Why then will we complain at the loss of things? Secondly, why will we complain of the dark providences? Is God not sovereign? You that believe, you that are living, Is God sovereign? Remember, O living man, that all things that happen in time and eternity are according to the sovereign will of God. Is that true? Now, again, someone can easily say, I believe God's sovereign. Well, when evil and dark things happen to us, it's then our faith in God's sovereignty is tested. Isn't it? God said, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times the things that were not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. I like what Brother Don wrote a long time ago. He said, there is absolutely no difference between the denial of God's sovereignty and the denial of God's being. If you deny God's sovereignty, you deny He even exists. Same thing. He said, Arminianism is neither more nor less than religious atheism. Free will religion is nothing but religious atheism. They don't believe God's sovereign. Therefore, they don't believe God. But you who are living, you know He is sovereign. You know you wouldn't be living if it wasn't for His sovereignty. You know that you wouldn't be living had He not chosen you, had He not put you in Christ from eternity in sovereign grace. Had He not done that, you never would have come. Had Christ not come in love and grace and died for your sins, you could have never paid for them. Had the Spirit of God not quickened you to life and faith in sovereign mercy, you never would have come to Him. You know that. So then, O living man, why do you suppose that God is sovereign in your salvation and then somehow misses it in your circumstance. Isn't that why we complain? I have no problem with God being sovereign in my salvation, but what about this? What about this thing that's happened to me? Did God somehow mess up? Did He mix up? Did something slip by Him? Oh no. Oh no. There are no mistakes with God, oh living man. All is well. All is well. I know you don't feel well. I know you don't think that everything's going right. But what does it matter what we think? What does it matter how we feel? God said all is well. All is well. Everything is moving exactly according to the sovereign will and decree of God. Now it's vitally important that you understand what His will is. God is sovereign. It's vitally important that you keep into focus what His will for you is. Go to Jeremiah chapter 32. I'll give you a glimpse of it. What is God's will for you in all of this dark providence? Let me tell you. I like that when God just tells you. You don't have to guess. God doesn't leave you to guess. Just open His words right here. Look what He says in 38. This is God's will. They shall be My people. You living man, this is God's will, that you're His people. And listen to what He said, I'm going to be your God. It's not a matter of do I deserve Him to be my God, or do I deserve to be His people. I don't. God says, that's all right. I will, that you are my people, and I will to be your God. Listen to what He said, I will give them one heart and one way. Don't you and I have the same heart to believe on the Son of God, to trust Him? That's my heart. We all got that same heart. And He gave us all one way. Don't we all believe that Christ is the way? You that trust Him, you that are living. Isn't He the way? Do you have any options off this way? Is there another way? Is there another way? There's no other way. And notice this. Purpose. That. Now listen. That they may fear Me forever. That word means to reverence Him. Reverence Him. What a terror fear of one of awe and love. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not turn away from them to do them good. But instead, I will put my fear in their hearts. You see, this reverence is something good. I'm not going to turn away from putting my reverence in your heart. That's why He said, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Now listen how He's going to do it. That they shall not depart from Me. I will put My reverence in their heart for this purpose that they shall not depart from Me. Is that good? Is that not good? Why do you believe that you experience these dark providences? Does that not put reverence in your heart to the sovereignty of God? Does it not cause you to bow before Him? To lay yourself out before Him constantly that you should never depart from Him. If everything went well, you wouldn't need Him. You wouldn't want Him. Have you experienced that when everything seems to be going well, everything is fine and everybody's happy? Where's reading? Where's study? Where's prayer? Where's worship? Where'd it go? Flies away? What do the dark providences do? Draw you back to Himself. Isn't that what He told you He's going to do? That you will not depart from Me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do this. So your dark providence is something God rejoices in. He rejoices in it because it brings you to Himself. I don't know about you, but He does a great job of that. He knows exactly where to press. I got a chiropractor, and I love my chiropractor, man, because he knows exactly where the spot is. I can't tell him, I said, it's right somewhere there. And he goes, you mean right here? And I jump off the table. I say, yeah, that's it. Well, God knows where to press. So when he's pressing, what is he doing? He's bringing you to himself. Wherefore then doth the living man complain? I have this and I've quoted it many times to you, but I'll do it again because I need it. I need constantly to remind myself that all things are of God. Do you have to be reminded of that? If you're complaining, you definitely need to be reminded of that, that all things are of God. Let me not preach of sovereignty and then complain of my lot in life. Let me not talk of divine purpose and then spend my days murmuring about my trials and my troubles. And the last thing I want you to see is why does the living man Saved by the grace of God, sons of God, heirs of heaven, one whose life is totally, absolutely under the sovereign care of God who saved him. Third question is, when thou art chastened of him, why doth the living man complain? Look back at your text real fast. Verse 38, Why doth the living man complain a man for the punishment of his sins? He's not talking about punishment. I've already told you that Christ has paid the debt for our sins. So when we are in dark affliction, God is not punishing you for your sins. He's not punishing you. He will never punish you for one sin. You know why? Christ has already been punished. God cannot demand twice payment for sin. I told you, how many times did He say He sat down? When He sat down, what does that mean? It's done. The payment is paid. You don't need to pay anything. So when you hurt or you're afflicted by the sovereign hand of God, when you are rebuked of Him, when you are chastened of Him, listen, it's not as a judge trying to kill you. It is a Father who does it in love. It's a Father who does it in love. chastens us. Do you not see the need of being chastened? You that believe. Do you see your need of it? It's necessary that we be chastened because we have the old man of sin still. You and I still do. We're prone to wander. Prone to leave the God we love. Prone to forget. We like that Shulamite bride, the Shulamite bride said, Oh come, come, come, come, come to my chamber, come! And you know what? He delayed a little bit and she fell asleep. How often are we like that? And when He comes, what do we say? Oh, come back when it's more convenient. I got better things to do. How many times has He come to our hearts And we said, no, that's all right. I'll do it later. What does he do? We live in such a generation where people do not see any importance in the worship of God. I don't know if you notice that we don't. We've got these things, television. We've got things like that. Nobody sees the importance of worship anymore. Why do you think God's churches are so small? Everybody professes a belief, and yet so few ever give up anything to worship. Why? It's not convenient. It's not convenient, is it? Well, I can worship God here just as well as I can over there. That's what Jeroboam said. That's the sin of Jeroboam. God said, you worship me in Jerusalem. And Jeroboam said, nah, you don't have to do that. You worship wherever you are. That's the sin of this country today. This is the sin of God's people today. It does sting. It does. You know what? When Israel heard that from Jeremiah, you know what they did? They threw him in a pit. Covered him over. They don't want to hear that. They want to hear all the good stuff. They want to hear the kind words. They want to hear how good everything is. How wonderful. Israel forsook the worship of God. Jeremiah said, God's going to chasten you for it, and they hated him for it. Same today. But what does God do with the living man when he rebels, when he will not worship? I would hate to see the chastisement of God go so far as to remove his churches from this country." And yet men think lightly of it. Can you name me anything, anywhere in scripture that, you know, says it's okay to abandon corporate worship? I can find you plenty of places where it says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as a matter of some is. That's not me. That's God. And when that strikes the heart of the living man, he's afflicted. And God chastens him. God chastens him. What does the scripture say about chastisement? Scripture says that it's a blessing. Scripture says that chastisement is a blessing. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 12. He says, have you forgotten? The exhortation is speaketh thus unto children, My son despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. When we are rebuked, the first instinct is to what? Complain. To murmur. Well, that's not really what he means. Surely he means something else. Why? Because it's convenient for me. I'd have to give up things. I'd have to do... Oh, you're kidding. You're just a works preacher now. You're talking about works. I'd try to throw you in a hole and cover you up. But you know what God's going to do with His people? And it's not my job to chase you. I don't chase you. I just tell you what God says. Don't worry. God will take care of His people. And He does it through afflictions, trials, tribulations, and all that stuff that we hold up and that we build up. You know what God does with that? He removes it. He removes it. Now why does He do that? For your destruction? No. He does it because He's a loving Father. And a loving father will always chasten his children. Now what happens if you're not chastened? Then are you bastards and not sons. Remember in Pilgrim's Progress? Pilgrim's Progress, Pilgrim got off the narrow way. He went off And he got captured and went to Doubting Castle. Remember the Giant of Despair captured him and he went to Doubting Castle. How many times have we failed to obey our Lord and He chastens us, putting us in a castle of doubt, fear, shame, suffering. Now what did He do that to Pilgrim for? To deliver him. God does it to chasten us, to deliver us, to bring us to Himself. There was that other man in Pilgrim's Progress in ignorance. Remember him? Everything went well. He's just walking along. I trust, I trust everything's going to be well. No trouble in his life. No reason for him to complain. Everything went well. Paid the boat man, went over the river, and he was rejected. You see, God's children are chasers. They're rebuked. Yes, their first instinct is to complain. But then the question should come, why does the living man complain? Why? Are you not chosen of God? Why complain? Are you not redeemed by the blood of Christ? Kept by the power of God? sustained daily, interceded for, forgiven, pardoned, cleansed of all your sins? Then tell me, what do we really have to complain about? Will we complain against His sovereignty? Will we complain against His chastening hands? What's the remedy for this? Listen, set your eyes on Christ. Set your eyes on Christ. Look at this in closing. Close real fast. Come on. Look back with me here. He says in verse 40, gives us the remedy for this. Look at this. Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Let us search out. You know what you should search out? The love of God. You know why? It is the love of God that constrains us. You know, if you're talking about complaining, what would stifle murmuring? Would not the love of God stifle that? If you could search out the love of God, how deep is it? How much does He love you? Well, to see that, you've got to go to the cross, don't you? You've got to search out the death of Christ. You've got to search out how deep His love was for us to offer His Son as our substitute. How deep was His love to grab you out of the pit and gulf of sin and save you. Search it out! And then what? Where's murmuring then? What do you have to complain about if God loves you? I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. Search out your own ways. Has God rebuked you? Will you rebel? Or should you just bow? Should you complain? Or should you obey? To the living man, these are easy answers. May God help us in our afflictions. You that are living, and listen, I want you to understand, murmuring and prayer is not the same. God says to lay out your petitions. That's not murmuring. You understand, when you're praying and you have petitions, that's not murmuring. God commands you to do that. It's when we start complaining to everybody else. When we go to everybody else with our troubles and our afflictions, that's murmuring. When we go to God, that's prayer. When I lay out my petitions, I'm not murmuring. I'm begging. I'm pleading. Well, that's where the trouble got me. The trouble got me to the floor. And on the floor, I'm not demanding, I'm asking. Not murmuring, I'm pleading. Help. Help me. Help me. Sustain me. Keep me. Not complaining. That's prayer. And that's where trouble will drive you. You that are living. It'll drive you away from complaining to everybody else. And it'll bring you to prayer. Again, why complain? What have you really to complain about? In the end, you inherit everything. You have it all. You have all of it. What in the world is there to complain about? May God comfort you with that. If you have Christ, you have everything. Look to Him. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Father, bless us with your own self, with your own mercies. Take our complaints and lay them out before you. Weak, feeble creatures, children of dust, made sons of God. Help us to cast our eyes constantly upon the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered for our sins, died and was buried and rose again for our justification. Let us glory in Him and not murmur of our lot. I pray this in Christ's name.