Through these walls, that's over
all hell, should it ever to shake, I'll never, no never, would I
ever forsake. Alright, go back to 2 Corinthians
4 with me. As I said, I hope this will be
a message of help, comfort, a message of hope for all of those who
trust in the living God. but are yet troubled, perplexed,
persecuted and downcast. Paul says we are troubled on
every side. Paul and Silas And Timothy were constant companions,
and they were constantly surrounded by and in the midst of trouble.
And so are all of God's people. He said we're troubled on every
side. We're not distressed. We're perplexed, but we're not
in despair. We're persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Troubled, surrounded by troubles,
he said, on every side. Troubles without. All around
us, a world of trouble. Troubles within. Troubles everywhere, all around
us. Everyone has trouble, don't they? A man that is born a woman
is a few days and full of trouble, Scripture says. Everyone has
trouble, believers and unbelievers. There are minor troubles and
then there are major troubles. Those minor troubles that we
call trouble, car trouble, plumbing troubles, they really give us
trouble, but you can't call those trouble. Everybody goes through
those. They're just minor inconveniences.
But there are real troubles that people go through, everyone goes
through—sickness, sorrow, losses, deprivation. All have them. Paul wrote in another place,
1 Corinthians, he said, there's no trial taken you but such as
is common to man. Nothing that we have gone through
or are going through that everyone else has or is going through. and some to a much greater degree
than we do. I like what Peter said, though,
to God's people. He said, know that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren throughout the world. We know
that these troubles, as we just sang, sanctify us. These troubles
help us. The trial of our faith is what
it is. These trials, these troubles
cause us to look to God, to trust Him, to lean upon Him. Our only
help in time of trouble. But there's a special trouble
that only believers know anything about. It's this sin trouble. The world doesn't have any trouble
with sin. The world can't get enough of
it. But believers want to be rid
of it. But they're in the midst of it.
They're surrounded by it. Sin. They're surrounded by it.
They're like Lot. Lot was in Sodom and it says
that the world vexed his righteous soul. Everything he saw and heard
vexed him. All around him troubled him. And I believe what troubled him
the most was what was in him. He thought, why am I here? Look
what I've done to myself. Look what I've done to myself.
But believers like Lot are in A place that they don't belong. Our Lord said His people are
not of this world. The sheep among wolves. Peacemakers
among warmongers. Kind of like fish out of water.
And they don't like the world they live in. They don't like
being in the world. They want out of the world and
they want the world out of them. And thank God, someday He will
remove us from this present evil world. He says we're troubled,
though, on every side. But we're not in distress. Like the world. You know, the
world resorts to anything and everything to try to relieve
the distress that they're in. But He says of the believer,
we're not in distress. The word distress, you take it
and break it down. Stress. We all experience stress. Pressure. I'm under stress. Pressure, right? Well, distress
means there's no relief. Pressure that won't let up. Like fears that won't subside. Worry that causes great anxiety
so that you have to resort to the bottle or a pill or something
just to get rid of it for a little time. Paul says we're not in
distress. Sorrows that will sink a person
down deep into depression like those who have no hope. Paul
says we're not in distress. We don't sorrow as those who
have no hope. Now, we've all felt like the
word distress, I thought of a person, you nurses, a person gets in
cardiac arrest, you say they're in distress. He's in distress.
Meaning, we're going to lose Him in distress. We've all felt
like that at times. David said, My flesh and my heart
faileth. He says, I'm almost gone. Psalm
73, they quote several times. My flesh and my heart faileth.
I'm almost gone. But what do we say right after
that? But God is the strength of my
heart. When my heart fails me, I find
my God to be the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Everything may fail and I may
feel like I'm failing, but then I find out He's my unfailing
portion. So we have fears. And a person
is lying if they say they don't. We're going to look at Jehoshaphat
in a moment. Jehoshaphat, great king, believer,
strong believer. But he was scared. He was very
afraid. We all have fears, but we're
not in distress because the Lord is my light and my salvation. What shall I fear? We sorrow. As we said, we do sorrow. But we don't sorrow as those
who have no hope because we hope in God. David said, I will yet
hope in God, no matter how sorrowful. You remember when David lost
his wives and his children and all the ziklag, and it says they
cried until they had no more power to weep. But they recovered all. Now, if we are in distress, or
stay in distress, at his sorrowing as those who
have no hope. Like David did that at one time,
remember? He would not be comforted. Remember
that? He just would not be comforted
over it. It was absolute like that. He would not, he could
not find any comfort. But if we are like that, if we
do become distressed or sorrows, those who have no hope or a deep
anxiety, it's because we're not looking to the Lord, but we're
looking somewhere else. If we look within, it will greatly distress us,
won't it? We look for some reason. some evidence within us for assurance,
for comfort, to believe that we're one of God's people. John
Newton wrote this, he said, When I look within, all is vain and
dark and wild. So we look within and it will
cause us distress, but that's the reason the Lord says, look
unto me. That's the reason John says,
look unto Jesus. Always keep your eye on Him.
Look on Calvary's tree. Whenever you get the feeling
you're most sinful, look at the serpent on the pole. Just look. It will save you from distress. If we look without, if we look
at everything around us, it will give us great distress. If we
look at all that's going on around us
and don't look to the Lord, it will give us great distress.
And so if we are distressed, let me say this not only for
our gentle rebuke, but for our encouragement,
we're looking in the wrong place. We're not looking to the Lord.
If we're distressed, we're not calling on the Lord. We're not
hearing His voice, who is constantly saying, fear not. Fear not. Fear not. Wasn't it? All through
the Old and New Testament, the Lord says this. In fact, Brother
Nybert brought it to my attention one time. He said the thing he
told them more than anything else was, fear not. He was just
saying it. Fear not. I am with thee. Oh,
be not dismayed or distressed. I am thy God. I'll still give
thee aid. No matter what. Fear not. Verse 8 says we are perplexed. We're perplexed. You know those
little inconveniences or troubles I was talking about? They perplex
us, don't they? Little things happen and we think,
why? Why? Little things happen. Just about an hour and a half
ago, a neighbor called and said there's a tree fell across the
road and I can't get in my driveway. This woman has always called
and asked me for help. I didn't have time, but I thought,
well, she needs help. So I went out there and got my
chainsaw and went out there. Man, all the time. And I went
out there and got my chainsaw and started cutting and cutting
and my chainsaw burnt up. I mean, it got on smoke and it's
gone. I thought, why? Why? Why'd this
happen? I was trying to help her. Maybe
just so I can use this illustration. I don't know. Little things happen
and you wonder why, but terrible things happen that greatly perplex
us, don't they? Why is this happening? We know and are sure that whatever
it is, it is the Lord. We know that it is God that worketh
all things. We don't fully understand this,
but we believe it. God said, I create peace and
I create evil, Isaiah 45, 7. I the Lord do all these things. We know that. The world doesn't
believe that. But God says it and we believe it. We know it's
so. It gives us great comfort, though
we still are perplexed. God's ways are mysterious. Job said, He giveth not account
of his matters. We do know that it is God. Whatever
it is, it is the Lord. Like Eli said, it's the Lord. But we're still perplexed, aren't
we? Why, Lord? Why did this happen? Why did
He do this? I don't understand why this happened. I don't understand. We know that
all things work together for good, don't we? We know that. He says so. We believe that.
We know it. But at the time, I don't see
how any good can come of this. Anybody? He said, we. Paul said that. Paul said that. See, we all are.
The disciples, when John had his head cut off. Lord, why did
that happen? Such a voice. Such a needful
man. Paul and Silas. Remember, they
were thrown in jail, beaten. Do you reckon they were perplexed? Lord, why? Why are we in jail? Perplexed. Why did this happen? Why does He allow this to happen?
Permitted, directed, however it's His will. I don't understand
how any good can come out of it. We all think that at times. One
time, listen to this, Isaiah said this, and I'm sure glad
he wrote it. In Isaiah 63, verse 17, he said,
Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy ways? He's not blaming God. He's just
saying, you could have kept us from sinning against you. Why
did you let us do this? Have you ever thought that? Why
did he let me do that or act like that? David, remember, acted
like a madman one time. He was so ashamed of himself.
Remember that? I know he thought, why? Why did
the Lord allow that to happen? He could have stopped me. But
He didn't. We're perplexed by many things,
events, but we're not in despair. Not in despair. Despair means
utter helplessness and hopelessness. He says we're perplexed, but
we're not without hope and help. Look at the margin. I like what
the margin, if you have a Cambridge Bible, the margin says we're
not all together without help or means. We're not without help
or means. Now, we talk about the means
of grace. Men have been using that term
for years, means. We're not without means. God
has given us means of grace, to grow in grace, help. The Scripture
says, Paul said this, he said, God told me His grace is sufficient. Well, what is His grace? He gives gifts. Grace to help
in time of need. What is it? What are the means
of grace? Well, what we're doing right
now is a great help, isn't it? To keep us from despair. We're
not in despair because He's given us this means of grace to find
grace, to find help in time of trouble. We don't have to be
in despair because He's given us this blessed means. The word
read. That's why God wrote a book. So that we can pick it up anytime
we need it. It's always there. Day or night. I have about six or eight Bibles. I put them everywhere within
arm's reach. Work jackets. Glove compartments. Seriously, there's going to come
a time I need hope or help. I need a word. This is a very
present help. When the Lord says that, that's
what He means. He's given us this means. But you know, we
have to use the means. There are not a means of grace
if we don't avail ourselves of them. There's water, but it's
no good if you don't drink it. So there are means of great prayer
The Lord has given us this special privilege, told us to come boldly,
meaning freely, at any time to the throne of grace to find help.
Anytime. He doesn't sleep. You're not
going to wake Him up. Now, you know I didn't mean that.
Come anytime. With anything. He's your Father.
He knows it before you ask of Him. Unburden yourself. Prayer. Call on me. He said, call on
me. I'm a very present help. You know, that's what a father's
for, isn't it? Isn't it, Steve? That's what a father's for, isn't
it? You don't mind being called upon at any time to do anything,
but Joseph didn't. That's what you're for. It really
is. Prayer. Call on me. Very present.
Help in time. Word read, word heard. I mentioned
these CDs, tapes, and I find myself more and more listening
to them. I've been going back and listening to some of the
early messages by my pastor while I work in my workshop. And I'll
tell you, it's a great help. A great help. I like to listen
to music and things like that, but it doesn't help me at all.
It doesn't help me anything. In fact, it gets stuck in my
head. I mean, songs get stuck in my head and I just want to
get them out and can't get them out, don't you? This is what
I need in my head and in my heart so that it will come up like
a spring when I need it. So use it. Use it. The Word read,
the Word heard. You know, the Word of God is
our only source of help. It really is. Our only source
of hope, of health, of strength, of comfort, of peace. Our only
source. And the preached word, what you're hearing right now,
is the greatest means of using that help. How many times do you read a
passage and aren't blessed by it or don't fully understand
it, and then you hear a man preach it and it's opened up to you?
It's a great blessing. I venture to say that everyone
in here is more blessed under the preaching of the Word than
you are your personal reading of it. Because that's the way
it is. That's just the way it is. The Lord is a congregation. He
is always present where two or three are gathered in His name.
He promised to do that. And this is, you need help. You're
not fine, you get help from distress, from despair, by just walking
in this place. And sitting down and rubbing
shoulders with the sheep, you know. Cuddled up with the sheep.
This is a blessed means. And I tell you, I'm perplexed.
I don't know why, but often those who need the help the most don't
avail themselves of the means. And it perplexes me. Why, Lord? This will be a help to them.
It's the Lord. Second Chronicles 20. I want you to see this. I want you to look at this. 2
Chronicles 20. A means of grace is praise and
thanksgiving, singing like we did. Singing is a means of grace. Giving praise, that's what we
do when we sing. Thanksgiving unto the Lord with
everything, prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Praise and
thanksgiving is a means of grace to help us. In this story, we
looked at this once. Jerusalem, Israel was surrounded
by the enemy, which was more in number than they. And you
remember it in verse 13, all Judah stood before the Lord with
their little ones, their wives and their children. Remember
that? Jehoshaphat said, O God, we have
no might against this great company. We don't know what to do. Our
eyes are upon You. Verse 12. And the Lord, remember, He said,
the battle is not yours through a preacher. He sent a preacher,
Stan, to tell them that. He encouraged them. They were
all scared to death. 2 Chronicles 15, the battle is
not yours, it's God's. He said in verse 17, stand still,
you're going to see the salvation of the Lord. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head
to the ground. Well, look down at verse 20.
2 Chronicles 20. So they rose up early in the
morning and went forth to the wilderness. And Jehoshaphat stood
and said, Hear me, O Judah, ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe
in the Lord your God, so shall you be established. That is,
settled. Believe His prophets, so shall
you prosper. And when they had consulted with
the people, he appointed singers. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? We're
surrounded by all this trouble. We're scared to death. Here's
what we'll do, Josephette said, let's start singing. That's what
he did. He appointed singers, what? The
praise of beauty of holiness. And they went out before the
army, before the army to say, and here's what they said, praise
the Lord for His mercy endureth forever. And look at this, when
they began to sing and to praise the Lord, the Lord set ambushments
against the children of Ammon, and they were smitten. All their
enemies just were gone when they started praising the Lord. I brought up Paul and Silas being
in jail. You remember that, don't you? Down in jail, been beaten, bloody,
dark, dungeon. You couldn't be in more trouble
than that, could you? Perplexed? You reckon they were
perplexed? Why does this happen? What are
we going to do, Silas? You say, well, let's just sing. So they started singing, didn't
they? Praying and singing. Chains fell off and the doors
flew open and a man with a light sprung in. He took them home and washed them. So that's a great means. When you first came in here,
and maybe you were distressed about something, troubled about
something, surely you were, and we started singing these hymns,
did it not give you help, immediate help and relief? And you know what Paul and Silas
found out? They were perplexed, but shortly
thereafter, the Lord made it very plain why they were there.
They were in jail to save a jailer. That's just not the way they
would have done it. But that's the way the Lord did it. So, you know, just hold on. Just
wait. You may find out. Like that fellow
that was put in a hospital in a bed, and the young man decided,
you know, started talking to him about the gospel. So that's why Paul says, singing
to yourselves in songs and spiritual songs and making melody unto
the Lord, giving thanksgiving unto the Lord. It will keep you
from despair. And we're in trouble to save
and help those that are in trouble. That's why he puts us through
trouble. We wouldn't know how to help others. Paul said, I'm
comforted by the same comfort wherewith you're comforted. We
are all in trouble, he said. We are all perplexed that we
might be able to help one another. Verse 9, we are persecuted. The Lord said His disciples are
sheep among wolves, lambs among lions, hated, maligned, despised. Why? For the truth's sake. You ought to be someone's friend.
They ought to greatly appreciate you telling them the truth, but
they don't. They hate you for the truth's sake. You're their
enemy for the truth's sake. But you know, our Lord said,
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you,
saying all manner of evil falsely against you for My sake. He said,
Oh, you're blessed because so persecuted they the prophets
before you. If there's no persecution, you're
not telling the truth. You're not telling the truth. So that's
a good thing. We're persecuted, he said, but
we're not forsaken. We're not forsaken. God hath
said, I will never leave thee. Fear not. I will not leave thee, nor forsake
thee. We're never alone. Never alone. Elijah thought he
was the only one, didn't he? He thought he was the only one.
The Lord said, I have reserved 7,000 and have vowed to need
them. Elijah's servant thought that
they were outnumbered. The Lord showed him that they
that are with us are more than they that be against us. The
fact is, if God be for, who can be against? Nothing. God be for. Who or what can be
against us? No one. Nothing. And the fact
is, nothing really is against us. All is for us. So we are
persecuted, but we're not alone. We're not forsaken. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Lo,
I am with you. One of the last things He said
to His disciples and us is, Lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the world. We are persecuted, but not forsaken. Look at the next thing. We are
cast down. Cast down. but not destroyed. Downcast. Do you ever get so down you don't
think you'll get up? Everyone's been there at one
time or another. You feel so far down because of whatever,
troubles, trials, sin, guilt, whatever. You're so downcast. David said, fireth thou so cast
down, O my soul. Downcast. I think of that story
of that lunatic in Luke chapter 9. That lunatic. It says that
an evil spirit would take him. That is, get a hold of him. An evil spirit. Did you ever
feel like that? And it said he would tear him.
He would pour up. And it said he'd foam. Foam at
the mouth. Act like a crazy man like David.
They say it would bruise him. And it would take him, the devil
took him and threw him down on the ground. Just cast him down.
Ever been there? Sure you have. If you haven't,
you will if you're a believer. Cast him down on the ground.
But the Scripture says we're cast down, but we're not destroyed.
That man was cast down, but he wasn't destroyed. The devil couldn't
destroy him because it says the Lord Jesus Christ came. and rebuked that evil spirit.
Leave him alone. He's the only one stronger. Leave him alone. Get thee behind
me, Satan. And it says healed him. Restored
him. His right mind. David wrote, Why art thou cast
down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Why are you so upset and troubled like the Lord said?
Why do thoughts arise in your heart? Why do you imagine everything?
Hope thou in God. Be still and know that I am God. Wait on the Lord. Wait, I say,
on the Lord. You will yet praise Him with
the help of His countenance. Yes, you will. Wait, I say. Why does he keep saying that?
Because it's the hardest thing we have to do is wait. Wait and
see. Psalm 73. Wait. You'll see. You'll see. David said, I've seen the wicked
spreading himself like the green bay tree, buying up every lot
in town. Spreading himself. He said, wait,
you'll see. He'll be gone. There'll be no
sign of Him. Just wait. It's a hard thing
to do. You'll see. It's going to turn
out good. He promised. It's going to turn out good.
You will yet praise Him. Though downcast now, though troubled
and perplexed and persecuted, this is the trial of your faith.
Peter said, if need be, you're in manifold or many heavy Fiery
trials and temptations, but it's all going to redound to the glory.
It's all going to be found under praise and honor and glory. You're going to praise Him and
glorify Him as never before in utter amazement. You're going
to be utterly amazed. He said so. And these things
get us down, don't they? But they won't destroy us. I'll
tell you what trials are meant to do, to destroy. They're meant
to destroy everything we trust in, everything we look to, everyone
and everything that we take more pleasure in than God. Idols. The Lord is going to destroy
our idols. And it's painful. It's hurtful. They're not going
to destroy us. It's good for us. The Lord is
going to destroy everything that we hope in, everything we trust,
everything we have confidence in, people and things, and make
us completely and wholly trust Him. He's going to bring us to
the point to where there's no place to look but to Him. And
then He's going to show Himself a lot. And if we're His children, you
can count on it. This whole life is meant to create faith in His people. It's a trial of our faith. This
whole life, believe it, is the life of faith. It's meant to
cut away, take everything away but Him. Now, I want you to look at this.
This is good. Paul, in closing, he said in
verse 10, we always bear about in the body the dying of the
Lord. Verse 11, we which live are always delivered unto death.
Look at chapter 5, verse 6 says, we are always confident, knowing
that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from
the Lord. We walk by faith, not by sight. But we are confident,
I say, willing rather, to be absent from the body and be present
with the Lord. In another place, chapter 1,
he said this. Would you look at chapter 1 and
I'll quit, because this is very, very helpful. Chapter 1, verses
9 and 10, he said, we had the sentence of death in ourselves. Remember, reckon yourselves dead. Remember that? The sentence of
death in ourselves. You remember that coffin that
I told you about, getting my picture made in the coffin? That's us. That's all of us. That's everything. Things are
temporal. Everything is temporal. Reckon
it to be so. Reckon you. Reckon yourselves.
Put the sentence of death on yourself. What am I worried about? Why does this life give me so
much problem? It's just a vapor. I'm a dead
man. It's just real soon now. But we trust in, look at verse
9, we're to trust not in ourselves or anybody or anything, but in
God which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a
death, delivered us from being dead and trespassed as him. And
death deliver us. We're immortal. We are immortal
until God is through with us. Our days are numbered. Our bounds
are set. We cannot pass. And nobody can
hasten it. We're immortal. But when God
says it's time, it's time. That's not fatalism. That's Bible.
That's truth. How give us peace? And it goes on to say, "...in
whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. He who raised up
the Lord Jesus shall also raise these vile bodies, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord in the air." Comfort one another with
those words. And it's just going to be tomorrow to that. To reckon yourselves dead. Reckon everything dead. Everything
temporary. Somebody says, what about my
children? I worry about my children. Of course you do. I do. Don't I, Nancy? Man, I worry
about the grandchildren more than I did the children. Is that
old age, Nancy? I don't know why that is. I worried
about them a lot more than I did Hannah. I guess I was too busy
or something. Going to work and all that. What
about my children? What about them? Where'd you get them? They belong to you. He gave them
to you. Okay? He'd take care of you. Steve, if we didn't die young,
nobody, you know, we are immortal, aren't we, buddy? The Lord's
going to watch over our children. We've got to trust Him for not
only ourselves, but everybody and everything. and trust our
children to the Lord. He has care of them anyway. So
just trust Him. Alright, so we're in trouble. We're surrounded by it, but we're
not in distress. We're perplexed, but we're not
in despair. We're persecuted, but we're not
alone. We're not forsaken. What's the last thing? God's with us. God's with us.
Okay, stand. Our Lord, we thank you for your
blessed word. I would thank you. It is our
hope, our help, our comfort. It's your voice. It's how you
soothe, comfort, speak peace, allay the fears of your people,
of your little children. We are little children. We're
so frightened. So fearful, so troubled, worrisome, all these
things. Lord, forgive us of our unbelief. We have no reason to be filled
with doubts and fear, but You know our frame. And we're glad. And as a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. So, Lord, we thank
You for Your Word. It gives us great peace. We ask
that You would cause it to be planted in our hearts, that we
might think on it in days ahead. We'll need it in the next few
days until we gather again to hear the Word again. We ask that
You would make it a wellspring within us, spring up when we
need it. We ask Your help, this same help,
for Your people everywhere. Again, those who are going through
difficulty, we pray for them, pray that You might be near and
dear to them through Thy Word. Forgive us of our sins, in Christ's
name, amen. You're dismissed. Thank you.